This series seems to be boiling down to comparisons between people doing similar projects. I'm a little disappointed that the projects are SO ambitious that I could never see myself getting involved in something similar - I'm never thinking "What would I do in their shoes" - so I suppose it's a bit more entertaining.
The Beeny seems to be a bit more pessimistic in her voice-overs than she used to be (even though most of these projects seem to be very successful in the end) and there's a big emphasis on layout and project management styles rather than styling in the properties, though last night's tips about kitchen worktops and wet rooms were quite interesting.
And where do they get these really cheap kitchens that look nice?
**Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue.**
I suppose quality of workmanship in fitting counts for a lot.
I love seeing the end results though, and was impressed by both projects last night, but as you said - these people are way out of ordinary joe public league, with oodles of dosh to spend or at least access to plenty of credit. In all cases though it's not often they seem to go wrong for the developer, whether they are sensible or not.
More entertaining when it does though.;-) But I do like to see some people who aren't completely cocky, which neither were last night, nor full of the great 'I am' at the profits made.
*It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. -- Pierre De Beaumarchais
Without wanting to knock people with cheaper kitchens, my exhaustive kitchen research of late suggests that a lot of things look good in photos / on TV that look less good in real life.
What were the kitchen worktop tips? What should I be choosing for the extravagent kitchens at Hatster Towers?
Last night's show was definitely 'property porn' for us all to salivate over - and did you see that rich couple's own house !!
It's nice to have the new, two hander format, but this has come at the expense of detail. I felt quite 'detatched' from the whole show last night. Also, as one building site looks much like any other I found myself losing track of which site we were actually on.
Both parties featured were experienced developers. I'd rather see people like me having a stab than watch the professionals make oodles.
And they still can't shake off those 'staged' moments - are we really expected to believe that that bloke wanted to buy a cheapo flimsy kitchen, and that his missus had to persuade him to spend a bit more? Yeah right. That guy knew his kitchens, the whole section was a farce.
I'm always quite dubious about the alleged profit made by these people. I know if I was appearing in such a program I would adjust the cost figures to avoid the embarrassment of people knowing I'd made a loss or very little profit. The figure for all the electrics and plumbing in the bakery house last night was just over 6k for what seemed quite a large building. We've had a 3 bed semi in London re-wired and re-plumbed and it cost about 4k for each. I know this house wasn't in London but I'm rather sceptical about the figures.
What were the kitchen worktop tips? What should I be choosing for the extravagent kitchens at Hatster Towers?
The Beeny was saying that a particular type of worktop - shiny/textured surface - would scratch easily and soon look scruffy. She recommended the wooden worktop instead. The consensus was that granite would be the best but would be too expensive in that situation for the two developers.
So - what worktops do you maintain in the Hatster mansion?
**Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue.**
Hi Shoppinggirl, Yes as soon as I saw the chav's house I thought It doesnt matter how much you borrow you cant buy taste, rich? No they weren't / aren't rich, I hate to see listed buildings fall into the hands of folk that put profit before the fabric of the building.
As for the team with the row of terraced houses, good on them, it looked ok to me.
The Hatster mansions currently has B&Q's cheapest laminate, partially burnt where Mr Hatster played with his new kitchen blowtorch.
I'm currently in the process of choosing a new kitchen, and have got stuck on the worktop. There's a special offer on with our kitchen people that they'll do any amount of laminate for £150 (or something). However, Mr Hatster doesn't like the laminate. Mr Hatster hasn't said anything he likes better, though... I like the look of wood but worry about the maintenance. I have been wondering about bamboo, though - would it go with a bamboo floor or would the whole look look totally odd?
I agree Mickey, I'm so glad they took Sarah's advice on not opening it out into open plan, it's just all wrong for a listed property. Not that they would have been allowed to anyway. I know it's a personal taste thing, but the open plan look is great in small properties to give it more light etc., but in older houses with character you need to keep the individual rooms in otherwise it's bye bye to the character that was the fabric of the building. An old shell with an ultra modern interior, it just doesn't do it for me.
*It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. -- Pierre De Beaumarchais
I couldn't believe that the "Bakery" couple didn't realise what a property being listed actually meant, especially since they were in the property business already. At the very least, their solicitor should have explained it to them when he reported back to them on his findings before they exchanged contracts.
I can't believe this thread. The Green-eyed monster is running amok!
They were two ordinary but intelligent couples that bought wisely and did a workmanlike job of restoration. Anyone is this forum is free to do the same. For heaven's sake! Give credit where credit is due for once instead of crowing when the staged pretend retarded wannabe developers do it all wrong.
Originally posted by Hatster: The Hatster mansions currently has B&Q's cheapest laminate, partially burnt where Mr Hatster played with his new kitchen blowtorch.
I'm currently in the process of choosing a new kitchen, and have got stuck on the worktop. There's a special offer on with our kitchen people that they'll do any amount of laminate for £150 (or something). However, Mr Hatster doesn't like the laminate. Mr Hatster hasn't said anything he likes better, though... I like the look of wood but worry about the maintenance. I have been wondering about bamboo, though - would it go with a bamboo floor or would the whole look look totally odd?
I think bamboo would require the same sort of maintenance as wood, hatster? and might also be overkill. The houses on PL had oakblock. I like wood, think it looks great. As long as you don't have it round the sink area, it doesn't require THAT much maintenance. My worktops are 9 years old now and the only bits which are manky are round the sink/drainer bit (due to getting repeatedly wet). I can't think of any other worksurface at the same price which looks as good.
Originally posted by queenstomper: No I couldn't. How could I borrow £500K? How can anyone borrow £500K unless they have serious earnings and ability to pay it back?
But the money is in the property. The bank's money is safe. Only their own money was at risk.
By virtue of that you are saying that anyone with a house with equity, will be able to borrow huge sums of money based on the fact that someone will buy the houses after they have been renovated?
That cannot be so. Remember, during their renovations they had to come up with £1000 per week in repayments. How could someone like me, who earns that per month, ever do that?
I do get what you are saying about ordinary people though - for once nobody deluded about what they were doing.
*It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. -- Pierre De Beaumarchais
