Category: Property on TV

Restoration Home visit Big House in Pembrokeshire.
You can watch this on BBC iplayer for another 6 days

Big House in Pembrokeshire.

The description says:
Once a building of grandeur and influence, Big House is now a carcass. But digging deep into the archives, the property’s historical and architectural roots, gives an insight into the wealth and power of an empire built on one of the country’s most precious commodities – coal. And it provides an intriguing tale about the dirty tricks of political corruption.

Why did this house fall into rack and ruin? Can it ever be returned to its former glory and who can tell what it looked like in its heyday?

Owner, Alun, has lived in this part of the world all his life and dreamed of owning Big House ever since he was a small boy. Almost 10 years ago, he bought it. He’s got a big job on his hands. Progress has been painfully slow but his aim it to turn Big House into a home.

You can find out more about this and the other restorations in the series by buying the book – Restoration Home: The Essential Guide to Tracing the History of Your House

Series 2 – Episode 10 – Help! My House Is Falling Down

Sarah Beeny revisits Paul and Clare Baker, whose house in Essex was cracking apart and infested with rats.

Paul and Clare Baker bought their house in Essex as the perfect home for their four children, but peeling back the wallpaper revealed a terrifying crack all along the back of the property. It turned out their dream home was sitting on six metres of sludge and splitting in half.

Sarah and her team discovered that the problems literally ran very deep, and they also tackled a rat infestation, sewage seeping into the ground floor, and black mould that made the children ill.
A year on, Sarah revisits the family to see if they are finally free of their problems.

4onD link –

Wreck or Ready is a new property program on BBC1.

Property experts Jonnie Irwin and Jane Farnham hunt for run-down renovation projects and already-perfect homes to tempt buyers looking to relocate.
Episode 1/15. Jonnie and Jane help beekeeper Tony and his wife Pauline in Staffordshire.

It’s a battle between buying a wreck to do up (Jonnie finds these) or a ready to move in property (Jane finds these)

They’ve only viewed 8 houses and can’t decide whether to buy a project or a finished house.

It sounds like a good excuse to go and look at loads of properties to me!
They show 4 properties – 2 of each.
I’m not sure the last one of the “ready” was really as ready as it could have been.

They pick the “ready but not ready” one. It needs some major work and it’s the most expensive.
They don’t put an offer in on it though.

Series 2 -Episode 9 – Help! My House Is Falling Down
Thursday 04 August 8PM Channel 4
Hull Garden Village house episode of Help My house is falling down on 4oD.

The TV blurb says:
In Hull’s Garden Village, Sarah Beeny revisits a Victorian house that was under attack from tree roots.

Dave, Sharon and their two children were forced out of their handsome five-bedroom Victorian house in Hull when massive cracks started ripping through their newly decorated walls, causing their doorways and windows to get badly bent out of shape. Sarah and her team discovered that huge trees surrounding the house were the likely culprits for the damage. However, the local council did not want them cut down.

A year on, Sarah revisits the family to see what progress they have made

This episode runs as all the other episodes have: a family have bought a house and there’s something wrong with it. This couple bought this house on impulse at auction without a survey. It makes me wonder if they looked at it. Hull’s Garden Suberb was built in 1907 so the houses are over 100 years old and listed.
The windows are metal framed small squares and many of these are broken or cracked and let huge amounts of drafts in. Replacements are not only expensive – it’ll cost about £20k to do the lot, but have to be approved by the council.
Sarah’s suvreying team get to work on the house and look at the bay window leaning away, as well as the drains. The cause of the cracking in the house is the large number of trees nearby. These have sucked up vast amounts of water from under the foundations and the house is sinking which in turn is pulling it apart. Some of the cracks are big enough to put your hand in!
There’s also woodworm upstairs which is dealt with by spraying all the affected wood and removing anything beyond saving.
A smoke test reveals just how leaky the windows are and Sarah recommends some flexible sealer for a temporary repair. After 18 months the windows still haven’t been replaced as they are still in discussions with the council.
The trees have a tree preservation order on them and as such need to have permission granted by the council before they can be removed. Sarah’s surveyors prepare a report which is sent to the council. It takes longer than expected to get an answer but they are given permission to remove some of the trees.

