Room to Improve.

Belkin1975 · 12-03-2018 01:31AM

How do you get 40k grant? What do you have to do? Currently renovating and can’t see anything on SEAI that would give me close to it 🤔

Franz Von Peppercorn · 12-03-2018 01:39AM

Well I just watched a recording of this and then this thread. Given how much fun the build was the bitterness on this thread is fairly off.

Anyway the house was built by their grandfather - hence the brief was to extend it, not the shed.

the_pen_turner · 12-03-2018 01:40AM

What bitterness

Franz Von Peppercorn · 12-03-2018 01:45AM

the_pen_turner wrote: »

What bitterness

Whining about their accents, the grant, accusations of elder abuse and so on.

CatFromHue · 12-03-2018 01:48AM

I hadn't planned on watching tonight's episode but turned it on after 10 or so mins.

It reminded me of why this show is still on after so many years, it was just a very lovely show.

It wasn't a house they were building, it was a home.

PARlance · 12-03-2018 03:31AM

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Whining about their accents, the grant, accusations of elder abuse and so on.

I hope those who needed to find out about the young lad have survived. Ffs, there's no reason why they should explain and plenty of potential reasons why they wouldn't want to.

I wasn't overly impressed with the end product. Yes, he incorporated a stunning view and there was nice elements but I don't think they gained good value from their budget. I think he just left them with a "bigger small house". And not a pretty one at that.

Loved the show though. Great family.

The Princess Bride · 12-03-2018 04:00AM

Anna said at the start of the show that she'd a 7 year old son Michael.
No big secret or mystery.
Ma was a jovial and entertaining lady and both her daughters seemed genuinely happy people.

Pity about the steps inside, made zero sense considering the clients' needs.

The daughters specified at the beginning, that they were moving in to help care for their mother, as she'd had health issues the previous few years.

Dermot isn't the only person who needs to pay attention to what's being said.

FAILSAFE 00 · 12-03-2018 04:33AM

Lovely episode.

I thought the roof of the old house could have used new roof tiles. It made the old house stick out way too much.

Galego · 12-03-2018 07:51AM

Belkin1975 wrote: »

How do you get 40k grant? What do you have to do? Currently renovating and can’t see anything on SEAI that would give me close to it ðŸ€”

I also want to know. Anyone knows? The amounts I get from the website, arquitec and builder are nowhere near that savings they made in 300k.

12-03-2018 08:23AM

Galego wrote: »

I also want to know. Anyone knows? The amounts I get from the website, arquitec and builder are nowhere near that savings they made in 300k.

Is has something to do with getting the energy rating up to an A3 which is the highest rating & v difficult to achieve.

Only 3% of houses in Ireland are A3 .

Ring or email SEAI .

Penalty · 12-03-2018 08:33AM

For me RTI is just getting too boring.

This show was more about the family then the build - with a trip to Kerry thrown in. in an hour long show we had a few minutes about budget overrun and the girls swinging a hammer themselves etc but very little about the build itself.

While the story was heartwarming that’s not the point of RTI. They’ve just lost of perception since increasing the show from 30 to 60 mins and spend too much time on telling the family story or having Dermot soak in a bath.

I was also extremely unimpressed with the finish today which cost so much.

Alf Veedersane · 12-03-2018 08:37AM

Belkin1975 wrote: »

How do you get 40k grant? What do you have to do? Currently renovating and can’t see anything on SEAI that would give me close to it ðŸ€”

I had a look on the website. It's a new pilot programme.

https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-grants/deep-retrofit-programme/

It's not a €40k grant but 50% of the cost of the energy efficiency works.

HeidiHeidi · 12-03-2018 09:42AM

Larbre34 wrote: »

Cos he said "over my dead body", at one point, for effect.

Now you know to steer clear of click bait shams like joe.ie

In my defence, I've never visited that site in my life! It was flagged up here.

youcancallmeal · 12-03-2018 09:58AM

How on earth was the colonnade going to cost €8,000+!? It looked from the drawings to just be a few brick columns connected by concrete beams.

Quazzie · 12-03-2018 10:04AM

youcancallmeal wrote: »

How on earth was the colonnade going to cost €8,000+!? It looked from the drawings to just be a few brick columns connected by concrete beams.

It'd look nicer done in a nice black timber like the extension anyways.

54and56 · 12-03-2018 10:24AM

Hi all,

Does anyone know if RTE (or anyone else) publishes a schedule of forthcoming episodes? I'm not a regular viewer but would like to watch episodes which renovate houses similar my own i.e. a 1970's 3 bed semi D.

I looked on the RTE website and did a general Google search but whilst there's a list of projects for the current series summarised here I can't see a schedule stating when each project will be aired or what the running order of the series is.

ncmc · 12-03-2018 10:24AM

I didn’t like the finish of the house last night. I thought it looked like a total mish mash of styles. I’ve seen him integrate modern extensions to old buildings more seamlessly in previous builds, I think it was the colour of the old house, even if he had painted it white, it would have been more successful. I think with the money he spent and the amazing location, he could have done a much better job. Joining the house to the shed and creating one of his beloved courtyards inbetween would have created the views they wanted without those ridiculously steep steps (just awful for a woman of Ma’s age) It would have also have been possible then to give Ma a bit of space of her own and a bit of privacy. My heart sank when I saw her bedroom, sure she couldn’t even get round the bed to draw her curtains. It was a shoe box. The 7 year old had a far bigger bedroom 😡

Penn · 12-03-2018 10:49AM

youcancallmeal wrote: »

How on earth was the colonnade going to cost €8,000+!? It looked from the drawings to just be a few brick columns connected by concrete beams.

