MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Maybe they bought shares in Elastoplast?
I think the swimming pool just about tops it when it comes to form over function.
I think the swimming pool just about tops it when it comes to form over function.
Every nuclear power plant needs a cooling pond.
Shocking. I'm with the haters.
I know all skate/BMX parks look similar but that looked very like one I visited a few times.... Can't remember exactly where it was but North London/Essex border. The bike looked quite similar to my old dp freestyle too (with chain stays coming forward of the seat post). Made me nostalgic
It was certainly the most concete-y of all the concrete GDs. I didn't actually hate the inside as much as I thought I would in the end, but the bare surfaces really sucked the light out of the place, and there wasn't a great many windows to start with. You could see how dark it was when the were filming the final reveal.
It's sort of nice that it exists, but glad I'm not living in it.
Ooh, and looking forward to the return of the King of Cob next week! Although didn't he eventually sell the place, or at least try to?
Tonight’s is one of my all time favourites. How long has it taken so far ?
I agree - looking forward to the finished thing, 7 years later...
amazing build. given they seemed to be out of money, and then he's got divorced, how the he'll has he managed to kit it out with such awesome stuff? that gym must have been several thousand on it's own.
I thought they would be saying he'd had to sell up
Divorce = sale of old family home?
Has Kev given up impregnating the wives and now just flat out stealing them?
New partner = Injection of cash?
Wonder what the new one thinks of the plug socket placement?
First of this current series, Dinton Castle's up for sale £850k, didn't take them long to work out that it's not right for two growing boys then 🤔
Divorce = sale of old family home
Kev sold his old house (which is also cob, and next door to his new place).
He does also do a lot of other cob work around the area, which is one of the reasons it took so long I suppose. But as long as he keeps working then the cash kept coming in. It's a big old place!
On another note....he's also an MTBer, and friends with a few of us on here.
On another note….he’s also an MTBer, and friends with a few of us on here.
Explains the log burner.
But where does he keep his bikes??
But where does he keep his bikes??
In a shed... made of cob.
Stunning end result, but at what cost?
He’d certainly toned up in his new cob gym by the end of the show.
Explains the log burner.
Yeah but I didn’t see a pizza oven or an Audi anywhere, I’m still not convinced is a proper biker
There was a outdoor cob oven early on.
Hooligan type Scooby wrx in the background of a shot.
He could build an epic pump track with those mud skills.
Does he have the biggest arms in SW England?
As an ex concrete technician and Plant Supervisor (AKA batcher) I watched the concrete house episode with a little bit of horror mixed with amazement. Firstly, there’s bugger all ‘new’ or ‘cutting edge’ about poly or steel fibres in a mix. I was using those 20 years ago. (Blackbushe Metals in Hampshire has a slab they smash cars to bits on. It’s the strongest mix we could supply at the time, containing both microsilica and steel fibres, for instance)
I wasn’t surprised when the shuttering burst. They were pouring what looked like a superplasticised mix (i.e. absolute piss) and the fluid pressure at the bottom would have been very high. Stuff like that is generally poured slowly so it’s going off at the bottom whilst you’re sill pouring in the top.
Im really not sure about not using rebar in the walls and subsitituing fibres instead. As far as I can see it complicates everything. Just use the rebar you muppet.
I did giggle when thy implied the pump couldn’t pump their special mix. Again, that’s was a sloppy superplasticsied mix. It should virtually pump itself. I’d have refused to pay the pump hire because that’s their fault. He probably hadn’t primed the line properly (using cement slurry) or cleaned it out previously. That was a farce, believe me.
The actual house was a disaster too. Bloody awful. Terribly finished. They’ll never sell it.
And we are back.
Kevin's face when they stated it would be 'simple, contemporary, pared back interiors' - and the Paul the alien is carried in.... 🤣🤣🤣
Christ that’s grim. Looks like an 80’s car dealership.
They love it so that’s all that matters (just as well as a tricky sell without changing it to business use)
What about last weeks? The house on the Scottish cliff top. Great view but a bit windy most of the time.
The house on the Scottish cliff top
That was overlooked by a new housing development and next door to derelict hotel...
At least that one had some style and coherence, unlike tonight's giant pile disconnected and gauche offering.
Just watching tonight’s on plus one.
Dear oh dear , another one who thinks he can project manage.
Mmmmm, pay your cladders to stay at home whilst the timber boys go home at 4.
Obviously paying them too much, not met an erector yet who turns down extra hours (nor crane drivers come to that ) 🙂
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
Just watched it and we both said exactly the same thing - Why the **** are you demolishing a perfectly good house?
Just do a bit of work on that instead. Stick some nice windows in and a new kitchen and bathroom. Do it up with no expense spared for what the foundations of that place cost
I felt sorry for him at the end though. No matter how daft you’ve been, you wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
On your own, divorced, millions in debt with something that looks an unfinished soviet era gun emplacement all you’ve got to show for years of ballache
Insane - never seen anything like it, just throwing someone else’s money after someone else’s money at a vanity project and wasted the best years of his family life too.
Just finished watching this week's episode and it did really round out the set for this series: we had a dog dying, cancer x2, a divorce, another divorce...
It was quite amusing tracking when McCloud did each segment though, by his progression in outerwear, from the green jacket, through Canada Goose (x2), to his current "16 layers of blue, including Patagonia".
Also noticed that he has a hearing aid now.
As for the builds, as entertaining as ever, if a little more focused on the "human interest" rather than architectural elements...
Got me thinking that there's a lot of empty space at trail centres.
Not even any advertising hoardings!
Surely trail centres would be an ideal location to showcase these 'radical' home designs?
It probably wouldn't make good TV but my dream build would be
in a nice location but with the most important feature being that I wouldn't have any debt afterwards especially in our current uncertain times.
It's all well and good building some trophy zen house but pointless if you're awake every night thinking of paying for it.
Really strange episode / guy this week. When the programme starts and it says Dec ‘11 (or something) in the opening sequence you know it’s going to be tortuous. The posters above have pretty much said everything about the project but I feel sorry for the rest of the family who as someone else said had some of their best years together ruined.
The one high spot - Kevin’s piece to camera in the hailstorm. Pretty funny!
It probably wouldn’t make good TV but my dream build would be
in a nice location but with the most important feature being that I wouldn’t have any debt afterwards
Totally agree. The options are live in the old bungalow and not have to work again or knock it down to build a dream home and have enough debt to keep you working for the next 20 years. I think the reality is most people choose the first option but as you say it isn't good TV so we never see it. I suppose I'm glad there are a few crazy people out there pushing the boundaries, but I do feel a bit sorry for thus chap and his folly. Just chose the wrong path
A mate of mine built a large house in Surrey for £1m+ and it's big. But he can afford to run it and it's workable as a family home (the heated garage is a bit ott but then so is what's in there). Last night was just madness. The smaller house is what he should have done but his ego was bigger than his wallet and I hope the architect never works again.
Ways to spot if it is going to go tits up.
1) Starting date is more than 3 years ago.
2) Opening piece to camera involves bad weather, a ruin, or in this case a ship wreck. All with Kev looking a bit sad.
3) The builder's name isn't captioned and the writing on the side of his van is pixilated out.
This guy had all 3. His cat probably got run over by a digger too.
Finally got round to watching it last night. If he had just made "The Eye" 50% bigger then stuck a tower on it would he have got away with it?