My Bungalow Bliss

Another quibble which you might have missed. The guy making the doors plunged a door rail straight on to the spindle moulder head - a good way to lose a few fingers. he should use a jig instead.

Apologies, I thought you were being tongue in cheek. I didn't realise that you're either an idiot or are being deliberately obtuse. You can't see through a concrete block. The whole point of using opaque glass was to let light into the corridor, so of course you can (partially) see through it.

I wouldn't worry about the opaque window. That's relatively easily solved with a roller blind or something if it's a concern and I do think it's worth it to have the light in the hallway as those bungalow corridors can be very dark.

It seemed to me that the architect gave them a proposal initially that was over their budget but presented it on the basis that we can do X now and Y down the road when you have more money. The programme didn't really show how they got from there to the couple deciding to go the whole hog on it.

One thing that comes across from these two programmes is how horrendously expensive it is to retrofit old homes and I'd say it's making it totally off-putting for anyone watching who was thinking of going down that route.

This year's season of Cheap Irish Homes had some inserts of homes that had been brought back to life on very reasonable budgets. Most likely they wouldn't have A BER ratings at the end but the owners also wouldn't have a huge financial burden overhanging them either. 🤨

Do you get VAT back on a new build in the south? In NI a new build you can reclaim the VAT, but AFAIK a renovation means you pay VAT.

No you don't. That would be far too progressive and sensible for this country.

although I suspect sort damp rewire re plumb, sort out the insulation, new kitch/bathroom for say under 100k isnt what they are looking for.

I stand corrected Trondheim....need to make an appointment with my optician !

But the fact remains that a high budget, futuristic house should have a full bathroom with a jacuzzi / whirlpool / hot tub or similar not juat an apartment type shower.

It's rife in the building industry. When we were getting the kitchen redesigned and went around the usual suspects. Whenever you give the measurements over and basic outline and ask for a ballpark price, you'd never get a straight answer. The reply would invariably be "what's your budget?". So when you quite a figure back the budget would represent the most that the customer is expecting to spend. From the kitchen guy's point of view, the figure quoted represents the bare minimun they'll be expecting to trouser from the job

nd

I 100% agree woody22, Jack Fitzimons of Bungalow Bliss had an understanding of the ordinary working person and his/her housing needs, requirements and financial parameters. He was a practical man and his house designs were never intented for people who had more money than sense.

RTE / Virgin Media should consider a series of programmes to inform, guide, advice, offer practical ideas etc. to the younger generation who have inherited these bungalows and who plan to modernise & future proof them within a reasonable budget.

Having someone from SEAI on, for example, to explain the different grants available and how to go about applying for them, explaining BER and related requirements etc.etc.

A good mechanical engineer could explain the different modern heating systems available and show how they work and what situations they suit or not as the case may be, with visits to houses with the different systems being installed & completed with end results etc. included.

Same applies to internal & external insulation, windows, etc.

The emphasis should be on getting the best value for money, the do's & don'ts when dealing with builders, suppliers etc.

Just to clarify re the foundations.

It is quite common what they found.

I only scanned through that program but I believe it was a house with external wall build off a footing and internals built off the subfloor.

This is very common for 70s and 80s builds and is a recipe for disaster.

This wouldn't be referred to as a raft in the industry.

What they did was take everything inside the external walls out and re did the floor and internal walls from new footings upwards.

What surprised me most was the house appeared to be build from single leaf hollow blockwork. Considering that walltype, the need to remove all floors and the structural work they did to carry roof, I would tend to suggest demolition day one might have been just as cost efficient. Looking at the roof they left behind, I'd be very disappointed and the polished conc looked all over the shop considering gaps under skirting.

Must rewatch to look at the detail.

One thing I never like in a house is having the front door opening directly into a room, in this case into the main living/kitchen/dining room. Basically everyone coming into the house has to come into this room which isn't great.

A lot of the architects would be on a percentage of the building costs, what's not to like if it goes over budget!

They would have been miles better off knocking it. Nice views from the site, you don't get that in a new 3 bed estate.