Missed a couple of minutes of tonight's Gloucester lawyers prog. So I went
to the GD website and was astonished to see even the supplier of
"Tolietries (small bathroom)" (sic) credited. This suggests that the people
who appear can scrounge all sorts of stuff 'for the publicity'.

No big surprise but it set me wondering. Assuming that they get some sort
of appearance/co-operation fee from GD - how much can you make, all in, by
being filmed?

--
Rod

In article ,
Rod writes:
Missed a couple of minutes of tonight's Gloucester lawyers prog. So I went
to the GD website and was astonished to see even the supplier of
"Tolietries (small bathroom)" (sic) credited. This suggests that the people
who appear can scrounge all sorts of stuff 'for the publicity'.

No big surprise but it set me wondering. Assuming that they get some sort
of appearance/co-operation fee from GD - how much can you make, all in, by
being filmed?

I doubt they get any fee from GD. They might get a discount on
some of the fixtures and fittings in exchange for a mention on
C4's website.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In message ,
Rod wrote:

Missed a couple of minutes of tonight's Gloucester lawyers prog. So I went
to the GD website and was astonished to see even the supplier of
"Tolietries (small bathroom)" (sic) credited. This suggests that the people
who appear can scrounge all sorts of stuff 'for the publicity'.

No big surprise but it set me wondering. Assuming that they get some sort
of appearance/co-operation fee from GD - how much can you make, all in, by
being filmed?


Dunno, but when my sis and bro' in law contacted Property Ladder, there
was no fee from the programme makers involved; though they did promise a
bottle and a copy of the programme on tape. I suspect that with the
proliferation of this sort of programme most suppliers wouldn't do
anything too special. If I had the chance of working on a building while
being filmed, I wouldn't offer any special deals because if you get on
camera at all, it's for two or three seconds, they usually say something
like "and the bill for the electrics is twice as high as expected" and
even if your logo is emblazoned across all available area of your shirt,
it's rarely seen for long enough or clear enough to make an impact.

Mentions on the website are ok, but I can't see it's going to make much
of an advertising impact unless you are perhaps a national supplier of
some hard-to-get niche product, in which case you can charge what you
like anyway because people are willing to pay.

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
.... Hire teenagers while they still know everything.

Martin Angove wrote in
:

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Yes - I know but although I mentioned it, I really wasn't commenting just
on tonight's edition.

It is also amazing how many times the featured people just manage to do
something extra at the end of filming - something that they had earlier
deemed too expensive. Examples include doing the landscaping or getting new
furniture.

--
Rod

Martin Angove wrote:

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Follow on question...
what the hell have they re-mortgaged it for?
All that hidden I.T. work and lighting etc etc couldn't have come cheap.
Considering they were stuffing chillis into bottles to earn a few quid
and doing very little (evident) work themselves !

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 22:47:22 GMT, GymRatZ
wrote:

Martin Angove wrote:

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Follow on question...
what the hell have they re-mortgaged it for?
All that hidden I.T. work and lighting etc etc couldn't have come cheap.
Considering they were stuffing chillis into bottles to earn a few quid
and doing very little (evident) work themselves !

Well the restoration budget started at £65,000, then went to £120,000
then finished up about £300,000 ...Must have damn good jobs I say and
they also cashed in their pensions to help out .
Stuart






Shift THELEVER to reply.

In article ,=20
says...
On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 22:47:22 GMT, GymRatZ
wrote:
=20
Martin Angove wrote:

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Follow on question...
what the hell have they re-mortgaged it for?
All that hidden I.T. work and lighting etc etc couldn't have come cheap.=
=20
Considering they were stuffing chillis into bottles to earn a few quid=
=20
and doing very little (evident) work themselves !
=20
Well the restoration budget started at =C2=A365,000, then went to =C2=A31=
20,000
then finished up about =C2=A3300,000 ...Must have damn good jobs I say a=
nd
they also cashed in their pensions to help out .
Stuart=20
=20


I got a feeling da-da or mummsy where around somewhere with deep deep=20
pockets
--=20
Paul Mc Cann

Paul Mc Cann wrote:

I got a feeling da-da or mummsy where around somewhere with deep deep
pockets

LOL.
I kept seeing what looked like a jar of "ashes" in the fireplace and
wondered if it was a late grand-parent that contributed substantially to
the costs upon their departure.

I got a feeling da-da or mummsy where around somewhere with deep deep=20
pockets
Paul Mc Cann

No - there was something really speciall about those chillies in oil.

But let's not worry about where the money came from. The important
lesson is that one should not destroy historic fabric, one should
never use Portland cement and that lime and oak are the best building
materials.

