Holmes on Homes

I was just wondering if any of you guys watch Holmes on Homes. I enjoy
watching the show to learn what I can from it, although I don't do carpentry
work on my house to the extent that he does on the show. I journeyed over
to the Journal of Light Construction site to see what pros on that forum thought of him. Some thought he was good for the construction trades by
exposing shoddy work by some contractors while others hated him as they felt
he was lumping all contractors in the same barrel, therefore, hurting the good
contractors. I personally think he is good for the homebuilding industry but
was wondering if any of you all watch his show, and what is your opinion of
him. I will have to admit, that at times, he does seem to have a condescending attitude toward his fellow contractors but his show only exposes the work of contractors who obviously take shortcuts and leave their
client hanging.

Love the show! I have learned a lot. Only thing I question is the issue of vapor barrier and how it applies in different climates. I live the PNW and I am seeing some material which suggests that using plastic sheeting in my climate may create more problems. Other than that, I am impressed and enjoy the show. We catch all the re-runs. I also would be interested to hear how people in the business view his opinions and practices.

if you are referring to the tyvek material, it seems to cut down on drafts and does allow moisture to disapate threw it when applied correctly. at least it has for me bill. but is a pain to put up in a windy day.

larry merlau said:

if you are referring to the tyvek material, it seems to cut down on drafts and does allow moisture to disapate threw it when applied correctly. at least it has for me bill. but is a pain to put up in a windy day.

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No, I am talking about installing a vapor barrier that does not allow water vapor to pass through. This would be plastic sheeting that would be installed on the warm side of the insulation (between the studs and drywall) in a predominately heating climate (like Michigan). It would prevent the warm water vapor from inside of the house passing toward the outside where it would condense after it passed through the warm insulation and hit the cold. Water would then collect on the inside of the exterior sheeting and studs. Problem is if you don't install right, you have just concentrated where the water vapor will pass and probably will have rot at the failure point. Old houses were so poor insulated and leaky that they did not have this problem. New houses are so much tighter that the problem exists.

I have heard conflicting advice whether it is recommended for our climate, even though it is supposedly a heating climate.

House wrap is at most a vapor retarder and that is a good thing, because it would be on the wrong side of the insulation for your climate. It would rot out your studs in no time at all. It is installed to prevent wind intrustion mostly.

I watch it all the time and I'm impressed with the quality of work his people do. It seems they make sure everything is done to the Nth degree. It does surprise me how some contractors rip off their customers (the bay window episode comes to mind) and I find Mike's love of spray foam a bit over the top sometimes, but, other than that, an enjoyable program.

hmmm never seen it, I guess I'll have to look for it. There is a local builder who's name is Holmes and the sign on his development says Holmes Homes.

Rennie Heuer said:

I watch it all the time and I'm impressed with the quality of work his people do. It seems they make sure everything is done to the Nth degree. It does surprise me how some contractors rip off their customers (the bay window episode comes to mind) and I find Mike's love of spray foam a bit over the top sometimes, but, other than that, an enjoyable program.

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Depending how the real estate market is doing next year, we may sell and build a house on some land we have. We have talked about getting a life size poster of Mike, cut is out and paste it on plywood and mount on the jobsite. You know the pose, him standing there with his arms folded in front.

Bill Satko said:

Depending how the real estate market is doing next year, we may sell and build a house on some land we have. We have talked about getting a life size poster of Mike, cut is out and paste it on plywood and mount on the jobsite. You know the pose, him standing there with his arms folded in front.

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Same psychology as used by headhunters who place skulls on poles surrounding their village?

I enjoy watching the show when I get the chance.

One observation that I have made which was brought out by members of the
Journal of Light Construction forum is the fact that he seems to use screws in
preference to nails in many cases. I have watched him use screws in putting
up wall studs in place of nails. I think that is a bit of overkill and probably
more expensive than using nails. There was some discussion also about a deck that he built using screws instead of nails. His reasoning was that if the
deck ever had to be taken apart, it would be easier unscrewing it than having
to pry it apart, and it could be reassembled somewhere else if that's what the
owner wanted to do. This really got the pros stirred up and I have to agree
with them as drywall type screws (apparently that was what they thought he
used) have no shear strength. Certainly not as compared to nails. I used 16d
galvanized nails when I built my deck back in '90. My next door neighbor
actually used coarse thread drywall screws to put his deck together and I made the comment to my wife that I sure hoped it held together. Amazingly,
so far it has! Maybe Mike Holmes knows something about building a deck
with screws that I don't know, but anyhow, it sure got the pro's up in the
air. If you want to read their comments, go to the Journal of Light Construct-
ion forums and go to Trade talk. I think it is on page 3 or 4 or somewhere
along in there where his show is discussed. I enjoyed reading it.

I'm not sure what he used on the deck, nor the specifics on shear strength of nails vs screws. However, there is a whole line of fasteners marketed as "deck screws" They pretty much look like square drive wood screws. The only episode I saw him doing a deck he was using lag bolts for structure anyways, only the decking had screws. I tend to agree with him though for the sole reason that after a few years nails come out of the deck and rather hurt when you are barefoot. Deck screws or the hidden fastener systems one..

