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00:01Great expectations don't come cheap.
00:04So what else is on your list?
00:05Garden at the front.
00:07My eyes are rolling here.
00:08The list is worrying me.
00:11When you build, you either expect the unexpected.
00:14We have a 12,000 euro cost associated with it.
00:17It's a big problem.
00:19Or end up paying the price.
00:21You just have to take the 10 off the kitchen.
00:24I think it was the reality check needed.
00:26If you don't have the money, you just simply cannot do everything.
00:31Nothing is free.
00:48Suburban North Dublin, home to long-time sweethearts
00:51and relatively recent blow-ins, Norrita and Louis.
00:55I'm originally from Meath.
00:57I'm from Killarney.
00:58Very proud Carrie woman.
01:01We met in UCD.
01:02I was in UCD.
01:03I was in the canoe club.
01:05I was on a day trip.
01:07That day trip was the beginning of a beautiful friendship
01:10for teacher Norrita and drawing technician Louis.
01:13By 2010, they were married and six years later,
01:16they bought their first home.
01:18This 1950s Sammy D in Rahini,
01:21where they live with their three daughters,
01:23Joni, Bessie and Jimmy.
01:27The village atmosphere.
01:28It's like a village down the country.
01:30The people are great.
01:32It's a wonderful community here.
01:33And the house itself.
01:35There's loads of space.
01:36It's probably bigger than we were
01:38sort of going to afford at the time.
01:42Haven't done a whole lot to it since.
01:43No.
01:44We lifted carpets
01:45and we insulated the wooden floor inside
01:47in the sitting room
01:47to make it sort of more livable.
01:50Because the drafts are crazy.
01:52Yeah.
01:53Once the heat goes off,
01:54it's like it was never on.
01:57There is a bit of discussion.
01:59Should you do up your house or should you move?
02:01But we couldn't figure out the move.
02:04So it came naturally to us
02:06that we would be to do it up and get a refurb.
02:08Yeah.
02:08Yeah.
02:09It's kind of creaking and groaning
02:10and we're kind of milking it along.
02:11We're not taking this lightly.
02:13This is something really important to us.
02:15So we will take our time with our decisions, I feel.
02:20Yeah.
02:21Yeah.
02:24I don't have too much time.
02:26Yes.
02:27High stakes and slow decisions.
02:29Every architect's dream.
02:31This project is hugely important to us.
02:34This is our one and only chance
02:35of getting this opportunity.
02:37So we need to get it right.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Wow, this is actually lovely.
02:41The hall is really nice.
02:43I like the plants and the artwork and the...
02:46Yeah, we're big into the plants, yeah.
02:48But the feel here is really nice, isn't it?
02:50It is, but it's cold.
02:52Okay.
02:52In the winter, yeah, yeah.
02:54It goes off, it's cold.
02:55So you've done everything you can aesthetically to...
02:57To cover up.
02:59This is our sitting room.
03:02It's very dark here.
03:03I love this room.
03:04Oh, do you?
03:05There's a real kind of lush, cosy...
03:08We've kind of covered over the problems.
03:09Is that what it is?
03:10Yeah, we've painted the problems, so you can't see them.
03:12Covered it with plants and artwork.
03:14Yeah.
03:14But behind the surfaces, there's a different story.
03:16It's behind the scenes, and we have it covered up.
03:19And we have lovely pictures and paintings and artwork.
03:21But behind the scenes, it's crumbling.
03:24And we need to get that done as a matter of course.
03:26But that's what no one sees, but we feel.
03:31Ah, this is lovely.
03:32Yeah.
03:33This is really nice.
03:34Light in here is amazing.
03:35The light is amazing.
03:36Kitchen, is it big enough?
03:37Have you enough worktop space?
03:39How does this work for you guys?
03:41We probably have too many cupboards, to be honest,
03:43because we gather more stuff when you have a place.
03:45I can see that.
03:45Yeah.
03:47When you fire it onto the walls and onto the shafts.
03:49So you're gatherers.
03:51Yeah.
03:52I suppose that's more meaning than you.
03:55So what's the problem in here then?
03:57The problem is, okay, so let's say if you walk in here.
04:00Yeah.
04:00You're meshed with this structure here.
04:02Yeah.
04:02And then you have no idea that there's a garden,
04:05that we have a back garden.
04:06Okay.
04:06It would be lovely to come in and have the garden coming into the house.
04:11Okay.
04:11Preferably we'd like to be sitting out the back,
04:13literally being in the garden.
04:14That would be a preference.
04:16We're up on a bit of a height.
04:17I would like to lower it down and get closer to the garden.
04:21That's the whole idea.
04:23This is glorious, isn't it?
04:25Yeah, this is gorgeous.
04:26When we moved into the house,
04:27we kind of stripped back the whole garden
04:29and we planted it the way we wanted to plant it.
04:31So now we feel it's time to bring the two together,
04:35to give the house a bit of love,
04:37bring back a bit of life into the house
04:38and bring the two together.
04:39So budget, what do you want to spend on it?
04:42275.
04:43Okay.
04:44Including grads.
04:45We've a certain amount of savings
04:46and we got approval from the bank just very recently.
04:51So yeah, we're ready to go.
04:52That's a good budget, I think.
04:54I think that's a sizeable budget for a house of this size.
04:56The big unknown is how much of that budget
04:59is going to be eaten up with the energy upgrades,
05:01the things that you're never going to see.
05:02Yeah, yeah.
05:03But we'll feel it.
05:04Oh, you will.
05:05And that's where we have to start
05:06and whatever's left over then we'll...
05:08Have a look.
05:09We'll have a look.
05:09Okay.
05:11Their frustrations are coming from the things
05:12that nobody else will notice.
05:14So it's first of all how cold the house is,
05:17there's mould on the walls.
05:18It's really how much is it going to cost to take this house
05:21from 1950s standards to an A rating.
05:24Secondly, it's in some way finding how can they live in that garden.
05:29They're not like other people who care about sitting on big, big patios.
05:33They actually want to sit in amongst all the plants.
05:36Two weeks later, Dermot is back with an estimated budget
05:39and a plan to bring the house and the garden to a whole new level.
05:44Right, guys.
05:44What I want to do is, first of all, this route through the house,
05:47the flow through the house is to sort that out
05:49by creating a nice kind of linear route
05:51that the end of the route is the garden, okay?
05:54Secondly is to create some kind of a pavilion
05:57that will allow you to change levels, okay?
06:01To drop down and get to that garden level
06:03so that this becomes a garden room, a garden pavilion.
06:06A lot of this project's budget will be spent
06:09on invisible energy upgrades to turn a 1950s house
06:13into a 21st century A-rated home.
06:16But it still needs reconfiguring to suit the family's needs.
