Off the grid

[Naboka]

HGTV is very much edited, I mean who buys a house having only looked @ 3? I looked @ hundreds online & physically visited 40 before I purchased mine. Also HGTV shows have contractors all ready, they are vetted in advance and the tile or furniture stores always have whatever they want before they walk in the door. That's not the case in real life.

I've never heard of "contractor style", thank goodness you have the skill level to do the work yourself. The previous owner of my home must have had all the work done that way because I have A LOT of weird problems too. Most of the work I've had done too is hidden behind the walls and was so irritated that when my home was appraised, the 'professional' never found these problems.

A while back I was sick in the hospital and didn't play games for a long time. I realized when I was able to return, not only was my skill level vastly different, it was like all the games became new & unfamiliar even though I had played them before many times.

The 3 home search cracks me up. It's ridiculous. But simplicity sells, so...

Every frame of every show has to have someone operating the camera(s), the microphones, plus all the other personnel/stuff necessary to produce a scene. The homeowner walking into a remodeled room is also walking into a room of production personnel. The angle of the shot tells you exactly where the camera is--and when. All those "surprise" visits, where we look over the homeowner's shoulder opening the door as the host arrives fully test our capacity to suspend disbelief.

The suspension of disbelief is what makes it possible for us to watch movies without rolling our eyes with the knowledge that it's just a bunch of paid actors performing rather than reality.

It's why we don't fall off the couch laughing when the hostess "paints" a wall wearing white. Or when the Property Brothers are supposedly doing all those jobs in all those houses concurrently. They would have to have hundred hour days to do half of what they're pretending to do.

I might have made up the term "contractor style." My contractor kept commenting that it was "how contractors do it." It's all about cutting corners to save time and expense. Doing a quality job is time consuming and expensive.

My son's an engineer, and we've talked about the level of quality that gets engineered into production. Quality and durability add expense. If a product lasts too long, the customer has no reason to buy more. Plus, the extra capacity is just wasted. You make a step stool that will hold 220 pounds and will sell for $20. You could make that same stool to hold 2 tons, but it would cost a lot more and sell fewer items. And very few customers are going to need a step stool that holds over 200 lbs, much less 220.

So, a contractor knows that it will take 3 or 4 cuts to get a precise fit, but also knows that the trim will cover up his sloppy cut leaving an extra gap that the customer will never see. The 500 cuts required for an adequate job balloons into 1500 cuts. Suddenly, you're making $20 an hour instead of $60.

Who wants to be penalized for doing better work that isn't "necessary?"

[2cute]

The 3 home search cracks me up. It's ridiculous. But simplicity sells, so...

Every frame of every show has to have someone operating the camera(s), the microphones, plus all the other personnel/stuff necessary to produce a scene. The homeowner walking into a remodeled room is also walking into a room of production personnel. The angle of the shot tells you exactly where the camera is--and when. All those "surprise" visits, where we look over the homeowner's shoulder opening the door as the host arrives fully test our capacity to suspend disbelief.

The suspension of disbelief is what makes it possible for us to watch movies without rolling our eyes with the knowledge that it's just a bunch of paid actors performing rather than reality.

It's why we don't fall off the couch laughing when the hostess "paints" a wall wearing white. Or when the Property Brothers are supposedly doing all those jobs in all those houses concurrently. They would have to have hundred hour days to do half of what they're pretending to do.

I might have made up the term "contractor style." My contractor kept commenting that it was "how contractors do it." It's all about cutting corners to save time and expense. Doing a quality job is time consuming and expensive.

My son's an engineer, and we've talked about the level of quality that gets engineered into production. Quality and durability add expense. If a product lasts too long, the customer has no reason to buy more. Plus, the extra capacity is just wasted. You make a step stool that will hold 220 pounds and will sell for $20. You could make that same stool to hold 2 tons, but it would cost a lot more and sell fewer items. And very few customers are going to need a step stool that holds over 200 lbs, much less 220.

So, a contractor knows that it will take 3 or 4 cuts to get a precise fit, but also knows that the trim will cover up his sloppy cut leaving an extra gap that the customer will never see. The 500 cuts required for an adequate job balloons into 1500 cuts. Suddenly, you're making $20 an hour instead of $60.

Who wants to be penalized for doing better work that isn't "necessary?"

Sure, that makes sense. Yet I don't want half-ass work either. I don't want to pay someone for quality work & then get shoddy work. That's unfortunately very popular. It seems if they do shoddy work, they make more money as they hope you'll call them again to come fix it. So they make twice as much on the same job. What they don't realize is if whatever breaks too soon, I'll be sure NOT to call them back & hire someone else entirely.

Yes, I used to watch this other show where they supposedly had a 'hidden camera' and potential customers walk into a house for sell pointing out all the defects they don't like. Afterward they'd fix them. Then those very same customers would come back & point out all the items they repaired saying how great they were. Uh huh, like that wasn't staged.

Oh yeah, those Property Brothers are actors for sure. You see now they sell everything. They have blinds, home security systems & furnishings. The Vera Wang of remodeling. The one thing that HGTV did which I did think was clever was when they bought 'The Brady Bunch' house. It was used for the establishing shot on the show. While on the inside it looked completely different as it was a sound stage where the show was actually shot. So 2 or 3 years ago, HGTV bought the house which was twice as much as any other house in the neighborhood & supposedly made the inside of the house look like 'The Brady Bunch' house and then hired the actors who were on the show to come help fix it up. Whether they really did or just pretended to do it was irrelevant as it was entertaining to see them again. I do wonder what they ended up doing with that house after that series wrapped up.

