Room to Improve.

Pretzill wrote: »

I think you are all giving this woman a very hard time and I don't think she deserves it. Nevermind the distain most of you seem to have for tiled floors - my entire downstairs is tiled, they aren't cold, they're easier to keep clean (as I also have beautiful border collies )

Her and Dermot got off in the wrong foot because she hated his design - yes she should be aware of his style but equally he should be challenged in his design by informing it with the clients wishes - (budget allowed - which it rarely is with Dermot)

She didn't want open plan - I mean who has a separate dining, living and kitchen space these days - I'll tell you who Dermot about 90% of the population not counting the flat dwellers of recent years and of course most of your clients.

I would think vast majority of modern builds at least combine dining and kitchen area into one room. Anyway there is nothing wrong with tiles but what they chose made house very cold. There is very little warmth. If you go for large windows, sleek kitchen and white walls you need to soften everything a little bit.

Briefly saw a mention of tiled floors and being cold. Pretty sure I saw some gear for undefloor heating at one stage when they showed them putting down the subfloor

minikin wrote: »

Watching this now... typical example of S.T.S.
School Teacher Syndrome

They’re so entrenched in the idea that muinteoir is the one who is always right (they take it as an affront to their very being, to have to consider that someone... even a professional... might know better than them).

Jesus wept.

Yawn.... this has been well covered at this stage. You're late to the party.

meeeeh wrote: »

I meant cold as the house having a feel of dentist surgery. I am pretty sure they won't have issues heating it but there is very little softness in the end product.

Oh I didn't mean you per se. Skimmed through and saw it a couple of times but was skimming so possibly took it up wrong (ooh matron)

recipio wrote: »

Some of Katie's requests were unreasonable - who needs a downstairs bedroom at their age?

It's not an uncommon request, particularly in rural locations. The downstairs bedroom may not necessarily be for themselves, but a parent. After all, the house was the guy's grandparents house, so it may be where his mother or father was raised, and they may still live nearby. It could end up becoming a bedroom for them in a few years if they became infirmed.

Plus ultimately, they don't have a downstairs bedroom, simply a room that can easily be converted to one if they needed, and a downstairs bathroom. It's futureproofing. An absolutely valid and reasonable decision.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd say Dermot was extremely stressed ............. dealing with her negativity every single time they met!

Also bare in mind that he had the other projects going on at the same time, with the women in clontarf and issues with the killester site closing up due to extras. Id say he had a pain in his arse running around the place in this series.

jvan wrote: »

Also bare in mind that he had the other projects going on at the same time, with the women in clontarf and issues with the killester site closing up due to extras. Id say he had a pain in his arse running around the place in this series.

But surely this is the life or an architect? Working on multiple projects is his bread and butter, it's what he is paid to do.....whether he is on TV or not.

heldel00 wrote: »

Yawn.... this has been well covered at this stage. You're late to the party.

Apologies, I was busy having a life outside of entertaining you in a timely manner.

The Talking Bread wrote: »

And that is a typical example of BPS. (Boards.ie Poster Syndrome)

Generalising thousands and thousands of a particular profession with an insult


Jesus wept indeed.

I said she was a typical example of someone with S.T.S. - I didn’t say all teachers are the same (are suffering with S.T.S.) but I must have touched a nerve... apologies if you recognise the honesty of the statement... if you’re a teacher, a partner of one or a relation of one you’re proving my point about them feeling any criticism is an attack on their very being... touchy?

Anyway, back to the topic...

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Yes totally agree. Do we really need to see the home owner getting her nails done (Clontarf house) or Dermot watching the cows going in for milking (while decked out in overalls). It's all very staged by the producers and adds nothing to the show imo

And they didn't even have the jets on in the jacuzzi...

I may be mistaken, but I think a downstairs bedroom is a requirement to obtain planning permission in one off houses nowadays. It's not an uncommon request.

I re-watched the end.
Love the pops of colour.

Mountainsandh wrote: »

She never once insulted him, she just spoke her mind. That "S" word comes to mind when I see people getting all riled up about it.

In fairness she insulted him several times. The worse one for me was when they were in her mothers house and the mother said something along the lines of "Dermot is working hard" to which Katies response was "But is he?". I thought that was an awful thing to say to someone working on your behalf and I dont know how he didnt walk off the job there and then, I know I would have.

Mam of 4 wrote: »

Can I ask a question here ?

Surely to God ,Budda , whoever , when people apply to go on the show , there are some meetings , discussions about exactly what they want done to their house , BEFORE the producers pick who gets to be filmed ?

It can't be as simple as Mr and Mrs Whoever applied , lets go with them ?

Or am I completely out of the loop here..

I might have some insight here as last year I emailed a number of architects to get ball park quotes. I included a Daft link to the property in the emails so they had a starting point. One of the emails was to Dermot Bannons firm. The lady who rang me back the next day gave me a run down on his fees. She also told me not to expect Dermot himself to be my architect as he had taken on some commercial work lately (which he normally didnt do she said) and that he was tied up for the next 6 months. I said I wasnt expecting to get him as my architect anyway as I had already looked on his website and it is far from a one man show -he has numerous architects & technicians working in his firm.

Anyway the lady did say that if I did really want Dermot himself to design it there would an opportunity to do it via Room to Improve and she was asking if I would consider it. She said she was the person in the firm who dealt with all the RTI stuff, etc. The main reason she was interested in me was because of the property itself, it was quite unique. It was not a concrete offer or anything and she said we would have to meet, etc (which I presume meant meeting the production company too, etc. ) I said I would think about it but also joked with her that "I have more of a face for radio than tv". Anyway I thought about it for all of 10 minutes but had known immediately that I didnt want to be anywhere near a tv camera dont mind on national tv. So I emailed back to say thanks but its not for me.

Dermot got over it by the end of the programme.