06:20The first thing I'll do is set up a physical and visual route
06:23through the house to Louis and Arita's beloved garden
06:27terminating in a new pavilion-like garden room.
06:30I'm going to replace the existing cold and damp utility extension
06:33and deck with this new structure, repositioned down at garden level
06:38with its ceiling matched to the existing house to give it a grander proportion.
06:43This space will sit amongst the planting glazed on three sides
06:46with a canopy to prevent overheating.
06:48Up a set of steps, there will be a kitchen on one side
06:52and a dining area on the other, both overlooking the new pavilion
06:56and the garden beyond.
06:57The middle of the house will act as a service zone
07:00with the utility room, bathroom and walk-in pantry accessed off the kitchen.
07:04At the front of the house, a lowered floor will give greater ceiling height
07:08to the existing living room and den.
07:10The upstairs will be retrofitted, but the layout will remain the same
07:14with three bedrooms, a family bathroom and an insulated attic space.
07:20Yeah. That's cool.
07:21That's cool, isn't it?
07:22The concept is great. The design is lovely, isn't it?
07:24Yeah, the design is brilliant.
07:26It's a testament that I think he actually understood what we were trying to say
07:29about moving outside a bit more.
07:31The connection with the garden, yeah.
07:33Right, budget.
07:37We've budgeted £275,000.
07:39All of the works to the existing house, right,
07:42including the energy upgrades and all that,
07:44and then moving walls, utility room, new kitchens,
07:47all of that is £212,599, OK?
07:51External works, we've got £22,000 in for that.
07:54And the garden room's coming in at £45,000, bringing a total cost to £280,000.
08:00So we're £5,000 over budget, but I'm hoping that we might make some savings
08:05on the retrofit because we've kind of allowed for everything to be included.
08:09But we're starting off over, like?
08:10Yeah.
08:11So is that not just going to get worse?
08:13No.
08:14Not necessarily?
08:15No. All the unforeseen are, hopefully.
08:18Yeah.
08:19As a percentage of what our budget was, it's not massive, but it's still,
08:22it's still an over.
08:24We're doing everything to get it up to an A rating.
08:25I, yeah, I'm not convinced we need to aim for A, like.
08:30Yeah.
08:32You know?
08:32Yeah.
08:33You wanted kind of the A rated house to warm.
08:35Yeah, yeah.
08:36I suppose this is an exploration, what's it going to take to get to it?
08:39So this is it.
08:40Yeah.
08:40What this will draw out is, how much does being fossil fuel free,
08:44how much does having an A rated house actually mean to you,
08:47and how far can we push that?
08:50Yeah.
08:50No, it's just as we said.
08:51If you're going into a project over budget.
08:53No, you're over already.
08:54Yeah.
08:54I don't think it's a good start.
08:56There's certain things I think we should do.
08:58I think you're mad not to change over to a heat pump and get the house off fossil fuels.
09:02So there's some things I will push for, but there's others I will say,
09:06right, well, you know, this is going to get you from a B1 to an A1.
09:11Is that important?
09:12And let's see.
09:15With QS Clare busy negotiating tender prices closer to their 275 grand budget,
09:22Louis and Norrita are getting ready to move in with family nearby.
09:26We've been busy.
09:27We've been packing up a little bit.
09:29So we're still in the process of waiting for some negotiations on price.
09:34That's kind of all happening behind the scenes.
09:36So we're waiting for that to finish before we get our days to move out
09:39so that the builder can start.
09:40But already we kind of feel a bit like it's happening.
09:43Until we started packing, we didn't realise it.
09:46It actually looks like it hasn't much, there hasn't much been done,
09:49but all the pictures have come off the walls.
09:54The toys, yeah, there is actually a lot.
09:57So much stuff, isn't there?
09:59It is, it's busy, yeah, it's hectic.
10:00But you have to move everything.
10:02So it's in our heads that we have to move everything.
10:04Yeah, no, it is, it's full on.
10:05It's nuts and bolts.
10:06Strip it out, take everything with you.
10:08Yeah, yeah.
10:09And like, as I say with the garden, we're going to have to pull some of the stuff back
10:13that we want to keep, keep it away from the building site.
10:15And then hopefully when the builder comes on board, we'll know where we can go,
10:19where we can't go.
10:20You know, there's no panic major yet.
10:22It's just, any free time is not free time anymore.
10:27By the end of June, builders Ciaran Devlin and Jim Briscoe get started on what will be a five-month
10:33project.
10:34The family and their belongings have now relocated to new digs.
10:38But the same can't be said for the garden shrubs.
10:41Exciting, hectic, I'm moving plants on the first day, but that's probably normal.
10:48Not really, but this is no place for shrinking violence.
10:52Usually we're ripping all the plants out of the diggers.
10:54We've never had to be told to keep and save all the plants.
10:58But look, it's fine.
10:59Look, it's just plenty of room in the back garden.
11:01We're not worried about it.
11:07So our contract value is 300,000.
11:09We're getting 25,000 euro of SEA grant funding.
11:12So the cost to the homeowners is 275,000.
11:15We're getting the full energy upgrade.
11:18We're completely gutting the inside of the house.
11:20New insulation, new floors, new windows, new heating system, an air to water heating system.
11:24A complete sweep of the house.
11:27Hi Ciaran.
11:27How are you doing?
11:28Good.
11:28What about you?
11:29Not bad.
11:32Right.
11:33You have started.
11:35You got rid of the deck.
11:36And you didn't find anything?
11:38No, the only slight concern we have is the height of the main sewer.
11:42That was my big question.
11:44Because when we were here doing up all the drawings, we were trying to ascertain what was underneath the deck.
11:49And we were trying to look in between the steps.
11:51And without actually pulling it apart, you could never tell.
11:54So do you know what's here?
11:55What we have at the moment is we have an AJ up the top there.
11:58Yeah.
11:59It's not at the ground level when you look down.
12:01So it just depends on where that AJ is running to.
12:03And is this concrete slab over the top of the sewer then?
12:06This is a concrete wall plastered and filled and a slab on top.
12:10And if it's the main drain, that means it's servicing the whole street?
12:12It's servicing all the houses along here, yeah?
12:14Yeah.
12:14You can move the AJ along the line, but you can't change the line in any way.
12:19If the pipe, the sewerage pipe for the entire street is running in the middle of that concrete box, that
12:25means we can't go as low with our extension.
12:28We've dropped our extension down.
12:30Yeah.
12:30Three or four steps, okay?
12:32Yeah.
12:32Whether we can do that or not depends on what level that pipe is running at.
12:35Yeah.
12:36Yeah.
12:36We're going to have a digger here with a jackhammer on it on Monday and we're going to break it
12:41out.
12:41Break it out.
