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My Bungalow Bliss

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Comments

  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,864 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    Given the title of the programme, I would have expected Hugh Wallace to have a copy of the offending book in his hands at the start of the introduction.

    Now I found a copy of the July 1981 7th edition, and it is a lot more than a catalogue of standard designs. The first plan is numbered 81 and it contains 100 plans - 70 of which are bungalows, so 80 designs from earlier editions have been superseded. It runs to 463 pages - so 363 pages given over to other stuff.

    It is more a textbook on house design, taking account of the site, surroundings, layout, construction, and costing - covering a lot of information a would be builder/designer should consider - particularly if this is their first attempt at such a project.

    It would have been quite a good start if the original actual design from the book was shown, and what was added as extensions over the years. If the architects had referenced their proposals vs the advice from the Bungalow Bliss book. [Incidentally, build costs as given in the book (from 1981) range from IR£20,000 to IR£30,000]

    After all, the programme was piggy backing on the book - which did not figure in the programme one bit. He should take a look at how Portillo has his Bradshaw in his hand as he gets on or off his train as he travels.



  • Registered Users Posts: 56 ✭✭purpleshoe


    Again like the other example, this house is not like theirs.

    The original point I made was that 360k will not buy a house like theirs.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,837 ✭✭✭Brian Scan




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,288 ✭✭✭monseiur


    After forking out the bones of half a million quid, one would expect at least a bathroom with a full size bath and seperate shower. This house has no bathroom just sharing an ensuite with the master bedroom. It used to be known as a Jack & Jill bathroom, thought they were a thing of the past. What a joke, it's obvious that more time was spent on deciding on material / colour of the roof that on one of the most basis necessities in any residence, especially one with a young family - a decent bathroom ! As I said previously the deisign is OK for a summer holiday home in warmer climes but not suitable as a permanent family home.



  • Registered Users Posts: 760 ✭✭✭techman1


    After all, the programme was piggy backing on the book - which did not figure in the programme one bit. He should take a look at how Portillo has his Bradshaw in his hand as he gets on or off his train as he travels.

    @Sam Russell

    Exactly that's where the whole program is misleading. It's like the modern architects are trying to dis the whole Idea of the book , the bungalows that were built and go for a house that the owners want to completely gut rather than just tweek and modernize.

    Thereby saying that "bungalow bliss" houses were rubbish and can only be saved by the intervention of modern architects and big money. Sure even the mica redress scheme does not allow for 500k expenditure



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭Pussyhands


    I suspect if they could do it all again they'd do it differently.

    Forget renovating that mess of a bungalow. Sell it for 190k (increase of 25% in market since they bought it).

    Put the what, 300k they spent on renovating?, into a new house and you'd get a fine house for 490k.

    Here's a nice 3 bed bungalow for 345k. Use the 100k+ you have left over to stick a galvanised roof or insulate it to the max and stick a Tesla outside the door too. Much better decision.




  • Registered Users Posts: 131 ✭✭Trondheim


    I don't think there is any way you could compare the house they have now to that house. And i'd say it is very unlikely that 100K would turn that house from a BER D1 to a BER A2.



  • Registered Users Posts: 131 ✭✭Trondheim


    I think that you have misinterpreted the plans. It looks to me like the main bathroom is separate to the en-suite. They are back-to-back, but separate.





  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,042 ✭✭✭Pete_Cavan


    Not sure what you are saying here exactly but the en-suite is entirely separate from the family toilet/shower room. The lack of a tub certainly is odd. There is also another toilet at the utility.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 glarch


    There is a full bathroom at first floor level with a full sized bath



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  • Registered Users Posts: 451 ✭✭MBE220d


    It's an expense site 325k.

    The same architect again I see.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,453 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    140k budget , heres a design for 250 huh ????????



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 glarch


    Wake up, they are different architects



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,678 ✭✭✭DeepBlue


    Seems like quite an echo inside the finished house?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,418 ✭✭✭funkey_monkey


    What insulation would they have used under the tin roof? In hail or heavy rain there would be a lot of noise from a tin roof.



  • Posts: 13,688 ✭✭✭✭ Abril Old Warship


    325k...

    I'd like a better view of their view.

    EDIT: I just copped we're watching a recording.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,971 ✭✭✭enricoh


    They'd probably get their money back in the morning if they flogged it. When you get a bespoke builder in prices are gonna be eye watering!



