Watched the cliff top house last night. I liked the look of the finished article, probably because it looked like a WW2 RAF dipersal pen. The location was stunning but I couldn't cope with the weather myself, however that was their choice.
Liked the couple too. My Missus would have said exactly the same thing about the boulders.
If that wrong batch of concrete had set before they could remedy it what would they have done?
Shame about the dog.
If that wrong batch of concrete had set before they could remedy it what would they have done?
Wondered that, and thought (from the comfort of my sofa) that I'd be getting the concrete contractors to dig it out and replace it at their expense...
I genuinely don't get the need to pour concrete ?? especially for rectangular boxes which are then covered by something like stud and plaster, surely it would be better to either use those prefab wooden walls that you join together or just block. The cliff top house would have been fine with block, although I did like it.
the round one left me completely underwhelmed, I'd have been a bit more discerning with the choice of architect if it were me.
Just caught up in the cylindrical buildings one.
Not my taste, but he got an awful lot for his £1.2m: Star Trek sinks, silver settees, swimming pool and karaoke room. All that in 13 months! They clearly loved it and you have to admire the guy’s work ethic.
I suppose that the cladding will silver over time and the grounds will become more established to soften it a bit
I can see how he got into a spot of bother with his cladders, they were hired on a firm hand shake and “my word is my bond” basis, but the timber frame erectors were not. If he had broken his deal with the cladders it would have damaged his reputation and cost them money, but he was clearly a guy who wouldn’t do that. I liked him even more for that.
The place reminded me of cross between the visitors centre at Jurassic Park and bulk chemical storage, but it was their house and they got what they wanted.
Is there some sort of product placement deal going on?
There was a lot to be taken aback by in this weeks episode but the beauty shots of Kevin arriving in his car and lingering on it being parked pefectly in profile were a bit odd.
^ I said exactly the same to the missus!
This week's nutter has built a smaller house to fund his massive lighthouse...
Edit: £1.2 million on the foundations!
Wow. Brutal.
Wow. That was some episode
Brutal indeed.
Hmm, no house/money/wife by the end. Not worth it.
Wow. Brutal.
Indeed, we’ve noticed Kev has gone from fertility guru to harbinger of doom this series.
Can’t help but feel that the 250k plus spent on professional fees have set him up for an almighty fall/money pit, esp when the architect was talking about the wonderfulness of a double curved wall, while the client was haemorrhaging money
Yep, quite depressing, that one.
He was just never wealthy enough to afford the build.
Questions about who would who would lend him money.
The one storey house is actually really nice and much more sympathetic to the site
Bonkers.
The one storey house is actually really nice and much more sympathetic to the site
And could be built without knocking down the family home that was already there (in an amazing spot).
Yep, what an episode! Surprised he got planning permission in the first place. Ended up feeling sorry for the guy...aimed high but its cost him dear
Seemed to me like he was trying to build the architects dream house with other people’s money.
Anyone with sense would have throttled the design back when the big bill for the groundwork’s came in. Instead he “had” to build it, he had “no choice”.
****ing dickhead
We passed that house every day on our summer holidays this year and did wonder what the story behind it was. As above, I'm amazed it ever got planning permission. It's bloody enormous.
Yep, I blame the architect, and tbh it didn't even look that nice (nor did the little house).
Feel sorry for the guy, wife gone, kids grown up so will never use the house as he hoped and he's left with a half built house that looks a bit shit and is never going to be worth what it's cost.
This is assuming it does get finished.... Which I'd say is in doubt.
But it's his fault at the end of the day as he went into it with no idea of the actual build costs.
I'm not even sure it's that good a location either.
I don’t understand the impetus to build hotel sized private homes anyway.
But it’s his fault at the end of the day as he went into it with no idea of the actual build costs.
The people he paid for advice should carry some of the responsibility, rather than just seeing £££ signs and encouraging him. I wonder if his ‘I have to finish it’ attitude came from listening to them all the time.
kelvin
Subscriber
I don’t understand the impetus to build hotel sized private homes anyway.
I'm a bit bored of the GD format now tbh. I watch the start then FF two thirds of the way through and watch an incredibly quick build with non of the issues such as bankruptcy, illness or new children.
The architect should have been more realistic and take some blame. That's part of the role of professional advice to stop the client going like a kid in a sweet shop.
Not up to speed yet, but I have caught up with Reservoir House and the one after that looked like a golf driving range with a tree in the middle of it.
I think that Kev is some sort of pre Old Testament God. In happier times everyone got pregnant yet now everyone gets seriously ill, divorced or financially ruined.
