Room to Improve.

Quazzie

HamsterFace wrote: »

Duncan Stewart was some buachaill for the insulation!

I'd love to see a one off special where Dermot designs a house then it goes off to Duncan Stewart to tell how he's going to implement green initiatives and make it kinder to the environment. There could even be a clash of personalities where both are fighting their corners only to make up just before the reveal of a fantastic house that's stylish and efficient.

Galego

FAILSAFE 00 wrote: »

No blinds or curtains anywhere

Right in a quite busy road too. Nice!

funkey_monkey

funkey_monkey wrote: »

The bathroom didn't look good. You had to squeeze part the bath and sink to get to the bog. Didn't like the tiling too - seemed dated to me.

Mezzanine was quite narrow too.

I wish they went for sash windows, but the finish and styling was fantastic.

I wonder does a crowd come in to style the house for the reveal like home magazines do?

Actually those are "subway" tiles and are bang on trend !! I have them myself in my kitchen .... tiler loved them and said they're becoming very popular (that was last year ). I love mine !

Atlantic Dawn

Just coming to this a little late...I think it turned out well in the end. I suppose they bought the house blind but if they would have bought it at the height of the boom they would have spent double the original purchase amount and even with all the work they have done they have come well under this.

My main gripe would be with it being so close to the road, if the budget allowed when when they hit the stage where the new roof was needed I'd have demolished and built it fresh about 30-40 foot back from the road, no idea how much extra that would have cost and perhaps it's a listed building so this option wouldn't be available?

deco nate

Bored_lad wrote: »

I know most of the outdoor stuff like the bay trees and firepits are brought in every episode by the production company but I wonder are some of the interior finishes brought as well.

YES they are, dermot has said it on the radio. That sometimes the couples run out of money, so to show it off as it should be seen, they bring it in from whatever companies to help out the look

ted1

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Actually those are "subway" tiles and are bang on trend !! I have them myself in my kitchen .... tiler loved them and said they're becoming very popular (that was last year ). I love mine !

I put them in 5 years ago, guess I started a trend

Bored_lad

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Actually those are "subway" tiles and are bang on trend !! I have them myself in my kitchen .... tiler loved them and said they're becoming very popular (that was last year ). I love mine !

Subway tiles can and do look great I just think the colour was wrong in this case.

Dtp1979

Is this the last episode this season?

KerrySurfer

Does anybody have any idea how the internal walls were finished in the end?! They obviously didn't go with dry lining again (hopefully!!).

Autosport

Dont say that

Dtp1979

Nice couple tonight. No ball breaking or bitchiness.
I bet if he had a hurling medal, it'd be in the sitting room

DublinDilbert

KerrySurfer wrote: »

Does anybody have any idea how the internal walls were finished in the end?! They obviously didn't go with dry lining again (hopefully!!).

Did I see the vapour barrier on the cold side of the insulation at the wall?

awanderer

Samsgirl wrote: »

Stunning house and lovely family also.
Not a sunken room or glass box in sight.

I almost feel cheated . It's because of the (lack of) budget though. If it wasn't for the grey windows and the kitchen (which I feel I saw in another of Dermot's houses recently), I would request some proof that Dermot really worked on this project.

Atlantic Dawn

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Is this the last episode this season?

Last of actual builds, next weeks episode is revisiting 3 previous builds.

December2012

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Last of actual builds, next weeks episode is revisiting 3 previous builds.

I wonder is that because this project overran so much?

Atlantic Dawn

December2012 wrote: »

I wonder is that because this project overran so much?

No it was always just the 4 new builds and the review from the outset. I hope they do another season middle of this year, they have done that in the past.

trixychic

Funny thing is I actually liked the basic design they ended up with this time. Was very nice.... Although a house so near to the road like that would have me in bits. Id never sleep right worrying of someone crashing into it.

Outkast_IRE

KerrySurfer wrote: »

Does anybody have any idea how the internal walls were finished in the end?! They obviously didn't go with dry lining again (hopefully!!).

Think it was internal insulation again.

In this scenario in order to keep the exterior of the house looking the same you don't have much choice.

I think the problem with the previous job was the location or lack of the vapour barrier.

I was wisely informed many years ago by a German master carpenter who specialised in such renovations that your vapour barrier should be as close as possible to the internal side of the house and you should take extra care to ensure the vapour barrier is continuous and sealed properly in any locations that need a penetration.

The previous job was a dogs dinner and they are very lucky it didn't have serious health implications on them while they were living there.

Galwayguy35

They must have well paid jobs, 355 to buy it and 205 to do it up.

Nice couple though, although I'd say the builder was nearly gone off his head waiting for them to make a decision.

sadie06

Really enjoyed this episode. I loved how romantic her vision was, although it lead to a lot of indecisiveness, and I love how Dermot responded to her enthusiasm when he realised the mezzanine was going to give her that 'wow' factor she wanted.

Great end result, and I feel a better result than if the extension had gone ahead.

HeidiHeidi

I must be on my own here - I thought that was a very depressing episode!

The beautiful house/dream they bought into was to all intents and purposes demolished (four outer walls left), all that quirkiness and creaking and mismatching levels - the whole character of the place - that she loved were removed.

The windows were AWFUL - there is very little I hate in houses more than those mock-sash windows. Either do it right or go completely different, don't do pastiche.

