Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home

[Ashley Cawley]

Just caught the last few seconds of an advert for a show that's airing tonight (Sun 23rd Sept) on Channel 4 @ 8pm - Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mcclouds-man-made-home), it appears to be a show about Kevin McCloud's dream to build an eco cabin in the woods, either from stuff he makes himself by hand or rubish from others.

I'll definitely be watching this one!


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02340/kevin-mccloud2_2340214b.jpg

Here's a description of the first coming episode:
"Kevin starts work on his hand made home by venturing into the bowels of London. With mains electricity and gas not an option for his bolt hole, Kevin hopes to make biodiesel for a lamp from the huge stinking 'fatbergs' that clog up the city's sewers.

For the cabin's structure, Kevin cuts down two ancient oaks, and starts putting together the wooden shell of the building.


He also experiments with a Wild West technique of splitting logs by gunpowder, and tries to make the whole cabin mobile because of planning regulations."

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02340/KevinMcCloud1_2340216b.jpg

[JonnyP]

Looks interesting.. Thanks for the heads-up :0)

[ian c]

I will be watching it, have also put it down to record on the sky box, Cheers Ash

[fish]

looks good! dont forget you can watch this program after its been shown on more4.

[Tony1948]

Look's good.:)

[Jason]

Yes watched the advert aswell and will also be watching !!!!

[aman]

Well I watched it.

Not too sure about his claims that just because it is on wheels it makes it OK. Bit of a shame to cut down a couple of ancient oaks just so some celeb can have a weekend plaything. It would have been a different matter if it was to be a dwelling.

Love he mini! And I do like the look of thee place. Not sure where he foraged the glass fibre insulation, maybe it was used.

I was a bit disappointed if I'm honest

[f0rm4t]

Bugger! missed it.
I'll try and have a bog on catchup.

Nice one Ashley!

[jus_young]

Enjoyed this one and it will be interesting to see how it goes. The oak bark ale is a new one on me.

Kevin made an interesting statement about everyone having a design for a shed in their head, something that they can never take away from you. 'Bout sums me up :D

[happybonzo]

"Thanks" for the heads up

[paulthefish2009]

Thought that was quite good.Paul

[AdrianRose]

I found it quite entertaining, but that for me was the problem, it was just "entertaining" instead if being "informative".

Several claims of being Eco-this and recycle that but very little evidence of it being put into practice.

As has already been stated, chop down a perfectly good Oak tree or two for a rich mans weekend play thing. Rather than leaving it as a host for several hundred plant, lichen, insect and bird species.
Use an old lorry chassis that had god knows how many metres of new steel welded to it.
Use an explosives expert to split the oak because its good TV.
That daft idea of using the mini to make the shingles.

Also I think he's not too accurate about his house on wheels not needing planning permission. I worked for a couple of years as a groundsman on a caravan site and you DO need planning permission for a park-home which is essentially a house on wheels.

I did like the idea of the Oak bark beer but could imagine it being quite bitter.

Ade

[aman]

Agreed. He could have done with bringing his old mate Ben Law in to over see the build.

We would have ended up with something more beautiful and more sustainable with more credibility.

[AdrianRose]

Agreed. He could have done with bringing his old mate Ben Law in to over see the build.

We would have ended up with something more beautiful and more sustainable with more credibility.

Agree with you 100% fella. He stated at the start of the programme that he didn't want a "Hobbit" house, which I thought was a little insulting to some of the folk featured on Grand Designs that helped him earn his money and "celebrity" status.

On a side note, is it me or does there seem to be a lot of programmes being made about "return to nature, live outdoors, Eco issue" genres??

Man made house, Jimmys forest etc etc

Ade

[blindgeekuk]

I found it quite entertaining, but that for me was the problem, it was just "entertaining" instead if being "informative".

Several claims of being Eco-this and recycle that but very little evidence of it being put into practice.

As has already been stated, chop down a perfectly good Oak tree or two for a rich mans weekend play thing. Rather than leaving it as a host for several hundred plant, lichen, insect and bird species.
Use an old lorry chassis that had god knows how many metres of new steel welded to it.
Use an explosives expert to split the oak because its good TV.
That daft idea of using the mini to make the shingles.

Also I think he's not too accurate about his house on wheels not needing planning permission. I worked for a couple of years as a groundsman on a caravan site and you DO need planning permission for a park-home which is essentially a house on wheels.

I did like the idea of the Oak bark beer but could imagine it being quite bitter.

Ade

I totally agree with the comment about it being entertaining rather than informative - I certainly felt the bark beer, drill on the mini, flaming paraffin lamp, and the axe throwing were added just for the fun effect. I'd heard of the explosive method for splitting large trees before, but I feel they way they made it out to be more ancient/forgotten about than it really is (a 30 second search on google finds advice on various forums over the last decade).
On the flipside, the social history from the look at london sewers and the chemistry of the fat blob/biodesel was pretty interesting to me, but then again, my mum was a micro-biologist.

I missed the first few minutes, but I presume he had to get permission to remove the oaks? And he did see pretty remorseful to me, regularly expressing a concern that he didn't want them just to become firewood.

