Room to Improve.

Humour Me

There was a lot of yelling at the TV during the first airing of this episode. Poor mammy asked for her part of the house to be next to the church and ended up the other side of the house. The only thing she asked for when her son was moving in with his family.

tampopo

No way!!!
I joined halfway through. I saw the bit where she decided to brick up the windows of the bedroom. Missed the bit with the church.

Dtp1979

If memory serves me correctly yer
one was a proper ball breaker

poor farmer

Dtp1979 wrote: »

If memory serves me correctly yer
one was a proper ball breaker

+1 A real weapon ,He seemed pretty harmless.

Radio5

Interesting repeat last night. Hadn't seen it before. 100 yr old red brick semi-d in Drogheda.


Dermot and the concrete wall obsession..... very strange!

blindside88

Radio5 wrote: »

Interesting repeat last night. Hadn't seen it before. 100 yr old red brick semi-d in Drogheda.


Dermot and the concrete wall obsession..... very strange!

It didn't look too bad in the end but not near as nice as what he showed them. Also the issue with the windows!!! Either change both of the small ones or neither of them

FrancieBrady

blindside88 wrote: »

It didn't look too bad in the end but not near as nice as what he showed them. Also the issue with the windows!!! Either change both of the small ones or neither of them

The compromise looked awful, Dermot fully correct IMO. Love the way the show shows how people will stick rigidly to petty things to feel empowered in some way, even if it is cutting off nose to spite face. I come across that all the time. The client wasn't prepared to tell girlfriend she was wrong.

amdublin

Love the way this program shows how people want an architect designed house. Hire an architect. Pay him/her. And then don't listen to them. So strange!

Thoie

amdublin wrote: »

Love the way this program shows how people want an architect designed house. Hire an architect. Pay him/her. And then don't listen to them. So strange!

Yes and no. I'd like an architect to design my mythical new house, but I'd have some specific requirements. If I ask for a 4 bed house, I don't want them to design a 3 bed. If I say that I have a specific reason for wanting a north facing master bedroom, then I expect it to be north facing. I don't want a double height entryway, no matter how impressive it is, and if we're having floor to ceiling glass, I want to have some way to put curtains on it. I understand that the lines may be cleaner if glass meets glass, but I don't want to live in a goldfish bowl

Penn

The issue is this is TV, and if something ends up looking stupid because of a client's decision, it looks bad for Dermot.

Same with issues like the concrete wall in the Drogheda one, because it's a TV show, Dermot has to try and have something unique or interesting in each episode, whether it's through unique design or materials. As the extension design itself was fairly standard, he had to push for a unique material to make it stand out.

Most architects and other such professionals aren't like that and don't push things like that if the client doesn't want them. But because it's TV, he has to due to drama/uniqueness/interest.

JustTheOne

Concrete wall was ridiculous.

For the fuss it wasn't worth it and the client clearly didn't like it in the end but they will never show them saying that of course.

georgewickstaff

No back episodes available on RTE player. Are they available anywhere else?

thanks

amdublin

georgewickstaff wrote: »

No back episodes available on RTE player. Are they available anywhere else?

thanks

There was a repeat on last night!

Fiskar

Bannon might not be back!

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-whose-south-dublin-home-featured-on-room-to-improve-settles-damages-case-against-show-over-100k-revamp-34978933.html

I mean he has no credibility now, has he? Would you hire him? Me, no.

godtabh

Fiskar wrote: »

Bannon might not be back!

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-whose-south-dublin-home-featured-on-room-to-improve-settles-damages-case-against-show-over-100k-revamp-34978933.html

I mean he has no credibility now, has he? Would you hire him? Me, no.

He is very poor imo. I wouldnt trust him. Any idea what the issues were?

Fiskar

godtabh wrote: »

He is very poor imo. I wouldnt trust him. Any idea what the issues were?

Would appear to be this episode. http://www.rte.ie/tv/roomtoimprove/s3ep5.html

Obviously what he left her with was not the client requested.

In fairness, he made an error with the plans, but most architects and builders have litigation or litigious threats against them, just like doctors. Next time you see some consultant nearing retirement, bear in mind that he's probably been sued at some point.