12:42Yeah.
12:42From my point of view, the beauty of the extension was that it was so low, so we didn't have
12:47to build foundations up to bring it up to the height and the level of the finished floor up here.
12:52If we have to go higher, there's going to be a cost implication, as well as from your perspective, the
12:57design is going to affect the design, but it's going to affect the cost as well.
13:00Yeah.
13:00They could spend thousands on making the inside of this as glorious as possible.
13:06But actually, the thing that's making this project really nice was that ceiling height, and that could be killed by
13:12Monday.
13:14Hey guys.
13:15Hi.
13:15Hello there.
13:16How are you?
13:17How are you?
13:18Thanks.
13:18How are you guys?
13:19I haven't done it.
13:20Blame Ciaran.
13:21Ciaran.
13:24So I suppose the big discovery today was where the pipe is.
13:28See where the crack is in the top of the box?
13:31See where there's a little crack in the top?
13:32Yeah.
13:33That's our new floor level.
13:34Till he digs up the ground here, we don't know what level we can put in our extension.
13:39If we can't go down.
13:40If we can't.
13:41If we can't go down.
13:42If we can't go down.
13:42Okay.
13:43I really have to.
13:44Yeah.
13:44I'll be pushing to get a solution to it.
13:46To get us back down those.
13:48To get the sunken extension for sure.
13:50Yeah.
13:50I mean it's the biggest part of the project for us.
13:52That's the whole idea of what we're doing is to get down there.
13:55Yeah.
13:55That's my agenda.
13:57That's the first thing.
13:57What's on yours?
13:59Plenty on the list.
14:00Go on.
14:00Show us.
14:02There's a shower missing from the new downstairs bathroom.
14:06Okay.
14:07We can get that in.
14:07The den or I think it's called up as a den or a playroom on the drawings.
14:10Yeah.
14:10That has a false ceiling on it.
14:12Like plastered ceiling.
14:13Yeah.
14:13But above that is the original 50s poured concrete ceiling.
14:16Yeah.
14:16So if we could expose that.
14:18My eyes are rolling here.
14:20Okay.
14:21We have to get it down to a certain budget.
14:24275,000.
14:25With that, loads of options were thrown out because we could never afford it.
14:29Louis bringing them all back to the table.
14:32So what else is on your list?
14:33Okay.
14:34So the front of the house has a painted brick and I just think it looks terrible.
14:39Garden at the front.
14:40Yeah.
14:41We want to know if there's anything out there, lights or what.
14:45Do we have any money in for it?
14:46No.
14:46No.
14:47I spent about a month negotiating the price with Ciaran and tweaking and changing and cutting
14:53things out and changing things in.
14:55So the list is worrying me.
14:57I'm starting to think, have they more money?
14:59And if they don't, then we can't do these items that they have on the list.
15:04All of these we would consider big ticket items.
15:07I don't know if they have more money for the budget.
15:09I think there's just that little bit of hope that it'll just happen.
15:14Well, it can't.
15:15You have to pay for it.
15:28It's early July.
15:30A few days ago, demolition at the rear of Narita and Louie's house in Rahini revealed a concrete slab and
15:36running somewhere underneath it, the main sewer line.
15:39The problem is, the foundations of the new extension will be nearly half a metre lower than the main house.
15:46And the height of the sewer, whatever level it's at, can't change.
15:51I think we've reached a solution now that's not too bad, not as bad as we initially thought.
15:55We have a solution.
15:56Cool.
15:58Yeah, brilliant.
15:58We're going to just divert it back up around so where it is high, we can accommodate it in steps.
16:04We're going to bring the main sewer line and we're going to bring it back into the house so we
16:08can bury it in the steps going from the existing house into the new extension.
16:15Yeah, we're delighted now.
16:16We can keep going.
16:17We can start digging the foundations and get building the extension.
16:21A few days later, with the sewage pipe relocated and the footprint of the new extension in place, Dermot and
16:28Louie return to site.
16:33Hey Jim.
16:35How you doing Darren?
16:36Did you fire Ciaran, did you?
16:37No, he got stuck somewhere else.
16:38Stuck somewhere else.
16:39How are you doing?
16:39Good.
16:40So, wow, you've got the foundations in.
16:42Yeah.
16:43It's great, yeah.
16:44Yeah, can you see it?
16:44Yeah, yeah.
16:45So that's our extension.
16:47Excellent.
16:48And there is the one and only pipe.
16:51Yeah.
16:51Yeah, okay.
16:53So it's in.
16:54That is now your living room, so we'll have a couple of steps down into it.
16:56It's great to see the progress and finally see the footing of the, you know, the footprint of the extension
17:01now as well.
17:03Look, we want to shower downstairs, right?
17:05The easiest solution, right?
17:07If we take that wall and push that out to the edge there, that gives us a room that's big
17:12enough to be a shower room.
17:14It's just by pushing this wall back out towards the kitchen.
17:18I'm just a wee bit concerned that, you know, where we were looking, the last time we met you, we
17:23were looking for more counter space.
17:24It's actually going to push into the kitchen space.
17:28We were looking to get more counter space and see where we could get a couple of more inches or
17:35feet of counter space.
17:36I know we're a long way away from picking the kitchen or that, but we still need to look at
17:41more counter space.
17:42There's a real fear that they're going to miss something.
17:45So today when we were working out the shower, it wasn't just, let's give ourselves a bit of extra space
17:49in the shower.
17:50We were taking space from the kitchen.
17:52So what are we going to?
17:536.35.
17:546.35.
17:56Look, we just don't have enough counter space.
17:58You do.
18:02I measured it out for him.
18:06It was huge.
18:07It was massive.
18:08So that's what we have if we were to flatten out all the countertop.
18:13Yeah, it's a bit tight.
18:15That excludes sink and hob.
18:19Yeah, they go on the counter.
18:20How many sandwiches are you making in one go?
18:23I've been in restaurants that, like, they would do a wedding in less space than this.
18:27They want the counter to be as long as the street.
18:30They want the bathrooms to be as big as possible, which shower is in it.
18:34They want so much from this project.
18:35And I totally get it.
18:36This is their first time doing it.
18:38They don't want to make a mistake.
18:39But they have really high expectations.
18:42And no more money.
18:44Yep, all good.
18:45All done.
18:46All good?
18:47Yep.
18:47Or all amazing?
18:48Amazing.
18:50Amazing.
18:52You're not convinced.
18:53I am, I am.
18:53I think when we sit down and look at kitchen design and what we can do with the countertops,
18:59we might still get another little bit.
19:02Making the most of a welcome break from school, Norita, Louie and the kids have headed off
19:07on a summer holiday with their home away from home in tow.
19:11Hi guys.
19:12I'm just going to give you a little video of our caravan.
