Room to Improve (v2)

Someone mentioned it could do with another show like what they did for Big Brother or Love Island to provide the detail. That wouldn’t help answer any of the questions like how the builder from Buncrana ended up with the job (or would even have been interested in quoting for such a job) or the grants (how they qualified for some of them) or the QS from doing a favour to re-appearing later own in the show. I think we’d need another tribunal for that!

There's loads of NI reg Skodas and vans parked outside most building sites in Dublin, with lads going up and down each day.

The builder is registered in Buncrana, the same small town at the top of Donegal the quantity surveyor is based in.

And according to the supplier list, the skimming plasters were from Buncrana as well. The firm that supplier the doors and floors was from Buncrana. The electrical contractor was from Buncrana. Did the whole village of Buncrana make the 9 hour round trip to build the house in Urlingford each day?

So you are right, something not adding up here.

Another interesting thing from the supplier list is that the client Grainne went for a Granite kitchen worktop....as well as the expensive wooden floor...even after Dermot brought her especially to the house in Dublin to show her she did not need expensive finishes everywhere.

In the beginning of the programme, the clients were very budget conscious, did not know if they could afford the extension or not etc. Their budget was 200k. Then they got grant after grant and ended up spending close to half a million, inc the lime rendering at the beginning? And at the end when asked how much it cost, did not even know / could not care less? If she cared she would know?

And another thing: the husband early in the project was chipping away at the plaster with a kango type drill on the inside walls in the old house early in the programme, and shovelling it out in wheelbarrows etc. A dusty, hard labour job not everyone would be up for, in fairness. So I assumed if the client were on a 200k budget they may be painting the inside of the house at the end themselves? But no, a painter is listed, at least he was from Tipp. so had not far to travel.

Dermots glass box extension.

And the question remains: who paid the Q.S. fee when the clients said they could not and CoCo TV (who make the programme) said they do not?? Dermot got her down for one day as a favour to him but she remained later in the programme?

We have had Tuberty-gate, lets not have another inquiry in to shady dealings etc. It does make for great tv though : not so see the designs ( watch Grand Design for that ) but to see the crack.

Ah now if that fine Stone farmhouse was there in that family(untouched as Dermot said) for 200 years then there was old money there, you're goin back to the 1820's when the majority on this island were in simple mud or stone structures in the countryside unless they were gentry or squireens... No flies on that couple only dead wans, lovely couple though they were, I'd guarantee you, the poormouth worrying about the budget was for the gallery imo

Dermot on today fm this morning was asked if the couple got all the grants they looked for and he said no they were not entitled to the vacant grant and he just forgot to mention it during the program 🙄 that’s the only one he mentioned but reading between the lines they didn’t get others looked for .. this is unfair and playing with the truth and giving people the impression they got all the grants .. for transparency they should be made to disclose what grants they did receive .. adding money to the budget because of grants they haven’t a hope of getting..

To be honest thinking about it, I'd expect architects to be up to date with current legislation and grants etc.

The equivalent in my field would fall into your CPD requirements. I'm sure lots of professions are the same.

They either shouldn’t bring up the topic of of payment/grants at all (it’s none of our business how participants pay) or, if they do, they should be clear on what’s going on.

What ?

I think the QS was involved in the whole build but they didn't want to say that on the show given that virtually every worksperson on the build was from the same Donegal town as the QS!!! That kind of thing doesn't reflect well on the QS. It's very hard to tell if this couple got best value given the QS chose her friends. Now it may very well have been a good price but we'll never know. I do find it hard to believe though that tradesmen couldn't be sourced at a good price closer to home.

Doubt the husband was that poor in reality, farms in Kilkenny wouldn't be small and the land is good.

And as someone else said it looks like they come from old money with a house that size when most people at the time it was built were poor tenent farmers living in one room houses built from rocks.

She's fairly happy. Let's see what she's like when Dermot puts them 500k in debt.

Fake tan is out of control in this country, she looks ridiculous.

30k over and Dermot hasn't even started

Yes, looks ridiculous, do these people ever look in the mirror, less is more , less is more.