Property television programme review

Room for Improvement

as reviewed by a Surveyor

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As Independent Surveyors we note that there are many television programmes covering the property market aired on terrestrial and satellite television stations which we review in this section of our website. Our television review is our light hearted opinion of the television programme and may get you talking and thinking about what you see. In no way are we advertising the television programme or receiving remuneration for promoting it on our website we hope you find it of interest.

Room for Improvement is a property television programme aired on Channel Four and Discovery Real Time whereby each episode a different property is visited with a variety of issues that the homeowner wishes to change. The thirty minute Room for Improvement property television programme is produced by RDF television and is aimed at a daytime viewer with an after the school run time slot. Room for Improvement covers a huge variety of properties the length and breadth of the United Kingdom as we do as Surveyors carrying out both residential and commercial structural building surveys for our clients.

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Room for Improvement Presenters

Room for Improvement, the property television programme, is presented by two hosts Angus Purden who is a Design Journalist and Dave Wellman who is a builder.

Angus Purden

The Room for Improvement presenter Angus Purden was brought up in Lanarkshire, Scotland and has become a well known television presenter. Firstly Angus worked behind the camera developing his journalist work on programmes such as Five News and GMTV.

Angus is a polished presenter, well groomed (he won Mr Scotland in the past and had a modelling career) and articulate and has presented on a variety of television programmes including Cash in the Attic, Ghost Towns and Postcode Challenge.

Dave Wellman

Dave Wellman originally trained as an actor before later becoming a qualified builder accepted by The Federation of Master Builders and is a well informed presenter on Room for Improvement. Dave has presented on several property television programmes including Carol Vorderman's Better Homes and How Does Your Wallpaper Hang. Presenting and building are only two of his talents as he is also a writer having published several DIY and Interior Design books and written for many Interior Design Magazines.

Room for Improvement's Dave Wellman is a likeable, gently spoken and knowledgeable presenter and brings a down to earth and sensible approach to the home improvement programme each episode.

Room for Improvement Programme format

Room for Improvement is an informative property television programme whereby homeowners can see that they do not have to move home to improve their homes and make improvements. Each episode presenters Angus Purden and Dave Wellman give the homeowners advice and show them different options they should consider when carrying out improvements on their homes.

The Room for Improvement programme shows a wide range of home improvements from transforming a tiny bathroom to extending a kitchen to converting a cupboard into an en suite to creating a luxury tree house in a back garden. The show travels the length and breadth of the UK with a format that is endless as many people are not able to neither afford to move home nor wish to have the upheaval and remodelling their homes is a much preferred option.

Room for Improvement's presenters Angus and Dave both have their own areas of expertise with Angus focusing on design options and giving the homeowner three options to consider whilst Dave with his building knowledge keeps abreast of building works.

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The property programme gives some air time to showing the homeowners some examples of other properties that have had similar work carried out. This is a really helpful part of the show as most people find it hard to visualise a drawn plan and can help to understand what the transformation will look like before it is carried out.

The television shows duration is just thirty minutes unlike many property programmes which are an hour and could warrant extending the time slot which would show the transformation in more detail. However, saying that, it is a sharp and punchy half hour designed to inspire and inform and a must watch if property programmes are of interest to you.

Simple practical tips for improving your home

Room for Improvement opens each episode setting the challenge ahead to improve a home with a three dimension spinning and expanding house and presenters Angus and Dave introducing the home improvement to be featured.

Room for Improvement Programme example set in Petts Wood, Kent

The episode opens with a voiceover stating that it is often worth extending a house to accommodate families' needs rather than having the expense and upheaval of moving house but will their healthy budget be sufficient to give a family of six a new kitchen with walk in larder, utility room and large breakfast room.

Title sequence of a three dimensional house graphic with extending blocks then front door with Room for Improvement logo tells the viewer the property show has began.

Room for Improvements' co hosts Angus Purden (Design Journalist) and Dave Wellman (Builder) introduce the viewer to the area of the country the episode is coming from which in this instance is Petts Wood in Kent and one of the best examples of an inter War suburb designed by Basil Screwbie.

As Surveyors we frequently find ourselves conducting residential building surveys in Petts Wood and have notice some large detached houses in roads such as Birchwood Road, Wood Ride,The Chenies and Chistlehurst Road.

