Grand Designs - 18th Feb
Discussion
Don't know about his hand. I was too busy admiring the sky high sculpture that was his haircut! 
Nice house, something different and people you could relate to. But what is it about houses and babies on this series? 3 out of 4 up the duff!
Nice house, something different and people you could relate to. But what is it about houses and babies on this series? 3 out of 4 up the duff!
Edited by ajprice on Wednesday 18th February 23:41
sleep envy said:
Swilly said:
£10k damages i reckon
with the contractor and structural engineer pointing the finger at each other whilst HSE read the method statementsReally liked the building in the end but would have liked it to have a garage
Ben
V8mate said:
sleep envy said:
jazzybee said:
I've stayed in houses in Europe that seem so much warmer and quieter than here in the UK, with triple glazing and good insulation and I wonder why we cannot do the same. There must be a business opportunity to manufacture triple glazed units like those in the show in the UK if they had to import from Austria.
creating a passive building is techincally very difficult, time consuming and very expensiveI've done a few cost studies and for resi applications it adds the best part of 40% to the superstructure costs
I would say it was cheap to run too... but I think that is mainly due to the fact that i've been in six months haven't had an electricity bill yet!
ajprice said:
Don't know about his hand. I was too busy admiring the sky high sculpture that was his haircut!
Nice house, something different and people you could relate to. But what is it about houses and babies on this series? 3 out of 4 up the duff!
If you had spent sufficient quality time with builders, you'd know the answer to that.Nice house, something different and people you could relate to. But what is it about houses and babies on this series? 3 out of 4 up the duff!
Edited by ajprice on Wednesday 18th February 23:41
Whats the betting that staircase had steel reinforcement hidden within it given that it was only half an arch, and we saw what happened when load was placed on just one side of the original arch.....
The actual look of the place reminded me of a few small caravans and a garden shed scattered under a disused railway arch...and all for only £700k plus.
Cheers,
Tony
The actual look of the place reminded me of a few small caravans and a garden shed scattered under a disused railway arch...and all for only £700k plus.
Cheers,
Tony
I suppose that realistically if they were building a normal looking house, it wouldn't really be a "Grand Design".....
Still, I think had it all been placed under the arch rather than having bits which looked like they had been added on as an afterthough, that would have looked a lot better. Two smaller arches one on each side of the house I think would have made it look better too (and one could have been the garage too)....
Still, I think had it all been placed under the arch rather than having bits which looked like they had been added on as an afterthough, that would have looked a lot better. Two smaller arches one on each side of the house I think would have made it look better too (and one could have been the garage too)....
At last - a good one, and instead of the interminable expanse of whiteness a nice terracotta ceiling, and that interesting floor made out of resin and bits of grot. Wear your slippers, I suggest. The arch was different, the stair was just superb, and the whole ensemble looked interesting, inside and out. It was unclear how it would fit on the site but it had to be better than the shack they demolished. They were honest about the cost, and good on him for reducing his utility bills to zero and actually getting money back.
I know we had the statutory investment banker and cute child. The architect bloke was a bit of a grinning idiot with his continual high fives and Dr Strangelove hair. As for her, if she is capable of managing investments then I'm capable of trepanning your granny in the kitchen. Which only confirms that the people managing investments are pretty ordinary and untalented, which we already knew. However, it must be said they were a less than usually repellent couple.
On the negative side, I don't buy into the airtightness agenda, which is promoted by the man made global warming lobby and overcomplicated Building Regulations. Experience tells me that if the building fabric can't breathe nasty stuff starts to happen, anaerobic bacteria, rot etc. There is a difference between heat, moisture vapour and air, and the trick is to deal with each appropriately. Airtightness is also one of these things like absolute zero which is rarely if ever achieved in practice and creates all sorts of issues when you try, like your doors won't shut or when they do your ears pop. In addition, it drives you down the route of full mechanical ventilation, which some have a vested interest in. You have the cost of running it, which is not zero, then you have a forest of ducts and pipes, most of which will be unaccessible, and so cannot be properly cleaned. A few years of dust, warm air, human moisture, flu and little Oscar's snot and you will have a right old breeding ground for MRSA and God knows what else, fruit flies probably. I'm not sure that isn't what causes the problems in our hospitals. In addition, if it breaks down, you suffocate, while no doubt banging feebly on the triple glazed argon filled window units and screaming in vain for help, while your wife tugs in terror at the bedroom door which won't open because the kiddy has shoved a football down the supply duct and you have created a vacuum. Nasty way to go.