There were a few things that pissed me off -
like Aman points out, he could have got Ben Law in to help,
it seems a waste just to use the curve of the oak as supports and not use them to dictate the shape of the shed,
he acted like he'd never seen/made wood shingles before, yet they see regular use on grand designs,
his whole attitude to wanting a weekend play hut -in all the magazine interviews i've read with him, he is away from his family monday to friday filming, and so suddenly he wants a shed to avoid them at the weekends as well?

[Ashley Cawley]

Wow, I didn't expect such criticism if I'm honest, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was quite refreshing that he made a point from the start saying he wasn't an expert and his practical side was really quite patchy, I appreciate honesty like that.


.. Bit of a shame to cut down a couple of ancient oaks just so some celeb can have a weekend plaything..So it's down to the person is it?.. It'd be ok for you or I? I think he's treating it like a play-thing in the building process, trying to have a bit of fun; man's version of building a den with friends when you were younger I suppose, but he expressed he'd like it to last a couple of hundred years & I don't doubt he hopes his children will use it after him, somewhere to relax, stay and enjoy nature - in use it'll be quite more than a play thing I imagine.


I found it quite entertaining, but that for me was the problem, it was just "entertaining" instead if being "informative".It's TV - It's meant to be entertaining, I don't think he was aiming for a how-to documentary on how to build his bespoke shed. I learnt a few things.


..As has already been stated, chop down a perfectly good Oak tree or two for a rich mans weekend play thing..I know he has referred to it as a play-thing at times but I think he himself is down-playing to the camera what it'll truly mean to him at times, it's obviously a soul pleasing project for him on numerous levels. I know something like that would mean a lot to me & my family members.


..I did like the idea of the Oak bark beer but could imagine it being quite bitter..Yeah - I'd never heard of this! So found it informative ;) Must be full of tannins though!?


.. I'd heard of the explosive method for splitting large trees before, but I feel they way they made it out to be more ancient/forgotten about than it really is (a 30 second search on google finds advice on various forums over the last decade)...He said "I want to resurrect an old technique"... "19th Century method used in America" I don't think he was claiming it was ancient or forgotten, just not widely used nowadays.

You can Google the bowdrill and find reference to people using it today in seconds, doesn't mean it isn't an old method or whether it's widely used nowadays.

Again splitting wood with gun-powder in this way was new to me, so I found it informative ;) and was actually quite surprised with the results.


Enjoyed this one and it will be interesting to see how it goes.I agree, I'll certainly be watching the rest.

[aman]

It s not the person it is the play thing. If he was building a home that he was going to live in for a long time then maybe he would be justified in cutting down two oaks. To cut them down for a TV programme and a shed on wheels is - to my mind - a real shame.

Everything in the project was supposed to be either from his land or rescued from being thrown away. When they showed the roof being built there was a guy rolling out brand new insulation.

I did have high hopes for the programme but I was a little disappointed

[JonnyP]

That bendy oak tree was amazing. I have never seen one with such a bend as that.
Got to dis the programme though. I enjoyed watching it as far as entertainment goes, but what a load of lies.. Where did he manage to source all that brand new soft wood carcassing that made up a lot of the build. Where did he get the insulation from, and all the nails and fixings and the breathable membrane etc..?
I guess it doesn't matter, but that niggled me watching it after he said it was all coming from the wood or stuff thrown away.. Load of b******s
He might of poisoned everyone with that ale he made. He heated it up in a galvanised metal bin.. He obviously does not know that heating up that stuff will give off poisonous fumes..
I now can't wait for the next one, so I can try to pick holes it it lol..

[Ashley Cawley]

Everything in the project was supposed to be either from his land or rescued from being thrown away. When they showed the roof being built there was a guy rolling out brand new insulation..Yeah, that's a good point. There are obviously a fair few things that aren't coming from the woods.


He might of poisoned everyone with that ale he made. He heated it up in a galvanised metal bin.. He obviously does not know that heating up that stuff will give off poisonous fumes..lol :( I did laugh/cringe at that moment also.

[Ashley Cawley]

Perhaps he set his hopes/expectations too high for what he could achieve with natural materials at the start of the project and was hoping he could do his own little 'Ben Law' project but then soon got sucked in to using superior modern materials in certain places.

[f0rm4t]

Not seen it yet, but he could have used whole sheep's fleece for insulation. I understand that stuff is practically worthless to farmers these days. I'm no authority though!
Any experience Ashley?

[aman]

There is also an insulation that is made from finely chopped up and then fluffed up newspaper. It comes compacted as a solid block but is broken up and blown into caveties.

[Proventurer]

Just caught the last few seconds of an advert for a show that's airing tonight (Sun 23rd Sept) on Channel 4 @ 8pm - Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mcclouds-man-made-home), it appears to be a show about Kevin McCloud's dream to build an eco cabin in the woods, either from stuff he makes himself by hand or rubish from others.

I'll definitely be watching this one!

Guys,
So sorry I can't watch this, as we don't get channel 4 out here in SA.
We do however get past episodes of Grand Designs and I think you are all missing the salient point(s)
1) Is it on time?
2) Is it underbudget?
As Kevin would be prone to ask in his somewhat offish manner!

[aman]

That is funny

And he is convinced he will be in by Christmas