To be driven crackers by the people on Grand Designs?

[CruCru]

On the episode today, the couple have sort of fallen out with all their neighbours. The project is over budget (by more than £200k) and over deadline. The guy has sold his business to finance the project and no longer has work to support the family. And they all seem to live in the one studio flat.

Argh! I couldn't bear it.

[FriskyMare]

Just googled the actress from last night,she was only in EE for a few months, but her uncle is Lionel Blair!

[Havea0]

And retrograde planning permission, or whatever it is called.

Do normal people actually do that? I suppose they do. Iam often ledt wondering whether some Grnad Designs project programmes are started filmimg, and then either the money runs out, or someone at the council goes "nw hang on a minute. You started building without permission, and now you are going to have to knock it down " it would make a great programme

Has that happened before, does anyone know?

[KitCat26]

I love GD. DH and I sit and watch it, and all the others building programs.

My favourite was the one built out of straw bales. I'd love to know how much money was really spent on the builds... Some of the people really have more money than sense.

Any one see program on Tuesday with a couple in Hertfordshire? They seemed really lovely and built a barn style house in his parent's back garden. Sadly, the guy lost both his parents in a really short time, so the couple had a lot of other stresses going on.

[melika]

And... they always have an atrium living room and we say out loud 'Bet that's gonna be a nightmare in the winter!' Them with their designer aga woodburner that won't heat the place.

List of shitty things I have seen and hated.

polished concrete counters/floors
kitchens with 'textured' finish,in other words rough/ unfinished
tiny bedrooms with no window
bedrooms with no way of privacy at all
house built in middle of backs of houses, all overlooking it
underground rooms with no natural light
Eco no matter if is awkward to do and 4 times the cost
minimal everything and looking like ikea but paid over the odds for
mezzanine bedrooms which has already been mentioned


The worst one was the fallen down barn with the house built under it. They had no view over the landscape even though it was built on top of a hill.

smug back slapping at end with new baby.

[cantspel]

I love Grand Designs. There was a great one where a retiring architect built a retirement home into the hillside somewhere in spain. His son was the architect who designed it and it was lovely with open views over the hillside. The only odd thing was all the homes in the area where painted white and they had to battle with the local mayor to paint their new build in a miss mash of colours. It did in the end look better than i expected but i would have stuck with the white.

[NorbertDentressangle]

Havea0 - I seem to remember one where quite far into the build there was a dispute about either the house being slightly too tall or about a metre to the left or something.

It was quite a rural location and the neighbours had complained.

IIRC the guy had to go and present his case at a planning committee meeting which, fortunately for him, accepted the slight adjustment. If it hadn't have done he would have had to pull the house down.

The cameras waited for him outside the council building for the outcome.

(although there is a chance I might be muddling this up with something else like one of the George Clarke programmes)

[PresidentServalan]

Most of the people on there are dicks! Especially the ones who decide they will project manage everything despite having no experience!

[Pendeen]

Along with nearly every other several architects I know, I'm not a big fan of the programme.

I became so annoyed, groaning in irritation when the inevitable disasters start to emerge that I hardly ever watch these days. My bigest frustration though, is reserved for the self-important presenter.

When I first watched, I thought "this fool is giving us a bad name" and then I looked him up and found to my relief he is not an architect after all! :)

[Graceparkhill]

I would love to see a programme on the tribulations of being a GD neighbour. Last night there were 17 households who looked onto a building site for months/ years with only some home baked banana bread by way of compensation.

Btw niece of Lionel is now an interior designer so the world will never see her Hedda Gabler. Call me a bitter old Internet stalker if you like.

[wordfactory]

I do think all the projects are too high concept.

I'd be just as interested to see a couple try to do up a semi on a real budget.

[whats4teamum]

I live next door to a woman who is just like disco dance floor lady. They gave us six months of building hell to turn an Edwardian house into something resembling a sanitsed Barrett home. As it is now open plan it echoes like a public loo and we can here what they saying.

I blame Kevin and GD for the abomination of open plan spreading across the country. I like walls and doors you can shut when you want everyone else to fuck off.

Love the charcoal man though.

[WhereBeThatBlackbirdTo]

SDTG oh, my!

[samandi]

On the episode today, the couple have sort of fallen out with all their neighbours. The project is over budget (by more than £200k) and over deadline. The guy has sold his business to finance the project and no longer has work to support the family. And they all seem to live in the one studio flat.

They hadn't fallen out with their neighbours at all - in fact all 17 neighbours had consented to them going 1 metre into their gardens to build the house. Lots of projects go over budget. Presumably the family has money to survive on - the woman also has a career btw. And the flat they were living in before wasn't a studio flat by any means.

[samandi]

I do think all the projects are too high concept.

I'd be just as interested to see a couple try to do up a semi on a real budget.

That's why it's called "GRAND Designs"

There are plenty of other doing-up-house shows that are lower-budget. (The houses that is, not the tv show itself.)

[Nanny0gg]

One of the ones I loved was the one built over a Scottish loch.

The house was worth it just to wake up to the view.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I agree, NannyOgg.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I quite like the bedrooms that have the fancy glass that turns opaque at the touch of a button though although you'd be fucked if it broke like it would in my house

Did I admit that out loud?

[mrspremise]

scrappydappydoo are you me? that's just like us! my dh watching Grand Designs in hushed awe while I sit there sniggering, knocking wine back while I play a sarky GD drinking game and making barbed comments about hair loss

[SignoraStronza]

I loved rather fancied Ben and his wooden/straw bale woodland house. Also, one of the earlier ones where a co-operative built their own social housing in a plot in Brighton. Liked the Huf Haus one too, and also that really large, jolly posh couple with the mad haired Jo Brand-alike woman. There was also a young couple with kids, where her husband died halfway through the build. She finished it and went back to work as a primary school teacher to pay for it.

I hated the bungalow conversion with the useless wind turbine, dreamed up by an 'architectural designer' (him). There was also one where they wiped out her father's entire pension fund, with no means of paying it back . Didn't like the church conversion cock up either.

I know far too much about Grand Designs

[HorryIsUpduffed]

Ooh yes, the clear/opaque glass walls. They were amazing.

On 7x11 bedrooms again though, bastards. Massive double height "living space" and space age cells upstairs.

[Catsnotrats]

All those who loved Ben and his straw house, you can stay in a 2nd house he built out of straw bales near to his original house. www.withyfieldcottage.co.uk/

[Tabby1963]

Do you remember the GD featuring the Water Tower build in London? Eight floors, huge windows, no privacy. All I could think of was "who is going to hoover eight floors of stairs" (I hate this job lol), and "who is going to clean all those massive windows" (inside and out)? Soulless, boring, no character whatsoever.

Cost £380,000 to buy, over £2 million to convert. Earlier this year they put it on the market for £6.5 mill but reduced this by £2 mill as no interest. I wouldn't pay a penny for it. Still for sale....

Kevin McCloud described it as a "jaw dropping showstopper", apparently.

[Candlefire]

I have a not so secret crush on Kevin. Yes, he can be smug bastard sometimes but there's something about him. Tell me I'm not the only one?

[bigkidsdidit]

My favourite was the converted lifeboat station. Imagine waking Up and looking out of he window and being over the sea. Lovely!

Georgian house lady was so dreadful I wonder why they dot repeat that one but they never do