Programmes To Watch

[alp]

Last night, I watched Grand Designs x 2 - one about a tree house. Amazing how people could cope with such stresses and had such good and useful and clever friends..Nice viewing .. Such a nice programme.

The A word was fabulous and I hope it wins a lot of awards... The Down boy was so intelligent. Love it when he said, "It's not all about sex!" Can't believe such intelligence and maturity .. A truly multi-faceted lovely series..

The other Grand Designs revealed the winner of the RIBA award and the red monstrosity won it. Very disappointed as they were all square boxes with no charm or elegance .. Such brutal designs and the cantilever boxed structures just put me off. All glasses everywhere .. Wonder how they keep the condensation off!

The latest craze box on box cantilever way.

The amount of concrete used in this monstrosity is staggering.

 

[alp]

@alp did you watch the Indian Doctor?

No. How long is the series? If it is less than 10, I will watch it. But now I might see if I can watch it on iplayer.. Might change to fibre optics for a while. I am worried the change of speed will spoil me so much that I won't go back to ADSL and this will cost me. Less money for plants ...

I thought the WPC was a long series. How wrong was I! The worst thing is that the series runs too long and I will do nothing else but watch TV.

 

[Logan]

No. How long is the series? If it is less than 10, I will watch it. But now I might see if I can watch it on iplayer.. Might change to fibre optics for a while. I am worried the change of speed will spoil me so much that I won't go back to ADSL and this will cost me. Less money for plants ...

I thought the WPC was a long series. How wrong was I! The worst thing is that the series runs too long and I will do nothing else but watch TV.

No it's not very long. One series is 5 programmes.
I like a house to look nice.

 

[alp]

Yes, found them on download and will put the recorder on for this afternoon. Thank you, Logan!

 

[Logan]

That's ok, that's great.

 

[Colin]

Last night, I watched Grand Designs x 2 - one about a tree house. Amazing how people could cope with such stresses and had such good and useful and clever friends..Nice viewing .. Such a nice programme.

The A word was fabulous and I hope it wins a lot of awards... The Down boy was so intelligent. Love it when he said, "It's not all about sex!" Can't believe such intelligence and maturity .. A truly multi-faceted lovely series..

The other Grand Designs revealed the winner of the RIBA award and the red monstrosity won it. Very disappointed as they were all square boxes with no charm or elegance .. Such brutal designs and the cantilever boxed structures just put me off. All glasses everywhere .. Wonder how they keep the condensation off!

The latest craze box on box cantilever way.

The amount of concrete used in this monstrosity is staggering.

Hi,

Bron and I have watched lots of Grand Designs but last night gave it a miss and tonight will also give it a miss. I couldn't agree with you more alp about the cantilever designs and mass use of glass; living in such a place must be like living in a goldfish bowl.

We like Kevin who does an excellent job hosting the programme but it's now becoming repetitive; got to be built in nine months on a tight budget which seldom works; troubles as soon as the digger puts the bucket into the ground costing £K's; rusty metal being used as cladding; tin or sedum roofs? Why so much complication adding a cantilever when not needed. Bare minimalistic more like an hospital interior; open spaces right up to roof level so where does the heat go; underfloor heating; how about an hammock shaped bath costing I believe around £14,000? Massive windows from Germany; 12 tons of extra metal to strengthen four containers making it look so complicated; c'mon a standard wooden pit prop will support around 60 tons if my memory serves me well from my apprenticeship days; welding a few RSJ's isn't as difficult as made out; it can't be because I can do it in fact I weld lots of metal in my home workshop. Sinking houses into hillsides is asking for problems in later years due to water ingress when the sealing decides to give way. How does a couple with a maximum budget of say £300,000 end up finding £450,000; does the programme pay these couples?

One other thing we notice is the amount of babies Grand Designs produce? I'm not trying to be negative because Bron and I like such programmes but lately the designs are what we would describe as far from grand; many are big but are they really homely? How many would like to live with a polished concrete floor and very hard stairs which would be highly dangerous to any child taking a tumble; is it now all about creating something different just for a show or is it about creating a desirable home?

Just my thoughts but I would want a home not a sterile glass box to live in. How nice it would be to see a couple build a chocolate box type of cottage with oak frame and thatched roof but incorporating central heating and services that can actually be serviced?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

Agree, Colin - Big glass sheets are TRENDING .. and so are matchbox without gutter or roofline adornments.. All minimal and austere and have an unfinished look. I so like the American style of houses like that of @mg guy 's mansioin.. Beautifully painted in pastely colour and with gabled roof line.. Not one matchbox sitting the wrong way across another.

I must say I like the clever men in the tree house .. A lot of camaraderie and good will .. Love that!

 

[alp]

See the tower! It took millions to build and yet can't be shifted and I guess the owners are hassled by the bank and want to sell it off. It has panoramic views, but if you forgot your glasses upstairs, a lift will take you up to a certain height and then you would have to walk 7 (? or more) flights of stairs to get your glasses. What a nightmare. People are ambitious, but have not thought it through thoroughly and now there is a millstone on their necks..

