Grand Designs

[chromis]

Has anyone been watching the ABC British program, Grand Designs? Where they follow the construction of homes or renovations.

Some of the designs and workman ship is just amazing.

It's a shame we don’t have the same kind of craftsmen here in Perth. Just try to find a builder or products with a unique flavor, it's impossible. Unless I am looking in all the wrong places.

Everything is regurgitated display home decor, fittings etc.

[RufflyRustic]

Yes!!! Love the show.

cheers

Wendy

[OBBob]

I have been enjoying the snippets of that show that I have been catching. It's amazing what some of them have been doing! There is a fairly broad spectrum of what they classify as owner builders (I guess similar to Aus), some are doing everything and some are just watching other people work.

A lot of the really good trade stuff is being done by cabinet makers not builders as such. You could get that done here ... but it'd cost a bit!!

[MrFixIt]

Hi

I live in the northern suburbs of Perth.

Has anyone been watching the ABC British program, Grand Designs? Where they follow the construction of homes or renovations.

Some of the designs and workman ship is just amazing.

No, I haven't seen the program

It's a shame we don’t have the same kind of craftsmen here in Perth.

I am SURE we do, they're just harder to find and in high demmand!

Just try to find a builder or products with a unique flavor, it's impossible. Unless I am looking in all the wrong places.

Maybe you are

It's not impossible, just difficult especially in today's housing market.

With Perth's relatively small population, there is little demand for a huge range of building products. The logistics for overseas manufacturers to sell and supply their products to a smaller retail base makes such products difficult to obtain.

There are GREAT builders around. There are ARTISANS around too! They will all be expensive - more so than usual because of the housing market right now - BUT if you have the money then YOU CAN get what you want

Everything is regurgitated display home decor, fittings etc.

As stated before, a limited market with a limited demand makes it hard to justify huge or widely varied imports.

In the UK, there is a HUGE population there are many more millions (probably) of tradespeople living and working there. These tradespeople will have a better training as "they" (tradespeople) have been doing "it" for SOOOOO long now. There will also be many millions more DIY'ers because they also, have "been at it" for sooo many more years than we in Perth have been.

I'm doing MY BIT

[Sir Stinkalot]

I love the show and make sure I catch it each week. Even the Stinkette enjoys watching it with me. I really like the style of the show and the presenter, there is a good mix of projects and manages to balance the technical information and the personality side well ...... similar to Top Gear. I will have to check out Germany on my world tour though as they seem to do everything better than the British ...... it was so funny watching the Hoff house go up a few weeks ago. The Germans were spot on, right down to bringing over every bolt and screw that they needed ..... the project was delayed by the British crane that had to come from the next suburb.

[flynnsart]

It is a great show. There is a website that has videos and pics of the projects. And this is my favourite one http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/...y_image18.html

Donna

[munruben]

Yes it is a god show but you must realize the projects chosen for the show are the unique ones and the cost is very high on these homes. Believe me there are plenty of mediocre buildings in the UK same as here. Most builders have to build to a price and this dictates the quality in the finished product. There are some stunning homes built right here in Australia and equal the craftsmanship of those on the show.
Its all available here if you want to pay the price. Unfortunately most of us can't afford to pay that price.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Yes it is a god show but you must realize the projects chosen for the show are the unique ones and the cost is very high on these homes.

I would disagree. There are some homes shown on the show that are done quite cheaply as they owners have been able to do much of the work. I remember a young couple who did up an old board of works pump house or something similar, it was done relatively on the cheap as they did most of the work themselves. Or the young newly weds who built a small cottage in a hostoric village ..... the real storey in the show is the journey of the owner and their growth through out the project.

You can amagine the Australian version ...... Yeah Sharron and I spent two weekends walking around display homes ..... we found the one we were after, paid the deposit, and three months later moved in ...... wow I will never do that again.

The one I liked best was the guy who had no experience do decided to do his own project management ..... ended up breaking his ankle, his prefinished roof got damaged by rain, and the building ran a few years over estimate and well over budget. They ended up doing two shows on him as he was such a great guy and he still wasn't finished. Great looking building though.

[scooter]

Loved the one last night, ended up looking really classy.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Shhhh ..... havent watched it yet

[munruben]

I would disagree. There are some homes shown on the show that are done quite cheaply as they owners have been able to do much of the work.

Of course you will always save money doing the work yourself but if you employ someone to do it for you, then the better finish you want takes longer and costs more. I was painting for over 40 years and its amazing how many people wont pay for a top class job but happy to pay less for a job that is okay but not top class.
The point I was trying to make was all things being equal, Australian tradesmen can match the quality of the craftsmanship in England if money is no problem.
I am not putting the show down by any means, it is a first rate show in my eyes too and just for the record, I am English and did my apprenticeship in the UK.

[Sir Stinkalot]

John,

I don't disagree that a better job takes longer and costs more, and that many people are happy with a second class job if it is slightly cheaper.

Just disagree with the remark that the show in question only picks the unique houses with high costs. I feel that the show does very well to pick interesting people who have a real passion for what they are doing, this passion then goes on to create the unique house, some times resulting in high costs, other times not so costly. The real key to the show is not the value of the house but the excitement, commitment and dedication of the clients and owners. A show featuring a billionaire who is simply writing the cheques wouldn't have the same appeal as a couple who are really passionate about the project. From watching the show there are only a handful of projects that actually like, but the journey to completed project is what makes the show a winner.

[AlexS]

Watch the show every week, then discuss it with an architect I work with the following day - sort of like a double dose! It seems to me that the UK has a less stringent approval regime (in some places) than here - people designing on the run, doing things without proper structural design, etc. But then there was the bloke building in a forest who had extremely stringent requirements, and would have to remove the house if he moved.

Sort of like Jill's posts with moving pictures and expert commentary!

[journeyman Mick]

I've seen snippets of this program, including the one with the curved, sandwhich roof panels with the prefinished ply on the interior side. The thing that I keep asking myself is: "what made this person think that they could design/build/project manage such a complicated building project without any prior experience?" Building isn't rocket science or brain surgery, granted, but I've dealt with both a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist and I wouldn't have either of them supervising a building project.

Mick

[chromis]

Thursday nights show was seriously impressive. I'm not sure if I have the stamina to hand cut 4000 slate tiles and lay them all..

I'm sure we do have very good crafts-people out there. I was possibly a little harsh with those comments.

It is frustrating though when you want a to buy an item that isnt designed for the display home market and there isnt anything out there.

I dont know if I agree with the statements about Perth not having the market and I think lots of people would pay a bit more for those one off pieces.

Why should we settle for second best just because we live in Perth.