Independent pad foundation for each column
Labour/Machinery to get the columns/beams in place
Structural design & certification for the columns/beams
Fabrication/Construction of the columns/beams themselves
Works to walls already constructed which the beams would be tying into (since it was an add-on)
Finishing/rendering works

It can add up fairly quickly.

Penn · 12-03-2018 10:52AM

Really enjoyed this episode. Still hate having to see things like Dermot making scones when they could have spent more time explaining what works had to be undertaken to the existing to help it achieve the A3 rating, but the project turned out very well in the end (bar the steps up to the seating area and the tiny bedroom for the mother).

seamus · 12-03-2018 11:20AM

I wonder if they deliberately select people for their odds situations. Two fifty-something sisters, one of whom has a seven year old son, arriving home to "look after" Mammy despite a son living next door, and money that just appears out of nowhere.

The scope for speculation here was endless.

I envy these guys for the somewhat blank canvas they had; a plot of land to do whatever you like with. And their mother is a gas character.

As others say, I wasn't particularly blown away by this; seemed like something of a standard upgrade to an old cottage, though I guess it's the invisible stuff that's important - as the mother was saying, having a warm house without having to light a fire, a kitchen that works no matter which way the wind is blowing, etc. I get the impression that a large bedroom isn't something she's too pushed about.

Sleepy · 12-03-2018 11:26AM

I live quite near this one and have envied the site since we bought out here. I'm pretty certain my daughter built some sandcastles on the beach there with the little lad last summer.

I'm assuming the old shed (which looks like the original house they showed in a photo at the start) would simply have cost too much to incorporate into plans involving knocking the cottage and extending the shed. The potential for problems in a building that old alone could have swallowed the entire budget. It's a shame but without half a million available for the project, I think it would have been insane to even try.

That said, I'd wonder if the granny put the foot down about bulldozing the cottage she and her husband had built and insisted on extending, rather than replacing it? I'd have thought their €250k would have been sufficient to knock the cottage and simply build something much nicer than the end result. Surely with the existing services and foundations that could have gotten them something around the 150sqm level?

Sunny Dayz · 12-03-2018 11:34AM

I thought last night's episode was more of a return to form. The two sisters seemed like lovely people and I liked how they wanted to get so involved and help out where they could, in a "we want to be helpful" way rather than a "we know best" kinda way. They seemed really appreciative of everyone who helped out with the house. However I got a vibe of the house being more about them, with their library, their walk in wardrobe, their sea views.

I know the Ma's room looked quite small but I'd say they had to keep the room and the bed positions as it was originally, imagine changing your bed orientation after 60 years! But the star of the show had to be Ma. She was so quick and witty, very active and independent, a great character!

One thing that bugged me last night and it was down to editing of the show, they took a big jump from the windows in, plastering done, bit filmed outside where they went tile shopping then bang suddenly the house is finished. They don't seem to show lately any of the fittings, installation etc - even one of two minutes of short clips of 10 seconds each, eg fitting the kitchen, bathrooms, painting, floor laying etc.

LirW · 12-03-2018 11:36AM

Sometimes I honestly don't understand how all of the cost piles up, but then I'm not the QS. Still though, the budget was huge and don't get me wrong what they got was not too bad.

I agree it's an odd living arrangement, definitely nothing for me but they seem incredibly happy like that.
That tiny granny bedroom stood out to me too but then again doesn't she mainly use it for sleeping anyway? I recall they didn't change the old internal layout of the bungalow and maybe she was happy that way or it has always been her bedroom.

What an amazing site though, that's probably worth some insane money now!

ncmc · 12-03-2018 11:36AM

Keeping the old house was the whole crux of the brief though. They wanted to keep the house that their grand father had built. You can imagine the outrage on twitter and here if they had bulldozed it!

Penn · 12-03-2018 11:47AM

ncmc wrote: »

Keeping the old house was the whole crux of the brief though. They wanted to keep the house that their grand father had built. You can imagine the outrage on twitter and here if they had bulldozed it!

Ultimately too, the show is called Room to Improve. It's about extensions and upgrading, and trying to keep the character of the existing buildings. Just knocking everything and giving yourself a blank slate to work from would largely go against the ethos of the show (even though in some cases it has likely been the best and most practical solution).

Addle · 12-03-2018 11:59AM

I have no resolve. I watched it.

I thought it was obvious who was paying for it, with the ensuite and library.

Entertaining episode.

harr · 12-03-2018 12:10PM

Would love if they a program like “ room to improve revisited “ where they go back to previous builds and see if people stuck to original lay out or what they have changed since the show and what worked and didn’t work..

Quazzie · 12-03-2018 12:49PM

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

However I got a vibe of the house being more about them, with their library, their walk in wardrobe, their sea views.

In ten years time it will be fully about them. The young lad will be moving on, and there's a good chance Ma won't be around either. Houses should be built with the future in mind, not just the present.

Thargor · 12-03-2018 01:46PM

harr wrote: »

Would love if they a program like “ room to improve revisited “ where they go back to previous builds and see if people stuck to original lay out or what they have changed since the show and what worked and didn’t work..

They have done a couple of those I thought, they've definitely done one anyway.

Sleepy · 12-03-2018 01:48PM

Asked Dermot about the shed on Twitter. Apparently that's project number 2!

Room to Improve.

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