Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete floor
(causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given that the
customers knew that they had been given a very competative quote. Okay, he
made some mistakes but he got on with the job and the finished product
looked a hell of a lot better than the british one. His biggest mistake was
underpricing the job.

Tim
Simon.

sm_jamieson wrote:
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

Should have been called "Tales of the Unexpected". Not a good start when
the groundwork doesn't go to plan.
It's a shame the customers/builders weren't reversed. The two obnoxious
blokes deserved each other

On Oct 17, 9:10*am, sm_jamieson wrote:
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.
rockwool?
What channel was it on then? Wondering if it was any of the watch
again services.

In article
,
sm_jamieson wrote:
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?

Yes.

The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

I'd guess they used ordinary foam insulation with too small a thickness of
concrete on top so it broke up.

I thought the whole prog carefully staged to make a point. So nothing
different from any other TV prog of this type.

--
*What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 17 Oct, 09:30, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
sm_jamieson wrote:

Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?

Yes.

The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

I'd guess they used ordinary foam insulation with too small a thickness of
concrete on top so it broke up.

I thought the whole prog carefully staged to make a point. So nothing
different from any other TV prog of this type.

Quite so. But the Brit builder seemed to think he had done a good job.
He said he was a bricklayer, not a builder, so its not surprising the
finishes were poor. You could see hand prints in the pebble dashing /
render. Looks like it was not sticking and they tried to push it on
with their hands !
I don't think he'll get much work after the programme.

The polish trowel with the handle above the blade looked interesting.
I wanted to see him using it.

Simon.

Quite so. But the Brit builder seemed to think he had done a good job.
He said he was a bricklayer, not a builder

A small "builder" is usually just a tradesman turned project manager. He
does the bits he's trained to do and gets the other trades in as
required. It's when he does the whole job himself that the trouble starts.

I like the yellow pages ads that say "specialists in all types of
building work"

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember sm_jamieson
saying something like:

Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

I've seen this before - apart from it being the usual media commentator
mis-understanding ******** - it was likely he'd not buried the CH pipes
enough and the screed was cracked. A minor thing, easily put right, but
hear the husband, Mark, go on, you'd think the end of the world had
come.
I was impressed by the Polish bloke's work and the amount of give and
take (mostly give on his part) he was prepared to live with. The young
couple were a right pair of arses, but I suspect the woman would have
been easier to deal with on her own if that arsehole Mark hadn't been
there - he was just a plank.
I was glad the sparky saw the quality of the work and gave the Poles his
extension to do - so, not in vain after all.

As for the British builder - what a ****ing cowboy. Ok, the delays at
the start weren't entirely his fault, but he didn't do much to shorten
them and the end result was a ****ing joke.

If the Polish guy had the British builder's customer, every body would
have been happier and the young couple, by taking on the British builder
could have sampled real British craftmanship at its finest, just as they
wanted for next time, the arses.

On Oct 17, 11:34*am, Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember sm_jamieson
saying something like:

Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder,

yes - I expect brushing it with acid would improve it a lot. Not going
to get rid of the finger marks but would strip the cement off the
stone faces, and greatly improve the appearance and uniformity.


but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?

Perhaps he used something soft/fleecy like fibreglass, no support. Or
maybe the crete was too thin.


Simon.

I've seen this before - apart from it being the usual media commentator
mis-understanding ******** - it was likely he'd not buried the CH pipes
enough and the screed was cracked. A minor thing, easily put right, but
hear the husband, Mark, go on, you'd think the end of the world had
come.
I was impressed by the Polish bloke's work and the amount of give and
take (mostly give on his part) he was prepared to live with. The young
couple were a right pair of arses, but I suspect the woman would have
been easier to deal with on her own if that arsehole Mark hadn't been
there - he was just a plank.
I was glad the sparky saw the quality of the work and gave the Poles his
extension to do - so, not in vain after all.

Seems the couple were right in that they had agreed on the deal re
extra costs, but wasnt he nice about it! If the deal with extras was
put in writing it there would be a lot less room for argument. Jarek
had only himself to blame for his pricing, but man what an attittude
they had.

