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DIY renovation shows the good the bad the bad

I don't know if it's true Jim. But I have heard that with most of those shows that get it done in 3 days. Some one spends the next week or so off camera fixing up the mess.:thumb::thumb:
 
I stopped watching those shows months ago. I found most of the shows used inferior products, projects have very questionable workmanship, they usually have hosts that only pretend to know what they are talking about, and some show downright unsafe work practices.

I would never allow the junk they build out of MDF installed in my house.

This Old House, Holmes on Homes and This Old House Hour are about the only ones I will watch.
 
I also notice that these shows "pour concrete" and then lay tile on it the next day or two days later...not an expert, but doesn't concrete need 3-5 days to cure, before you walk on it and lay tile on it.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
I also notice that these shows "pour concrete" and then lay tile on it the next day or two days later...not an expert, but doesn't concrete need 3-5 days to cure, before you walk on it and lay tile on it.
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Back when I worked on the framing crew for a speed/ quality:rofl: home builder. We would pour on Monday and have it framed and blacked in by Friday. Literally shot the walls down with the nail gun. Lead to a bunch of problems. One good thing about it, I learned real fast how to cut rafters for a roof system.
 
Well, it's taking me 3 days to replace my kitchen floor and my original estimate was 1 day :rofl: :rofl:

But I knew I was lying to myself when I gave me that estimate.... :thumb:
 
None of these shows are intended for real educational use.
They are strictly motivational shows.
They help promote products, and most of them, if not every single one of them, are supported by the people who make the commercials on the show and usually get their products supported during the actual show.
Ofcourse a craftsman/carpenter or contractor knows better.

These shows are purely entertainment.
They serve little purpose other than entertainment just like soap operas, or any regular shows on weekly television.
They are like renting a movie.
A movie can cover time spans of years in 2 hours, and you get entertained and lose all concept of time other than what you see on the screen.
When a DIY show shows people repairing lets say, a wall, they just cram the repair, the replastering, priming, painting, taping, putting up some molding, taping, repainting, touching up, all in a 30 or 60 minute segment.
There is no sense of real time, because it isnt real, other than the work certainly got done, but must have been done by magic genie workers.

The only value any of these shows have, and I mean any of them, because they are ALL backed by some product or products, is to motivate people to think about hey, why dont we do that, or hey, we might be able to do that.
And that is why so many contractors see the botched up work so many people thought after watching a 30 minute show they could do.
They didnt understand it was entertainment. They thought it was a educational experience.
I watched ER once, but I never thought Id walk into a hospital and be able to treat heart attack and car accident victims because they did it on a TV show that I watched.


Pure entertainment, and nothing else.
 
Jim DeLaney said:
Another one that gets me is the "Desparate Landscape" show where they do a complete makeover on a yard that's been totally ignored and neglected by the homeowner. Will the homeowner treat it any differently after the show leaves? I'd sure like to see some 'one year later' follow-ups on those.
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There was a This Old House that went back to take a look at previous jobs landscapes. Some were OK, most had reverted to 'Desperate' :(
 
allen levine said:
None of these shows are intended for real educational use.
They are strictly motivational shows.
They help promote products, and most of them, if not every single one of them, are supported by the people who make the commercials on the show and usually get their products supported during the actual show.
Ofcourse a craftsman/carpenter or contractor knows better.

These shows are purely entertainment.
They serve little purpose other than entertainment just like soap operas, or any regular shows on weekly television.
They are like renting a movie.
A movie can cover time spans of years in 2 hours, and you get entertained and lose all concept of time other than what you see on the screen.
When a DIY show shows people repairing lets say, a wall, they just cram the repair, the replastering, priming, painting, taping, putting up some molding, taping, repainting, touching up, all in a 30 or 60 minute segment.
There is no sense of real time, because it isnt real, other than the work certainly got done, but must have been done by magic genie workers.

The only value any of these shows have, and I mean any of them, because they are ALL backed by some product or products, is to motivate people to think about hey, why dont we do that, or hey, we might be able to do that.
And that is why so many contractors see the botched up work so many people thought after watching a 30 minute show they could do.
They didnt understand it was entertainment. They thought it was a educational experience.
I watched ER once, but I never thought Id walk into a hospital and be able to treat heart attack and car accident victims because they did it on a TV show that I watched.


Pure entertainment, and nothing else.
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Are you saying we're not really carpenters, but we play one on TV? :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Chuck Ellis said:
I saw trailers for Vanilla Ice's new show... he says he's a contractor and also has one of a top selling rap albumns... didn't he lip sync on his albumn...:dunno::dunno:
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Great googly moogly....

Took me three days just to redo a little kitchen flooring... I'm sure these shows are great for sales at the borg, but a limit has to be put somewhere and that limit, for me, WILL BE PUT AT BAGGY PANTS RAPPERS CLAIMING TO BE A CONTRACTOR!!!!
Sam Kinison said:
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh AAAAAAAahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh AAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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I am late to this post. Once again i am pleased to find that i am not alone in thinking what you all do of the Tv Diy shows and the reality shows.

My view is these shows are no better than magazines. They hype you up into false beliefs all intended to sell the product that sponsors them.

What i dislike most is it implies that we are all stupid enough to believe them.

You dead on Brent when you say they let one think it takes 3 hours when in reality its a good few days or more if you starting out and have other things that get in the way like kids.

The most profound point that i ever saw Mike Holmes make was the aspect of people being their own worst enemies.

Yeah i want my basement finished for less than nothing and dont want to get permits and then expect to find someone that will do it and say dont worry i will do a top class job for you with perfect material the best quality labor and all to exceed safety code. What the heck did they expect.

They dont go looking for quotes they go looking for someone that will tell them what they want to hear.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
Are you saying we're not really carpenters, but we play one on TV? :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
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I would rather play one on TV than what I'm doing now. I hear the pay is better and I'm sure they don't start a build on November 22 in the north east:thumb::rofl::rofl:
Or go roofing on Cape Cud the week before.:doh:
 
Rob Keeble said:
They dont go looking for quotes they go looking for someone that will tell them what they want to hear.
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That's how every job is gotten. By telling them what they want to hear.
I get it right about 1 out of 10 times. So that means that 9 out of 10 people want you to blow smoke and promise them the world for free. 1 out of 10 wants to hear the truth and knows that yes it is going to cost real money to do what ever it is was they called me for.:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 
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