Room to Improve.

sydthebeat

Thoie wrote: »

I can't figure out if it's off centre, or if the vent above it is just giving that impression. I think the little vent is off centre - -if I cover the vent with my thumb it looks more centred. The shot they showed of it is also taken from the right, not dead on, so that's misleading as well.

On mature reflection, I think it's centred.

Just thinking back in it now, if the wall separating the double height from the attic space is running right along the ridge line, which I think it is. ... the the window has to be slightly off centre when viewed from outside. But completely perfect when viewed from inside as the rhs of the window meets the wall

malibu4u

Lisha wrote: »

The double height ceilings are gorgeous but simply impossible to heat

Wonder if this is so? It would be great to get the owners - or someone who has a similar house with similar double height ceiling - to give an honest opinion on if they would go for double height again or not? It look great on a nice warm daylight day when Dermot comes, but what about trying to heat it on a windy January evening?

Nice view, but I wonder are all those fancy doors opening directly to the outside ( without a porch or anything ) fully airtight / windproof, as the wind blows up from those fields?

I may have missed it on the programme, but did they put much new insulation in to the house? The walls are still the same, no external insulation or anything? Wonder what the new energy rating is.

Also wonder about the sq ft of the house. If it cost 160k, and arch fees / qty surveyor fees say normally another 18k (I guess in this instance the professional fees would probably be paid by the programme makers as its for tv )...would they in the country not have been able to build a fine new single storey dwelling from scratch, complete with radon gas barrier etc, for 180k or not much more? I think (as someone else said ) having the bottom part of exterior walls plastered and the top part brick does not look right, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Incidentally the inside of the house looks very well, I'd love to live in it myself. Lots of light which is lovely. The walls on a lot of Dermots tend to be white- it seems well. If the kitchen / dining walls were coloured it would not work nearly as well? I missed a few minutes of the programme, winder if the sitting room was white as well? and would it seem a bit sterile if sitting in, like a dentists waiting room? Wonder with all the glass would it be a bit glarey or warm like a glasshouse on a really sunny day.

Overall great design and programme.

somesoldiers

Eyepatch wrote: »

I'd have a pizza oven in place of that fireplace! I think they were a bit hard on Larry. He's just a guy that does not have the ability to visualize something in advance. He even mentioned that if the window was put in, then he would have an opinion. Lovely guy!
I enjoyed the show.

We will be building a house later this year and I can guarantee I will be the same as Larry when it comes to door knobs, windows etc, leave it to the mrs.

Eyepatch

sydthebeat wrote: »

Just thinking back in it now, if the wall separating the double height from the attic space is running right along the ridge line, which I think it is. ... the the window has to be slightly off centre when viewed from outside. But completely perfect when viewed from inside as the rhs of the window meets the wall

I think you are wrong there, sydthebeat. I looked at it again this morning. The window is centred under the roof ridge. The wall on the inside is over to one side - not directly under the ridge.

I think Dermot has excelled himself with the changes (improvements) he has made to this house. It's true what he says - "This country has thousands of similar bungalows, built iin the sixties, that ignore the surrounding landscape." [Words to that effect!]

Every good wish to Larry and his family for their happiness in the future.

Lisha

malibu4u wrote: »

Wonder if this is so? It would be great to get the owners - or someone who has a similar house with similar double height ceiling - to give an honest opinion on if they would go for double height again or not? It look great on a nice warm daylight day when Dermot comes, but what about trying to heat it on a windy January evening?

Nice view, but I wonder are all those fancy doors opening directly to the outside ( without a porch or anything ) fully airtight / windproof, as the wind blows up from those fields?

I may have missed it on the programme, but did they put much new insulation in to the house? The walls are still the same, no external insulation or anything? Wonder what the new energy rating is.

Also wonder about the sq ft of the

Friends of mine have a gorgeous house and the hallway is double height void with stairs and upstairs . She said recently that by night they've to keep doors closed down stairs and keep all upstairs doors closed too as void sucks out all heat. Now she has traditional oil fired rads hearing house. I wonder woukd a void type building be better in a heating system like underfloor or air to heat type system where all house in always at same temp?

