Room to Improve.

Addle

smelly sock wrote: »

Why not?

You’ll just spend most of your budget on their fee.

smelly sock

Addle wrote: »

You’ll just spend most of your budget on their fee.

Depends what you are looking for really.

Addle

smelly sock wrote: »

Depends what you are looking for really.

You’re not looking for Dermot anyways.

smelly sock

Addle wrote: »

You’re not looking for Dermot anyways.

Correct. Im not a narcissist.

Idbatterim

Juan Dead Handshake wrote: »

But is it not fair to say that RTE show enough of misery and try to guilt us into feeling at fault for all the woes of the country. I used to listen to Morning Ireland in the mornings on the way to work but got so sick of the hand wringing about migrants, homeless, water charges etc. that I now listen to podcasts. It was actually bringing down my mood.

totally agree. totally sick of it! Mostly the shower who bleed this country dry too! Dont want to pay for anything, experts in every field! The irish media bend over backwards for them too :rolleyes: best thing I've done is switch off from the nonsense!

em_cat

Addle wrote: »

No point going to any architect with €50k.

No kidding, why not? It’s a professional service. Although some Architects will agree a fixed fee, generally it’s 8-10% of the build cost for domestic work.

smelly sock

Again it all depends on spec and finish including a multitude of other factors. Access, location site, existing struture etc.

Calhoun

smelly sock wrote: »

Ive no issue. More power to them. But is National TV the right place for this kinda thing. What with a homeless crisis etc. I said it here before and got a lot of stick. These people appearing on the show can obviously afford Architect fees what with their huge budgets so why do they feel the need to go on the national broadcaster? Is there an element of narcissism?

It's national television, what kind of programs should be on it ?

Shouldn't national television represent people of all types, I think we have enough poverty porn as is.

smelly sock

Calhoun wrote: »

It's national television, what kind of programs should be on it ?

Shouldn't national television represent people of all types, I think we have enough poverty porn as is.

We do have enough of that too. But any need for the narcissism?

Addle

It’s not necessarily narcissism.
The O’Donnells went on the show, with their relatively modest home, because they thought tradesmen would be more reliable when on camera.

Calhoun

smelly sock wrote: »

We do have enough of that too. But any need for the narcissism?

It's an entertainment program , if we start questioning things like that we may as well go back to a bare bones national broadcast keeping to more serious topics.

There was a program on lastnight about problem teenagers being sent down the country to live with another family to try and teach them to appreciate what they have. Seem to be a combined pity party with how not to be a bad parent rolled into one.

I don't like it so I just don't watch it.

Sunny Dayz

I enjoyed the episode - I thought they were a lovely couple, they were nice and worked well together. They seemed so excited about the project and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Fair play to them, they appear to have worked hard for it. It did feel at times to me that they won the lotto or something, the way they weren't worrying about the finance part of things and couldn't spend it quick enough. I quite liked the kitchen but I didn't like the gold sink, I thought it looked a bit gaudy IMO. One thing I was a bit surprised at was they didn't have like a cinema room or something. I get the open plan aspect and they seem to be a very sociable family. But he said he liked his tv and I thought a tv or cinema room would be included - how can he watch tv in peace if someone is cooking in the kitchen, the kids have friends over and someone is playing pool?
Did anyone else find that there was a chunk of the program missing? I was distracted by people at home but they showed very little of the actual build - foundations, bike shed, where the kitchen was going - bam! house is done!

Sleepy

For all the whinging about it, Room to Improve is one of the highest rated shows on RTE. It's about the only bit of content they currently show that we watch in our house. I actually found it amusing after RTE's recent whinging about their finances that they showed a "funded by the license fee" message at the end of the show.

turbbo

RTI is not made by RTE is it? - It could easily move to Netflix? - maybe the moaners would have their way and eventually the homeless can pay the TV licence and everybody else will watch Netflix.

Sleepy

Made by CoCo television.

Radio5

What interests me in many of these houses is they are designed without an eye to a future where one or more of the occupants may have mobility issues or an older person with such issues may come to live there. I don't see many downstairs bedrooms with en-suites being included (or rooms that could easily enough be converted for this purpose in due course.) If it's your 'forever home' it might be nice to be able to live in it when you're not too agile or able for steps.

Addle

Have all the houses this season not had downstairs bedrooms?

smelly sock

Sleepy wrote: »

For all the whinging about it, Room to Improve is one of the highest rated shows on RTE. It's about the only bit of content they currently show that we watch in our house. I actually found it amusing after RTE's recent whinging about their finances that they showed a "funded by the license fee" message at the end of the show.

The late late also has huge viewership.

lola85

smelly sock wrote: »

Ive no issue. More power to them. But is National TV the right place for this kinda thing. What with a homeless crisis etc. I said it here before and got a lot of stick. These people appearing on the show can obviously afford Architect fees what with their huge budgets so why do they feel the need to go on the national broadcaster? Is there an element of narcissism?

Ah here,

Maybe we should ban cooking programmes seems there is hungry people in Ireland.

