Holmes on Holmes

wallbash

Wooden framed houses plus Canadian winters = insulation


I also a fan of DIY SOS , ok the humour is a touch overdone, but any prog that includes the arguments and mistakes get my vote.

olias

wallbash wrote: »

Wooden framed houses plus Canadian winters = insulation


I also a fan of DIY SOS , ok the humour is a touch overdone, but any prog that includes the arguments and mistakes get my vote.

Best quote was the little electrician guy....' It was the wifes birthday, so for a treat I took 'er up the London Eye' - Cue suggestive sniggers all round;):rotfl:...Think about it...

Olias

freezspirit

My dad at the moment is going through a Holmes on Homes fraze. Just got over the dog whisperer one.

So I pop in the front room and all I hear is "I don't like what I see, keep this and keep this and let's get it rid of everything else" or "glue it then screw it" or "seal it and spray it".

jockster211

Hiya

I think some of the stuff he uses or advocates is way ahead of us in UK. For instance they use a lot of Ditra matting for tiling floors, yet here in the UK its very difficult to find. I've only used it once and am a convert but its very difficult to convince clients to use it because of cost.

I also like how he insists the 'foundations' are right before they do the finishing. There's nothing worse than trying to fix someone else's mess.

In summary I'm a fan.

choille

My better half is a big fan & he is an architect. He thinks it's really thorough & also the tools are great.:T

IM

Watched a great one yesterday. Rather than a contractor who had screwed the homeowners over, it was the home inspector (surveyor) who had totally missed the fact that the house was a wreck when they bought.

The full hour was taken up with Holmes uncovering problem after problem, before having to take the big bearded sparks off for a beer, after he almost exploded with rage at the incompetence of the electrics - and the show finishing with a 'to be continued'.

It's the second time I'd seen this one, but I've yet to see how he puts it all right.

Also a great insight into Holmes's control-freakery. Claimed to be leaving it to his young side-kick to come up with a design for the basement - ostensibly to teach him - before changing everything to how he wanted it.

Alan_M_2

I'm probably what you would consider as "Someone in the trade" I also happen to suffer from a similar OCD condition as Holmes. (I over engineer things).

As already mentioned, building codes in the USA and Canada are different to the UK but really not all that different. However there's less difference between domestic and commercial building codes across the pond whereas there a gulf between them in the UK.

What Holmes does is construct to what we would consider "Commercial" specification. i.e. it's built to last a long long time and put up with a lot of punishment.

In my business I supply both domestic and trade, there is a great deal of difference between the two specifically to do with British Strandards and Building regulations that are on the whole ignored in domestic applications (as most of the time the people checking/surveying the work are unaware that many of them exist).

I'm part way through building decking in my back garden, it's so over engineered you could park your car on it if you were so inclined...it's just how I like to build things. It's why I used to enjoy working in Victorian properties, they new how to build back then.

choille

Our house that we are in the middle of building is also over engineered. I am glad as the gales seem to be increasing both in frequency & in strength. Nothing at all wrong with over engineering.

Beats these 60 minute make over programes any day.

IM

Be still my beating heart....

It's Holmes on Homes Day on Discovery Shed!

Of course the kids are watching Shrek on DVD so I've had to Sky+ the lot - then wade through to find any I've not seen.

Back on the subject of spray-foam insulation, I had an interesting conversation with a roofer yesterday. He mentioned someone he knew who wanted to use it in a loft conversion - there wasn't the depth of timber to get the U-value from conventional insulation.

He had to get a rep from the company to meet the local planning officer, in order to convince him that the product had sufficient fire-retardingnessisity (that may be a made-up word...) before he'd approve its use.

Just thought it showed how unfamiliar we are in the UK to stuff that appears standard elsewhere in the world.

IM

Alan_M wrote: »

I'm probably what you would consider as "Someone in the trade" I also happen to suffer from a similar OCD condition as Holmes. (I over engineer things).

As already mentioned, building codes in the USA and Canada are different to the UK but really not all that different. However there's less difference between domestic and commercial building codes across the pond whereas there a gulf between them in the UK.

What Holmes does is construct to what we would consider "Commercial" specification. i.e. it's built to last a long long time and put up with a lot of punishment.

In my business I supply both domestic and trade, there is a great deal of difference between the two specifically to do with British Strandards and Building regulations that are on the whole ignored in domestic applications (as most of the time the people checking/surveying the work are unaware that many of them exist).

I'm part way through building decking in my back garden, it's so over engineered you could park your car on it if you were so inclined...it's just how I like to build things. It's why I used to enjoy working in Victorian properties, they new how to build back then.

Exactly. Reminds me of the one where he built an access ramp for a guy with MS who used a wheelchair. Architect's drawings, concrete pilings, half a forest of timber etc.