Grand Designs

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Series 15 starts tonight at 9pm Ch4.

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Laurel Green said:

The minute word gets around that the customer is a perfectionist, the price goes up - perfection is a costly business.

The contractors will have spotted him a mile off and doubled the price, he knows it too, but if he can afford it then why not - he never complained about the price.

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kev1974 said:

Evoluzione said:

Laurel Green said:

The minute word gets around that the customer is a perfectionist, the price goes up - perfection is a costly business.

The contractors will have spotted him a mile off and doubled the price, he knows it too, but if he can afford it then why not - he never complained about the price.

Yes he did, they showed him phoning to slightly whinge about the price of the glass or something like that going up

It was only vague, he isn't stupid and knows he needs the money to back up his fastidious taste.

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All that money and no stainless nails, dear me.
'Well it starts off as Softwood, then it goes through a special process which makes it into Hardwood' Ok....

He was bright enough to make a heck of a lot of money from being an Accountant - who did he work for, Jimmy Carr? But then to get his sums so badly wrong over a build like that and be so light hearted about it? I know he had a near death experience, but something smells a bit strange.....

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loughran said:

I thought it was a great start to the series. I had doubts about the first house, the massive concrete bunker, but as the story unfolded it was pretty incredible how the architect had left courtyards where the original buildings had been. It was massive but in effect 2 houses.

Not sure why the 60s house with sloping roof was included, It was designed and built 50 years ago by David Levitt. The ladies did it up. Well done ladies.

The large green zinc agricultural house was the best of its type I've seen. The materials and craftsmanship looked first class and it really did seem to sit well in its surroundings. (a much overused phrase. )

The fortress on Jersey was just ace, like something out of a James Bond movie, it sat there on the beach going 'fk off' to the weather. Definitely my favourite.

The villa in Cornwall was pants. If you're going to design a cantilever, have the courage of your convictions and do it properly. Don't have second thoughts later on and prop it up with a couple of crappy poles. It was completely outshone by Creek Veen, built 50 years earlier.

I'm just catching up tonight, what was the orange cladding on the fortress? I must have missed it.

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loughran said:

Evoluzione said:

loughran said:

I thought it was a great start to the series. I had doubts about the first house, the massive concrete bunker, but as the story unfolded it was pretty incredible how the architect had left courtyards where the original buildings had been. It was massive but in effect 2 houses.

Not sure why the 60s house with sloping roof was included, It was designed and built 50 years ago by David Levitt. The ladies did it up. Well done ladies.

The large green zinc agricultural house was the best of its type I've seen. The materials and craftsmanship looked first class and it really did seem to sit well in its surroundings. (a much overused phrase. )

The fortress on Jersey was just ace, like something out of a James Bond movie, it sat there on the beach going 'fk off' to the weather. Definitely my favourite.

The villa in Cornwall was pants. If you're going to design a cantilever, have the courage of your convictions and do it properly. Don't have second thoughts later on and prop it up with a couple of crappy poles. It was completely outshone by Creek Veen, built 50 years earlier.

I'm just catching up tonight, what was the orange cladding on the fortress? I must have missed it.

Corten steel I think.

That's interesting I never knew that. There is a flyover in Leeds, built 2006 - 2008, I always wondered why they never painted the steel it's made from, now I know.

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Heads up, new series starts on Wednesday.

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I get the feeling that place will never get plastered out while they own it.

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Mothersruin said:

Evoluzione said:

I get the feeling that place will never get plastered out while they own it.

Any idea what the market value would be, bearing in mind any prospective buyer would factor in completion works?

Sorry i'm not an estate agent.

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geeks said:

Adam B said:

garyhun said:

It was called Cloud 8 and it's just on the outskirts of Amersham. Looks like it is/was on the market needing completion.

https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBAHRSAMS170...

interesting place, but description mentions or windows and frames need replacing as wrong spec

quite like it but balance of living space v bedroom/garage is all wrong for me

Yeah that isn't a double garage based on the drawings either. How can windows be incorrectly manufactured but need paying for replacements? Me thinks someone was trying to get one past the planners! It still needs alot of money spending on it but I would also bet it is up for sale at what it would be worth finished and not what it is actually worth, which given the level of work required to finish it, is not a lot in my very uninformed opinion

The company that made them could have gone out of business.
My eye is drawn immediately to the underside of the ply roof, it doesn't look too good to me.

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Bonefish Blues said:

Evoluzione said:

geeks said:

Adam B said:

garyhun said:

It was called Cloud 8 and it's just on the outskirts of Amersham. Looks like it is/was on the market needing completion.

https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBAHRSAMS170...

interesting place, but description mentions or windows and frames need replacing as wrong spec

quite like it but balance of living space v bedroom/garage is all wrong for me

Yeah that isn't a double garage based on the drawings either. How can windows be incorrectly manufactured but need paying for replacements? Me thinks someone was trying to get one past the planners! It still needs alot of money spending on it but I would also bet it is up for sale at what it would be worth finished and not what it is actually worth, which given the level of work required to finish it, is not a lot in my very uninformed opinion

The company that made them could have gone out of business.
My eye is drawn immediately to the underside of the ply roof, it doesn't look too good to me.

It got very very wet during the build I recall.

It stands out like a sore thumb though, if it is simply old water stains then a few coats of paint would have made a huge improvement.

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sutoka said:

Bonefish Blues said:

forrestgrump said:

Nailed it right there

Am less keen on some of the comments about his new partner, but agree her sudden appearance will go down in the pantheon of awkward moments.

