Relaxed after a month on our new island home Tobago, it was time to initiate the building of our house which proved a challenging undertaking. Ultimately, the modern/contemporary house with four bedrooms, built on three levels with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, is cited on two-half acres of land.
The challenges encountered were many and have outlined a few particularly frustrating incidents. The builder recommended his brother clear the land and from his assessment, his quote was very reasonable. But from day one the signs were blatant that he was not the man for the job. He arrived dressed in a t-shirt, chino trousers, flip-flops and a string bag, which initially did not seem unusual until he removed a cutlass from the bag and started chopping away at a dense patch of guava bushes. We simply assumed the big gun excavator was on its way and left him to it.
However returning at the end of the day, still toiling at the guava bushes with a cutlass, had made very little inroads. Dubious, we enquired how things were to progress the following day, but were assured he was getting help. The help turned out to be his wife, also with a cutlass in hand and no excavator or backhoe. Suffice to say, recruiting another contractor, he made light of the task in three days, together with creating a 100 meter access driveway.
Equally, there was a series of red flags with the first contractor. The first was the poor execution and far too low a retaining wall to support a 15-foot bank that collapsed twice. The second, was the placement of the bedroom foundation columns being too near the edge of the nine-foot benching, which was not practical and the architect was not consulted about this worrying fact, albeit he was away in Canada at the time. Matters were further not helped, not having a proper crew and the workmanship shoddy. Though lay persons, we felt we had no choice but to sack him.
I won’t venture into the epic task required to organise the various utilities and numerous backward and forwards required in 30⁰C heat to undertake what I consider one-time visits, but took up to two to three hours plus to undertake.
The second builder from the outset specified he did not want any involvement in the procurement of building materials. We therefore unexpectedly became the project managers, procuring materials with the help of the architect (Keith’s uncle) who lived in Trinidad and made weekly site visits. He also undertook the role of quantity surveyor and placed the order for all the wood, roofing and windows in Trinidad.
Inquiring with the supplier in Trinidad whether our order was ready for collection, they confirmed it was and established a day we would arrive to make the payment and collection. Also arranging for a truck to transport the goods back to Tobago, agreeing to meet the driver at the supplier. Journeying to Trinidad we arrived to learn the order was still at a depot several miles away. Four hours later there was no sign of the truck driver, nor was he answering his mobile phone. We later learned our mobile phone number was incorrectly given and he had taken another job when he could not make contact with us. In the meantime, we missed our scheduled return journey to Tobago on the ferry. A further two hours later our order arrived and were by now hungry and dehydrated.
Anxious and desperate we hastily recruited a truck driver touting for business outside the supplier, but thankfully thought better of giving a stranger and dubious one at that a TT$60,000 truckload of goods as foolhardy and sought the help for a reliable truck driver from the supplier, who fortunately was able to help.
Our order arrived in Tobago the following night at midnight amidst rain and howling winds, annoyed the truck had no tarpaulin covering the goods, more so the wood. Added to this the driver and girlfriend asked if they could stay for the night having no accommodation. We reluctantly obliged and made an early start to the site the following morning.
However, as Keith and I started up the driveway to our land, my feet hadn’t touched the ground, about to tell the driver to stay on the right-hand side of the road to avoid the many ruts. Too late! Hearing an almighty rumble and tumbling, instinctively knew this was the items falling from the truck. The wood had tumbled off down a slope at the side of the road. Immediately springing into what I can only describe as superwoman mode, demonstrating remarkable strength and bravery, having no thought of snakes in the undergrowth I would normally fear, I hauled the wood up to a point Keith could place them on the roadside for the workers on their arrival to re-load onto the truck.
I had initially wondered what I would do with myself during the build, having no interest in the construction process, or so I thought. It was ironic, I now had the time to be a ‘ladies who lunch’, but I had no friends. I, therefore, accompanied Keith on-site daily and was surprised I found construction interesting, seeing the gradual rising of the house out of the ground. Busying myself, I kept the site tidy picking up discarded cement bags, dropped nails, etc. Keith and I learned to better understand the architect’s plans, which stood us in good stead with Keith stopping several errors before they became a problem. One such was in the builder’s absence, the bricklayer bricking where a window was scheduled to be located. Keith would often intervene demanding the use of spirit levels; querying the order of works being undertaken and sacking an incompetent plumber.
Normally quite stoic, an incident that particularly incensed me, most probably due to the fact I was hungry and tired was the delivery of additional bricks arriving later than scheduled, at dusk. In the Caribbean being nearer the equator, once the sun sets, darkness descends quickly (23 minutes to be exact), added to which there was no street lighting. Matters were made worse, seeing the vehicle which looked like an old jalopy that belonged on a scrap heap. Amazingly low to the ground with the weight of the bricks, it seemed incapable of climbing our steep 100-meter unpaved driveway.
As if that wasn’t enough, it ran out of petrol approximately 25 yards from the driveway. The driver stated he was going to walk to the nearest petrol station which was three miles away, reaching into his vehicle and retrieving two large water bottles, as we looked on aghast. This seem to further infuriate me and cussed him out and not in a ladylike manner I might add, telling him to unload the bricks at a layby at the bottom of the driveway. Finished and asking for his money, I refused to pay the entirety stating he had not in effect completed the task of delivery to the site, as he walked away disgruntled.
The build was coming along nicely when the builder took a scheduled holiday we were aware of, assuring us that work would continue in his absence. However, unscheduled work phases not agreed upon, cost, or in a coherent order were being started, not helped by a worker and relative of the builder, refusing to carry out scheduled works we requested. Frustrated and furious we sacked the workforce. On the builder’s return, with a mutual agreement made, work was resumed to the point we felt we no longer required his input. Thereafter we retained the electrician and plumber but recruited sub-contractors for the guttering, tiling, etc.
We moved into the house eighteen months later than the originally quoted six months, happy to begin making the house into our home. Keith undertook further finishes, being good at DIY. Arriving home late one evening, two neighbour’s exterior lights were red. Horrified, we immediately jumped to the conclusion we had moved into a suspect neighbourhood, but alas! Red lights do not have the same European connotation, but are a means of deterring pesky moths and other insects attracted to white light, hence the red and other colours used.
We are living the lifestyle we had dreamed of, we love the island, our home, and feel more compatriots than expatriates.
NOTE:
A recommendation for anyone contemplating immigrating to the Caribbean, who wish to build, recruiting an architect is advisable. This sounds obvious, but some, recruit a draftsman. Architects not only provide a bespoke plan, submit the plans to the Planning Department, but advise on many aspects you would not envisage, Equally important is to have finances fully in order with a 10-15% contingency. Decor and appliances are surprisingly expensive and are an add-on to the build cost.