Extending a kitchen

A couple who live in the property to be featured have a healthy budget to extend their kitchen. The budget is a large budget but choices will need to be made in order to carry out all the work that they require. The couple have four young children and have lived in the 1930s semi for nine years already converting the loft into bedrooms for three of their sons. The house is big but the kitchen is surprisingly small, the downstairs is dominated by the four young children with the dining room doubling up as a play room. The kitchen has to double as a utility room and has very little storage space, outside there is a yard leading to a garage where the family store their bicycles and there is a patio area which extends along the back of the house.

Angus and Dave take a look at the small kitchen with Angus explaining that this is a typical size for a semi detached property built back in the 1930s when the house was built. There is a comedy drawer; a drawer that has a mind of its own that will not shut and the couple explain that they would ideally like an old fashioned larder to walk into to find everything laid out as they do not like wall units as they feel that they hem you in a bit.

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Viewing the area outside to extend into

They move to outside to view the area where they plan to extend the kitchen out onto, the garage will need to be demolished and a pathway will need to be maintained to gain access to the rear garden.

The plan is to extend the kitchen out to make a breakfast area and then at the back a lean to of an opening with a roof to store bicycles on a rack which would be a practical solution as they would no longer have the garage for storage.

Dave, the builder, gets his measuring tape out whilst Angus and the couple move back inside the house to discuss kitchen designs.

Building work concerns

Dave explains as the foundations of the garage are not deep enough it cannot be incorporated into the new extension which sometimes is possible, other factors can affect the foundations too.

There is a beautiful big oak tree in the rear garden but although a lovely feature it can cause problems because it is so close to the house. Its position means that the footings will have to be dug extra deep probably two point four metres (eight feet) which will cost a lot of money.

A large part of the building budget will need to be set aside for the foundation work which is put below the ground level in order for the build to take place. This is due to the roots of large trees extending a long way and absorbing moisture from the ground causing walls and foundations to crack with the position of the oak tree being within influencing distance of the house.

Influencing Distance Defined

This is the distance in which a tree may be able to cause damage to the subject property. It is not quite as simple as our sketch; it depends on the tree, its maturity, the soil type etc., etc.

Drainage issues

As ever, when you are extending on the side of a house there are often pipes in the way. At the property being featured there is a large pipe which is just clear of where the extension is due to start but it is what is underground that is the issue here. The manholes/drains are too close to where the footings are going to be so again part of the budget will need to be set aside to move the drainage out of the way to get the footings in place to then be able to build the extension up upon.

Manholes Defined

As part of the current Building Regulations, you are required to have a manhole (or in some instances a rodding eye is allowed) at each change of direction of the drains or where new drains join an existing run.

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French Drains

Foundations and underpinning

Foundations

Kitchen design

Style wise the couple want to have a traditional design for their new kitchen and not modern, they feel a Shaker style, which is a very simple design would be best, being uncomplicated and would ideally like cream painted wood. Angus explains a Shaker kitchen traditionally would have had simple plain lines and would also have been free standing. The couple wish to have a mixture of units with not everything fitting exactly to the ground, maybe a black granite worktop, with a stainless steel range (an Aga would be too expensive) and then the painted wood cupboards.

The flooring they would like is wooden; they had anticipated a wooden worktop but with children this would not be practical as it would mark easily and to oil it to maintain it would be time consuming. The couple need the worktop to be functional and practical and feel that if they had to oil it periodically they would never get around to doing this required maintenance.

When conducting a survey of a property we always make a client aware of maintenance work that is required in a building as it is important that when purchasing a property the level of maintenance is acceptable. Not everyone wishes to spend time carrying out maintenance which is necessary nor wish to have the expense of hiring tradesmen to carry it out either. If property maintenance is an issue then look for low maintenance properties with plastic fascias and soffits and windows and no render that will require regularly painting for example.

Dave explains the depth of the footings required and how this will eat into their budget but with their healthy budget this issue still allows their plans to go ahead.

Comparable ideas

Before showing the couple some design ideas for their new extension they are taken by Angus to see some ideas and are shown a kitchen with granite worktops, Shaker style oak factory made units with handmade oak doors, traditional sink and a stainless steel cooker plus French oak flooring. The kitchen they are shown has two large oak doors which once led to a larder but now have been utilised to house the utility area with washing machine and fridge etc

Another example they see is a kitchen which is huge, bespoke and expensive it has a larder with a tiled floor which was built in the 1920s as part of the house. The kitchen is designed with a central island, a granite tiled floor and solid oak kitchen units handmade with an adjoining dining area which was originally a garage which the owners extended into with a vaulted ceiling. The kitchen has a larder with terracotta floor tiles which the couple love and note the area is cold with the flooring helping to keep the temperate low.