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Obviously whomever pays the bills calls the tunes alp but I'm with you about the usefulness of many of these "Grand Designs". Bron and I watched both the tower and the floating home episodes; the floating home is ghastly and although the tower is very impractical the architecture is lovely in its detailing; imagine being at the top of the tower and having to come all the way down to answer the door? There are so many beautiful old homes to base a new home design around but adding up to date conveniences; I agree many of these people simply don't think through the implications; digging big holes into the ground or chopping out an hillside whilst adding level roof overlaid with sedum is just asking for long term trouble; burying underfloor heating makes me shudder; OK radiators aren't nice to look at but eventually when they fail it's not a case of getting a jackhammer out to rip up a floor; so many people these days appear to have more money than common sense?

I wonder at times if planning permission is only granted because the build is to be televised? Bron and I would never ever consider living in a glass box and neither would we ever consider a listed building.

Our previous neighbours across the street had large picture windows to the front of their house overlooking the valley; these neighbours had window troubles in that the windows are exposed to extremes of weather and I was told it was quite scary on a very windy day for them to watch the glass flex quite a lot and over time this breaks the seals so what will happen to the Grand Designs where £60,000 has been spent installing huge single pane windows? Our front room facing the valley has a 12' long window made up of two large and two half sized double glazing units; these take a right battering but about four years ago I replaced the sealed double glazing units only retaining the still perfect softwood frames; the original units in their wooden frames have lasted over 50 years and I take a lot of care over the frames. The cost to replace the units to our bungalow front was only around £350 but I did all the work myself just needing a lift in with the heavy units. Neighbours mostly have plastic frames now and these are lots of trouble some already failing and being replaced; I'll just carry on maintaining our wooden frames and doors a job I don't mind doing.

We'll watch Grand Designs tonight because a Bolton bricklayer is building a wooden house running into lots of difficulties; we no longer bother watching the more outrageous designs.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/water-tower-flockton-set-become-13444560

The above water tower is only a short distance from us; it is situated in lovely countryside with Her Majesty's Prison New Hall as neighbours;

http://www.justice.gov.uk/contacts/prison-finder/new-hall

As I say though pay your money and take your choice.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

I'd like to keep an open mind. If I have a beautiful view, I don't mind having a bit of glass, But those austere looks with no fringe on the roof tops are really appalling .. Looks as if someone would come back to FINISH IT OFF!

 

[alp]

Finished the Indian Doctor. Couldn't believe my eyes when Megan caressing the doctor's neck.. Got 1 download episode which I haven't watched. I am not going to bother ..

 

[alp]

@Colin - Watched Grand Designs last night and was amazed at how much overspend there was. That was a massive house. Think the corridor was wider than my living room!

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Bron and I also watched Grand Designs last night alp and if the house that was built was ours we would immediately sell it. The design looked strange from the outside and once again a great deal of money spent on glass; it might have been a joke when ten pin bowling/skittles was mentioned as filming was done in the corridor but who would want a corridor of 30 metres long in their house? So much wasted space and and the husband who designed and built it appeared happier in the small room he had built for himself the size of a shed. A massive concrete garden retaining wall and more underfloor heating.

Credit to the husband and indeed all his family for grafting the way they did in order to build the house and it was their money so their choice. I think such buildings are just houses and never will be a comfortable home to live in. Are these houses being built "Grand" regarding size only just for the sake of it because they could be designed much smaller without losing a bit of living space?

Lately many of these Grand Designs don't appeal to us at all; hard floors; huge amounts of glass; clinical and so much wasted space.

A couple of weeks or so ago one of these houses had reached construction the foundations having been completed when the architect walked away from it no longer wishing to associate his name or his company with the build; I'm sure he did the right thing because quite a few of these designs are now looking rather weird. I glanced at the TV times and decided to give one episode a miss; a lady was to build something in the shape of two periscopes; good luck to her it's her money.

I prefer comfort and a cosy bungalow to one of these monsters.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[alp]

@Colin Agree. The whole family worked together - so good.

Saw the one last night and this one was even more staggeringly HUMONGOUS. I hope those 1.5m porcelain tiles stuck on the wall are not going to fall down. Imagine a tile requires a bag or adhesive. The man appears clueless. He didn't even bother to cost the building, simply following the guideline of perfection. Perfection is all very well if it is a simple 3 bedroom house. But it is huge. He says 5 sliding glass doors costs 5 x £800 ..

Another thing is that they never sell their houses first .. forever optimistic. And now both these two men came unstuck and the 2nd one has now a huge mortgage and his house is soooo dark .. as everything is black, dark blue .. He will have similar trouble to his first house as the roof is flat again. It surprises me why people don't build their house roof with solar panels on top and at an angle so that water or snow drains fast ..

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Bron and I didn't bother watching Grand Designs last night alp; the short description in the TV times was enough to put us off.

It's amazing how these people can obtain huge mortgages for something they want rather than they need whereas many struggling families can't obtain a smaller mortgage for something they really need. The whole world seems upside down these days. Would they obtain such a mortgage without being the subject of a TV programme?

Flat roofs are definitely bad news whatever they are covered with; moss isn't welcome on roofs yet how many are following like sheep and adding sedum to their roofs; I'm sure if one person had a pile of manure dumped on their front room carpet saying it's the in-thing then others would do likewise.

We want nothing on our roof with the exception of a chimney; no solar panels at all which I don't trust feeling they are just something else to go wrong. In say five years time how much money will it cost in maintenance alone for one of these huge houses. I think Grand Designs is now breeding sheer stupidity but as I've said previously the person spending the money calls the tunes so although I'm very unimpressed by many of these houses I really shouldn't criticise after all we aren't forced to watch the program.

Here's something I find much more interesting and something I can relate to;

Kind regards, Colin.