Okay, I was wrong and the builder was right, on two fronts:
1) Calling the engineer WAS a good idea; and
2) Knocking down the walls and rebuilding IS a better approach
We saw the engineer on Saturday and he was fantastic. Obviously very experienced, and he has worked with our architect and our builder and our council assessing officer in the past. So instead of me making a trillion phone calls and asking stupid, ill-informed questions, he said he’d just contact everyone directly and get the information he needed.
He also confirmed that we DON’T need to raise the slab height by 10cm, which is what the builder has been freaking out about, so I am hoping that issue will be put to bed and we can get on with it. And he said he agreed with the builder about knocking down the existing walls – he even thinks it might be cheaper that way because it will be quicker, and labour costs are the killer in reno projects.
He also talked to us about the option of doing an online owner-builder course for $95 instead of spending a couple of thousand dollars getting homeowner’s warranty insurance through the builder. For a few thousand bucks I’d rather keep the builder on side but it could be a good option if the builder doesn’t mind either way – most of the money would go to the insurer, not the builder, and it would mean he’d be employed as a tradesman instead of a project manager and therefore would carry less liability.
The upside of that approach for us is that we could do it quickly and actually collect our stupid paperwork from council, but the downside is that we’d be project managing the renovations and I just don’t want to do that. I am already sick to the back teeth of the whole thing and building hasn’t even started. I want someone else to do all the chasing – ideally someone who actually knows something about building!
Anyway the engineer said he’d have the drawings done today and I am hoping he’ll pass them directly to the builder, and I am really, really hoping the builder will then get on with getting us a final tender for me to pass on to the mortgage broker.
I wish the engineer had known our mortgage broker and then I could have just taken myself out of the loop all together!
At any rate, the engineer made us feel a lot calmer about the whole process because he was very knowledgable and he’s open to being contacted throughout the project if we need further hand holding. His work will cost us $400 but for once it feels like money well spent.
The stats:
Weeks since we started this project = 21
Money spent = about $4,500
Building work completed = none
It's not easy being green (and pink) 
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