Sunny Dayz

Thought the house came out really well in the end. It made a change this week not to have mad extensions to the building but to mainly work within the original 4 walls and the roof. Strange one but I loved the window at the end of the hall, it just brought so much light into the area. I didn't like the sofa, like someone else said - white sofa in a farm house! Would not have lasted a week in our home place when Dad comes in from the fields for tea. Loved the boot room.

pooch90

I want their builders!

highly1111

Just to clarify I think they definitely went for that sofa but it was a grey colour that they got the fabric in. Like most of you I was screaming no to the white sofa so made a point to check at the end. It was definitely grey.

Galwayguy35

I can understand leaving the wellies in the room before going into rest of the the house but putting a shower in beside it is a new one on me.

I'm from a farming backround and unless he was rolling around in the muck he couldn't be that bad.

Radio5

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

I can understand leaving the wellies in the room before going into rest of the the house but putting a shower in beside it is a new one on me.

I'm from a farming backround and unless he was rolling around in the muck he couldn't be that bad.

Not that unusual at all. Lots of houses I've been to have shower rooms downstairs, sometimes as part of the utility room or as a add on to a downstairs bedroom, so it is just a variation of that.

Farming especially dairy farming, calving/harvest time is still hard physical work so you don't need to be covered in muck to feel like having a shower.

I liked the finished version of the house. It was so dark and dreary, can't imagine how you would face things north in a house when you had a choice like there was in that house.

dee_mc

Love that house
It really suits the couple too. The outside area in particular is so inviting, and the boot room and shower area are a great practical addition without using up lots of space.
One of my favourite projects so far.

Eyepatch

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

I can understand leaving the wellies in the room before going into rest of the the house but putting a shower in beside it is a new one on me.

I'm from a farming backround and unless he was rolling around in the muck he couldn't be that bad.

My brother has a farm and they have recently put in a downstairs shower next to the toilet.

pjordan

malibu4u wrote: »

Wonder if this is so? It would be great to get the owners - or someone who has a similar house with similar double height ceiling - to give an honest opinion on if they would go for double height again or not? It look great on a nice warm daylight day when Dermot comes, but what about trying to heat it on a windy January evening?

Nice view, but I wonder are all those fancy doors opening directly to the outside ( without a porch or anything ) fully airtight / windproof, as the wind blows up from those fields?

I may have missed it on the programme, but did they put much new insulation in to the house? The walls are still the same, no external insulation or anything? Wonder what the new energy rating is.

Also wonder about the sq ft of the house. If it cost 160k, and arch fees / qty surveyor fees say normally another 18k (I guess in this instance the professional fees would probably be paid by the programme makers as its for tv )...would they in the country not have been able to build a fine new single storey dwelling from scratch, complete with radon gas barrier etc, for 180k or not much more? I think (as someone else said ) having the bottom part of exterior walls plastered and the top part brick does not look right, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Incidentally the inside of the house looks very well, I'd love to live in it myself. Lots of light which is lovely. The walls on a lot of Dermots tend to be white- it seems well. If the kitchen / dining walls were coloured it would not work nearly as well? I missed a few minutes of the programme, winder if the sitting room was white as well? and would it seem a bit sterile if sitting in, like a dentists waiting room? Wonder with all the glass would it be a bit glarey or warm like a glasshouse on a really sunny day.

Overall great design and programme.

Our kitchen/living room is double height. Might be familar to some of ye from last year;).

We spec'ed up to Triple glazing for the patio doors and roof light. The walls and ceiling is also top spec to BER grade A which included both internal Kingspan insulation on walls (supplemented by beaded cavity insulation) and underneath underfloor and also on ceilings.

The upshot is that the room retains heat excellently well and additionally the solar gain from the glazed areas means that on a Sunny day even in November or March, the room is very comfortable without any heating at all. We do put on the underfloor heating for an hour or two a day between Nov and March, but on many days between May and October we've been able (or found it necessary) to comfortably leave the patio door ajar.