When the trees are removed the ground under the house will start to hydrate again and correct the previous movement. This needs to be measured and cracks filled that form during this process.
Sarah’s building experiment shows the family that a brick built house is able to withstand huge strains and won’t fall down just because of a few trees.

The first visit back is after 6 months and the family have had the drains entirely replaced deep enough not to have root issues again. The house has been rendered and the inside remodelled. It looks like they have a new kitchen and a new bathroom as well as redecoration. This episode unlike the others doesn’t bang on about how little money they have. They did buy the house for a bargain price at auction though.

Sarah encourages them to plant a tree – but one that won’t be a water hog.
Sarah returns after a further year and sees that the grounds outside now have been done and the land level has risen so that the previously exposed manhole is now level with the grass. It’s impressive to see!

A minor point: The TV Blurb says it’s a Victorian house. But the Garden Suberb in Hull was built in 1907 – for workers at Reckitt’s chemical works. This means the house isn’t Victorian.The reign of Queen Victoria was 1837—1901 – so these houses are built after then and are as such would be Edwardian.

It says they bought it for £80 at auction.

The Secret Life Of Buildings on Channel 4 last night.
Dyckhoff explores how the design of our homes works secretly to influence our behaviour. Light, room size, layout, proportion and materials all have measurable effects on our lives.

So why do we accept the smallest windows and the smallest room sizes in Europe?

I’ve not watched it yet but it’s critical of new builds. I’ve read elsewhere that new builds don’t meet social housing requirements because of room sizes and the open kitchen layout. Apparently social housing requirements are for closed kitchens.
It’s always concerned me that new build estates have so little space between properties, and that they have bizarre designs which mean paths are right next to windows.

Starting at David Adjaye’s hidden house that is mostly black with 3 light wells as a design triumph worries me. It’s not. It’s not a family home. It’s not for anyone who has clutter or likes bright light to read by!
When the house sets down the rules it’s wrong!

New build windows are too small! This affects your bodyclock but modern windows are small! There’s an experiment where they cut down the light in the presenter’s flat to new build levels. With urine and blood tests as well as sleep monitoring and mood rating tests – it’ll be interesting to see the results.

I know what he means – our 50s house has huge windows – something we always moan about when we’re buying curtains as we need huge ones! But it does mean we have massive amounts of light coming in!
The results are worrying – could low light be killing us?
Not only is the low light a problem, but the size is the smallest in western europe.

Room sizes – We buy by number of bedrooms rather than considering the size of the property. The UK has the smallest size of house!
He’s going to a new build property. But the owner moaning about the downstairs bedroom five years on is crazy. She bought it! She could see how small it was – or could she? It’s believed that developers use 3/4 size furniture that makes their room sizes look bigger than they are.
Always measure your biggest items of furniture and work out if they’ll fit in your new build box!
Ceiling heights are also important. Think how high the ceilings are in georgian houses – they’re high and spacious!
Need private spaces and nice outdoor spaces to meet the neighbours in.
They then look at Bjarke Ingels – “Eight House” which is really bizarre to look at! It’s got shops at the bottom, townhouses above, flats above that and then penthouse houses with gardens on the top.
They put the presenter in an ice bath to measure pain tolerance in nasty and nice surroundings.
The golden mean or ration – can make designs look pleasing to the eye
They then go to Maggies cancer centre in London which is built to not feel like a hospital using careful choice of materials.

They then go to Holland to look at the Reitveld Shroder house there. Worth a look at that – it’s a museum!

1960s estate – residents are being allowed to have a say in the design of the replacement estate when the current one is knocked down.
They don’t like the multiple ways in, the small windows, the fact it’s hard to keep clean.
Glass-house community design is helping them.

Build your own –
Would people make better choices if they self- build? Is it expensive? Not necessarily.
They got to a new city of 720 self build plots at Almere in the Netherlands. Ages range from 19-75 so it’s a mixture of people building.
It’s not so easy in the UK though. Land is dear and developers landbank.

Overall a very interesting program about the state of UK housing and how new builds are too small and bad for you!

I figure if you’re reading this site you’re interested in either moving or houses, or property on TV.
This new TV program is looking for people to take part.

Are you thinking of moving house within Devon, Cornwall or Dorset? Looking for a family house in a seaside resort? A home in a picturesque village? Or a renovation property in the countryside?

