Grand Designs: The Street (C4)

[Flaverings]

I've started watching episode 1. Some, er, interesting characters and relationships in this one.

that lady was unreal

It's a strange idea.

I thought the man was a right pompus ass!

Both sets of neighbors should have had a clear conversation before starting about what 'helping' meant, but that single lady was clear railroaded into going for a DIY house with the promise that he would be there to help her.

None of them came out looking good and some of the style choices were grim! The kitchen in the couples home was light blue with purple?!

I like Terry and Olwen's home, I like all of the lights and glossy surfaces. I'm pleased that Lynn got a house that she's pleased with (although the story seemed to jump for us viewers from crisis/chaos to finished product).

I think both Lynn and Terry have come across as a bit difficult, perhaps curmudgeonly? I think I would find Terry an easier neighbour that Lynn. I kept thinking she'd benefit from a bit of therapy. But then who wouldn't?

I will never stop being shocked that people with no construction or even basic building experience decide to build their own house. I mean unless you’ve got tons of money to throw at project managers and competent tradesmen why would you?

Lynne seemed like a right CF expecting them to help her, surely she should have known that scaffolding and lifting heavy building materials were beyond her capability, I imagine she was more of a hindrance to poor Ales than anything else!

Didn't like the jump from chaos to finished product either. I felt like there was half the programme missing.

I preferred Lynn's house in the end but it landed up being a financial disaster for her so I'm glad she loved it.

We are in our early 60s and have done several major renovations, though not building from scratch, and there is no way we would be taking on such a massive and stressful challenge again. I'd be concerned that the mental stress when things don't go to plan might make me physically ill these days. I thought they were very brave or mad or possibly both!

I liked both houses.

I'm wondering about the future proof bit of the houses. they are still reasonably fit, but for how long?

I would never agree to selfbuild with friends - recipe for disaster.

Yes not sure why you would go for a house in your mid 60s/70s rather than a bungalow if you were future proofing, at least a master bedroom and shower room on the ground floor would be essentials for me. Decorating those vaulted ceilings may require assistance in future!

Lynn definitely had downstairs bedroom and wet room. Did the couple? I thought his workroom was a bit depressing without a window.

I loved Terry's house but I always think of the cobwebs I can't reach with a vaulted ceiling. I have one in the dining room that's "just" 13' or so at its apex and decobwebbing is a precarious business, as it is. And you can't ignore them because they look horrible.

I just imagine a stair lift on the open plan staircase :o

I wonder in the quarz stays as nice or will go green or grey as light rendered houses often go

I feel like I need a bit more back story on how they got to the point of starting to build. What was the application/buying/selection process for these plots? I wondered what motivated these people to move quite a long way away to self build when there must have been plots nearer to them. And then the ‘social experiment’ side of it, what the infrastructure of the new ‘community’ was going to compose of? I think they mentioned that 100 plots overall would go on the site so the current ‘street’ will become part of an estate soon. It was typical of Grand Designs to jump from the whole crisis (financial or otherwise) drama to an amazing finished product where the budget has been stretched beyond belief to the amazing finished article but I suspect the stuff in between is quite mundane really. I enjoyed it but I tend to love most house related programmes.

Was Roxie really at work? (at the reveal.)

I felt sad for James the chap with the chickens. He seemed such a nice lad and obviously heartbroken over his relationship.

I hope he managed to finish his house.

I wondered this too as Kevin had already alluded to the couple's relationship being tense. I am quite intrigued by some of the relationships on here. There have been two couples that have been together since school and I did feel sorry for yellow door man the other week when his partner left him to continue the build on his own. I hope he finds someone lovely to share his home and his life with.

It did seem like Roxie may have moved out I thought, he seemed to hesitate when he said she was working.
I thought the comment from the neighbour saying the plywood house was a fire risk was funny, that was exactly what I was thinking!

I wonder what the houses made fron non traditional construction would actually be worth on the market? it might be very tough to sell on as a buyer might struggle to get a mortgage. So all the, it's worth 700k etc might not be realisable.

I wonder how much Channel 4 pay you to be on the programme and do they landscape the garden etc as the houses tonight had quite mature planting that would cost a lot. The black house especially needed that pop of colour from the purple flowers and bamboo.

For 300k the family got a lot more space and family friendly house for their money

Kevin made me laugh about the open tread staircase. I just keep thinking when they point out these "architectural features" about how dangerous it would be with toddlers, how difficult the sky windows would be to clean etc.