19:15On the top bunk, I sleep up there and Jimmy and Joni sleep on the bottom bunk.
19:20Joni, what are you going to show me?
19:22So this is our bathroom and this is our kitchen area.
19:25And we only have this much amount of counter space.
19:29So we hope Dermot gives us more in the new house.
19:33So that's our caravan, Dermot.
19:35I hope it's a little bit bigger in our new house.
19:40Thankfully, on site, the bar has been set a lot higher.
19:44By late August, steel beams that will support the rear wall and the extension roof are being installed.
19:49But even now, new problems and new costs have come to light.
19:55There's a couple of issues with the roof, is there?
19:57Just a utility roof, we have a bit of a bother.
19:59We're going to have to take it down and build a new one.
20:02Then the garage roof, the way it was draining in, we need to look at that as well
20:06because it's not really something we want to cover up now forever.
20:11Is that a big thing?
20:12The roof part, because the way everything is held up, it's going to cost a good few thousand, I think.
20:18It's going to be around six grand, yeah.
20:21And how much is the back roof?
20:23About the same.
20:26It's a big problem.
20:27It's a huge cost consequence.
20:31Oh, I see, yeah.
20:33That's the original gutter at the back of the house.
20:35And that was coming down in...
20:38In between the two.
20:39In between the two.
20:40I've never ever seen anything like it where they've left the original hopper,
20:44which is the bit that goes on the outside.
20:45It's a bit like putting a gutter inside your house.
20:48Is this a common enough thing?
20:49Do you see this much?
20:50No.
20:51Or is this rare?
20:51That's rare.
20:52That's rare.
20:52What has happened here is that somebody has literally left a drain that should have been outside.
20:58Inside of the house.
20:58Inside.
20:59The roof at the back of the house definitely has to go, has to be replaced, so that's a definite
21:036,000 extra over.
21:05The roof at the front, then above the garage, that's optional.
21:08So we can repair and patch on where it was leaking, but proper solution would be to just bite
21:15the bullet now.
21:16I guess we look at whatever design options that work.
21:20There's no contingency on this project at all.
21:22So this is a hard sell because it's an extra cost that they have to find the money.
21:28The right thing to do is put on a new flat roof on both areas.
21:34We have a 12,000 euro cost associated with it.
21:40I haven't seen this for 6 weeks and come back and I was expecting this to be an amazing moment
21:46and huge progress and then we were hit with this so you suddenly get deflated and it's
21:50hard to come back up to see the positives of the rest of the progress because this overshadows
21:54it.
21:55So I think that's the biggest thing, we're a bit deflated.
21:56Yeah.
21:58This build has always been as much about the garden as the house and so for a breath of
22:04fresh air, a little inspiration and a respite from the costly drama unfolding on site, Norita's
22:10taking Dermot to her happy place.
22:13Hunting Brook Gardens, 20 acres of wild woodland and exotic gardens at the foot of the Wicklow
22:18Mountains.
22:20Are you putting yourself under pressure to create a kind of an award winning style garden?
22:26No.
22:26No.
22:27I want it to look good but I have to be patient.
22:29So like I would love when you come in the door that the garden is practically the first
22:34thing you see.
22:34Okay.
22:35I want the garden to be inside the house like in and top of us.
22:38Yes.
22:39Simple is, there's a lot to be said for simple isn't there?
22:42There is.
22:42Not to overdo it.
22:44We are creating a glass box at the back of their house.
22:48The garden is hugely important.
22:50We can't mess it up.
22:52These trees.
22:53Yeah.
22:53What we need is a tree for outside the back door.
22:56Yeah.
22:56Okay.
22:57And these ones look.
22:59They're totally different though.
23:00No, no, no.
23:00I'm saying this for ground cover.
23:02For ground cover.
23:03Okay.
23:03Keep up now.
23:04I'm keeping up.
23:05And this here.
23:06Yeah.
23:06That could be some kind of a eucalyptus.
23:08I don't know.
23:09But even here, right?
23:10You see, I'm trying to look at this from a designer, right?
23:13This looks like, out in the countryside, this looks like a really small area.
23:17Mm-hmm.
23:18But if I take from here over to the road, that's your entire garden.
23:22Yeah.
23:22So if you were to recreate something like this.
23:24That would be it.
23:25That's the entire garden.
23:26Yeah.
23:27But we have to be really careful what we do because it kind of does have to be planned a
23:30little bit.
23:31It does a little bit.
23:32I appreciate that.
23:33But not overly curated like.
23:36Mm-hmm.
23:37I don't know.
23:39The more I see this, the more I kind of think it needs to be.
23:42Do you?
23:42Yeah.
23:43He's looking for a concrete plan, which I don't really think about when it comes to plants and gardens.
23:49I just think you just plant as you go along.
23:50So what's going through your mind?
23:52So if I was here, I'd probably prefer to be here on my own.
23:54Okay.
23:55Sorry.
23:56To be honest, because I know I have my own pace.
24:02Okay.
24:02Am I not keeping up at your pace?
24:04No, but I think maybe I would prefer to move on in different parts.
24:08Well, you tell me.
24:09You guide me.
24:09I'm only just, I'm trying to.
24:11But isn't this nice, this seating area?
24:13Very informal.
24:14Yeah, lovely.
24:15No patio.
24:16Yeah.
24:17No, and just on stones.
24:18Like, isn't there a lot to be said for that?
24:20Is there?
24:21Yeah.
24:21Yeah.
24:23Like, this is out in the middle of Wicklow.
24:25Yeah.
24:26Like, you can see mountains, you can see hills.
24:28But this is, it's big.
24:29It is huge.
24:30It is huge.
24:31Yeah.
24:31We have a small urban garden.
24:32Yeah.
24:33And if this is what you'd like to create, this feeling.
24:37Mm-hmm.
24:39How are we going to do it?
24:40Yeah.
24:41But I don't think we're going to do this overnight.
24:43No, but we still have to do it.
24:45If Dermot and I are going to be friends, I think I need to come up with a plan.
24:49But look, maybe what I'll do is come up with a plan.
24:51He might not even look at it, and I'd say, I've done the plan.
24:54And I might work away my own in the background and create something else.
24:57But just give him a plan to keep him happy.
25:04There is, however, one decision that had to be made straight away.
25:08Despite the extra costs, Louis and Lorita have chosen to future-proof the roof.
25:13In fairness to them, they stuck with Dermot's advice, so they'll have a really good quality roof
25:19from going into the future.
25:21We need everything to keep moving on the decision front,
25:24so as long as everything is decided on time, we should stick to our 20-week schedule.
25:31This is it.
25:33Yes.
25:33It's done.
25:34Our roof is on.
25:36This is what we're seeing.
