Grand Designs new series

[joe90]

8 minutes ago, pdf27 said:

you could potentially keep it at the same temperature over the course of a yea

Yes, my build is “heavy”and it works very well at keeping temps very stable, I believe (I have no data to prove it) that most of my losses are due to wind wash, two story house in a windy location so if mine was built into the ground my losses would be very low. (But I also have a very high water table.

12 minutes ago, pdf27 said:

I could have sworn they mentioned connecting the wood stove up to them too right at the end of the show

Yes he did, but originally it was a heat distribution system only.

 

I would love to see a follow up of temps and power usage to actually see if/how efficient it is!

[eandg]

For space standards and quality, new build social housing will likely be on par with decent quality, main contractor self-build per m2. 

[recoveringbuilder]

11 hours ago, daiking said:

feeling very sorry for the wife.

Her face when he said the temperature should rise a couple of degrees in a year! It was like I bloody well hope so! She must have really had to dig her heels in to get the new furniture, he’d have been quite happy filling it with all the old tat. I was actually quite surprised she was still there at the end, that’s love for you!

[Big Jimbo]

4 minutes ago, recoveringbuilder said:

Her face when he said the temperature should rise a couple of degrees in a year! It was like I bloody well hope so! She must have really had to dig her heels in to get the new furniture, he’d have been quite happy filling it with all the old tat. I was actually quite surprised she was still there at the end, that’s love for you!

I thought she would have been gone by the end. He just came across as the sort of guy who would be sending her an email to book in lovemaking on Wednesday week at 8.33pm. He would then be late, because he would be probing his temp sensors. (I thought she looks hot)

[SteamyTea]

37 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said:

He just came across as the sort of guy who would be sending her an email to book in lovemaking on Wednesday week at 8.33pm

Isn't that how it is done these days.  A modern version of setting the alarm an hour early.

 

[LA3222]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

I would love to see a follow up of temps and power usage to actually see if/how efficient it is!

It can be 100% efficient and reduce his heating cost to zero and id still say its a crap idea. 

 

What about the rest of your energy costs? Heating is only part of the picture. Whats the point of being efficient for your heating but then relying on the grid for DHW and routine energy use? He spent a s**t ton of money saving on his heating bill.

 

I'm sure he could have used an insulated slab, insulated frame, ASHP, solar and reduced all of his energy costs for less money than building an underground bunker?‍♂️ Ending up with a far more 'eco' house.

 

Seemed to me he has two obsessions in life - proving that his mental heating system works and whipping out his FLIR at every opportunity.

 

Can probably add checking his probes to that list now?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater, looked ok, I just think the narrative didn't match what was achieved.

Edited January 28, 2021 by LA3222

[pdf27]

3 hours ago, joe90 said:

Yes, my build is “heavy”and it works very well at keeping temps very stable, I believe (I have no data to prove it) that most of my losses are due to wind wash, two story house in a windy location so if mine was built into the ground my losses would be very low. (But I also have a very high water table.

Yes he did, but originally it was a heat distribution system only.

 

I would love to see a follow up of temps and power usage to actually see if/how efficient it is!

You're only trying to stabilise temperature over a day or two however, rather than ~180 days, and have a heating system to support keeping the temperature stable. That's ~100x easier.

 

2 hours ago, eandg said:

For space standards and quality, new build social housing will likely be on par with decent quality, main contractor self-build per m2. 

I've been told £2000/m² for something like Goldsmith Street - sounds a bit high, but given they will be small houses and can't reduce the number of kitchens, bathrooms, etc. and won't have any free labour provided it doesn't sound crazy.

[eandg]

1 hour ago, pdf27 said:

You're only trying to stabilise temperature over a day or two however, rather than ~180 days, and have a heating system to support keeping the temperature stable. That's ~100x easier.

 

I've been told £2000/m² for something like Goldsmith Street - sounds a bit high, but given they will be small houses and can't reduce the number of kitchens, bathrooms, etc. and won't have any free labour provided it doesn't sound crazy.

Last I heard you were looking at £1800-2000/m2 for houses, in Scotland at least. Partly a function of high standards and partly due to lots of demand and not a huge deal of main contractor supply. 

[eandg]

Just watched the latest episode and you are all a bit curmudgeonly. Pioneering spirit and a very nice and interesting house that ticked both of their boxes - albeit not sure what happened in the year or so in the middle. 

[Roys]

I have just watched the latest episode as well, I liked the house.

Not sure if it will work out heating wise as good as his wife would have hoped but fair play to the bloke for a having an idea and sticking to it.

I would have put my money into the more proven route of solar energy.

[recoveringbuilder]

20 minutes ago, Roys said:

I have just watched the latest episode as well, I liked the house.

Not sure if it will work out heating wise as good as his wife would have hoped but fair play to the bloke for a having an idea and sticking to it.

I would have put my money into the more proven route of solar energy.

It was quite good that for once they approached the heating, I can’t remember any grand design programs that have gone into heating in any big way, you see these huge big houses that are built but they never say how it is being heated.

