I totally agree FG - IMHO one of, if not the best house there's been on this programme with regards to both style and budget. I thought there would be too much timber inside but was pleased to see i was wrong. Absolutely fab - i want one too.
Just one thing: didn't they say 'no heating, just the woodburner' then later they said 'installing the underfloor heating' and then at the end, when they showed the boy's bedroom, there was a rad on the wall?
But yes, I loved it too and I just love big open spaces inside houses - why can we (Britian) do more of that???
The classic moment of the series, if not in the whole history of Grand Designs, has to be Kevin getting covered in paper fluff when having a go with the insulation blower machine !
Absolute classic !
Simon
Can you point at it . . . . is it on the trolley ?
I must admit I’m gutted, if anyone has seen any of my previous posts you may know I am on the path to something very similar for my own build. Unfortunately, I have only been on my land for 3 months! so am as far away from the lovely couple on last nights show. Their efforts were beautifully applied to totally suitable, yet adorable home.
I think timber homes are the ultimate in self build and would encourage anyone out there thinking of self build to look into this. Take a look at any of these books and you too will fall in love with this design school:
Although the home shown last night was a Scandinavian project, America and Canada produce, in my opinion, some of the most amazing timber buildings so its worth having a look across the pond.
In answer to buyingagent, most Scandinavian homes use convection heating techniques to supply heat around houses from a single source, often used to heat a water source which can be in turn, used to heat an under-floor system. The timber floor serves to insulate the heat, keeping it trapped in the timber boards themselves, its very efficient. Just goes to show how inefficient, and therefore expensive, our homes are.
Lovely show, lovely people, lovely house. Exactly why I watch GD week after week. Their hard work was so inspiring, and the fathers honesty about wanting to provide for his kids brought a lump to my throat.
The makeshift christmas scene was so genuine and heartwarming too. Oh and what smashing kids - quite a refreshing change from the horrors on Supernanny!
Just an aside though to the guy who was glad to see there wasn't too much timber - with timber floors, walls and roof - what *would* you describe as too much timber ?
I was really impressed with how the original log cabin construction, of stacking round logs criss-cross with a notched join, had evolved into modern flat double-T&G ‘logs’ with rigid interlocking joins. Then using the projecting bits to attach the fascia cladding, and the whole thing was sufficiently rigid that it could avoid a central structural frame. The automation involved with cutting/machining of the wood was equally impressive, yet the end result appeared very natural and well integrated with the environment.
I loved the house and thought it was a great show with really genuine family-focused people. Good to see a prog that isn't about people who already earn loads of money trying to make even more money from owning two homes .
The guy really cared about his family and was passionate about working with wood, all of which shone through.
I missed the beginning of the show though, so can anyone tell me where the house was?
I was a bit worried about how frazzled the poor bloke looked in the final interview. The sheer physical effort really seemed to have taken its toll on him - hopefully he can start to relax and enjoy it now. A fantastically beautiful house but what else can you expect from the Finns? Wonderful people, in my experience...
Lovely house, lovely people. Good luck to them. When are we going to take these sort of sustainable construction methods seriously in this country? We built wonderful wooden houses all over what was the empire, can we do it at home? Nope.
And going to school on a horse.... how cool was that? I've met a few people on site over the years that I've thought turned up to work on a horse though, looking at the state of their work! YeeeHaaaaa
I was telling people at work about it and described it as one without arguments!
The children were very good and I liked their honesty when they said that although they were going to get their own bedroom each they would miss the others.
Inspiring.
**Just wants to pass some time without any hassle**
Originally posted by ShoppingGirl: Just an aside though to the guy who was glad to see there wasn't too much timber - with timber floors, walls and roof - what *would* you describe as too much timber ?
Presume you mean me? Must admit i thought it was probably an odd thing for me to say (especialy as all you could see inside was timber) but i thought in the beginning it would be totally overpowering but IMO it didn't turn out to be the case - maybe it was something to do with the lighting but i thought it just had a warm cosy feel to the place. Still want one!
Nothing new to add really as I agree with everyone else - lovely house and they deserved it cos they worked so hard. I was thinking though that all the houses on GD are lovely when compared with my bog standard semi! My boyfriend was v inspired by it which is a bit of a worry - if he thinks we're moving and building a house in the near future he's got another thing coming!
I know this is not going to be popular and in no way is this a criticism of the couple featured in this show. They have all worked hard and fully deserve their new home.
However, I would have liked more details on this obscure planning law that allows you to legally build a home after 'squatting' on site for 16 years.
The Scandinavian timber industry has done a wonderful job marketing their products as environmentally friendly but when a monster 'harvester', processing factory, workshop machinery, road and sea transportation are taken into account where is the 'green' sense in this. We do have a timber industry here in the UK.
When a 'finished cost' of £120,000 is mentioned it sounds really good value but there are two missing ingredients: plot price and labour price.
A plot like this (if you could obtain planning permission) at least £250,000.
A carpenter with the skills demonstrated, £200 per day. It took seven months, twelve hours a day, seven days a week to complete the house (still work to be done to complete the project). Even at a conservative 6 days x 8 hours x 30 days x 7 months that makes just over 10,000 hours. 1250 days at £200 per day is £250,000. (You will not get a carpenter to work 12 hours a day for anything)
Our £120K shoud be (realistically) £620K.
If you are considering a self build, a home like this cannot be achieved on a budget of £120K.
My congratulations to this couple and my best wishes to the whole family, they would be on the top of my 'honours list' any day.
I don't suppose 'planners' watch this programme but with the death of our 'Farming Industry' perhaps the future of 'rural' life has been found.
Solidek - to answer your point regarding the 'green' aspect of the timber gathering - Kevin did in fact mention that due to constant re-planting of the pine forests in Scandinavia the amount of trees is actually *increasing*.
As for not buying from the UK - well, as also mentioned by Kevin, the pine grown in Scandinavia has a far denser ring pattern due to the cold weather and hence much slower growth - this means that the wood is far stronger and more suitable for this type of build.
I loved the build too - my only criticism would be the choice of paint colour for the exterior - I MUCH preferred the original wood colour. Couldn't they have used a clear 'paint' or varnish to weather-proof it?
On a separate topic, does anyone else agree that this series is far, FAR better than the *mostly* rather awful Grand Designs Abroad (which seemed to spend far too much time wibbling on about the people rather than showing the build)?
This new series is so much better as it shows so much more about the build (as used to be the case in the excellent earlier series) - any 'wibble' about the people involved is incorporated within the structure of the programme when talking about the build.
This new series is so much better as it shows so much more about the build (as used to be the case in the excellent earlier series) - any 'wibble' about the people involved is incorporated within the structure of the programme when talking about the build.
I thought that too. I liked the details about the insulation. I thought Kevin was prancing around a bit like a 'prima donna' but then that's his role I suppose! When everything has been worked out to the last screw, he's a bit stuck for something to do!!! I do have to agree that the transport costs did make it less sustainable and that that sort of timber can be sourced in ths country but at a greater cost. My other half was greatly enthused at the ultimate 'flat pack' as he actually likes putting those sort of things together
Never mind it'll be repeated! 
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