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 glarch




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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,346 ✭✭✭✭SteelyDanJalapeno


    Initial budget of 120k, ends up spending 312k

    Well done RTE



  • Registered Users Posts: 9 glarch




  • Registered Users Posts: 9 glarch




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,700 ✭✭✭Montage of Feck


    Every builder is a bespoke builder, pretensions nonsense ffs. So far the show is of little relevance from a building technology or architecture perspective, but I wouldn't expect any better from rte than attempting manufactured "drama".

    While grand designs has taken a similar downward trajectory towards drama, it still features unique builds or techniques. RTE shows seem mostly about putting in big windows and little else.

    🙈🙉🙊



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,678 ✭✭✭DeepBlue


    Simply the sound of the conversation when Hugh visited the finished build and spoke to them in the open plan kitchen/living room with concrete floors, granite surfaces and very little to deaden the sound.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,932 ✭✭✭leath_dub


    So you're walking down the corridor and someone's in the shower , you get the almost full show, courtesy of the opaque glass at the end of the corridor? No thanks!



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  • Registered Users Posts: 329 ✭✭Badger2009


    Incorrect. Their initial budget was 130/140k. They upped it to 250k after the architects design came back then added another 70k for the floors/walls issue.


    It’s all mad money really. Felt kinda sorry for them as they didn’t really seem like they wanted to go all in with it but got caught up in the whole thing. I wonder if being on the programme adds pressure to really overextend yourself?



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 19,864 Mod ✭✭✭✭Sam Russell


    Well, at least this time he went into the library archives and find the book. The book is more than a catalogue of house plans - it is more a text book on how to build a home for yourself - in the Irish world that existed in the 1970s and 1980s. And with a free site from home, and you and your mates, yu can build it for not much.

    Also in this episode, this bungalow is as built from the book without extension after extension, but a wreck and not habitable. The proposed plan was good, but underfloor heating required digging up the floor, but who checked the foundations? Answer - no-one. It was built on a raft which they just dug up - putting 70 grand onto the build cost - oops. Thank goodness they were fully qualified architects - not fly by night chancers.

    Another huge overspend that stroked the architects ego. Well done.

    Would the final result be worth the final cost? And would the stress of the project, and its mounting financial struggles be worth it?

    The final result was good and definitely be nice to live in.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,530 ✭✭✭Car99


    312k to end up with a kitchen/ dining/ sitting room with a couple of big windows in , let's face it a very modest size bungalow, is not very good value in my opinion. Cool for the architects who got paid for designing it and can put it in their portfolio but the owners a left with a nice bill for not alot of house.



  • Registered Users Posts: 329 ✭✭Badger2009


    I felt, for once, the architect was fairly down to earth and was basically telling them what their budget could get them i.e. improve the energy rating but not much aesthetically but once they saw the design they felt they had to go for it. Nevertheless he did give them a design that was initially 100k over budget. You just feel they will be drowning with that debt for quite a while.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,418 ✭✭✭funkey_monkey


    This winner does these shoes do the architects credibility any good. They were already over budget before they even started - should have been sent back to their office to come up with a plan that met the constraints.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,285 ✭✭✭Deeec


    Tonights couple ended up with a nice house. The large windows captured the amazing views. I felt sorry for them though as I think they really are overstretching themselves financially - total spend was €662K (€350K ( original purchase price) + €312K build cost). Thats a huge mortgage for a young couple starting a family. At least given the location the house would be worth that amount if they sold it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 760 ✭✭✭techman1


    The proposed plan was good, but underfloor heating required digging up the floor, but who checked the foundations? Answer - no-one. It was built on a raft which they just dug up - putting 70 grand onto the build cost - oops.

    My thoughts exactly, surely an examination of the foundations should have decided the build not the other way around. Why wasn't underfloor heating ruled out completely due to the raft like nature of the foundation and the cost. Raft foundations while not perfect are adequate and have stood for generations in much older houses, the house was not falling down due to mica in the concrete like houses in Donegal built barely a decade ago.



  • Registered Users Posts: 329 ✭✭Badger2009


    I know it’s been mentioned before but it would be nice to see someone tweak a bungalow and bring it up to modern energy rating. Say, 50-100k budget. It would make for more interesting viewing imo. Instead of every week seeing these massive transformations for colossal sums.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,346 ✭✭✭✭SteelyDanJalapeno


    No need, maybe you need to rewatch it, it was 120k-140k initial budget



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,986 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    I think hugh has chosen his "dream team" of architects to brainstorm each week but different practices will lead the build.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,678 ✭✭✭DeepBlue


    It’s all mad money really. Felt kinda sorry for them as they didn’t really seem like they wanted to go all in with it but got caught up in the whole thing. I wonder if being on the programme adds pressure to really overextend yourself?

