Communication

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. Actually it’s been an interesting twelve months or so.

The initial contact for EON to enquire as to whether we want EWI or not, was July last year. To be fair to EON, the protracted move towards getting things done was as much my doing as theirs. They have been very polite – even if they haven’t been able to fully answer all my questions (I’m slightly concerned that things from their end have gone a little quiet since we signed the contract to commit).

However, there was some form of communication.

For the the EWI to happen, and not interfere with the usual services, a number of ‘modifications’ have to take place. One of them I’ve commissioned myself – the changing of the double glazing unit in the lounge.

At the risk of being boring (when has that ever stopped me?). When EWI is fitted, it obviously is installed onto the existing external wall (clue’s in the name folks – External Wall Insulation). This extra protuberance impacts on the opening of windows that are part of a bay and near a wall – which ordinarily is not an issue. So in order to be able to open the window, a fascia plate has to replace the current window – we went for a 150mm plate, giving plenty of room for the EWI to fit. We also moved the side opening windows to a forward position and have a top hinge mechanism, thus doing away with a cross bar, and making the front of the house more aesthetically pleasing. Nice job all round, and the architect was impressed.

It is important that these modifications take place before the EWI is fitted – this way you can keep the integrity of the wall insulation intact (I’m not sure everyone knows this).

I’m very grateful to Paul Berryman (one of the contractors vying for business) for this tip. He’s a sound guy, who knows his bacon. It’s just frustrating that we weren’t able to go with him – I’m sure communication would have been better.

Anyway, I get home the other night, put Betty to bed, go round the back (through the new ‘holiday chalet’ entrance) to be greeted with my beautiful life partner – yes, I do mean the wife.

“BT have been round to fit a thingy.”

“BT?”

“Yes. It’s to do with the External Wall Insulation.”

I check and BT have fitted a cable brace to the wall (with a good sized spacing, to accommodate the EWI). It seems that we are having EWI fitted – even though EON/InstaGroup have not confirmed this directly.

When did BT tell us they would do this? For the life of me, I couldn’t find the interaction.

Ironic, I think, considering they are a communication company. Bless ‘em.