Taken from ITV "Homes from Hell" series, first of two episodes describing the technical failure of a timber frame house designed by an architecture practice without adequate indemnity insurance.
My husband and I purchased a "Fixer" and decided it was a great idea to LIVE in it while we are fixing it ourselves.....Two and and a half years later.... UGH!!!....We are still fixing it! My heart goes out to these two, who have managed to keep their sense of humor and sanity, which is no small feat!
Why? They decided to RETIRE IN A HUGE WAREHOUSES that require A LOT of maintenance. And who in their right mind would go for wood in a damp area near a pond... They brought this on themselves and the guy is an engineer - he really should have seen this coming...
Yes, they do deserve it. The design was of A WOODEN HOUSE NEXT TO ANOTHER WOODEN HOUSE. What did they think would happen the minute it started to rain?? There is no siding or shingles or anything to protect the wood! What a scam! And that guy is an engineer!!?????
+MrRichVos Its visual appearance is better now that all the render rainscreen is gone and its clad in timber overall, but we were disapointed with what a Zurich trained Swiss architect achieved, who is now writing books about it......
how you make house breathe, what should be done in the construction to breathe. I am curious. I wish I knew how to make a home. I am woman. Even my friend that is just a (those guys that just help in construction) would know how to make better home than this disaster home. And he made 3 homes and very nice and he is not engineer, he is not architect.
I don't understand why they used wood on the exterior. Even the fact it rots when exposed to so much ongoing wet weather, it weathers and turns gray in a year and requires so much ongoing maintenance . Why not brick or stucco? Seems they are not thinking clearly even after 10 years
Keep the comments coming people, this "event" was, through ITV, the direct cause of the architects registration board changing their code of practice (and their web site), so not all bad then. And no, the architects are not registered to practice now, probably because they can't get any insurance at all now, but they were teaching at uni. because you don't have to be registered to do that. And we love the appearance of the house, so there.
! I admire you two so much for going ahead with the repairs . You will eventually have a beautiful house to enjoy. I, too, built a house with architects' mistakes in many places, but on an ocean view lot. I had to sell, however, because I was a single parent with not enough capital to continue on. And then the interest rate jumped to 22% (in the 80's in America) so that pretty much did me in. Consider yourselves fortunate. It could be worse!
My sentiments exactly, and they DO seem like lovely people. It's nice to see a comment that isn't just criticism. So many missed the point. Design aesthetic is totally subjective, what one likes not everyone else will. No use in criticizing someone else's choice, it's what they like, we should respect it.
1. Architectural planning 2. Technical planning 3. Construction planning 4. have an inspector that checks every day whether the plan is implemented well, if not, have the day's work deconstructed and rebuilt. Most importantly, have contracts with planners, builders, inspectors to the fullest. And insurance. Learnt it the hard way, but second house is perfect. :-)
Yes but even as an engineer you should have confidence in the architect to produce a design which meets basic requirements without having to go over all the small details.
@@splint3048 The small details are where most projects fail... Anyone can get it 80% there; the small details are the most time consuming and so are often, conveniently, overlooked!
The white building reminds me of my grandfathers chicken coop. The brown thing is a box with windows, just like a shoe box with a few openings. A lot of problems are coming from the construction and the people who built it. Just lime here in the US, all good craftsmanship is gone.
Houses that size you'd be cleaning all day long. Personally after a life in the pub trade, working all day until 2 or 3 am I never want to clean again!! Now I have a 2 bedroom home a small kitchen, bathroom and downstairs wc. I am thinking in a few years I might actually move into a one bedroom flat, that'd do for me!
Materials are one of the most important factors to consider when designing a building. Since the early 90s we have seen an awful tendency to use inadequate materials just for the sake of design and edginess. Using timber as an external structural component of the building is just nonsense, especially on the damp British weather.
We have wooden slatted, timber framed buildings in the UK that are over 250 years old. If you use the right timber and do regular maintenance, they have outlasted brick.
Just knock the ugly house down and sell to a developer. You could probably recoup your costs (at least in England) if you sell it to someone who will build a subdivision. The average British house is ridiculously expensive and due to the fact it's on 4 acres of land a developer could probably fit at least 32 British houses on it (1/8 of an acre lots)
After watching far too many building programmes ( and I draw plans and spec for timber-frame builds), I can say If you adopt novel, non-traditional, cutting-edge methods, eventually you will regret it. Timber-frame needs very precise detailing, that must be followed. The £10k cedar cladding will go gray, the house will be a fortune to heat, the enviro-sedum flat roof will leak, the enviro heat-pump will pack up, the central-air heat exchanger will cost a fortune to replace, and the end result is that the re-sale will be extremely difficult. Even if it's your Dream Home, build what other people will Love.