[Gone West]

I can't see how his idea will heat the house. With his best estimate, after several years, of 17C for the surrounding soil temperature it can only help in reducing the amount of heat required to keep the house warm. The heating requirement will be quite high as there was no underfloor insulation nor attached to the concrete. The measured temperature was 13.5 at the time. It will need a heat source like most houses IMHO.

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, recoveringbuilder said:

how it is being heated

 

££££ 

 

?

[eandg]

I couldn't work out why he insulated everywhere apart from under the floor particularly given that's where the similar house they featured had failed due to an uninsulated floor. But he had the good sense to accommodate for the system not quite working optimally, and delivered something different and boundary pushing more or less to budget so fair play to him. 

[ProDave]

Today an old stone mill building.

 

Not much to say, some will like it some won't.

 

But Building regs?  It appeared to be a 4 storey building, now with the staircase from each floor opening out onto a large open plan area where you walk round to the next flight to the next level.

 

How does that comply with a protected staircase?  and hardly a door in sight, let alone any fire doors?

[recoveringbuilder]

28 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Today an old stone mill building.

 

Not much to say, some will like it some won't.

 

But Building regs?  It appeared to be a 4 storey building, now with the staircase from each floor opening out onto a large open plan area where you walk round to the next flight to the next level.

 

How does that comply with a protected staircase?  and hardly a door in sight, let alone any fire doors?

A lot of these grand designs seem to forget about building regs! It was a beautiful building though 

[Roys]

And again fair play to the bloke he put in the graft and his heart and soul into it.  I would have struggled with the lack of head room on that top floor. When I was looking for a project 15 years ago I rejected quite a few buildings due to the lack of headroom. My wife used to come out saying “that was a good one” I would go “nope” usually with a big bump on my head. I am 6ft2 my wife is 5ft.

[ProDave]

What you see happening on a lot of these GD's, is the self builders struggle on for weeks on end making painfully slow progress but say "we will be in in 3 months"

 

Then 3 months later Kevin comes back and lo and behold it is finished, even the outside is tidied up and landscaped.  Clearly they did not do all that themselves like they said they would, they must have got someone in, but will never admit it.

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

What you see happening on a lot of these GD's, is the self builders struggle on for weeks on end making painfully slow progress but say "we will be in in 3 months"

 

Then 3 months later Kevin comes back and lo and behold it is finished, even the outside is tidied up and landscaped.  Clearly they did not do all that themselves like they said they would, they must have got someone in, but will never admit it.

 

 

Also last year another poster revealed that sometimes the designer interiors are created with short term rental furniture wheeled in the grand final visit by Kevin & Crew.

[markc]

7 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

Also last year another poster revealed that sometimes the designer interiors are created with short term rental furniture wheeled in the grand final visit by Kevin & Crew.

That makes sense, i noticed a few of the tight budget builds suddenly had some very expensive furniture in the final reveal

[scottishjohn]

the minimalist approach to wall insulation and moisture control will mean both those wood burners will on most of the time  as with no doors no chance just to heat part of it --will all go to the upper floor . not as though they were short of space --a TF inside the walls and it would have been so much easier and no need for those expensive first floor beams they put in

 no wieght on the outer  walls 

 which is what Iam being told iwill need to do to keep planning +b/c+se  happy 

even though i,m removing a full storey which will be hundreds of tons of stone  -

obviously different b/c and planning in cornwall who look on the regs ae suggestions 

wish it was so here

[Ralph]

2 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

the minimalist approach to wall insulation and moisture control will mean both those wood burners will on most of the time  as with no doors no chance just to heat part of it --will all go to the upper floor .

Maybe the climate there is a bit more forgiving but having lived on the coast in NE Scotland in an old house with little insulation and lime mortar I'll take warm and dry over picturesque any day of the week. I admire the level of graft and It looked lovely but that's a lot of money to spend without sorting out the insulation. 

 

I also liked the pointed "I don't give a shit what they think" aimed on KM from the woman. 

 

[scottishjohn]

1 minute ago, Ralph said:

Maybe the climate there is a bit more forgiving but having lived on the coast in NE Scotland in an old house with little insulation and lime mortar I'll take warm and dry over picturesque any day of the week. I admire the level of graft and It looked lovely but that's a lot of money to spend without sorting out the insulation. 

 

I also liked the pointed "I don't give a shit what they think" aimed on KM from the woman. 

 

where I am in S/W scotland  climate is very similar to cornwall ,very little snow etc on the coast --but go 5-10miles inland to the hills --very different

[joe90]

43 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

even though i,m removing a full storey which will be hundreds of tons of stone  -

Can you update your thread on this and your plans?

[joe90]

30 minutes ago, Ralph said:

I also liked the pointed "I don't give a shit what they think" aimed on KM from the woman

+1. Just watched it (recorded) what Kevin did not get was the timber (as told by the timber conversationalist) was beyond repair,  also thought the same as @ProDave about stairs and building regs ?.