The idea of pitting one pole against one brit and pretending they
would represent their entire country was a joke, but even so it wasnt
hard to guess who would do a fair job and who wouldnt. I much prefer
working with foreigners, the british attitude to work is generally
atrocious.


As for the British builder - what a ****ing cowboy.

typical brit, little interest in work.


NT

Dave Starling wrote:
On Oct 17, 9:10 am, sm_jamieson wrote:
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
? Simon.

What channel was it on then?

The one mentioned in the title *and* the OP?

In article
,
wrote:
yes - I expect brushing it with acid would improve it a lot. Not going
to get rid of the finger marks but would strip the cement off the
stone faces, and greatly improve the appearance and uniformity.

I reckon they mixed the whole lot together rather than putting on a mortar
coat then throwing the pebbles at it.

--
*Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

wrote:


As for the British builder - what a ****ing cowboy.

typical brit, little interest in work.

Looking at the face of the British builder it seemed like "typical brit,
too much interest in booze and fags" since most days he seemed to be
recovering from the mother of all hangovers.

Tim Downie wrote:
"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete floor
(causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given that
the customers knew that they had been given a very competative quote.
Okay, he made some mistakes but he got on with the job and the
finished product looked a hell of a lot better than the british one. His
biggest mistake was underpricing the job.

All too true, well under quoted even using Polish labour. The young couple
expected a champagne job at a lemonade price.

British bloke was shocking.

Mind you, that's TV for you. Never mind the facts, as long as the ratings
are good.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Oct 17, 1:38*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article
,
* wrote:

yes - I expect brushing it with acid would improve it a lot. Not going
to get rid of the finger marks but would strip the cement off the
stone faces, and greatly improve the appearance and uniformity.

I reckon they mixed the whole lot together rather than putting on a mortar
coat then throwing the pebbles at it.

nowt wrong with that, then rinsing it to expose the stone. Gives
better bonding actually. What puzzled me most is they had some areas
that looked ok, and some weren't. How did they manage exposed stone on
some of it and cemented over in other areas?


NT

In article
,
wrote:
I reckon they mixed the whole lot together rather than putting on a
mortar coat then throwing the pebbles at it.

nowt wrong with that, then rinsing it to expose the stone.

More difficult to get an even appearance, though?

Gives better bonding actually. What puzzled me most is they had some
areas that looked ok, and some weren't. How did they manage exposed
stone on some of it and cemented over in other areas?

See above. ;-)

--
*Is there another word for synonym?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
om...
Tim Downie wrote:
"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete floor
(causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given that
the customers knew that they had been given a very competative quote.
Okay, he made some mistakes but he got on with the job and the
finished product looked a hell of a lot better than the british one. His
biggest mistake was underpricing the job.

All too true, well under quoted even using Polish labour. The young
couple expected a champagne job at a lemonade price.

British bloke was shocking.

Mind you, that's TV for you. Never mind the facts, as long as the ratings
are good.

Do you think that

a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones with the
best contrast

b) they got lucky

c) they set it up like this

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have been
sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12 months ago

tim

On Oct 19, 11:24*am, "tim....." wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in media.com...



Tim Downie wrote:
"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete floor
(causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given that
the customers knew that they had been given a very competative quote.
Okay, he made some mistakes but he got on with the job and the
finished product looked a hell of a lot better than the british one. His
biggest mistake was underpricing the job.

All too true, well under quoted even using Polish labour. *The young
couple expected a champagne job at a lemonade price.

British bloke was shocking.

Mind you, that's TV for you. *Never mind the facts, as long as the ratings
are good.

Do you think that

a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones with the
best contrast

no chance


b) they got lucky

c) they set it up like this

maybe, it wouldnt be hard to do.

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have been
sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12 months ago

tim

I would have thought the ratings come down to the title and the idea
behind it more than the actual content. After all, the content really
contained nothing other than the predictable, but we're talking about
it anyway.


NT

On Oct 19, 9:10*am, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article
,
* wrote:

I reckon they mixed the whole lot together rather than putting on a
mortar coat then throwing the pebbles at it.
nowt wrong with that, then rinsing it to expose the stone.

More difficult to get an even appearance, though?

perhaps if the wrong technique was used, or the procedure was
especially well royally bllsed up - I dont see how the problem shown
would result from doing the rinse approach properly.