25:37Class.
25:38Wow.
25:38It's gorgeous.
25:39Yeah, it's lovely.
25:40It's so bright.
25:41Look at how much garden you see.
25:42I know.
25:43It's great.
25:44You can actually see what's down there.
25:45Yeah.
25:46I definitely feel much more excited today than I did the last time, which is brilliant,
25:52because it's meant to be exciting.
25:54OK, so these are some of the concrete samples.
25:56We're putting down a concrete screed, OK?
25:59So that has stones and aggregate and all of that in it.
26:01The further down you go, the bigger the stone is going to appear.
26:04So that's how the concrete is going to look, right?
26:07This is the one cube of concrete.
26:08And you see the way that has a very light polish on it?
26:10OK.
26:11And that has a very heavy polish on it.
26:13So which is jumping out to you more as a finish?
26:17I don't know.
26:18I'd kind of really go for that.
26:20I would be leaning towards that one.
26:23The bigger?
26:24I think so, yeah.
26:25I like it.
26:26I think we can just make a decision on that now, can we?
26:29Oh, I don't think so.
26:29I think we should think about it.
26:31OK.
26:32What do you think?
26:33Huh?
26:34What's driving you?
26:36You've got your mind made up, Louis.
26:37So what's driving your decision?
26:38I just, yeah, I just like the bigger, seeing the bigger aggregate.
26:42You can see more of the natural material.
26:44Great comeback.
26:44Polished concrete looks magic the day, the first day it goes down.
26:50That's as good as it's ever going to look.
26:52It's downhill from there.
26:52Look at Debbie Downer here.
26:54No, no, no.
26:54It is.
26:55Wow.
26:56So the bigger aggregate exposed will, I think, will last,
27:00will last, look better longer, you know?
27:03To expose his clients to the joys of, well, exposure, Dermot's arranged a visit to a house
27:09where just about everything is exposed, including the house.
27:13Oh, my God.
27:14Get in out of it.
27:15Get in out of it.
27:22Oh, my God.
27:24Look at the colour of the kitchen.
27:25Good job.
27:27Four Winds, designed by Brennan Furlong Architects, is an award-winning seaside bungalow in Sutton,
27:33North Dublin, where concrete beams and warm timber have been used to create spaces that
27:39feel cosy and sheltered, drawing the eye toward the garden and the wild bay beyond.
27:45Look at that.
27:46Look at outside.
27:46It is, there's gales blowing.
27:49Yeah.
27:49What does it feel like inside?
27:50It's so cool.
27:51It's gorgeous, yeah.
27:52So it's like a bunker.
27:53Yeah.
27:53The concrete wraps around you.
27:56Oh, it's fantastic.
27:57Yeah.
27:58It's gorgeous from the outside in.
28:00The concrete and timber and steel and, yeah.
28:03It amazes me how little is here, but how much is here.
28:06It's such a contradiction, because they've used very little, but they've used it so well.
28:11Yes.
28:11Which is what we've been trying to do.
28:13This is a little bit of an antidote to your original house, because I was looking through
28:17photographs recently of the original house.
28:19Yeah.
28:20And there's things I forgot.
28:21Like, do you know you had a whole wall of plates, like, stuck to the wall?
28:24Yeah.
28:24Yeah, yeah.
28:25Yeah, we had so much, we had so much stuff.
28:27And to bring you into a space that is just pulled back and very simple, how does this feel?
28:32This is really cosy.
28:34The garden, right, obviously struggles with the elements.
28:37Yeah.
28:37But they've chosen stuff that won't struggle.
28:38No.
28:39So they've done it to suit their surrounds.
28:41Yeah.
28:43It's gorgeous.
28:43A little surprise in here.
28:46Oh my God.
28:47Oh, wow.
28:48It's not dissimilar to yours.
28:50No, it's the exact same size.
28:52It's just, but it's so functional, look.
28:53Yeah.
28:54I think the pantry is just such a practical addition to the kitchen.
28:57But you just walk in and instantly you can see what's there.
29:00It makes so much sense.
29:01That's perfect.
29:01That is brilliant.
29:03Yeah, yeah.
29:03No matter where you go these days, you can have the most amazing architectural buildings,
29:08and people just love a good pantry.
29:10Oh, this is lovely.
29:11Look at the ledge here, Louis.
29:12Sugar, you'd never move from here.
29:13Look if that was a good day.
29:15I know.
29:15Or even a bad day.
29:16Even a bad day.
29:17Yeah, I know what you mean, yeah.
29:18This is very similar to ours.
29:19Like this is all open plan, but the little level changes make a massive difference.
29:22Yeah.
29:23I suppose the lesson today is a few well-chosen materials can have a massive impact.
29:29Your house is about opening it up and making it light to be in the garden.
29:34So we really have to focus on that.
29:35Design is not just shapes.
29:38It's not just lines on a drawing.
29:40It's a feeling.
29:42Oh, this is gorgeous.
29:44Oh, wow.
29:44Look at kids.
29:45Is this TV for me?
29:49I love the colour in here.
29:50Like throughout the house.
29:52Louis loves the colours and for Louis to wander around and go, oh, wow, wow.
29:56Because up for now, I feel like he has been dragged down the route of minding the budget.
30:00And that can sometimes take the fun out of it.
30:02So hopefully today for Louis, it was a little bit of fun.
30:09I feel like we needed something like this to make us realise the end is very close.
30:15And it's made me very excited that it's going to end up beautiful.
30:19And going somewhere like this makes you realise that it actually is.
30:22We have this phrase when we're feeling a bit right.
30:25And we always just look at each other and go, it's going to be fabulous.
30:28And we could walk away from each other then.
30:31How much artwork is on the wall?
30:33So there's nothing on the wall.
30:34How many plates are on the wall?
30:36I'm going to give it the plates.
30:38Thanks.
30:38The ferns at the bottom.
30:40Right up against the glass.
30:42Right up against it.
30:42They're gorgeous.
30:43Looking at that every day, you don't need any art in fairness, would you?
30:46You'd often see houses like this in magazines, but it's not often you get to be in them.
30:49And the feel in here is just amazing.
30:52I think I described it.
30:53There's no other word.
30:54It is just pure magic.
30:55It's going to be fabulous.
30:56It's going to be fabulous.
31:00Back in Rahini, of course, it's all about physics and chemistry.
31:04But the end result will be no less magic.
31:07Today we're pouring the concrete.
31:09It takes four weeks then before they can start grinding.
31:12And once you start grinding it, the house is shut for two weeks while they're grinding
31:15and we're doing the finishing on the concrete.
31:17That's to get polished concrete.
31:18If this was just a subslab, you wouldn't have that problem.
31:21And on that note, QS Clare has called a meeting with Dermot and Louis.