The house was about two feet from a busy rural road - absolute nightmare on a lot of fronts.

The only thing left by the end was the look of it from the outside (bar the windows) but you spend most of your life living IN a house looking out so that's a bit wasted.

There were more things that occurred to me when watching last night, but it was VERY late and I've forgotten now.

I'm sure that given the problems in the house when they bought it there was little scope for doing much else to it - but if that was my dilemma I think I'd honestly prefer to just demolish it, and think up a different dream house, better situated in the plot. And that's from a die-hard fan of old houses.

Galwayguy35

That's the problems with these old houses, they were built for a different time and the structure doesn't suit what many people are looking for from a house today.

I was left and old house like this myself but the cost of doing it up would have cost more than building a new one (which I ended up doing for less) and like the one in the programme it was built beside the road.

I knocked it and used the stone to built the walls around my new house.

kdevitt

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

My main gripe would be with it being so close to the road, if the budget allowed when when they hit the stage where the new roof was needed I'd have demolished and built it fresh about 30-40 foot back from the road, no idea how much extra that would have cost and perhaps it's a listed building so this option wouldn't be available?

I was interested in that property when it was advertised - being so close to the road was a major negative, as well as the halting site a hundred yards up the road.

Thought the finished result was lovely, but would have been fairly depressing having to spend so much money just to get a sound shell.

syklops

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

They must have well paid jobs, 355 to buy it and 205 to do it up.

Thats what annoys me with most property-based TV programs. From Room to Improve, to Locationx3, and especially to Cowboy Builders. It nearly always involves the couples spending an absolute fortune somewhere along the way, sometimes for little substance. I always wonder how they saved/earned the sum when they seem sometimes clueless about smart spending of money.

Cowboy builders is the worst.

"Mary Smith paid 55,000 on a kitchen extension and a sunroom to Butch Sundance Builders Inc. Did you just pay a deposit or the full whack up front?"
Mary: I paid in full
"And did you check his references?"
Mary: No, he seemed very nice.
"And when did you suspect the job wasnt going well?"
Mary: Well when the roof of the house fell off, I began to think it wasn't going well. Then after he got my daughter pregnant, I was beginning to get worried. Then he took another 5k to convert the sunroom into a nursery for my grandchild, which remains unfinished. The roof blew away during the storm over christmas and now Im sleeping underneath the kitchen table. I've decided enough is enough. Only one or two more chances for him, and then I'll get someone else..

elastico

I'd say the Guinness bit was just a yarn, its well away from the canal and no evidence of any canal side warehousing or mooring quays etc. Sounds like some spiel an estate agent just stuck in.

Eyepatch

I understood almost everything for the fix in Cowboy Builders was donated by local businesses.

Was just thinking there are far worse shows of his type on cable channels. Some of them are totally irritating and don't teach much either.

Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kys_9xhf69A

I had to stop watching that - it became so predictable and irritating.

syklops

Eyepatch wrote: »

I understood almost everything for the fix in Cowboy Builders was donated by local businesses.

The production team fronts some of the cash for the labour and they beg borrow and steal materials. I always think they are missing an incentive for those who donate stuff by not running a ticker along the bottom of the screen "advertising" the companies who donate. Half the time they dont even name the company.

Eyepatch wrote: »

Was just thinking there are far worse shows of his type on cable channels. Some of them are totally irritating and don't teach much either.

Example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kys_9xhf69A

I had to stop watching that - it became so predictable and irritating.

Well American TV styles for this kind of programme are often predictable and irritating. I enjoy Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares, but the American series gets irritating very quickly. Not helped by the 5 or 6 ad breaks in an episode, with a recap of whats happened each time. Every single episode is "His biggest challenge yet!"

Red Kev

elastico wrote: »

I'd say the Guinness bit was just a yarn, its well away from the canal and no evidence of any canal side warehousing or mooring quays etc. Sounds like some spiel an estate agent just stuck in.

I didn't hear that bit. Carton House was owned by the Duke of Leinster (former owner of Leinster House) and he had a private harbour on the canal. It's about 1 km to the east of the house on the show at the entrance to Carton House.

https://www.google.ie/maps/dir/53.3783348,-6.5548921/53.3809335,-6.5711093/@53.3779503,-6.5628786,1094m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e2

The Guinness family were based in Celbridge, though he had a brewery in Leixlip as well at one point. Not sure what the direct connection to the house was.

threetrees

elastico wrote: »

I'd say the Guinness bit was just a yarn, its well away from the canal and no evidence of any canal side warehousing or mooring quays etc. Sounds like some spiel an estate agent just stuck in.

The canal is about 100m from the back of the house. The house itself was probably on Carton land back then, its just across the road now.

Pretzill

I agree with the other poster who said they found this episode depressing. The house being located so close to the road would put me off - but in the opening scenes it was a stunning looking house - from the front (I presume it backed onto the road because of the large door there)

It was awful to see it being pulled apart and to see it's character go with it. I also thought the windows looked awful.

But I suppose when you live in it it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside - And in the end it was nicely styled (mezzanine apart - too narrow)

It also looked like the couple were getting exasperated by the process. The girl wanted a large open fireplace and they made it sound like such a complicated thing. But could they not have built a lovely wide fireplace and just put the stove in it? So impractical having a stove sticking out there - the dust - the ash (that just annoyed me)

Fun to watch though - but I get a more covetous fix watching Grand Designs!