    There's a lot of self-congratulation in the opening two programmes and there's two sets of families left with massive debts for, to be honest, not particularly fabulous homes. It suits the programme makers but is it really in the best interests of the families left with the bill? Dermot Bannon was big into this approach early in his Room to Improve series which usually went the way of [Dermot meets family -> they tell him their requirements and budget -> Dermot comes back with a spec that double the budget -> they scramble to get the money -> everybody claims to be happy at the end]

    A "wow" transformation suits the progamme makers even if, arguably, it's not really that wow at the end. There seems to be an element of gas lighting going on by Hugh as well with his comments to the families.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,986 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    The important question is where are the money trees growing? Two young couples able to pluck and extra 100-200k out of the sky ffs. I accept you need a contingency budget but that's just taking the pi$$.

    I liked the build, but again with the open plan 🙄🙄. I really hate the hall door opening straight into the living room/kitchen/dining room. Zero privacy and will freeze everyone out of it if anyone is chatting at the door..... we're Irish genetically impossible to leave a house without standing at the door saying goodbye for at least a half an hour!

    The opaque bathroom window abso-f*ckin-lutely not!

    I loved all the windows in the kitchen and the uplighting.

    I hope they enjoy their house now it's finished and pressure is off them.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,986 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    I agree with you about Hugh. I don't really like him.

    In all his shows he comes across as smug, patronizing and b*tchy.



  • Registered Users Posts: 46 Scag Mattress


    The big window in the sitting room was absolutely dripping with condensation in a few quick shots.

    Yet again an insane amount of money for not much & no technical details on heating/water/ventilation and hardly showed anything about the external wrap.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,453 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    I suspect this program has done more to put people off buying a doer upper than anything else. we need irish homes under the hammer rip everything out and replace for 20k 😄



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 69,969 ✭✭✭✭FrancieBrady


    Noticed the condensation too, there was another shot of a front window where it looked as if it had just been cleaned. The polished floors didn't look great in spots too.

    I am again convinced that they make up the numbers. 70,000 for floors/foundations seemed off the wall.

    Liked some of what they did though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,986 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    Condensation may be on the outside. We have triple glazed windows and this happens....we nearly had heart failure the first morning it happened after the windows were installed.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,986 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    Home rescue seems a good believable show.

    Every house/bungalow doesn't need to be ripped back to it's skeleton. Unless the structural integrity of the building is gone most homes are perfectly serviceable the way they were built. They should really only need a cosmetic lift.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,051 ✭✭✭gooner99


    Will be interesting to see if they will do a piece on the retrofit. There was one posted for last week's house.




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,760 ✭✭✭Effects


    I think you need to look up what opaque means.😂



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,970 ✭✭✭Storm 10


    I thought that the drone shot passing over the finished house looked terrible, the roof was as it was at the start all black and dirty looking, wonder why they would not have power hosed it before the start at least it would have looked better. I thought it took away from the finished refurb .



  • Posts: 18,749 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Saw this last night, didn't see last weeks.

    Cannot believe they spent that amount of money and got what?

    Walk straight into your only living area. No utility, no cloakroom, nowhere to put wet buggys and coats. No storage. A shower that everyone in the house watched you in. Jesus it put me right off a doer -upper.

    They didn't look too happy at the end either, don't blame them.



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭Pussyhands


    Housing market is completely fcuked! Reinforces my decision not to buy at these crazy prices. They paid 325k for a house that they couldn't live in!

    They found 200k down the back of the couch like the crowd last week.

    People have completely lost the run of themselves...again!



  • Registered Users Posts: 135 ✭✭terminator74


    I actually like Hugh. I feel its about the house and design for him. Unlike Bannon, Hugh lets the house be the star of the show. Bannon and RTI format is so formulaic, always a drama and the show is more about him than the houses/owners.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,354 ✭✭✭ChippingSodbury


    There were a few details in the finished house that looked very poorly done. The blue tiles around the bathroom weren't centred properly (check around the window and bath detail: should be an equal gap at both sides). The wooden panelling looked scruffy along the floor junction and the front door. If you're paying big money, details like those mentioned need to be perfect.

    I always think it's a poor reflection on the architect if they cannot stick to the design brief: one of the main considerations is budget. If the design doesn't come within 10% or so of the budget, then you're not doing what you were asked to do.

    And as a few have mentioned, the frosted glass on the shower "wall" at the end of the corridor: come off it, that's just ridiculous.



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