I quite liked the latest one, ordinary people with a more ordinary budget and they ended up with a great house to live in.

I think Kev was a bit harsh with them, they were trying to turn it into a house rather than a museum. That handrail that he went on about was old and had a lot of history but it wouldn’t have met building regs. Not sure what he wanted them to do other than put it in glass case somewhere?

Tables were a nice idea but not practical. Perhaps it will evolve over time.

So where exactly where the failed beams in relation to the house? If they collapsed will they come down to find half their kitchen disappeared? All seemed to be glossed over a bit.

Oh and obviously not being lived in because (for a change) there were non compliant stairs – though some had glass balustrade panels so perhaps they were really going to finish them this time.

Is that it for this series too? Some Sandi Toksvig thing on next weds at 9?

Thought Kev was a bit sniffy about the stripping out of the old timbers, although he did seem to come around in the end!

Nice to see they used some of the old timber in the finishings. Top floor looked a bit impractical with the angled trusses and low ceiling height. I would gladly live there though!

Could they not have sold a lot of the old beams to a salvage yard?

Wasn’t really a fan of the outside, would a mill have been whitewashed? Looked like remnants at the start.

Leslie who did the outside is mad passionate about his work uses traditional methods – so it would’ve probably looked like that when new.

Spoke to him about it a few years ago when I did the vehicle graphics for the van.

https://www.cornellcob.co.uk/

Would be interesting to re-visit as others have mentioned the damp in there would be a nightmare. I didn’t see any additional insulation & every house I’ve lived in, in Cornwall struggles with damp.

I thought they did a fantastic job, maybe the interior didn’t quite live up to the exterior but none the less, bravo.

Yes it’s a shame the original wood couldn’t be saved, but it looked in a horrific state and would surely have cost tens of thousands to save/repair. They simply didn’t have the money to do so. I think Kevin was a bit unfair in this regard. The building was on the verge of collapse and obviously nobody else had put their hands in their pockets and saved it over the last 50 years or whatever.

I get the feeling that Kev does 2 or 3 pieces to camera each time he visits; one positive, one negative, one optimistic but fearful. Then at the end of the build they decide what spin to put on the whole thing.

Really enjoyed that one. Chapeau to them they done a great job having no building experience.

Tables were a nice idea but not practical. Perhaps it will evolve over time

Would have been better with a clear resin top .

I expect the tables will get a glass top to pair them together at some point – I wouldn’t be wanting to put a wine glass down on the corrugated grinding surface for sure.

Thought it a nice honest project shame that Covid restrictions kind of ruined filming at the most interesting time as there was a whole chunk missing.

Kev was very harsh over the beams for sure. The place was falling down and they rescued it within their budget. Full of admiration for them. No point being a purist standing outside a ruin that can only be used for stone reclamation & sold as a new build plot.

I wasn’t too keen on the interior but give it another 100 years or so and I think it will look a lot better. And thanks to what they’ve done it will still be there. I did wonder with the culvert whether they could put a precast liner in there and then pump concrete around it to at least shore everything up and get a few more years without the concern of imminent collapse.

I know we didn’t see any insulation going into the ground floor but I wonder if it did and that is why they didn’t use the millstones in the floor as it seemed the obvious thing to do.

I know we didn’t see any insulation going into the ground floor but I wonder if it did and that is why they didn’t use the millstones in the floor as it seemed the obvious thing to do.

That was my thought process too, not enough clearance to avoid water ingress once the necessary clearnces and levels had been achieved if the stones were to be replaced in the floor.

I would have cast a resin piece for the centre of those mill-stones (blue like to river tables of the previous 2 builds) to rest the glass upon.

I know I slagged off this couple above but fair play to them for doing their own plastering. It just shows that in a rustic house you don’t necessarily have to have a super smooth finish.

Still hated the interior though. Reminded me of a hostel with all that interior wood relative to the space

And the culvert issue surely was something else they could’ve anticipated before putting their money down?

The second episode of this series is still the most inspirational DIY insofar he did all his groundwork himself, with the help of some YT videos

Lack of insulation would make it a pretty cold house – fuel bill will probably be horrendous.

Probably still better than a lot of old housing in the UK – will have had good insulation on the new roof. It’s all been repointed and the windows and doors will be new, double glazed and it should be reasonably airtight.

But I’m amazed that they were able to do a full refurb like that and NOT insulate the walls. It wasn’t like there was any original internal ‘listed’ features being preserved.

Listed buildings are exempt from thermal regulations. Doesn’t keep them warm but it is allowed.

I expect the tables will get a glass top to pair them together at some point – I wouldn’t be wanting to put a wine glass down on the corrugated grinding surface for sure.

Woe betide anyone who spills anything on them…

Thought Kev made a but of an arse of himself TBH and then they lost a year of footage. I bet Mrs Parachutes offered to chuck him out of a plane.

I quite liked it. Would have likes to see some of the metal work, chutes and pulleys back inside, but it isn’t my house and I’m not paying for it!

A fiver says that those kitchen table stones and “re-purposed” in the garden with a couple of big planters on them as soon as he’s allowed to have six blokes in to help him move them.