The arch looked great, but was it any more than an architectural gimmick? It may have been heroic, but heroes sometimes come to a sticky end, and a bit of snow and some inconveniently assymetrical high winds and I have my doubts about whether that lot is going to stay up. Grinning Stanley the Roofer also pointed out that because the weather had deteriorated it wasn't easy to get the roof sealed. That is no trivial comment. When the water starts to get in among that structure that may weaken it too. I only ask, if that was your little unsuspecting kid, would you let him sleep there?
PS Thanks V8.
I know we had the statutory investment banker and cute child. The architect bloke was a bit of a grinning idiot with his continual high fives and Dr Strangelove hair. As for her, if she is capable of managing investments then I'm capable of trepanning your granny in the kitchen. Which only confirms that the people managing investments are pretty ordinary and untalented, which we already knew. However, it must be said they were a less than usually repellent couple.
On the negative side, I don't buy into the airtightness agenda, which is promoted by the man made global warming lobby and overcomplicated Building Regulations. Experience tells me that if the building fabric can't breathe nasty stuff starts to happen, anaerobic bacteria, rot etc. There is a difference between heat, moisture vapour and air, and the trick is to deal with each appropriately. Airtightness is also one of these things like absolute zero which is rarely if ever achieved in practice and creates all sorts of issues when you try, like your doors won't shut or when they do your ears pop. In addition, it drives you down the route of full mechanical ventilation, which some have a vested interest in. You have the cost of running it, which is not zero, then you have a forest of ducts and pipes, most of which will be unaccessible, and so cannot be properly cleaned. A few years of dust, warm air, human moisture, flu and little Oscar's snot and you will have a right old breeding ground for MRSA and God knows what else, fruit flies probably. I'm not sure that isn't what causes the problems in our hospitals. In addition, if it breaks down, you suffocate, while no doubt banging feebly on the triple glazed argon filled window units and screaming in vain for help, while your wife tugs in terror at the bedroom door which won't open because the kiddy has shoved a football down the supply duct and you have created a vacuum. Nasty way to go.
The arch looked great, but was it any more than an architectural gimmick? It may have been heroic, but heroes sometimes come to a sticky end, and a bit of snow and some inconveniently assymetrical high winds and I have my doubts about whether that lot is going to stay up. Grinning Stanley the Roofer also pointed out that because the weather had deteriorated it wasn't easy to get the roof sealed. That is no trivial comment. When the water starts to get in among that structure that may weaken it too. I only ask, if that was your little unsuspecting kid, would you let him sleep there?
PS Thanks V8.
Edited by cardigankid on Thursday 19th February 08:49
cardigankid said:
On the negative side, I don't buy into the airtightness agenda, which is promoted by the man made global warming lobby and overcomplicated Building Regulations. Experience tells me that if the building fabric can't breathe nasty stuff starts to happen, anaerobic bacteria, rot etc.
Like my old Building Tech. Lecture used to bang on about - Built Tight, Ventilate Right.Used to eulogize about the Glasgow Tennaments, about how good their design was. and comparing the air changes between the tennament, and a barrett house - something like 1-3 air changes per hour in a tennament, while 0.1 changes in a barrett house.
And the much higher bateria/mould/dust levels in the barrett house, because of this lack of air change.
No, it had insulation, he said so. Of course there was a stonking cold bridge between the external and the internal parts of the arch, but these exercises are rarely as technically perfect as they are presented.
I imagine the gravel is to add weight and hopefully keep the whole contraption up, and make sure that any water drains away pronto, not insulation.
99p light switches, so what? Does expensive electrical control gear turn you on?
I imagine the gravel is to add weight and hopefully keep the whole contraption up, and make sure that any water drains away pronto, not insulation.
99p light switches, so what? Does expensive electrical control gear turn you on?
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