Personally I'm inclined to think the Irish aversion to high ceilings, with the calculated traditional (i.e old wives tale) logic that ya lose loads of heat is both a subliminal colonial envy throwback railing against all those Anglo Irish landed gentry mansions with high ceilings which our ancestors with minimal headroom under the thatch scoffed at in their efforts to keep them high rooms heated. That combined with the harsh reality that even up to 5-10 years ago the insulation on most Irish houses was crap, constituting at best the bare minimal required and therefore aimed at a half hearted, ultimately doomed, attempt to minimise heat loss as opposed to prevent it completely.

HeidiHeidi

Just catching up on this now.

passremarkable wrote: »

Larry just has no interest

This

amdublin wrote: »

Um I don't like the half render/half brick

This

Quazzie wrote: »

Why did they not render the top of the gable.

Ewwww.

This

amdublin wrote: »

That oven JARS for me.

And this

Lisha wrote: »

Yup that really lets house down there's loads of old red brick not rendered

And this

Quazzie wrote: »

Where was the nice grey colour they were looking at for the kitchen.

Plain and boring white.

Definitely this

Bobsammy wrote: »

Wouldn't be all that fussed on the finished product although I love the terrace. Didn't think much of the kitchen, really didn't like the range!

Loved the interior of the house - although they didn't show any of the bedrooms bar a brief glimpse of the master.

Kitchen was a bit meh. Definitely agree with Dermot's view that the range dominated things where it was situated - if it was a traditional Aga, maybe, but that stainless steeel thing didn't appeal at all and I think just stuck out like a sore thumb.

Couldn't believe how much light was introduced into the house compared to the original. An absolute triumph from that point of view.

BUT. On that point - why were the big picture windows divided up into four frames? Unless it was a structural issue, I'd have been putting huge plain plate glass into those - that view was to die for, and the vertical frames just screamed at me.

Absolute stars of the whole show has to have been the dogs though - the Rottweiler wasn't long getting his head (nose) around the new sliding windows

At one point Dermot was getting dangerously close to stamping his foot and shouting "but it's all about ME". Elaine was well able for him though!

Thoie

pjordan wrote: »

Our kitchen/living room is double height. Might be familar to some of ye from last year;).

Thing is, ye deliberately planned and paid extra for triple glazing, the best insulation, etc. etc. If Fred in the next house down from yours did exactly the same design, but with the "normal" amount of insulation, double glazing, his place may not be half as easy to keep heated.

Someone buying the house 10 years down the line may be able to see the triple glazing, but can't tell that your insulation is twice as good as Fred's.

The simple fact is that hot air rises, so if you have a double height space it will require more or less double the energy to heat. In your case, a lot of that energy is coming from the sun.

I don't think the double height aversion is begrudgery. As you said, up until a few years ago, we didn't have the technologies we have now, so many of those places were just cold. Even with the newer technologies, I've yet to meet an Irish builder who can be arsed doing a proper job on stuff. I'm sure they're out there, I've just not met them.

Most that I seem to run into only do half arsed jobs on the hidden pieces - precisely like insulation. If they run a bit short near the top, instead of climbing down the ladder, cutting a small piece to fit, they'll just leave the gap. I saw a guy using expanding foam to "fix" a hole in a bit of plasterboard.

jos28

Anyone on board this evening ?

JONJO THE MISER

He is not there son

BabysCoffee

This couple are great!

somesoldiers

Anne & Barry...I was a Maura & Sean kid myself

Thargor

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

He is not there son

Thats what I came in here to ask, whats the story there?

Lady Chatterton

What an amazing couple! It's wonderful what they're doing for Michael.

jos28

Gorgeous little boy and such a lovely couple. Hope Dermo doesn't paint everything white. I like the vibrant colours they have

RayM

HeidiHeidi

How do you make a socialising house while making the only sitting room into a bedroom

JONJO THE MISER

Very odd, where are his real folks.
Surely you cant walk in to some home and take a child for the weekend.

somesoldiers

Wow that is a real nice thing to do

amdublin

Just switched on. What age is this cute little boy?

HeidiHeidi

I smell a courtyard coming on......

HeidiHeidi

amdublin wrote: »

Just switched on. What age is this cute little boy?

12!

Quazzie

What's the story with the kid. Do they foster him or what's their association with him?