TV "remodeler" shows

[EddieWalker]

I enjoy watching the shows mostly to see what they come up with. I like design and seeing new ideas. I don't have any first hand knowledge of any of them, but have heard from a few people that where involved with some of the different shows. The hosts usually only shows up once or twice during the build part of the show to do a variety of poses and then leaves while the local contractors do all the work. On the extreme makeover show where they built a house in a week, they would start a month beforehand and do all the utility work, staging of materials and creating parking areas. Sometimes they tear up the streets and have to repave them. Other times then need to go through a neighbors property and they have to do what the neighbor wants done. Then after the show ends, a crew comes back and fixes or finishes the house.

Mike Holms has opened a lot of peoples eyes on what is done wrong, but he is a drama queen that tends to get carried away and will make a huge deal out of nothing just to add to the list of problems. I don't have anything significant to fault him on except he doesn't seem to have a budget and there is no limit to what he will spend. It's not reality in that regard, and fortunately my clients who talk to me about that show and others realize this. They all have budgets.

What I notice the most is they are pushing certain materials. All of them will start using the same product all of a sudden and say it's the only thing to use, but just last week I might have see another episode of the same show where they are using a different brand and saying it's the best. Holmes is probably the most obvious on this. I've seen him do tile with just about every product out there and say it's the best. Then you see him in a magazine selling that product and you can make the connection. This old house went that same way a long time ago and it became all about talking about what they are selling more then actually working on the house.

When clients tell me they want to help by doing the demo, I of course tell them that would be great. Then I add a day's worth of work to their bid to clean it all up. What I can do in a day by taking it apart cleanly, will take me two days to get to the same point with their help.

Eddie

 

[vulcancowboy]

Maybe I'm showing my age, but I wish Mike Holmes would lose the ear ring.

 

[DB Pilot]

Met a guy this summer who had moved to Alaska. Told him we sometimes watch the reality TV shows about building in Alaska. He says, "You know those shows aren't real, don't you.". I said I think they are because when they pan the camera across the vast expanse of woods It sure looks like they are way out in the middle of nowhere. With great humor he explains that there are large areas of wilderness however if they had turned the camera around you would have seen a highway with a fast food restaurant across the street and a hotel for the camera crew. :shocked: Was just watching a gold miner climb down into a very very dangerous area of the mine. I guess they decide that "this looks dangerous, better send the camera crew first".

We will just watch these shows for the entertainment value only. :2cents:

 

[s219]

Mike Holms has opened a lot of peoples eyes on what is done wrong, but he is a drama queen that tends to get carried away and will make a huge deal out of nothing just to add to the list of problems. I don't have anything significant to fault him on except he doesn't seem to have a budget and there is no limit to what he will spend. It's not reality in that regard, and fortunately my clients who talk to me about that show and others realize this. They all have budgets.

Spoken like a true pro. When built our house, I got a new appreciation for how budget can drive decisions. Usually it helps make choices better and more focused. And in the end I think it makes for a tighter and better integrated project than one where you could let everything go willy nilly with no constraints. I like to think we had four decision makers on our house: me, my wife, the builder, and the budget.

When clients tell me they want to help by doing the demo, I of course tell them that would be great. Then I add a day's worth of work to their bid to clean it all up. What I can do in a day by taking it apart cleanly, will take me two days to get to the same point with their help.

Eddie

That was good for a big laugh here

 

[Jstpssng]

I would watch an Eddie Walker remodel show!

mark

It would probably get edited so much to fit scheduling around the commercials
that the important parts would get cut. I'd wait for the unabridged DVD set. :thumbsup:

 

[PILOON]

"When clients tell me they want to help by doing the demo, I of course tell them that would be great. Then I add a day's worth of work to their bid to clean it all up. What I can do in a day by taking it apart cleanly, will take me two days to get to the same point with their help." (Eddy)

LOL, been there done that!

Had one lady wanting to help with insulation so I had to stop, wait 'til she donned her pink coveralls and gloves and then the phone rang with her weekly scheduled call to daughter #1. Since I was paid to work rather than twiddle my thumbs I insulated. Man was she PO'd!
She had 3 daughters, that meant I lost 3 hrs per week as she wanted no noise.

Same lady wanted cheapest oak flooring job and at a fixed price.
I located some 'tavern grade' and wisely added an extra 10% for anticipated scrap.
Then she decided that she wanted one area to be a perfect color match as the dining room table was glass topped.
LOL, I sat down and suggested she select the wood that suited her.
Then came the 10% extra for scrap which I told my helper to toss out the back window for later pickup.
WOW, that PO'd her as she wanted to use it in her fireplace.
By this time my fuse was getting real short and I told her since we were on a fixed price contract that my fireplace also wanted the oak.
There were also some hidden serous structural problems due to previous work that created substantial added work.(lost out there)

When all the smoke cleared she actually bragged about the fine job.
Guess my job was not all that bad as a month ago they sold the property for $450K.
The one good thing is that I was not called upon to do an evaluation for the buyer as I would have to divulge many other defects that I was aware of.
That house was created from a demolition and transported in large 'pallets' that were simply spliced together. All the studs and joists were red cedar and not very structural ceder being low on the strength scale. Also the roof was about 2/12 pitch with 2 x 4 cedar homemade trusses. (we get 200+" of snow here)
I could add a lot to Mike Holmes 'how not to do' theme.

 

[brt]

If nothing else, they may show what an actual remodel looks like and discourage someone from trying it themselves if they have no experience, patience or time to do the job. It might also prevent a few injuries to the inexperienced.

I have a friend who worked for one of the do-it-yourself shows. He was the guy who worked all night to do the work that you don't see being done on the show. How else would a house get drywalled and painted overnight. Certainly not by the homeowners!

 

[wawajake]

yes our Canadian Mike Holmes............started out with good intentions , but he goes so overboard now, I am waiting for the episode where he is asked to fix a leaky sink , and he tears down the house and , the three neighbor houses and a mile of city sewer line......I am sure it will get to that.

 

[dakotagun]

if I had a screen door to install, I'd try to get Holmes to make it part of the show - he'll find major issues and then fix them all, at no cost to the homeowner (thank you, advertisers/venders). that's a pretty good deal, know? for the little stuff, I find Ron Hazelton's show realistic and a number of episodes I've even used as a reference for something I was about to try.

 

[Winmac]

It seems that a bunch of these shows originate in Canada which brings me to the question.... Does anybody get their homes inspected in Canada or are the inspectors sleeping on the job?

Yes we have home inspectors but the industry is mostly a sham created by the real estate industry, the way I see it anyway. Agents typically recommend inspectors to clients, and the goal is to sell houses.
The bank of Canada recently admitted that housing values are 30% or more overvalued here, so we could be in for a rough ride.