New C4 property show is looking for buyers for a new series to be filmed in June and July. Wide range of homes to be featured

Apply via beonscreen

Applications Close 30th July – which is tomorrow so I’m abit late sharing this one!

Last night’s episode of Help! My House Is Falling Down
Season 2 Episode 8 of 10

Gypsy Hill in London – Denis fell in love with the two level appartment at the bottom of a house. Slowly after a few years water appeared and caused damp and the electrics to fail. She’s lived in squalor that stinks as it’s probably sewage leaking into her basement flat.
There’s also japanese knotweed in the garden!

The woman has tried to solve the problem but said that all the different workmen gave different answers. Sarah’s structural engineer said the place needed tanking.

When they were investigating they discovered several load bearing walls had to be shored up too.

The tanking company agreed to do the work at a knockdown price, presumably because they were on TV. How annoyed will they have been to see she could afford to do up her kitchen and lounge! So much for skint!

Her budget was originally £20,000 but was upped after a family loan of £5000 when they structural issue was revealed.

I was suprised to not hear them say they were going to stop the leak of sewage. Or had I fallen asleep during the monotony of the program which now follows a set routine.
Whilst tanking will stop the ingress of water it won’t stop the water which surely will continue to soak through bricks and undermine the building if the pump fails.

The example demonstration was on the Spitbank fort which is being turned into a holiday destination. This consisted of them spraying some water at a plastic bobbly sheet.

It was horrific to see what this woman was living in – and surprising she wasn’t ill. She had however not let any friends in for several years.

Stanwick Hall is part 4 of this series of Restoration Home. You can watch it on iplayer

Stanwick Hall is in appalling condition and faces an incredible battle for survival, which City high-flyers Gina and Simon have taken on. The Hall is on the buildings-at-risk register which means it is one of the most endangered structures in the country.

As the restoration throws up more and more serious problems, long forgotten evidence comes to light showing it was built on the biggest financial scandal of the early 18th century and was emblematic of the huge upheaval in the early 19th century that changed the landscape of Britain forever.

It starts by saying that George Downing built Downing Street. And he was a bit of a dodgy property developer. By the 1950s it needed restoring.
Stanwick Hall was also built on the cheap. It has been bought by the Russells in 2007.They paid about £1million for it and have half a million to do it up. They have had to get their plans approved by the heritage commission

Stanwick Hall is on the at risk register at English Heritage – I assume if the family restore it then it will be removed from this list.

STANWICK HALL, HIGHAM ROAD, STANWICK, RAUNDS, EAST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Listing text here Grade: II*

You can buy the book Restorarion Home.

Sarah Beeny’s show – Help my house is falling down shown Thursday 21st July 2011
Sarah meets mum-of-four Christine Davis, whose home of 23 years in Woolwich is riddled with problems and threatening to slide away.

Christine’s roof is on the verge of collapsing, and, worse still, the dangerously damaged electrics and a rodent infestation are making the home a disastrous health hazard. Can a digger, a timber specialist, a mouse-catcher and a clean out of the gutters return this property back into a place the family are proud to call home?

Help my house is falling down follows a fairly standard pattern of a homeowner not having a very nice house and a tight budget!
This weeks features a family home that has been neglected whilst other family members were looked after.
The house suffers from a mouse infestation, damp, dodgy electrics and a retaining wall that will collapse at any moment.

With the budget being stretched by having to do so much work the family have to get suck in and do some of the work themselves. Te Jose is resided and the damp is dealt with. The mice are recorded on camera for three weeks before dealing with them in order to get some great squeamish footage of the furry monsters.

At the end the wall has been rebuilt and the damp gone, the rooms look lovely. It’s a real transformation after the damp dripping wall was repaired.
With wiring repaired at last the house is safe. Shiny new kitchen bought with a loan from her son.

The mice have been eliminated and all the holes sealed up to stop them coming in.

The program is formulaic with the family being shown a demonstration what could happen if they don’t fix the problems.
The house now looks great with a nicely landscaped garden.

It does tell the tale on housing neglect though and why it’s important to keep on top of repairs and issues as they come along.

Budget went to £23,000 and she had to get her kids to chip in.
She said her kids can come and stay as long as they want.