Holmes on Homes?

[mross_pitt]

I guess this has been partly covered a number of times(like the HDTV must die thread), but the show is silly.
Mr. Holmes creates the biggest problems out of the smallest problems.

*There's no cover on that junction box..."we have to rewire this whole place"
*There's some moisture in the basement from a poorly sloped yard outside....."we have to remove the entire concrete driveway and most of the yard and redo this"
*Any water leak at all requires removing the drywall from the entire house
*Last episode big problems included there was a sink drain that wasn't sloped right(could be fixed with 1 screw and plastic bracket) and also a copper pipe that wasn't secured(...maybe a 99 cent part at home depot)


Yesterday's episode, they pointed out that the whoever put in the ceramic kitchen tile removed 3 of the linoleum tiles(probably asbestos containing)......and that the Holmes people better contact them and tell them to go to the doctor!

Most every house on his show has problems that are standard to most houses, especially older homes, yet he dramatizes it like the homes are essentially unlivable and they remove half of the house in the "repair" process. What old home doesn't have its share of many generations of varying quality electrical, plumbing, roofing, structural work, etc?

[eclecticcottage]

I can't remember what I saw him do now, but he did something that, IMO, made things worse that when he started. Plus he's obessed with tuck taping EVERYTHING and making the houses so tight I wonder what breathing problems will appear later.

I think originally it wasn't a bad show, but like everything, it's all about selling the show and products now.

[CivilWarHome]

I think I'm an oddity on this forum, I love watching those shows. I find them entertaining for the most part, especially those flipper shows where the people set those 4 week time restraints and never seem to get it completed, and the husband and wife seem to be on the verge of divorce throughout the entire flip.

I don't always agree with what they are doing, but for some reason it's a stress relief for me. Whether I'm ranting and raving at them for what they are doing or just cracking up because simple jobs seem to cause so many problems for some couples- I enjoy watching them from time to time.

(I feel like I just stepped out of the closet)

[McCall]

I must be an oddity as well but I love Mike Holmes and his shows. I would give my eye teeth, [if I still had them LOL] for him to come fix my house. Though I agree restoring old houses is deffinately not his thing.

[mross_pitt]

He definitely must have some stock in the spray foam companies. They spray foam everything and anything.
The amount of landfill material they create is ridiculous.

[eclecticcottage]

I like SOME of the shows. And sometimes they have some pretty cool ideas. I gave up on holmes on holmes after that one show...I wish I could remember what it was that he did. I'd let him finish the Old House, but no WAY would I let him near the Cottage!! But that goes for 99.9999% of those people. They'd be messing up my eclectic cottage vintage scheme in a second, and I'd be a raving lunatic. If I had a $1 for every one of those that ruined pine paneling...ugh. I would HATE drywall in my living room (and kitchen, and bathroom...lol).

[Daniel Meyer]

No way would I let him near the Old Vic. He's just tear it down and start over.

[nezwick]

I actually enjoy the Holmes shows. Yeah, the work he does is the opposite of restoration and does create a lot of landfill waste - but some of those houses were so hacked up when they were flipped that I'm not sure how one would avoid "tearing it all down" anyway. Most of their projects end up looking "normal" and not too extravagant, which I like. SOMETIMES, they actually explain the science behind the problems the previous contractor or renovator caused. Other times, it's just fun to sit back and watch the montages of the crew smashing things to bits and be happy I bought a house that was not extensively renovated (it just has a lot of ugly paneling and carpet).

The ones I hate are Property Brothers, etc. where they rip out all the character and old things from ridiculously over-priced Victorian or turn-of-the-century fixer houses and make them all modern, sleek, and shiny just because the buyers are annoying, needy, pretentious, and difficult. But alas, that's a topic for a different thread.

And yeah, Mike would flip $hit if he ever came near my house. Just like the Old Vic, he'd tear it all down and start over. Or they'd gut it, then frame out and spray foam my triple-plank exterior walls.

[Lynners]

I enjoy watching Mike Holmes, but like others, I wouldn't really want him working on my house because everything would be ripped out. I have a bad enough time convincing my fiance to restore rather than replace!

I watched "Flip this House" for the first time the other day since I was a teenager. Both episodes had old homes, and I was pretty disappointed that they were covering original hardwood with carpet, rather than refinishing. How the heck is that cheaper?! Or look any better, for that matter.

[SkipW]

I used to love all the house flipping shows (when the market was all about that) because you always learned what NOT to do. I also did watch that one where a couple would give themselves the 5 day window to add a second floor or similar. It was always fun to watch them almost be taken to the hospital when the tried to power wash the electrical service box or something like that.

As for Holmes, I watched him when he first hit the TV because I thought he had a good attitude about 'teaching' why he was doing his thing. He seemed to have some decent workers and he could explain it once and the work was done (at least in TV time) I never liked what he did as far as finish work or taste level stuff, it seemed like all he worked on was semi-detached box houses so there was no finesse or style.

Now, he may as well show up on day one with a wrecking ball, becausee it seems it is about the percentage of the house he can destroy and redo to get all the product placements in the show.....

And don't even get me started about that HGTV show where neighbors basically trashed each other's houses under the guise of "design" with one of the HGTV "designers" leading the way.