Stunning building so fair play to them for a brilliant restoration to a building that would have otherwise crumbled away to nothing. Really like what they did with the place.

It seems like they committed without any consideration for the the current structural integrity of the building. They were then surprised when lots of remedial work was required! I would like to know what they are doing about the collapsed timbers underneath in the water.

It was a slate beam that had failed so it wasn’t going to rot away. I guess that they’ll just have to dig it out should the need arise. Did it go under the road? If so would that be a job for the council?

The culvert was under the house and need dealing with from the top, according to the surveyors filmed. I was really surprised they completely ignore it, as surely digging a hole and throwing in a concrete lintel wouldn’t have been ruinously expensive when they were already digging out the floor. Digging up their new concrete floor will make a hell of a mess, in house you actually live in, if it needs doing later.
Overall Kevin was being a idiot, no one was saving that inside wood, and they did really well with what I considered a tiny budget for that sized job.

Another series starting tonight. What dangers and delights will this one bring.
Any lockdown babies for Kevin ? 😀

Wise move to have the wife pregnant at the start.

Project manager to quit by second adverts?

But I quite like it. Go big or go (to another) home!

Project manager to quit by second adverts?

Nah, probably fleecing making too much money out of it 😉.

Where were the timber beams in the finished project ? If it was going to be covered up then should have gone with a steel frame. We would have had the structure built in weeks not months 🙄

Wonder how much of the costs were “lost” in the restaurant and hotel build 🤔😀

Other than the environmental impact, I think that’s pretty good.

Looked like a conference center from the outside, but I liked the interior.

Seems fuelled by just ego rather than passion for design or love for his family. A bit pathetic TBH.

Surprised he got planning permission on a paddock. Feel sorry for the people over the road who have had their view blocked by a half buried stegosaurus.

Great views but if I was dropping £2.5m on a house I’d like somewhere with less immediate neighbours.

Did he have 2 Lexus LFA’s? I haven’t watched it all, but assume his motivation is money, and all his other hobbies or passions are for the accumulation thereof?

Whoever told him you could build it for under a million was clearly deluded and never used zinc before! Anything that bespoke with that many angles will never be cheap or easy.
It was 70m long, assume 15m wide x £2,500 per square m for a moderate build it’s into big numbers. Add the bespoke nature I suspect true cost was nearer 5 million.

assume his motivation is money, and all his other hobbies or passions are for the accumulation thereof?

I thought more like ostentatious displays thereof.

I actually quite liked the building…if it was an art gallery.

It was certainly a Grand Design and something very different, be a cool building to walk past.
Didn’t take to him in the slightest, no real interest or passion and could clearly just throw all the money at it. £120k on a kitchen? How??
Felt like it was all done so he could show off to his other rich mates. Said he was 35, if earning that amount of money ages you like that then glad I am poor!

At a time when building regs and new laws are focused on environmental impact it does seem obscene that it is still possible to build such a vast building to house just one family. But then again 4 of us living in a 4 bed detached house worth £500k would seem obscene to a vast proportion of the worlds population too 🤔

Surprised he got planning permission on a paddock.

At a time when building regs and new laws are focused on environmental impact it does seem obscene that it is still possible to build such a vast building to house just one family.

Given the start of the programme explained how he’d made his – presumably 10s of £ms – redeveloping old civic buildings in Exeter into offices, I’m sure he’s already greased plenty of palms in the council.

The building (can’t really call it a house) is impressive, but then again it would be an appalling failure for him and the architect if they jizzed £2.5m on it and it wasn’t.

I think it’s a shame they didn’t film (or chose to leave out) all the bit between the zinc going on and the moving in. She seemed distinctly unconvinced about it working as a home…would have loved to have seen all the discussions about that!

Oh..and I have exactly the same Dekton work surface in my new kitchen…which didn’t cost £120,000!

4 ovens/combi ovens? 2 washing machines and 2 tumble dryers for a family of 5? I get the feeling they were just filling spaces in

I thought more like ostentatious displays thereof

Maybe, but none of what I saw involved depreciating assets.

2 washing machines and 2 tumble dryers for a family of 5

I certainly don’t have the space for that, but of all the excesses in a Grand Designs build, I do quite like the idea of this.

Doing the laundry is a chore, and having double the amount of equipment running in parallel would half the install duration. Especially useful after a holiday when it feels like we have about 8-10 loads that take a few days of farting around loading and unloading every time we walk past the utility room.

Would you be paying someone to do laundry if you were that rich?

(Genuine question – I’m not sure at what level of wealth you start having ‘staff’. I did also wonder whether there was a nanny’s quarters somewhere we didn’t see. I’d probably have gone with one with three kids!)

starting budget of £850k, ended up with £2.5M

that’s still a fair leap even by GD standards.

quite liked the house, but assume being featured on GD ups the value for renegotiating the mortgage!

his problem was he built an “architectural designer’s” wet dream, and didn’t seem to be invested in it at all (other than financially)

isn’t an architectural designer a part-qualified architect? (apologies to any on here if I’m wrong!)

Prefer George Clarkes less grand designs… that stable renovation this week was ace!