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:44:45 +0100, Stuart
wrote:

Well the restoration budget started at £65,000, then went to £120,000
then finished up about £300,000

That was the bit I couldn't understand. One glance at it must have told
anyone it would cost more than 65k. You must be looking at pretty well
that (or more?) just for the kitchen extension, with glass link, and
fitted kitchen, surely?
--
On-line canal route planner: http://www.canalplan.org.uk

(Waterways World site of the month, April 2001)

In message ,
GymRatZ wrote:

Martin Angove wrote:

Note adapted subject line: have you any idea how many "Grand Designs"
threads Google has archived over the years?

Follow on question...
what the hell have they re-mortgaged it for?
All that hidden I.T. work and lighting etc etc couldn't have come cheap.
Considering they were stuffing chillis into bottles to earn a few quid
and doing very little (evident) work themselves !


My thoughts exactly. It would surely have saved a five figure sum easily
to have put in the cabling, but left off buying the kit for a year or
two? Having said that, I suppose they probably thought "in for a
penny..." because if they are already mortgaged (or whatever) beyond the
hilt, a couple more quid on the repayments isn't going to make much
difference, but getting the money together for the kit later on might be
difficult with such a large existing commitment.

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
.... Please think when you drink....

In article ,
Martin Angove writes:
In message ,
GymRatZ wrote:
Follow on question...
what the hell have they re-mortgaged it for?
All that hidden I.T. work and lighting etc etc couldn't have come cheap.
Considering they were stuffing chillis into bottles to earn a few quid
and doing very little (evident) work themselves !

My thoughts exactly. It would surely have saved a five figure sum easily
to have put in the cabling, but left off buying the kit for a year or

Also, it adds nothing to the value of a house. Indeed complex
home automation often subtracts value because it scares buyers
off, sadly.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Also, it adds nothing to the value of a house. Indeed complex
home automation often subtracts value because it scares buyers
off, sadly.


Agreed, but they had "fallen in love with the space and would live here
forever".
Umtil they split up, that is. He would then have to take his boys toys
to a rented garret.

Bruce

"Martin Angove" wrote in message
My thoughts exactly. It would surely have saved a five figure sum easily
to have put in the cabling,

Although the guy did explain it, I can't believe there wasn't a simpler way
of doing all that cabling with some sort of multiplexing. I think the new
Airbus A380 has a lower cable density than thay house.

"Mike" wrote in message ...
"Martin Angove" wrote in message
Although the guy did explain it, I can't believe there wasn't a simpler way
of doing all that cabling with some sort of multiplexing.

Indeed - Surely they should be fitting a full CAT5 structured cabling
system running everyting over IP. Far more flexible and upgradable.

In message ,
Martin Angove wrote:

In message ,
Rod wrote:

Missed a couple of minutes of tonight's Gloucester lawyers prog. So I went
to the GD website and was astonished to see even the supplier of
"Tolietries (small bathroom)" (sic) credited. This suggests that the people
who appear can scrounge all sorts of stuff 'for the publicity'.

No big surprise but it set me wondering. Assuming that they get some sort
of appearance/co-operation fee from GD - how much can you make, all in, by
being filmed?


Dunno, but when my sis and bro' in law contacted Property Ladder, there
was no fee from the programme makers involved; though they did promise a
bottle and a copy of the programme on tape. I suspect that with the
proliferation of this sort of programme most suppliers wouldn't do
anything too special. If I had the chance of working on a building while
being filmed, I wouldn't offer any special deals because if you get on
camera at all, it's for two or three seconds, they usually say something
like "and the bill for the electrics is twice as high as expected" and
even if your logo is emblazoned across all available area of your shirt,
it's rarely seen for long enough or clear enough to make an impact.


Just realised that the obvious exceptions to this were both Grand
Designs programmes: the one about the Huff Haus which spent the whole
programme talking about these fantastic Germans and their brilliant
system (but Huff have a huge waiting list, so they hardly need to offer
incentives for extra publicity), and the one about that girl with the
funny name (Melody?) and her bloke who built an "experimental" half
oak-framed house. Not so many mentions, but not difficult to work out
that said girl's daddy runs Border Oak who designed and built the house
and so there would have been *loads* of freebies available, not only for
family reasons, but also because of the mentions in the programme and
the articles in the magazines (it was definitely in Homebuilding and
Renovating, and I *think* I saw it in Self Build & Design too).

On the other side of the argument, I saw a DIY SOS last night; it was at
completely the other end of the scale; "here are Bill and Ben" (or
whatever their names were). "They are hand crafting this lovely oak
kitchen..." but not a mention of the supplier's name. Probably on the
website, though I haven't checked.