What in God’s name is this country coming too?

blindside88

Enjoyed this episode, seemed like a nice family, work hard for their money so may as well enjoy it. Really liked the stone bath as well

Sleepy

Radio5 wrote: »

What interests me in many of these houses is they are designed without an eye to a future where one or more of the occupants may have mobility issues or an older person with such issues may come to live there. I don't see many downstairs bedrooms with en-suites being included (or rooms that could easily enough be converted for this purpose in due course.) If it's your 'forever home' it might be nice to be able to live in it when you're not too agile or able for steps.

There definitely seems to be two views on this and the "downstairs bedroom for possible future use" certainly seems to be a common feature in most rural one-off builds in Ireland.

For most, however, the dream house is likely far too big for a retired couple or elderly person living alone to manage and maintain. Some certainly like to cling onto such homes and I've noticed many fine houses going to ruin in such hands.

I don't think I'd bother with one if designing my own "dream" house tbh. When the time came that it was too big for me to manage and I needed a downstairs bedroom, I'd be looking at selling up the big house and downsizing to a more manageable sized bungalow / cottage.

Radio5

Sleepy wrote: »

There definitely seems to be two views on this and the "downstairs bedroom for possible future use" certainly seems to be a common feature in most rural one-off builds in Ireland.

For most, however, the dream house is likely far too big for a retired couple or elderly person living alone to manage and maintain. Some certainly like to cling onto such homes and I've noticed many fine houses going to ruin in such hands.

I don't think I'd bother with one if designing my own "dream" house tbh. When the time came that it was too big for me to manage and I needed a downstairs bedroom, I'd be looking at selling up the big house and downsizing to a more manageable sized bungalow / cottage.

I take your point but would say that firstly you do not have to be elderly to have mobility issues. Illness and injury can come at any age. Yes, it does seem like a sensible idea to downsize with age-but in many locations, there may not be too much choice available in what you can downsize to. That's why many stay put in houses that are clearly too large for their needs.

AndrewJRenko

Addle wrote: »

Have all the houses this season not had downstairs bedrooms?

THere's a bit more than that to planning ahead for the future. Downstairs bedrooms, downstairs bathroom/wetroom, reinforced beams or joists to allow for a hoist to be fitted, door widths, level access all the way through, heights of switches and more.

storker

ShamoBuc wrote: »

195k of extras , Jesus

A lot of people seem to be critical of the cost, and while it's true to say that it's none of anyone's business what other people spend, there's another thing to consider. That money didn't just go up in flames, it went into the business accounts of builders, materials providers, whoever made the windows, the kitchen the furniture etc. A lot of that ended up in the the personal accounts of builders, factory workers, hauliers, etc. Those two sculptures probably represented very nice nice (and welcome) sales for the artist(s) who created them, and finally, a pretty big chunk of the money spent ended up in the exchequer.

I see it less as OTT spending and more of a miniature economic stimulus. I don't object to it for the same reason I don't object to Christmas bonuses for OAPs and the unemployed.

Sleepy

Radio5 wrote: »

I take your point but would say that firstly you do not have to be elderly to have mobility issues. Illness and injury can come at any age. Yes, it does seem like a sensible idea to downsize with age-but in many locations, there may not be too much choice available in what you can downsize to. That's why many stay put in houses that are clearly too large for their needs.

Can't argue with either of your points but neither would be strong enough arguments for a downstairs bedroom & bathroom to be "must haves" for me in designing a dream home.

irishguy

On last week's episode Dermot mentioned that they would get a 40k+ grant from the sei, was that a mistake? I couldn't see that level of funding for anything. Should it have been 14k?

HeidiHeidi

irishguy wrote: »

On last week's episode Dermot mentioned that they would get a 40k+ grant from the sei, was that a mistake? I couldn't see that level of funding for anything. Should it have been 14k?

Further to this - didn't the SEAI run out of money for these grants, and got into all sorts of trouble leaving home-improvers high and dry? (Until they climbed down and agreed to deal with people whose applications were already in the pipeline)


Bit misleading to be mentioning these grants if they're no longer available!


I realise the filming happened a while ago so the grants might have been available at the time - but given the stink that was caused, you'd think they'd either edit out the mentions, or clarify the current situation.

Addle

If someone spends money based on whey they’ve watched on an entertainment show without doing their own research, then that’s their own loss.

Wesser

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

irishguy wrote: »

On last week's episode Dermot mentioned that they would get a 40k+ grant from the sei, was that a mistake? I couldn't see that level of funding for anything. Should it have been 14k?

Further to this - didn't the SEAI run out of money for these grants, and got into all sorts of trouble leaving home-improvers high and dry? (Until they climbed down and agreed to deal with people whose applications were already in the pipeline)


Bit misleading to be mentioning these grants if they're no longer available!


I realise the filming happened a while ago so the grants might have been available at the time - but given the stink that was caused, you'd think they'd either edit out the mentions, or clarify the current situation.

the show is not responsible for your house improvement decisions or finances.
why on earth should they edit things like that out!!!!????

smelly sock

Wesser wrote: »

the show is not responsible for your house improvement decisions or finances.
why on earth should they edit things like that out!!!!????

Agreed. The show is not responsible for peoples narcissism. Just promoting it and giving it a platform.