Bang on, I was trying to work out who he reminded me of I was thinking of Tim Nice but Dim from Harry Enfield and Chums

Decent chap but a bit of a chinless wonder who didn't look like he had done a hard days work in his life.

Well we might as well go all the way....



I know, I know, I'll go to hell.

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Clockwork Cupcake said:

cadmunkey said:

The false financial jeopardy was a bit of a letdown, no way he ever lost one wink of sleep with that family background!

Not having a go at you personally, but this quote is representative of all the other similar ones...

How do you know what his financial situation is, or the financial liquidity of his extended family, or how generous they are? Maybe they are tighter than a duck's arse? We just simply don't know.

Just because his family is minted doesn't automatically mean that he automatically has access to vast funds.

Comments like this have rather a whiff of the politics of envy.

(As I said, this is not aimed at you personally)

I do wonder if you watched the program?

They went to great lengths throughout it to show how wealthy his family were, at one point Kev asked him where the next XXmillion was coming from and he said he didn't know, but he would find it somewhere! Probably down the back of the sofa. It cost something like £4m in the end, that isn't the wage of a guy in the army who now takes people fishing.

His wealth doesn't matter to me, he did the job, threw money at it and pulled it off.

Some of the best jobs have been ones of a similar ilk. One that stands out is the two gay chaps who threw millions at the water tower. One of them had more money on a credit card than i'll ever see in my life!

It just goes to show that when you've got the money to afford the best and do it properly it works.

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Clockwork Cupcake said:

Evoluzione said:

I do wonder if you watched the program?

They went to great lengths throughout it to show how wealthy his family were, at one point Kev asked him where the next XXmillion was coming from and he said he didn't know, but he would find it somewhere! Probably down the back of the sofa. It cost something like £4m in the end, that isn't the wage of a guy in the army who now takes people fishing.

But likewise I do wonder if you watched the program too, because Kevin also went to great lengths to point out that the family were "asset rich, but cash poor" and also that family money doesn't equate to personal money.

The fact is that none of us know where the money came from, or under what terms and conditions it was secured.

Sorry, I guess I have a bit of an issue with the attitude because I have been on the receiving end of it myself (albeit with much much smaller sums of money) and have even had people ask me if daddy bought me my Sagaris, when nothing could be further from the truth. So you can probably imagine that I am a little bit touchy about the attitude. You know?

Edit: Also, back at uni, I had friends on full grants who had vastly more disposable money than me because my parents wanted me to find my own way financially. I got pretty sick of hearing jibes about the "Bank of Mum and Dad".

Evoluzione said:

His wealth doesn't matter to me, he did the job, threw money at it and pulled it off.

We can certainly agree there.

Yes I can see why you're a bit obsessive about the subject
Assets are still wealth though, I'm also cash poor and asset rich (but on a comparitively minute scale!). It's only like being in a Casino and holding an armful of chips, but with a fiver in your pocket.
You can soon cash it in

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Clockwork Cupcake said:

Evoluzione said:

Yes I can see why you're a bit obsessive about the subject

I'd prefer 'touchy' to 'obsessive', but yeah.

At the end of the day, I doubt he gives a st what any of us think of him, but I just felt that some of the posts with regards to this episode have been rather uncharitable.

I don't disagree, but if people aren't talking about it, it didn't do a good enough job.
The season opener is always a good one.
I disagree with those who feel that this is all it's about now, well at this early stage anyhow - make that judgement at the end of the series.

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PushedDover said:

Jasey_ said:

Not convinced this is going to have a happy ending

Quack friend of mine messaging the same

Pessimists!

If she goes before he does it'll be a bit awkward though.

A great job done.

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Bonefish Blues said:

Fulvia there I think

I didn't see that, did see an E-Type though.

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drakart said:

Boringcarowner said:

ZymoTech said:

I'm sure I saw a VW Caddy pick-up parked in the barn earlier on. It was once the cladding had been stripped off and the barn emptied out. Was it the transport for one of the builders ?

In the final scenes it was parked outside the farmhouse.

I'm pretty sure there were two.

One was in there at the start.

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abzmike said:

Doofus said:

I'm only half way through this episode.

Why do roof lights need 15 degrees?

Seems odd for 4 degrees to make so much difference - perhaps for the flashing to work? Anyway the architect should have noticed in any case.

Seemed a lot of faff to keep the original frame though - as mentioned an unfortunate accident would have been a blessing with no disguise.

Really impressive build and end result though, through all the issues they already have to deal with.

It's for the wind blowing the water up underneath the flashings. Everything on a roof has a minimum pitch angle.

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LaurasOtherHalf said:

Doofus said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Doofus said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Chains into buckets in lieu of downpipes, perhaps?

Yep. Not a new solution, but a good one given the large eaves

I've yet to see this "solution" work acceptably in practice.

I've yet to see it in practice at all, but see no reason why it wouldn't work.

Funnily enough the office block where my Architects are based has it outside reception. If you look at the size of the buckets on last night's episode you'll realise why-during a good downpour it splashes everywhere. You really need a good metre circumference around the chain as a wet zone and of course, what often comes with rain?

Wind. Which blows the water droplets even further. Any trees or vegetation nearby and you end up with algae growing, if it's shaded it just breeds moss.

It's the very worst of design, a more complicated and expensive version of an established use which performs poorer than the cheaper less complicated design.

Yes they work quite well until the wind blows!