My problem is I think he goes over the top, and maybe a lot of people will end up buying some high dollar/premium products when it wasn't really needed. There are probably also a lot of people fussing at contractors now for not doing it how Mike Holmes does it, when they bid it using a little cheaper but adequate materials. I'm sure they're all very good products, but he does seem to push some specific brands to the point I wonder if they are sponsers or donating it to him to use on shows.

Don Baer said:

hmmm never seen it, I guess I'll have to look for it. There is a local builder who's name is Holmes and the sign on his development says Holmes Homes.

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He's from Canada, but I watch it when I can. I enjoy seeing the disasters that he fixes as much as the fixes themselves. It's amazing what some people do in the name of remodeling!

It's a great program. I watch it whenever I can. He certainly does quality work.
I believe the screws he uses on his deck are deck screws. They have a larger shank diameter than a drywall screw. They are less brittle as well. I hardly ever use nails anymore. Screws give a much better hold

Never saw it.never even herd of it. One thing i do no is if you want to increase the cost of a new home get some one like that to build it. You can find lots of great contractors out there and lots of bad. Do your home work. He sounds like the guy i'm working for as no one but him knows how to build.
Steve

Only have seen adds for the show. He stole my idea
I know that I would welcome him on to my job site. I also know that my industry needs people like him to weed out the hacks. So the good builders can make a living at there trade.
I also know that I have heard more than once. "That's not how Norm does it"
Or Bob V says..............
I am gonna add that the ones that complain about the show the most are prolly the builders that you want to stay far far away from.

Well i dont have too many heros that i can i have looked up to in life on the commercial front but Homes certainly is one of mine.

As an immigrant and new comer to North America the building technology and techniques used here are fundamentally different. His show serves to educate people like me and i would add probably those that never had parents that did any work around the house so they could get a feel.

I agree with you Chuck. A trade is a very honourable way to make a living and the hacks destroy the image and living for those pros that do a fine job.

Way too many people i have seen in the show deserve what they got imho. Good jobs cost money both in time to do it and in materials. Holmes made a point of asking people what they paid for the mess they got. You dont need to be a rocket scientist to note that they had beer money and champaign desires. They go looking for a guy that will tell them what hey want to hear. Around here typically to do a proper finished basement should be budgeted at around $35K yet time and time again they try to get it all done for $15 and then get upset when the job is suspect.

People laughed at me when i gave my deck guy a 10 page contract before he started. But i was "fresh off the boat" and did not want the following issues

1) Getting blamed for injury to his workers
2) Getting blamed for loss of material
3) Getting blamed for loss of tools
4) Holding him accountable for approval by the town.
5) Holding him accountable for damage to my home.
6) Making clear the payment timing method and terms
7) Making clear where we would have a fight if it came to it.
8) Making clear that should the town not approve his plan and require additional posts etc he would eat it since he had claimed to me that his design was to code. (This i put in to flush out any lies) He had to add to posts and sono tubes etc.
9)Stipulating all fasterners were to be screws. (they have worked well for me)

There was more but i also did not haggle with him on price.

Him and his troops were well fed and watered each day with plenty of hops and he did a fine job adding in a couple of freebies.

Might add a contract is imho a recording of your intents. I did not plan on screwing him and wanted him to be clear that he was not going to do the same to me.

Oh and when he was finished i gave him an unsolcicited letter of recommendation offering for his future customers to come and inspect his work by appointment if they liked.

To me thats how a deal should go down. So ask yourself when it does not why it did not and where did it break down.

Once you have a contract like this that works it can be amended for any other jobs.

On lighter note given this background you can imagine my reaction when the NN aproached me to have a fence built from a quote on the back of a business card.

Rob Keeble said:

On lighter note given this background you can imagine my reaction when the NN aproached me to have a fence built from a quote on the back of a business card.

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I mean really I at least use cocktail napkins
I kid you not I once bid and built a frame shop building that the only plan was the contractor telling me I want 4 wall like this (and he held his arms straight up) and a roof like this (he touched his hands together indicating a say 6/12 pitched gable roof) Oh and put it on that foundation.

Yeah and if you fail to define the deliverables you get taken for more than you bargained. But hey i also know some guys deliberately dont define the deliverables to be able to claim variations. Its about ethics to me. I have also witnessed project managers in Canada that have offered trades 40cents on the dollar when the job is done and they need to get paid after having racked up more in variations than the cost of the original job.

Its more like a mutual extortion society.

Well Rob the guy I built that frame shop for was one of the straightest shooters one can meet. He never put anything down on paper and always paid his bill If he said it that was how it was going to be
Now on the other hand I have more than a few of those 1/4" thick contracts in my files and most of the guys handing them out took me for just about 10% every time.

Chuck Thoits said:

...I kid you not I once bid and built a frame shop building that the only plan was the contractor telling me I want 4 wall like this (and he held his arms straight up) and a roof like this (he touched his hands together indicating a say 6/12 pitched gable roof) Oh and put it on that foundation.

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For some reason I'm picturing the Stonehenge set in the Spinal Tap movie. I can just see you building him a little knee-high structure with a 6/12 pitched gable roof.