Next week's house will be consumed by moths.
watch an incredibly quick build with non of the issues such as bankruptcy, illness or new children
The issues are the best bits, since they normally end up with an identikit minimalist modern house block on the side of a hill.
You have to predict how bad the weather will be, what % they will be over budget, how little they will have done after six months, how much of the cladding the poor bloke will end up fitting himself and at what moment they will all get pregnanted/divorced.
He seemed to be intent on spending as much money as possible. Unfortunately he didn't have enough.
What's that about knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing?
I think that Kev is some sort of pre Old Testament God. In happier times everyone got pregnant yet now everyone gets ...financially ruined.
Is that the people who have invested with Kev and his building scheme?
Perhaps living in the bubble of the music industry had some bearing on his attitude?
Not seen the episode, but I have found the house on Street View.
It looks like an unfinished section of The Atlantic Wall from June 7th 1944.
Is that the people who have invested with Kev and his building scheme?
One way or the other, when Kev is in town someone is going to get ****ed.
Exactly Harry.... both houses look like gun emplacements:
The 'lighthouse'??
He was beaten to it by Hitler:
I fell asleep watching it last night. So the guy ended up divorced, alone and broke? Or has it all worked out in the end? I was amazed by the figures he was talking about spending on that place and the location was just stupid.
As someone who is battling to just get planning to convern a barn into a modest 110sqm 3 bed family home how did he get planning for that on the side of the cliff, let alone the second house?
There was already a big ugly house there, which they pulled down to replace with these ones (which if completed would have looked better).
Talk about getting sucked into something....
That build was always going to go way over budget. Geology and weather can be a swine. A salutary lesson to anyone building their own home.
Also ahem how much of the budget went on planning permissions?
£250k in fees and no QS? Surely at some point you think 'this is getting expensive, time to lose a floor and the swimming pool'? You don't just keep increasing the budget and hope for the best.
The architect was unbearable.
since 1999, 20 series, 200 episodes and the people on it seem to not actually watch grand designs.
Why did he not have alarm bells in 2008/2009 when the global crash hit.. hedge fund investments for a personal dwelling?? why did he not have any inkling about the groundworks ?
divorces are replacing extra children it would seem...
Also ahem how much of the budget went on planning permissions?
That probably wasn't too difficult seeing as there was already a house on the plot. But they obviously just pulled numbers out of the air when estimating the groundworks cost - there's a big difference between 4 weeks and 6 months to complete the works (plus the specialised breaker thing that he would have had to buy).
So the bedrock they had to move wasn't hard enough to build on, but was hard enough to be an utter PITA to remove. The company that did that work must have been laughing all the way to the bank!
He really is screwed - the idea that the front of the house was built on piles that would be exposed when the soft sandstone was eroded is ridiculous. And that's before we start talking about the driveway!
The driveway part of the project might as well have been a monorail.
quick build with non of the issues such as bankruptcy, illness or new children.
Indeed, i've had enough of the 'problems' now, it seems to be more about the issues than it does the actual builds. I've peaked and i'm out.
I don't understand why architects seem incapable of designing a house that can be built gir the budget their client actually has. Surely the whole point of an architect us to design something you can afford to build
Kelvin is right, there was a big ugly house there before, although almost invisible from the road and not even too obtrusive from the sea.
I used to live in a flat on the back of aforementioned house and it is an amazing spot, I could walk down some stairs onto a small beach and paddle out to the point on my surfboard.
The front half of the house was lovely inside with incredible views - but I basically had no views and had to walk outside to check the surf. Terrible.
It is such a shame that the absolute mess of a site is left in that location and the locals are rightly angry about it.
Hmm. I used to know Alan really well.
That was a car crash though wasn’t it?
There may have been an "ugly house" there before, but it is a prominent location and very visible from across Croyde Bay. Completely out of context and scale and should never have been permitted. IMHO.
I was quite gratified by last night's fiasco.
I am sick of unrealistic dreamers spending other people's money with abandon. There's rarely any payback, never any foreclosure, no risk, no jeopardy.
Last night there was a flash of reality that cockeyed schemes that have no real plan can fall on their faces. To the accompaniment of a few sardonic comments from Kev
I thought the old house needed a new kitchen and a lick of paint and would have done nearly everyone else in the world very nicely.
I thought the old house needed a new kitchen and a lick of paint and would have done nearly everyone else in the world very nicely.
Thats what I thought. Or £50k on a remodel and some picture windows then live in it. Or a £200k 'big' job and it would be a great house in a great location. Done in 6 months and no debt