I feel very badly for the couple. They should be relaxing after working a lifetime. The architect, who very clearly is the one in error here, was not qualified to do this and should have declined the project.
@@738polarbear Well yes, then you're putting the glass in plastic, not aluminum. A lot of people don't. I worked for a law firm an file a demand letter complaining that a company did not do that. We won the case.
A case of an architects ego running away with him ,and it’s completely inappropriate for the environment. It looks like a prefab next to a large 70’s council house. The couple seem lovely and surprisingly laid back considering. I hope they finally get what they want-seen there’s a part two so.....
That`s the most horrible house design ever as people have said on here it looks like a warehouse, prison, community centre or hospital. Not a house where any sane person would want to live.
Wow hideous buildings. I wonder how their neighbours reacted to the big builds. Also why didn't they look into the problem immediately and pursue it with an outside professional assessment of the water issue ?! Would have caught it before it sustained serious damage.
Apart from the appalling farm shed design, whoever the builder was who actually follow all the flawed drawings, without understanding all the designers mistakes, should not have carried on. The builder is totally at fault.
So many horrible people commenting. I Hope everything has worked out for the owners of both houses. What a terrible thing to happen. I bet the architect was learning on their house.
Thank you, so many ignore this ru-vid.com?event=comments&stzid=Ugw2wKazKjaZsUwzJjN4AaABAg.8u11p_CDmXP8u9IctPIsbP&html_redirect=1&redir_token=B1Uu6Bk9pRuBUOgmtKsgG8WEJMR8MTU1NzE0NzA3M0AxNTU3MDYwNjcz&q=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FenqOTPyVvoCypNT7B5%2Fgiphy.gif
Hope goes well for them, they seam a strong go getting couple, must have been hell to go all through that and still be going through it all that loss, most people split up, glad they are so nice, however the house is so ugly in such an idilic setting but its there dream and they rebuilt it togther x all the best
Architects seem to be a law unto themselves! We got caught too by an Architect's "folly" - turning our simple design into a "castellated" behemoth that, while it was nice, virtually doubled the cost of the build!
They need ventilation. Why did the owners never notice that there wasn't ventilation? Also if they don't have roof gutters they wont ever solve the problem.
Yep, you don't need a surveyor to know their problem was ventilation. The roof gutters are most likely hidden at the bottom of the roof structure with the down pipes behind the shuttering.
I don't understand how an engineer and arcquitech made this thing that does not look like home and besides so defective that you can not live there with all the mold. What they were thinking using wood on the bottom of the home in swamp area, but even so, homes should be made only with bricks or rocks. I hate homes made of wood. It's a hell in summertime or huge airconditioner bills. Gosh, I am just a humble high school graduate, I don't understand anything about home. but this construction is not home, it's a disaster. If I was his friend I would tell him: "are you sure you want this design?"
Wow, sill plate is what that's called. Two, wow. Where was the building inspector? IDK about England but in MI they check for things like flashing, vapor barriers, and so on. It's part of the permitting process. Get a permit, do an inspection then move in. Maybe multiple inspections. Anyone with common sense would have figured that out day one.
yes ! ...AN INSPECTOR is not god ..... too often they get it wrong ...like the one who was "god" to my plumbers ...... plumbers who had to be called back ....NO SEWER VENT PIPE ..... and they charge how much ? !..... and HERE ( AUSTRALIA )it's illegal to do it yourself !!!!
The answer to that is straightforward: The designer (architect) produces information (drawings) The manufacturer (builder) makes whatever the drawings specify. If something doesn't work, compare the product to the drawings, if the product is not to drawing the manufacturer is at fault, if the product is as drawn then its a design fault.
S F, in the UK professional engineers are either chartered engineers or incorporated engineers, but the fault here did not lie with any engineer, it was the responsibility of an incompetent architect.
The Man owner seems so intelligent when he lectures us about whats Wrong. So was he asleep during the building? Didn't he walk around inspecting it while it was being built? He annoys me. All he does is talk, but he only listens to himself. A NO IT ALL, who really is dumb.
Its nice to know I've annoyed you, the feeling is mutual. And no I didn't walk round it while it was being built, most of the time I wasn't in the same country, and you may not realise it but by law you have to ask the builder for permission to walk round a building site, even if you own the land.
