Basement extension house collapses - oops!

[shakotan]

The Daily Fail said:

Above, the house, which is just 10ft away from the River Thames, before it collapsed

So either the Thames runs long the back of the house and does a swift 90 degrees down the street, it runs underground underneath the road, or the journalist has no concept of distance.

[Bluebarge]

iphonedyou said:

He's had a fairly terrible time of it recently.

If you're thinking of John Caudwell, it's not his house. His would be much bigger!

[Funkycoldribena]

Bit ironic that hes got no reception now.

[krallicious]

Funkycoldribena said:

Bit ironic that hes got no reception now.

I looked at a flat just around the corner in 2007. Really lovely part of London but, if I remember correctly, it was very near a really stty looking block of 60s flats.

[turbobloke]

So Charlie and he had another cup of tea and then they went home.

[IroningMan]

turbobloke said:

So Charlie and he had another cup of tea and then they went home.

Right.

[turbobloke]

IroningMan said:

turbobloke said:

So Charlie and he had another cup of tea and then they went home.

Right.

...Said Fred (Cup of Tea), Wilf Mott in a former life.

60s comedy classic single, not everyone's cup of tea but close enough as the wall and ceiling did have to go.

[iphonedyou]

Bluebarge said:

If you're thinking of John Caudwell, it's not his house. His would be much bigger!

Quite right you are - my mistake. I did wonder about the house, having seen Caudwell's in the media before!

Thank you.

[kev1974]

Camoradi said:

Daily Mail journo's notebook .....

"Ex-Phones4U boss's £3.5mtownhouse"

"Ex-Phones4U boss's £3.0m townhouse"

"Ex-Phones4U boss's £2.5m townhouse"

"Ex-Phones4U boss's £2.0m townhouse"

"Ex-Phones4U boss's £1.0m building plot"

Local estate agent making a similar gag
http://www.apparentproperties.com/property/house-f...

Anyway just walked past it. They are busy *carefully* demolishing the little that was left standing, from a metal cage hanging from a crane, and presumably propping up the house next door. Looks like the road will be able to reopen Monday or Tuesday. Hats off to the emergency scaffolding people and demolition experts that have come in and been working overnight to deal with it. Thumbs down to London Borough of Richmond who have done an absolutely piss poor job of traffic management around the incident (TfL having pulled the "not our road guv" card and washed their hands of it within seconds).

Will not be cheap for phones4u man. I presume he will be getting a very large bill from the scaffolders, crane people, polic response etc. Checking Companies House, his developer appears to have form for opening and closing or dissolving development companies before filing any accounts, so I'm guessing he won't be paying out on this.

[kev1974]

shakotan said:

The Daily Fail said:

Above, the house, which is just 10ft away from the River Thames, before it collapsed

So either the Thames runs long the back of the house and does a swift 90 degrees down the street, it runs underground underneath the road, or the journalist has no concept of distance.

I would say they have confused metres with feet, but the river is indeed right there, it is just off the side of the picture you've taken that caption off; to the right of the picture. There is the parade of houses including that one, then the road as shown in the picture, then a concrete river defence wall, about 2m of tow path, and then river. 10m to the river is likely correct.

[jas xjr]

iphonedyou said:

Bluebarge said:

If you're thinking of John Caudwell, it's not his house. His would be much bigger!

Quite right you are - my mistake. I did wonder about the house, having seen Caudwell's in the media before!

Thank you.

He would probably have VAT inspectors hiding in the garden

[Zod]

randlemarcus said:

Zod said:

English Heritage should prosecute him, the architect and the builder.

For what? Boggo unlisted house in a nice spot is replaced by boggo unlisted house in a nice spot. Meh.

I think the house was listed.

[FourWheelDrift]

Zod said:

I think the house was listed.

Nope, according to the listings website number 28 is listed which is the next but one along. As is number 30, number 27 the next door house isn't listed and neither was his.

Searched the listings here - https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ Barnes search by map, zoomed into the Terrace, doubled checked with google maps street view.

He is/was number 26 on the corner.

[darren f]

Huff said:

It is a technically-difficult thing to do safely, let alone well: but most will engage a contractor on cost alone.

And there you have the bane in the life of anybody in the 'professional side' of the industry. You can always find somebody cheaper- I call it the Tesco mentality (...how they treat their suppliers)- 'I'll just keep hawking my job around all and sundry until I can find someone who'll do it for a stupidly low price'. With no due diligence that the successful tenderer can actually do the job, will not cut corners or employ inexperienced Bulgarian labour for £50/day (the kind of thing we are up against operating in London).

[turbobloke]

Foxtons founder defeats court bid to block mega basement extension

[vonuber]

darren f said:

And there you have the bane in the life of anybody in the 'professional side' of the industry. You can always find somebody cheaper- I call it the Tesco mentality (...how they treat their suppliers)- 'I'll just keep hawking my job around all and sundry until I can find someone who'll do it for a stupidly low price'. With no due diligence that the successful tenderer can actually do the job, will not cut corners or employ inexperienced Bulgarian labour for £50/day (the kind of thing we are up against operating in London).

Agreed. What clients don't also realise is that they will suddenly start facing a whole load of claims and additional items that weren't in the tender and it'll end up costing them more. We see it all the time on the consulting side -and then trying to work with a contractor who won't attend a meeting without the scope pinned to the wall just ends up being an exercise in frustration.