NT

wrote:
On Oct 19, 11:24 am, "tim....." wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
media.com...



Tim Downie wrote:
"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I
was wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the
Polish build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ?
Any guesses ?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete
floor (causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given
that the customers knew that they had been given a very
competative quote. Okay, he made some mistakes but he got on with
the job and the
finished product looked a hell of a lot better than the british
one. His biggest mistake was underpricing the job.

All too true, well under quoted even using Polish labour. The young
couple expected a champagne job at a lemonade price.

British bloke was shocking.

Mind you, that's TV for you. Never mind the facts, as long as the
ratings are good.

Do you think that

a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones
with the
best contrast

no chance

I reckon they might well have, they do that sort of thing all the time. I
heard that the David Blaine TV show was filmed over months & cut to only
show the best reaction to his tricks.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article ,
tim..... wrote:
Mind you, that's TV for you. Never mind the facts, as long as the
ratings are good.

Do you think that

a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones with
the best contrast

Don't be silly. Imagine the cost of doing that. Assuming they paid for the
crews. [Thinks] See what you mean.

b) they got lucky

Yeh yeh.

c) they set it up like this

Rule one of 'factual' progs. Make the prog to fit your facts.

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have
been sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12
months ago

Other thing I love is the way any 'salient point' made by Beeny during a
Property Ladder is *always* mentioned by one of the estate agents when
viewing some year or so later.

--
*Is there another word for synonym?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article
,
wrote:
On Oct 19, 9:10 am, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article
,
wrote:

I reckon they mixed the whole lot together rather than putting on a
mortar coat then throwing the pebbles at it.
nowt wrong with that, then rinsing it to expose the stone.

More difficult to get an even appearance, though?

perhaps if the wrong technique was used, or the procedure was
especially well royally bllsed up - I dont see how the problem shown
would result from doing the rinse approach properly.

Dunno. I've only seen it using the 'throw on' procedure. Which seems
strange if there is an easier way which is just as good.

NT

--
*Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones
with the
best contrast

no chance

I reckon they might well have, they do that sort of thing all the time.
I heard that the David Blaine TV show was filmed over months & cut to
only show the best reaction to his tricks.

In my experience of 'magic' on TV, it always co-operates to achieve the
very best results for that 'magic'. Never to show the flaws. Of which
there are always many from the other side away from the audience.

--
*I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
tim..... wrote:

Other thing I love is the way any 'salient point' made by Beeny during a
Property Ladder is *always* mentioned by one of the estate agents when
viewing some year or so later.

That gets me too!

tim

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "tim....."
saying something like:

c) they set it up like this

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have been
sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12 months ago

There were some fishy gaps and some dubious editing in it. I suspect the
British builder's other jobs were nothing like as bad as that and he
just wanted that one finished and out of the way, so employed some
casuals to get it done - bit of a mistake.

On Oct 17, 1:27*pm, "PM" wrote:
Dave Starling wrote:
On Oct 17, 9:10 am, sm_jamieson wrote:
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
? Simon.
What channel was it on then?

The one mentioned in the title *and* the OP?

Quite a babe magnet then?

Can't say I'd ever watch such a thing, not being so soon out of the
nursery. I didn't even know there were such programmes. What value to
the community are they?

Do they still have the same format on built my white-shed-man?

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "tim....."
saying something like:

c) they set it up like this

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have
been
sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12 months
ago

There were some fishy gaps and some dubious editing in it. I suspect the
British builder's other jobs were nothing like as bad as that and he
just wanted that one finished and out of the way, so employed some
casuals to get it done - bit of a mistake.

A local builder I used told me he used to be "on-call" for a tv company as a
rent-a-quote builder. They were doing a feature on an old lady who's
daughter reckoned she had been ripped off by a builder for guttering and
roofing work. My builder was asked to go and assess the job. He said the job
was OK but that he would have doen it for less but she'd agreed a quote and
that's what they charged so fair enough. When the programme was aired, some
of the guttering had been pulled apart and it was aired as a shoddy job.
This was not the case when my builder was viewing it. On the basis (as he
put it) "he has to live in this town", he has done no further work for them.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

On Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:39:12 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Oct 19, 11:24*am, "tim....." wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in media.com...