31:26Top of the agenda, cost saving and the tough decisions that will be required to make it happen.
31:32Louis is really stressed out about the extra items with the roof and the sewer at the back of the
31:39house.
31:39So they've amounted to about 14,000 euro.
31:42He has two choices really.
31:44He either finances the extra 14 grand for the variations that have occurred or he cuts his cloth to suit
31:50and reduces the scope of works to make it work within the original budget.
31:53So I have a few ideas up my sleeve today of how we can do that.
31:56One, you just pay for all of the extras and find a way to finance them.
32:02Or the second option is to go back to the drawing board and to the original scope of works and
32:08to see out of the remaining works what we can pare back and cut down and trim.
32:12That would be great, yeah.
32:13So I've come up with a list of things that we could trim and cut and nip.
32:17Excellent.
32:18I don't know if you're going to like all of them, but...
32:20I mightn't like them.
32:21No, you might not like them.
32:23No, but at the same time, if there's a way of doing this project and not having to get additional
32:29finance, that would be wonderful.
32:31Absolutely, yeah.
32:31But we'll see.
32:32We had almost 1,800 euro in for refurbishing the existing stairs.
32:36So if it was a case that you could tidy up, how are you with handiwork?
32:44Now, can I just throw something in here, right?
32:47No matter where you stand in the house now, and what's slap bang in the centre of the hall?
32:50Mm-hm.
32:51The stairs.
32:52Yeah.
32:53And now we do...
32:54Just leave that with cheap.
32:55External paving.
32:56Four and a half thousand.
32:57If we don't do the external paving outside.
33:01So none?
33:02None.
33:02You could do the work.
33:04Yeah.
33:06Next.
33:09Dermot was very protective of all of those suggestions.
33:13And I get that he wants the best finish for Louis and Narita, but if you don't have the money,
33:18you just simply cannot do everything that's in the pot.
33:22So we have to find ways to save money.
33:25The kitchen and the utility room and the pantry, we have almost 20 grand in the budget.
33:32If we were to reduce that down to 10,000 euro.
33:38I thought at one point Dermot's eyes were going to pop out.
33:42Dermot, you have to cut your cloth, does it?
33:43Well, I know.
33:44If there's problems with the budget, you know, we can get a kitchen for 10,000 euro.
33:50Radical savings are needed.
33:51It's my job to present everything that's possible.
33:54And we're back to kind of a laminate finish, like cheap as chips.
33:58So we'll get something very functional.
34:00Yeah.
34:01It'll be, it'll look okay.
34:03I hate saying we are where we are, but, you know, there's a lot of stuff.
34:07We make great progress up to this point and we can't roll back on.
34:11But of course it's stressful.
34:13We just have to take the 10 off the kitchen.
34:18I think it was the reality check that Louis needed.
34:21Nothing is free.
34:22So they all have to be paid or else something dramatic isn't finished in the house.
34:27I'm confident that it'll still be beautiful, but we'll just have to try and get something that's its budget.
34:42It's late September and a truckload of windows and glass doors has arrived at Rohini.
34:47After three months exposed to the elements, Louis and Norita's house will be weathertight again by the end of the
34:53day.
34:54The windows going in today, that means now that we're fully in control of the schedule going forward.
34:59So we'll finish when we're supposed to finish.
35:01We're watertight now at this stage, if all the roofs are all sealed up and the windows are the last
35:05piece of the puzzle.
35:06So yeah, no, it's perfect.
35:09Darn to see these.
35:11Do you like the colour?
35:12I do.
35:12They're nice, aren't they?
35:13We ordered these windows from our caravan down in Casa Gregory during the summer in July.
35:18So we had to trust Dermot and he's got on the colour for a botanical feel.
35:23So we hadn't seen them, so we didn't know what to expect.
35:25Because we took a massive risk of these, we never saw them.
35:28I'd seen it.
35:28I know, but we hadn't.
35:29Is that a massive risk?
35:30Yeah.
35:30If I sign it off.
35:31Yeah, we hadn't seen it.
35:34You said you couldn't see the garden from anywhere.
35:36Now you can see nothing but.
35:37I know, yeah.
35:38I mean, up my game with the garden.
35:40No, do you know something?
35:41It kind of, your scraggly style kind of works here, doesn't it?
35:47Now, oh my God.
35:49This is amazing, Dermot.
35:50This is what we were looking for, isn't it?
35:53And the colour is absolutely gorgeous.
35:55I'm very happy.
35:56It's really nice.
35:57Now this would bring a lot of people joy, wouldn't it?
35:59Oh, I love it.
36:01Happy?
36:01Yeah, it's absolutely fab.
36:03Oh, just like there's nothing like height.
36:05Yeah.
36:06Like that, that space is not huge, huge.
36:08It's a big room, but it's not massive, massive.
36:10Yeah.
36:11But it's the height that makes it feel massive.
36:13That room is just gorgeous now.
36:15It's tall, it's majestic, and it couldn't be any more immersed in the garden.
36:20It is like the quintessential thing that I get slagged over the whole time.
36:24It's a glass box in the garden, but it was warranted and needed here, and I love it.
36:30For several months, the life of this family has been defined by the progress of the build.
36:35At times like this, it can be hard to focus on anything else until you're forced to.
36:41Yeah, Dad passed away just over a week ago, and yeah, it's been tough.
36:48It was the six of us.
36:49I'm the youngest of six, and it was the six of us just doing what we needed to do for
36:53Dad,
36:53and it was very tough, and it'll be hard for the next couple of weeks.
36:57Thankfully, Dad, you know, he was comfortable towards the end,
37:00and he knew we were there around him the whole time.
37:04Getting back into it is a great distraction.
37:06I love the project.
37:07It's just this past month has been really tricky.
37:09But yeah, it's a good distraction.
37:11It's nice to get back into it now and push for the finish.
37:15As the build enters its final phase, the floors are screeded with a layer of concrete,
37:20then ground and polished to generate the exposed aggregate finish.
37:26But even now, with the gleaming foundation of their new kitchen in place,
37:30Norita and Louis still fear the unknown.
37:33What do we do if he shows us a pink kitchen?
37:35It'll be a short conversation, we'll just...
37:37I know, but if he's trying to convince us to get a pink kitchen...
37:39No, look, we've said all along about the natural materials...
37:42Or orange, like orange?
37:43No, no, no.
37:44This is actually one of the things I'm looking forward to the most.
37:47Yeah.
37:47Yeah, it'll be good.
37:48Hey, guys.
37:49Hi, Dermot.
37:49Hi, Louis.
37:50With Clare's reduced kitchen budget almost certainly etched on his mind,
37:54Dermot has brought his clients shopping.
37:56This is Dani.