Make a wish list

Angus gives the couple time to absorb the kitchens he has shown them then asks them which features they liked whereby they list the oak flooring, island feature although there may not be room in their planned extension, larder, vaulted ceiling...

A commercial break divides the programme in two with the second half beginning with a summary of how the house currently looks and what is planned for the extension.

Extension design ideas

The couple sit down with Angus and Dave and a laptop to look at their ideas for the extension.

Plan One

House extended at the side to widen the kitchen with a breakfast room to adjoin it then leading onto a utility room. The kitchen will incorporate a larder, hand built Shaker style units and oak floor. The extension will have a pitched roof with a lean to at the rear for the boys to store their bikes. This plan is on budget.

Plan Two

To lose the larder, have a standard flat pack kitchen, standard cooker, one sink, flat roof rather than a pitched roof and no lean to which would save money on their budget. This plan comes in under budget but is a compromise with the flat roof but this would save the most. The flat roof would need to be built so that it has appropriate insulation, see adjoining sketches.

Plan Three

This plan has the layout the same but has a vaulted ceiling with exposed timbers in the breakfast room and four skylights to roof to add light.

This option increases the budget.

The couple have an issue with skylights being appropriate for the era of the house. Dave explains that you can have a version that is not so modern, which has glazing bars and look more like Victorian windows but these may take away from the concept which is to add light and ventilation. The modern older style skylights can add ventilation and it is possible to obtain these that open and close on sensors.

Plan choice

On budget Plan One is chosen with the pitched roof and Shaker style handmade kitchen.

Areas for consideration

Angus and Mike leave advising that the couple should obtain three quotes from bespoke recommended and reliable kitchen companies, apply for Planning Permission to alter the roof pitch and to Building Control if wishing to re-use roof tiles. The couple need to be aware of the issue with the large oak tree in their garden which may require deeper foundations which will be an extra expense for the extension.

When preparing our structural building surveys we divide our Executive Summary into three sections, the good, the bad and the ugly and outline issues with the property in the bad and ugly sections but also the properties potential in the good section.

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Building work started; first site visit

The couple have a relative living nearby so are able to eat all their meals away from their home which now resembles a building site. Dave visits where the work is viewed, a window frame has been reused with the glass replaced. The extension is taking shape with the budget already going slightly over due to some extra electrics.

Dave talks to their builder asking firstly about the foundations which, as suspected due to the close proximity of the oak tree, needed to be dug two point three metres deep, the garage has been removed and garage footings dug up which all add to the budget then Dave gives a hand.

Second site vist

Building work is complete, solid French oak flooring is in place but no kitchen yet. The handmade kitchen although ordered some time ago has still not arrived and been fitted so some work has been held up but the structural work has been completed. Externally the extension has been rendered to match the house but is still in need of painting which will be carried out once there are better weather conditions. The pathway at the side of the house enables access but the door to the kitchen has a rather high step which is not ideal. There is no lean to for bike storage which was a budget breaker so was not carried out.

Budget

The couples budget was good but a bit extra was required making it higher than they originally anticipated. It is a shame that the kitchen is not in place to see the final finished improvement but the viewer can see the extra space created which makes a huge difference to the family compared to the original space.

Room for Improvement in summary

The property television programme Room for Improvement gives the viewer an insight into homeowners wishing to alter their homes in a wide variety of ways. The programme format is almost endless as there are many different areas within a home and many different property sizes, types and styles across the UK.

The Room for Improvement show moves at a pace to cover the before, planning, research, build and after scenes as well as Angus and Dave getting to know the homeowners and looking at building issues. Each episode is informative and Angus and Dave are excellent hosts guiding the viewer through the scenario to be depicted.

Room for Improvement could be expanded to an hour long show and could eveninclude two projects each episode. If the programme continued with one home improvement feature each episode then a more in depth look at the building work could be shown with perhaps some more research and a look at costs in detail and well as how much value is added by carrying out improvements.

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References

Channel4.com

YouTube.com

DailyMail.co.uk

DebiAllenAssociates.com

Scotsman.com

MikeLeighAssoc.com

Independent Surveyors

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a Surveyor with regard to building surveys, structural surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects report, dilapidations or any other property matters please contact 0800 298 5424 for a Surveyor to give you a call back.

Commercial property surveyors

If you have a commercial property, be it leasehold or freehold, then you may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

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