Tim Downie wrote:
"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses
?

I think it was the pipe insulation that was used in the concrete floor
(causing it to crack).

I thought the polish builder was given an unduly hard time given that
the customers knew that they had been given a very competative quote.
Okay, he made some mistakes but he got on with the job and the
finished product looked a hell of a lot better than the british one. His
biggest mistake was underpricing the job.

All too true, well under quoted even using Polish labour. *The young
couple expected a champagne job at a lemonade price.

British bloke was shocking.

Mind you, that's TV for you. *Never mind the facts, as long as the ratings
are good.

Do you think that

a) they followed a couple of dozen builders and just used the ones with the
best contrast

no chance


b) they got lucky

c) they set it up like this

maybe, it wouldnt be hard to do.

I don't really know which it is, but unless it was (c) they can't have been
sure of its ratings potential when they started filming around 12 months ago

tim

I would have thought the ratings come down to the title and the idea
behind it more than the actual content. After all, the content really
contained nothing other than the predictable, but we're talking about
it anyway.

I think the worst person to come out of this was the husband of the
young mother who commissioned the Polish builder. He, the husband, was
a right arsehole.

MM

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember MM saying
something like:

I think the worst person to come out of this was the husband of the
young mother who commissioned the Polish builder. He, the husband, was
a right arsehole.

Called Clint, iirc.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember MM saying
something like:

I think the worst person to come out of this was the husband of the
young mother who commissioned the Polish builder. He, the husband,
was a right arsehole.

Called Clint, iirc.

How is it that your finger hit the L & the I and missed the U? ;-)

Tim

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Tim Downie"
saying something like:

Called Clint, iirc.

How is it that your finger hit the L & the I and missed the U? ;-)

Perhaps it's an urban legend, but I recall mention many years ago of a
Hong Kong cinema poster in the late 60s featuring '**** Eastwood'.

I bet that the bad husband, Clint (?), was told by the producer to do
a "take two" and be as nasty as he could manage in front of the
cameras so as to add interest to the program . Even if he is as mean
as he appeared, I don't think it'd be possible for him to be his
genuine relaxed nasty self with a camera crew in the room with him, so
I'm not convinced that that was real.
And I'm amazed that such an appalling English builder was prepared to
advertise his crappy product on tv. He must've been paid well by the
tv company to compensate for the damage to his reputation.

It'd make a great series to shadow the Polish builder doing a few more
jobs, starting with the electrician's extension. I hope they do that.
The guy deserves the positive exposure and it'd be educational too.
Tony

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember sm_jamieson
saying something like:

Anyone see bobski the builder last night on ch4 ?
The pebble dashing was shocking from the British builder, but I was
wondering what was supposed to be wrong with the floor in the Polish
build - they said he used the wrong type of insulation ? Any guesses ?
Simon.

I've seen this before - apart from it being the usual media commentator
mis-understanding ******** - it was likely he'd not buried the CH pipes
enough and the screed was cracked. A minor thing, easily put right, but
hear the husband, Mark, go on, you'd think the end of the world had
come.
I was impressed by the Polish bloke's work and the amount of give and
take (mostly give on his part) he was prepared to live with. The young
couple were a right pair of arses, but I suspect the woman would have
been easier to deal with on her own if that arsehole Mark hadn't been
there - he was just a plank.
I was glad the sparky saw the quality of the work and gave the Poles his
extension to do - so, not in vain after all.

As for the British builder - what a ****ing cowboy. Ok, the delays at
the start weren't entirely his fault, but he didn't do much to shorten
them and the end result was a ****ing joke.

If the Polish guy had the British builder's customer, every body would
have been happier and the young couple, by taking on the British builder
could have sampled real British craftmanship at its finest, just as they
wanted for next time, the arses.

Late I know, but I`ve only just watched this show now. I felt so sorry for
the Polish builder - he did a good job quickly and at a low price. The
idiot British builder was the reason why most people in the UK dislike
anyone in the building trade - 21 days in and they`d only been on site for 7
of them, early finishes all round, a poor quality job at a much higher
price.