37:57Hi, Dani. How are you? How are you doing?
37:58Oh, look at this, Dani. How are you?
38:00This is looking good.
38:01Yeah.
38:02Trying to come up with a bit of a plan here, right?
38:04So this is your kitchen layout, okay?
38:07An impression of what I was trying to achieve, right?
38:10It's this kind of thing.
38:11I think we need to introduce a bit of warmth into it, okay?
38:15And the warmth will come from timber.
38:17I haven't seen this sample yet, so this is my first time seeing it.
38:20So what I asked Angie was to kind of make a mock-up, like a frame, okay?
38:24That would go in between every single cabinet, okay?
38:27So it'll give it a framed out look.
38:28Okay, so it makes it kind of chunky.
38:30Chunky.
38:31Is that good or bad?
38:32That's good, yeah.
38:32That's good.
38:33We'd have a piece sticking out the whole way along,
38:36then we'd have that along the bottom.
38:38And then, have you got a handle?
38:40Yeah.
38:41So that, it would look like a complete frame,
38:43but that's where, that becomes your handle.
38:45Okay.
38:45Oh, yeah.
38:46So when you, I love the colour of it.
38:48Yeah, yeah.
38:48I think it's really popping out the green as well.
38:50Yeah.
38:51That's what will make a big difference.
38:52Okay.
38:52So, don't do.
38:53Middle one.
38:54Well, hold on a second.
38:55Cost.
38:56I only found out about the budget yesterday.
38:58Yeah.
38:58The budget's after being slashed significantly.
39:01This is kind of going back to our chat with Clare, right?
39:03Okay.
39:04So, we can do all of this within our original budget.
39:08Okay.
39:08Okay.
39:09So, the 20k.
39:10Right.
39:10But if we want to make savings,
39:12so Danny, you suggested taking, getting an off-the-shelf door.
39:15I suppose the biggest elephant in the room is the budget.
39:18I suppose Dorma kind of knew what he was doing,
39:20showing them what they really wanted.
39:21I love this, and it is really hard when, like,
39:23because...
39:23Why'd you show us this thing?
39:24Why'd you show us this thing?
39:25Because I know that this is in your hearts, and my heart.
39:29Yeah.
39:29But then, obviously, the budget is the problem,
39:31so we have to try and meet that somewhere in the middle,
39:33or do something different.
39:34If we were to replace the door...
39:37So, we'd replace out the door with an off-the-shelf door,
39:41so we're saving the money on staining, veneering, all of that.
39:44But we'd still do the handle on it.
39:46We'd still put that across.
39:48And the frame.
39:49And still do the frame.
39:50It was just a bit tormenting that...
39:51This is lovely, but you can't.
39:52This is lovely, but you can't.
39:53This one won't probably happen.
39:54It's trying to achieve the same end goal,
39:58but to give you an option.
40:00It's something we really need to think about,
40:01and I feel quite strongly about putting money into the kitchen.
40:04Look, what I'm excited about is making the frame.
40:07I wouldn't be upset to see that.
40:10I would.
40:11Do we mind the look knowing that it's kind of a fake,
40:15or are we that strong that we want to blow the budget
40:17on the proper veneer, proper timber veneer finish?
40:20I love that.
40:22I think that's really nice.
40:22But, look, you have a decision to make.
40:25We have to make a decision, yeah.
40:26Yeah.
40:26I would be inclined to think about it
40:28as being a kind of a long-term investment.
40:31Yeah.
40:31I think I might regret it, if I don't go for a better option.
40:35But then I'm thinking, what is better?
40:36It's still going to be a beautiful kitchen, regardless.
40:38I mean, are we suddenly kitchen snobs
40:40that we didn't know anything two hours ago about kitchens,
40:43and now we're going for the better option?
40:44Yeah.
40:46Decisions can be hard, especially when time is a factor,
40:50or indeed, when you've had all the time in the world.
40:56Have you your notebook, Narita?
40:59You've got the green.
41:01Of course I do.
41:02What have you done?
41:03Well, I have done a little bit of work.
41:06I have a plan, like you told me to do.
41:09Is that the back of a receipt?
41:11Yeah.
41:11Well, it's a plan.
41:13We've been at this for nearly six months now,
41:15and we're reliant on a sketch on the back of a receipt.
41:19I'm thinking now a semicircular loan.
41:21No, I just do a pure...
41:23Would you go the other way?
41:23Do a pure circle, or don't do...
41:25Oh, would you?
41:25Yeah.
41:26What about a half-crescent?
41:27What about a circle?
41:28What about...
41:30At this stage, we should be committed to something.
41:33We shouldn't be, I'm thinking about.
41:35We should be way beyond the shapes.
41:38Yeah.
41:39You think...
41:39Well, I'm not worried about it,
41:40and so I don't think you should be, to be frank.
41:43I'm worried how loose it all is.
41:45We're still deciding on a design.
41:47But just commit to it.
41:48Do the circle.
41:49A semicircle's kind of neither here nor there.
41:51I'm not sure if we're on the same worry level, though,
41:53because...
41:54I don't think you're on a worry level.
41:55You know, you can't just do this overnight.
41:57Oh, I know.
41:57It's going to take a while for this to happen, though.
41:59I'm okay with that.
42:00It's not going to be finished at any particular time soon.
42:04It's going to be a work in progress.
42:05You need to put the structure in place.
42:06Now, maybe she might surprise me,
42:08but at the moment it's kind of,
42:09yeah, it'll all happen, it'll all happen.
42:11We've a lot to do, don't we?
42:13Yeah.
42:13We do, but I think if it's something you love,
42:15would you not do it quicker?
42:17Probably.
42:17This is where I love now.
42:19This is fine.
42:20Okay.
42:21Are you sure?
42:21I am totally sure.
42:43Good things come to those who wait.
42:46But, finally having spent the best part of a decade patching up and making do,
42:51the wait is over for Louis and Loretta.
42:55Hello, Loretta.
42:56Hello.
42:56We've been talking about this since we moved into the house,
42:59nine years ago.
43:01And I think what we spoke about in nine years,
43:04he pretty much nailed.
43:04And look at that, when you look straight in the door.
43:07Yeah.
43:07Oh my God.
43:08All you want to do is be in the garden, isn't it?
43:10It's as if he knew straight away what we needed.
43:12Yeah.
43:12What we wanted.
43:13And now it's actually a reality.
43:15It's incredible.
43:16Look at this.
43:17Look at this.
43:18What this couple needed was a connection between their house and their garden.
43:23And that's what the centerpiece of this design delivers.
43:27An elegantly proportioned garden room, seamlessly bridging the gap between inside and out.
43:33Surrounded by greenery, flooded with light and filled with warm tactile living space.