Ahh, so your son must have be very helpful to you on choosing what to do where & what could be achieved and what couldn't. Then you didn't need to hire a designer or general contractor, savings you thousands of $.

[Naboka]

Sure, that makes sense. Yet I don't want half-ass work either. I don't want to pay someone for quality work & then get shoddy work. That's unfortunately very popular. It seems if they do shoddy work, they make more money as they hope you'll call them again to come fix it. So they make twice as much on the same job. What they don't realize is if whatever breaks too soon, I'll be sure NOT to call them back & hire someone else entirely.

Yes, I used to watch this other show where they supposedly had a 'hidden camera' and potential customers walk into a house for sell pointing out all the defects they don't like. Afterward they'd fix them. Then those very same customers would come back & point out all the items they repaired saying how great they were. Uh huh, like that wasn't staged.

Oh yeah, those Property Brothers are actors for sure. You see now they sell everything. They have blinds, home security systems & furnishings. The Vera Wang of remodeling. The one thing that HGTV did which I did think was clever was when they bought 'The Brady Bunch' house. It was used for the establishing shot on the show. While on the inside it looked completely different as it was a sound stage where the show was actually shot. So 2 or 3 years ago, HGTV bought the house which was twice as much as any other house in the neighborhood & supposedly made the inside of the house look like 'The Brady Bunch' house and then hired the actors who were on the show to come help fix it up. Whether they really did or just pretended to do it was irrelevant as it was entertaining to see them again. I do wonder what they ended up doing with that house after that series wrapped up.

Ahh, so your son must have be very helpful to you on choosing what to do where & what could be achieved and what couldn't. Then you didn't need to hire a designer or general contractor, savings you thousands of $.

The Brady Bunch was part of an era I missed. Didn't have a television for about 17 years, from 1967 to 1984. Missed a lot of good, bad and indifferent programs--all of which I can now catch on cable.

Having been around construction enough, I can vouch that the Property brothers actually do have trade skills. They just aren't using them to the extent pretended.

For the time being, my son is still leaning on me for advice and assistance.

He just bought a house. Crazy market. His sister also bought one a few weeks apart. After missing on several homes they put bids on, I upped their available cash so they could up their bidding game and not have to sink to worse neighborhoods. They shared a realtor (a personal friend of my wife's) who suggested they put in bids that went up incrementally by $100 to match and beat other competitors. A lot of investors are buying up homes for cash and turning them into rentals. Plus our local market has a very low availability. Both kids ended up getting their places for $30,100 over asking price.

Over. Asking. Price.

Seemed nuts, but then the appraisals came back higher than the bids so it worked out okay. And the banks were happy.

But, both homes needed work. Just finished helping my son install a 4th bedroom and 3rd bath in the basement. Had to figure out how to drain the shower without digging up the concrete. Ended up with a flat p-trap and pump that switches on automatically when water enters. Just finished the last of the tiling and grouting. He's pretty happy. But, he was reluctant to work on most things if I wasn't there. Now, he has a new panoply of new skills. And confidence.

[2cute]

The Brady Bunch was part of an era I missed. Didn't have a television for about 17 years, from 1967 to 1984. Missed a lot of good, bad and indifferent programs--all of which I can now catch on cable.

Having been around construction enough, I can vouch that the Property brothers actually do have trade skills. They just aren't using them to the extent pretended.

For the time being, my son is still leaning on me for advice and assistance.

He just bought a house. Crazy market. His sister also bought one a few weeks apart. After missing on several homes they put bids on, I upped their available cash so they could up their bidding game and not have to sink to worse neighborhoods. They shared a realtor (a personal friend of my wife's) who suggested they put in bids that went up incrementally by $100 to match and beat other competitors. A lot of investors are buying up homes for cash and turning them into rentals. Plus our local market has a very low availability. Both kids ended up getting their places for $30,100 over asking price.

Over. Asking. Price.

Seemed nuts, but then the appraisals came back higher than the bids so it worked out okay. And the banks were happy.

But, both homes needed work. Just finished helping my son install a 4th bedroom and 3rd bath in the basement. Had to figure out how to drain the shower without digging up the concrete. Ended up with a flat p-trap and pump that switches on automatically when water enters. Just finished the last of the tiling and grouting. He's pretty happy. But, he was reluctant to work on most things if I wasn't there. Now, he has a new panoply of new skills. And confidence.

Ahh, sure your son has new confidence, especially since his father did it for him. He doesn't have to trust a contractor (who may have done it 'contractor style') as he KNOWS you did it to the best of your ability. Plus he probably learned how you did it, so even if he did hire someone else in the future, he'd know if they were doing it right.

I think that's the hardest part for me about doing remodeling, as I really need to understand what is it my contractor is doing, so I KNOW they are choosing the best solutions for my project. I don't actually have to do the work, yet I know what is it that they are doing (mostly) and I can make the best decisions on how to proceed. They really can't take advance of someone who knows better. Its like when you buy tires, if you can tell how old they are, they can't sell you some that have been sitting on the shelf for 3 years, you can tell they are 3 years old & complain. No, these are too old, I want ones made within the last year. They can't take advantage of someone who knows better.

Wow, 30,100 OVER ASKING PRICE! That's amazing! I guess a sellers market is a good time for investors to also sell inventory that needs work too as they don't have to fix them based on appraisals. Which is bad for all these new home buyers as they have to learn remodeling and the construction industry is overwhelmed with too much business and therefore ask an astronomical amount to do any work as they have plenty of customers from which to choose.

As far as the Very Brady Renovation, here's what I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1M9mlmabmw