There's a big difference between inadvertence and incompetence. We all make mistakes, and he admitted it from the outset. It's not the end of the world.

sydthebeat

... and with the irish litigation system of "concurrent wrongdoers" its not all unusual to have as many defendants as possible named in a lawsuit.

we have a "last man standing" or "1% rule" system whereby even if a defendant is only determined to be 1% responsible, they may be culpable for 100% of damages if all other defendants are incapable of paying. This is why many building contacting businesses simply fold, claim the business no longer exists in court, and reappear under a different name in the future. But professionals who offer services can be put out of business by such actions.. as often the are the "last man standing" with insurance so are caught for the damages.

recipio

With every episode there seems to be an error, or Dermot 'can't be contacted'. I wonder if there is an element of 'showbusiness' about this - as an Architect does he not take pride in his work ?

tringle

Just looking at the photos and it looks fantastic, have we any idea of the remedial works and repairs she needs carried out or does she just not like it and want her money back. I'd still have him do our house, I'd just make sure he clearly knows what I want.

Sunny Dayz

Was wondering that too. The article I read just said repair and remedial works, it didn't state what was actually wrong with it.

recipio

Wasn't that the episode about a steel beam being in the way. The old joke about it being an ' element' went on a bit.

sydthebeat

tringle wrote: »

Just looking at the photos and it looks fantastic, have we any idea of the remedial works and repairs she needs carried out or does she just not like it and want her money back. I'd still have him do our house, I'd just make sure he clearly knows what I want.

im not 100% sure, but i think that was the project where the raft foundation dimensions provided by dermots office were WAY out .... so when the timber frame arrived they discovered the raft was wrong so they had to pull it out and do it again.....

i could be wrong though ....

edit: im probably completely wrong because theres no mention of a timber frame company on the rte site

edit 2: maybe not completely wrong
http://www.kildarenow.com/news/rathcoole-resident-awarded-e100k-after-botched-job-by-dermot-bannon-on-rte-show-room-to-improve/112736

Mary Moore, who owns a house in Rathcoole that featured on the popular RTÉ show, took a case to the High Court after it was revealed that Bannon made some crucial measurement errors during the initial phases of the reconstruction work on Ms Moore's home.

The Rathcoole homeowner sought help from the architect as she wished to reduce the level of noise coming from the nearby N7 road, but he admitted on the programme that he was apprehensive about the job on the house after making some measurement errors on his first visit.

She was forced to carry out remedial work on her home following the botched job, and she took a damages case against Bannon, Kelly O'Connell Developments Ltd and Coco Television Productions Ltd.

trixychic

To be honest I have often heard him say "I really want this in the house"... but I'm like its not your house!!!

I hope that the series continues with someone else!!!

Quazzie

trixychic wrote: »

To be honest I have often heard him say "I really want this in the house"... but I'm like its not your house!!!

I hope that the series continues with someone else!!!

The people employ him because he is a trained professional to design, and then build the house to his chosen design. They hire him because he is good at his job and they should either let him do it, or hire someone else.

You wouldn't walk into a garage to buy a car then try convince the salesman to change the shape of the windows before you take the car would you?

Thoie

Quazzie wrote: »

The people employ him because he is a trained professional to design, and then build the house to his chosen design. They hire him because he is good at his job and they should either let him do it, or hire someone else.

You wouldn't walk into a garage to buy a car then try convince the salesman to change the shape of the windows before you take the car would you?

No, but if I walked into the garage and said I wanted a 5 door hatchback, I wouldn't expect the salesman to keep bringing out 2 door coupés for me - particularly not multiple times. I can accept he'd suggest it once to chance his arm.

Radio5

Hadn't seen all of last nights episode when it was first on, so watched it in full last night. Like a lot of old houses it was a real money pit.

By my sums that couple spent over 500,000 in the space of a few years, 355,000.00 to buy the place and Patricia mentioned 205,000.00 as the total cost of the work by the end.

mickdw

I think there was value there is that construction cost.
They took a pretty large house from bare stone wall and no roof to a high standard of finish for not alot of money. I would have estimated that to be nearer 300.
The purchase price is another matter.

Radio5

Yes indeed, just making the point that for a young couple they have had a lot of outlay (a lot of it unforseen) and one presumes a hefty mortgage to pay into the future ....

trixychic

Thoie wrote: »

No, but if I walked into the garage and said I wanted a 5 door hatchback, I wouldn't expect the salesman to keep bringing out 2 door coupés for me - particularly not multiple times. I can accept he'd suggest it once to chance his arm.

Exactly. He can't just stop himself. They take his advice on board but sometimes he just keeps pushing over furniture or a kitchen layout. Things that areonly his preference.