43:39A lot of people when they say they want a connection to the garden,
43:42or we throw around this word inside, outside, outside, inside space.
43:45They wanted to be knee deep in the garden.
43:48Right slap bang in the middle of the garden.
43:50Yeah, I know.
43:51Wrapped around.
43:52Well that was the whole idea was that you kind of create this pavilion that sits in the garden
43:57and then everything else would kind of disappear.
43:59You almost don't notice the kitchen.
44:01You do notice this.
44:03Oh I do.
44:03It's absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?
44:05Yeah, it's beautiful.
44:06And as soon as I saw the open ear, it was obvious.
44:09It was beautiful.
44:10Like it was just a different level.
44:12So we had to stretch a bit for that, but I have absolutely no regrets.
44:14I felt a bit kind of cruel that day, kind of.
44:17But I had to show you where the idea started from.
44:19This is what I think, but you can't afford it.
44:21I did give them an option, but I did leave the decision with them.
44:25And I think they plumped for the right decision.
44:26I absolutely love the kitchen.
44:28Look at this.
44:29Oh, and the lights come on.
44:30I do love the pantry, yeah.
44:32And I love the colour.
44:33Not only is it really beautiful, but it's also very practical.
44:36Because it's a place that we will use all the time.
44:39The utility, yes.
44:41Although it looks like a house that is totally given over to just living spaces,
44:46the machine rooms and the workings of the house are all hidden behind the walls,
44:49which is pretty cool.
44:51Push that.
44:52Yeah.
44:53Yeah, I know, it's class.
44:54Yeah, it's really cool.
44:55The workmanship, I just think the utility wall with the hidden door.
44:58Just the builders just nailed it, like.
45:01It's a proper utility room with a window and it's completely hidden behind.
45:05Down to the garden room.
45:06Yeah.
45:06This is one of my favourite parts here.
45:08The sewer.
45:11The sewer runs underneath here, doesn't it?
45:14I'll never be able to think of anything else knowing the sewer.
45:17I actually love the bench going all across the width of the room.
45:21I love that.
45:22It's a perfect place to sit.
45:24It's really inviting, isn't it?
45:26The power of design makes you forget all the things that are going on underneath.
45:30Yeah.
45:30What we've done is we've rationalised that by putting in a seat and a bench and steps down,
45:34so every cloud has a silver lining, doesn't it?
45:37And it's sitting in into the garden, which is what we didn't have,
45:40which is what we were always hoping for.
45:42I suppose what a lot of people do is they focus on putting a big set of sliding doors
45:46at the end of this room.
45:48Yeah.
45:48And then it's all about going out.
45:50Yeah.
45:50But actually this is more like a coffee shop in the Botanic Gardens.
45:53Yeah.
45:53You know that you're sitting in it.
45:55So that's the whole idea of the pavilion.
45:56I always wanted a room for you guys that no matter what time of the year you could sit
46:00and enjoy it.
46:01The low winter sun comes through the house.
46:04It's hitting me on the face here.
46:05It's lovely to feel.
46:06It's lovely, yeah.
46:06But we've got the lovely canopy that wraps around.
46:08So in the summertime, when the sun is very high in the sky, that's when it's at its hottest.
46:13That will stop the light coming in.
46:15So it'll give you that bit of shading you need.
46:17You know when it gets very hot?
46:18Yeah.
46:19This is lovely.
46:21It's a real proper pavilion when you get out here, isn't it?
46:24It's kind of just this green glass box.
46:27Oh, it's gorgeous.
46:29For me, I was kind of struggled with placing this pavilion into the garden that's not complete
46:34or finished.
46:34But actually, it's the opposite way around.
46:36Place the pavilion into her workshop because that's where she's...
46:40That's her happy space.
46:41You had it on the back of a...
46:42What was it?
46:43Oh, where is it?
46:45He was insistent on the plan and it wasn't going to happen.
46:48So in order to allow him to move on to the next thing, it was as easy just to agree
46:53to the plan.
46:54And it never came to fruition.
46:56Oh, and it did, really, on the ground, but never on paper.
47:02Still love the doors.
47:03Yeah.
47:04There wasn't a bad day, I don't think.
47:07There was some tough decisions about money.
47:08Yeah.
47:08I seemed to be a bad cop there, but no...
47:12Downstairs bathroom.
47:13And the shower.
47:14There's gas crack as well.
47:15Yeah.
47:15You obviously have a lot of serious decisions to be made very quickly in zero time.
47:20It's just lovely to be back.
47:21Yeah.
47:22Yeah.
47:22The cosy living room.
47:24It instantly reminded me of the beach, being by the sea.
47:27And as soon as I say it to people, people are kind of going, yeah, I get it.
47:30But it's a gorgeous feeling there.
47:34So the much, much warmer den.
47:37But this is going to be a great room now, isn't it?
47:39Because for the kids and for visitors, it feels like a Louis and Rita house.
47:44They put in the effort to make sure that this place kind of sat well in their heart.
47:49It's not just an aesthetic thing that it felt right.
47:53And they did it together and it's a credit to them.
47:57Our contract value initially was 300,000.
48:00So we ran over in total by 20,000 euro.
48:03So our final account value is 320,000 euro.
48:08When we get the SEA grant of 25,000 euro back, Louis and Rita's cost will be 295,000 euro.
48:15There's a huge amount of our contract value spent on the invisible things on this project.
48:22Such as digging up the floors, damp roof, insulation, underfloor heating pipes throughout the entire house.
48:29Things that we don't see but we feel from a comfort level.
48:32It's e-read it, it's comfortable, it's healthy.
48:35It's just going to be a brilliant family home for everyone to live in for the years to come.
48:43I'm looking forward to just all five of us cuddling up on the couch and watching a Christmas movie.
48:49It's all six of us because of the dog.
48:52Now Marvin.
48:55Before it was a standard 1950s three bedroom setting that show.
48:59So now it's, I mean, it's transformed, it's completely different.
49:03It's hard to get decisions sometimes but we got there in the end, yeah.
49:07On behalf of myself, Claire, design team, builders, everybody, it has been, it's been brilliant working with you guys.
49:13It's going to be fabulous.
49:15It is fabulous.
49:16Well done everybody.
49:18Ten years ago, Louis and Narita bought somebody else's house with somebody else's layout.
49:24And like so many people are faced with the dilemma, do we pump a load of money in or do
49:29we just move?
49:29I am so glad they stayed.
49:31I'm so glad they worked really, really hard to finally make it their own.
49:36I think it, well, in their words, it's just fabulous.
49:39If this is love, it's fabulous.
50:00If this is love, it's fabulous.
50:05That's so beautiful.
50:07Bye.
50:07Bye.
50:10Bye.
50:11Bye.
50:12Move.
50:13Después哪
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