Viewers of Room to Improve had their say after what has been described as the most difficult renovation job on the show. Structural engineer Cal and teacher Sean managed to nab their North Strand home for €380,000, with the pair saying that they were very lucky with how the bidding went; loving the homely atmosphere and garden for their two dogs. Despite the couple saying that they know ‘what they want,’ and Dermot Bannon saying that the home has good bones, there were a litany of problems from day one — including tilting ceilings, low door frames and bobbing floors — as well as no bathroom on the first floor.
‘The gasp when you walk into that house is not out of joy,’ Dermot (half) joked. ‘It’s kind of like “oh my GOD,”‘ with the lads telling him it was ‘fit for purpose a couple of years ago,’ to which Dermot responded ‘maybe a couple of hundred years ago.’ With a budget of €190,000 plus grants, Dermot immediately told them that it was going to be tight — and revealed that his vision was demolishing the back of the house completely and introducing a double height extension, and removing a bedroom to turn their three-bed into a two bed.
But, like many episodes of the home improvement show, Dermot gave quite the understatement when he said it wasn’t going to be easy. ‘In order to bring it back to its former glory, it needs money spent on it,’ Dermot said. ‘And.
.. I’m just hoping it’ll stretch — €190,000 seems very very tight .