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
.... Blessed are the Greeks

On the other side of the argument, I saw a DIY SOS last night; it was at
completely the other end of the scale; "here are Bill and Ben" (or
whatever their names were). "They are hand crafting this lovely oak
kitchen..." but not a mention of the supplier's name. Probably on the
website, though I haven't checked.

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
... Blessed are the Greeks
They had there company name on the back of there overalls and on their van
in the last shot.

Trevor Smith

Martin Angove wrote:
In message ,
Rod wrote:

snip question about GD

Dunno, but when my sis and bro' in law contacted Property Ladder,
there
was no fee from the programme makers involved;

Did they have to fill in a questionaire, which I imagine goes something
like this:

1) Are you an arrogant pair of freaks, who can agree on nothing?
2) Do you commit to ignoring all advice when given by a professional?
3) Do you consider your own 'research' (asking two of your freakish
friends and glancing in one estate agents window) to be far superior to
say 15 years experience in the building trade?
4) Are you colour blind?
5) Will you commit to buying a second property wihtout a survey half
way through renovating your first, despite it being a royal **** up on
which you will make no money?
6) Are you 'living the dream'?
7) Will you put your property on the market based on your own
(ludicrously high) estimates rather than listening to the guest estate
agents, who will over value the place anyway because they want lots of
commision?

Answered yes to all questions? We'll be in touch.

Answer no to any and it's bad luck I'm afraid, you're far to likely to
actually do something sensible which makes for terrifically dull
television.

Although answer our bonus question with a 'yes' and you can go on Grand
Designs:

Bonus Question: When you have exhausted all forms of savings,
investments, credit and indeed all fiscal avenues open to you 3/4 of
the way through your build are you able to 'dig a little deeper' or
'look really hard' and magiaclly find another =A350,000?


Of course despite this I still watch the flippin programs...
--=20
Steve F

Martin Angove wrote:
... If I had the chance of working on a building while
being filmed, I wouldn't offer any special deals because if you get on
camera at all, it's for two or three seconds, they usually say something
like "and the bill for the electrics is twice as high as expected" and
even if your logo is emblazoned across all available area of your shirt,
it's rarely seen for long enough or clear enough to make an impact.

However the value possibly lies not in the advertising on GD itself,
which as you say is negligible, but in the press release you send to
your local papers "Local tradesman featured on telly programme", etc.

Owain

Why is everyone obsessed with the money but no-one mentions lime, oak
and hand-made glass.

In message ,
(Biff) wrote:

Why is everyone obsessed with the money but no-one mentions lime, oak
and hand-made glass.

Possibly because money was (or appeared to be) the big conjouring
trick in this episode. From the first five minutes it was obvious to
anyone with half a brain that £65k or £70k or whatever wasn't going to
be anywhere near enough money, especially given

a: need to replace like-with-like (your lime, oak, glass and
due to the listed building status)

b: stated aim to install large amounts of high-tech gadgetry

c: design for new kitchen in oak with glass wall and roof

d: they obviously bought it more through heart than head ("we
just fell in love with it").

I for one was incredibly jealous of the whole concept. I would love to
have £750k (or whatever the final total was) to play with and do
something like this. I too would probably have pulled out all the
stops to use appropriate and sympathetic replacements where necessary,
but given a mere £70k at the outset I think I would probably have
known that it wasn't going to be enough.

I suppose that *if* the house had been structurally sound, and *if*
none of the timbers had needed replacing then £70k would have looked a
little more realistic, but you only needed two facts to be able to
guess that this wasn't the case: the house was several hundred years
old, and had had no work done on it within living memory.

Was that what you meant?

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
.... Dessert? I'll take a piece of cherry pi.

Martin Angove wrote in
:

I suppose that *if* the house had been structurally sound, and *if*
none of the timbers had needed replacing then £70k would have looked a
little more realistic, but you only needed two facts to be able to
guess that this wasn't the case: the house was several hundred years
old, and had had no work done on it within living memory.

Good answer, Martin.

There have been many GD programs where money has not been splashed around
(classics being the Welsh hillside and the wooden house in the woods). But
did you really feel that these Gloucester lawyers would have appeared at
all for nothing? (Remember, lawyers simply don't appear for nothing.)

Over the years I have seen several GD houses in various places (GD's own
website and magazine as well as other 'style' publications). I reckon that
the total exposure achievable is quite significant.

I totally agree with Martin that 70k was a joke in the circumstances. That
the extra money was found was not a surprise. But from where? Their
resources? Or payments of various sorts, possibly including knock-down
prices on some items?

OK, so lime and wood are classics. It is nice to seem them being used. But
I am damned sure that the house is riddled with copper, plastic,
plasterboard, etc. It is no purist's dream house.

--
Rod