Grand Designs

[227bhp]

Laurel Green said:

Muncher said:

Bit odd that she wasn’t around for the final filming?

Indeed! Thought there was something not quite right from the start. She seems to have saved all the money for the deposit and was very quite. A young couple building their first home, so should have been designed as a two bedroom at the very least. "I just do what he tells me" I thought was telling in the relationship - plus the second bed in what I assume was meant to be the snug.
I do hope they work things out though.

I suspected all was not well there, in the final scenes everytime her name was mentioned he had a sheepish look on his face.
Maybe she's under the patio...

Presumably there is something still to add on here?

[anonymous-user]

227bhp said:

Presumably there is something still to add on here?

They said at the time that it was waiting for a glass balustrade to be fitted.

[The Don of Croy]

So...they both invested £300k in their new houses, but one is family sized (and more) but the other one is just about 2 beds.

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

[anonymous-user]

The Don of Croy said:

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

It’s what developers know!

Also, when I built my home a few years ago I had 3 mono-pitch zinc roofs. I needed a small mortgage to finish it off and some of the mortgage companies were very nervous of a metal roof.

[MXRod]

Muncher said:

Bit odd that she wasn’t around for the final filming?

I can’t see how that system is viable, they’ve spent £200k building a 2 bedroom timber frame house, with 7,000 man hours free labour, plus I suspect a lot of free time from their architects. The plywood could have easily been ruined in poor weather.

No idea why they didn’t either spray the cladding panels, or char them. I did like the balustrade and stair detail however.

Lack of OH was something we commented on as soon as the wrap up started .

Plywood boxes ? Lego came to mind

[Bonefish Blues]

The Don of Croy said:

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

Me too. Anyone know how easy they are to retro-fit to a roof & how roughly the cost would compare with re-tiling?

[PositronicRay]

Bonefish Blues said:

The Don of Croy said:

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

Me too. Anyone know how easy they are to retro-fit to a roof & how roughly the cost would compare with re-tiling?

Are they very noisy when it rains?

[Bonefish Blues]

I assume there's some kind of acoustic barrier?

[227bhp]

PositronicRay said:

Bonefish Blues said:

The Don of Croy said:

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concrete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

Me too. Anyone know how easy they are to retro-fit to a roof & how roughly the cost would compare with re-tiling?

Are they very noisy when it rains?

^ This. It may be down to planning approval too, in real life councils like all buildings to look similar. Not on Grand designs though where it seems anything goes, staircases with no balustrades and a whole street which looks like a Sao Paulo shanty town.
Whilst it makes for good TV and is interesting to look at a lot of stuff on this program must be terrible to live with and also of limited life. Wooden box house won't be still standing in a 100 or 200 years time, the no-radiator approach very inefficient and I wouldn't want to live in a house with unheated concrete floors. They are just like garden sheds really.

It seems some of these people are living for the here and now with no thoughts of the future, leaving something lasting behind with a value and to be used by their offspring. If the wooden box house couple have split then it's going to be a bit difficult to get back the money they (she) put back in as who would want to buy it?

[thegreenhell]

I'm surprised they even managed to get a mortgage to build that wooden box house. They seemed surprised when they had to fit a sprinkler system, yet I don't recall any mention of other fire prevention methods or treatments for the highly flammable structure.

[snobetter]

Bonefish Blues said:

The Don of Croy said:

I am a fan of the metal roof systems - why are we beholden to crappy concete tiles in so many properties (mine included)?

Me too. Anyone know how easy they are to retro-fit to a roof & how roughly the cost would compare with re-tiling?

Would it count as non standard construction for insurance? Don't they all say tile or slate for pitched roof. Might not be an aggravation in practice but could put off potential buyers.

[anonymous-user]

PositronicRay said:

Are they very noisy when it rains?

No. The boarding on which the zinc (in my case) sits and the insulation layer make it no louder than a conventional roof.

[droopsnoot]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

This week’s was the same, top two floors only had two bedrooms and a small office in it and forced the kids to room share. I don’t get it?

It's a common thing on GD - young kids, design the new house with them sharing a room, and no apparent thought to what they'll do when the kids are older and can't share any more. Or they have one youngster, design the house with a bedroom for it, then suddenly need another, sometimes by the time of the wrap-up at the end.

[thegreenhell]

droopsnoot said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

This week’s was the same, top two floors only had two bedrooms and a small office in it and forced the kids to room share. I don’t get it?

It's a common thing on GD - young kids, design the new house with them sharing a room, and no apparent thought to what they'll do when the kids are older and can't share any more. Or they have one youngster, design the house with a bedroom for it, then suddenly need another, sometimes by the time of the wrap-up at the end.

It's very short-sighted thinking. I guess they're not expecting to ever have family or friends come to stay with them either. The ideal number of bedrooms is always N+1.

[227bhp]

I'm often reminded of the Three little Pigs.

[Bonefish Blues]

227bhp said:

I'm often reminded of the Three little Pigs.

They're on next week's episode.

[Doofus]

I've not seen the latest episode yet, but the thing I'm beginning to feel is that, whilst it's a great way for people to get affordable homes in an expensive area, it's a shame that the relaxing of planning hasn't produced anything truly innovative or groundbreaking in terms of design or construction.

To do that would require a larger budget, and nobody with the money or inclination would want such a small footprint. I am all for affordable housing, but I just hope that later in the scheme they'll be releasing some bigger plots and we'll see something really progressive get built.

[Bonefish Blues]

I think that the young couple's this week meets your criteria, and was (already) a refreshing change. The barn-alike was a good effort too, I thought, or will be when it's built.

Makes mental note to have a wander around there - it's only 3 or 4 miles away from us.

[Doofus]

Bonefish Blues said:

I think that the young couple's this week meets your criteria, and was (already) a refreshing change. The barn-alike was a good effort too, I thought, or will be when it's built.

Makes mental note to have a wander around there - it's only 3 or 4 miles away from us.

Perhaps. I am bored of the love for open plan living. It isn't practical, but I suppose at least it's cheap to build, and can theoretically make a small house feel larger.

[227bhp]

Doofus said:

I've not seen the latest episode yet, but the thing I'm beginning to feel is that, whilst it's a great way for people to get affordable homes in an expensive area, it's a shame that the relaxing of planning hasn't produced anything truly innovative or groundbreaking in terms of design or construction.

Probably better off not posting at all then really.