HGTV Teaching Bad Practices

[exmaxima1]

My wife loves watching HGTV shows, so I tend to catch glimpses of their home improvements. But I've also been a woodworker for over 40 years and I cringe when I see some of the "techniques" they teach novices, such as:

--Installing screws into endgrain when the load pulls outward. I rarely even nail into endgrain except for wall construction, and I know better than to expect such a joint to survive very long. They do it all the time with landscaping timbers, and you just know they will fall apart over the winter.

--Building a solid top table from jointed boards, and then GLUING a batten across them to keep them flat. They have no idea that those boards swell and move with humidity, and the batten should be screwed on using slots to take up the changes.

--The gal in Fixer Upper (I don't know her name) wanted to try turning some wooden candlesticks on a lathe and they gave her LOOSE FITTING GLOVES to wear so she wouldn't ruin her manicure! I had to leave the room when I saw that 4x4 spinning just inches from those gloves as she merrily made chips.

I admit I'm getting to be an old fart, but do others have issues with seeing bad practices being touted as educational??

 

[Stuart in MN]

Every single car show on TV, showing people welding with no mask or skin protection.

 

[GDPossehl]

They also set fence posts in concrete

 

[2oolhound]

wooden candle sticks?

 

[exmaxima1]

They also set fence posts in concrete

Is that bad because they were wooden posts and could rot? I thought that metal posts should be set in concrete and the hole must be below the frost line.

 

[exmaxima1]

wooden candle sticks?

Errr, candle HOLDERS? Whatever you call those things that hold candles on a table or shelf...

 

[GDPossehl]

Is that bad because they were wooden posts and could rot? I thought that metal posts should be set in concrete and the hole must be below the frost line.

Yes, I should have specified. Wooden fence posts in concrete.

http://poststar.com/lifestyles/colu...cle_eee2a8aa-9bd9-11e1-a9c4-0019bb2963f4.html

 

[Dave in Mass]

Removing cabinets or sheetrock with a sledgehammer

 

[exmaxima1]

Yes, I should have specified. Wooden fence posts in concrete.

http://poststar.com/lifestyles/colu...cle_eee2a8aa-9bd9-11e1-a9c4-0019bb2963f4.html

Thanks for the article and it reminded me of my own squirrel issue---Ever since they chewed the knobs off my Weber gas grill, I take on squirrels with my Beeman pellet gun, much to the horror of the neighbor kids. I tell them the squirrels are fine, it's just "shoot and release", kinda like fishing.....

 

[TOOL FANATIK]

Painting pt deck boards before even laying them down.

 

[Mpower5266]

Removing cabinets or sheetrock with a sledgehammer

While incorrect, it is a hell of a lot more fun to use a sledge.

 

[bcradio]

They also set fence posts in concrete

Gotta disagree with this one. I get 30 years easy out of wooden posts set in concrete. They don't move either. More than good enough for me. Removal is also easy with the right tools.

 

[nh_yota]

Gotta disagree with this one. I get 30 years easy out of wooden posts set in concrete. They don't move either. More than good enough for me. Removal is also easy with the right tools.

Probably because PT lumber was better 30 years ago than it is now. Also, there isn't much rain or frost heaving in New Mexico.

 

[Steve08]

Every single car show on TV, showing people welding with no mask or skin protection.

As a guy who takes his safety very seriously that always makes me furious.

 

[bcradio]

Probably because PT lumber was better 30 years ago than it is now. Also, there isn't much rain or frost heaving in New Mexico.

Ha ha, both true statements there.

However if I were in a place like you mention, I probably wouldn't use wood anyway unless I had to.

 

[hangfirew8]

I no longer get upset at Reality shows because I don't watch them any more. They all have the same elements: manufactured script-written inter-personal drama, an artificial deadline, and The Big Reveal, with fake gobsmacked looks on their faces.

Many times the work done is strictly cosmetic and left incomplete, but the participants get a check and that helps them sort it all out later.

 

[theoldwizard1]

--Installing screws into endgrain ...

This is why I bought a Kreg Pocket Screw jig !

 

[kazlx]

Every single car show on TV, showing people welding with no mask or skin protection.

Or skill...

 

[1949 caddyman]

They never recycle the cabinets, better TV to smash with sledge.

 

[TomB19]

They never recycle the cabinets, better TV to smash with sledge.

Where I come from, the kitchen cabinets are replaced every 60 years and the old ones are moved to the garage.

On TV, people walk into an oak kitchen from the 90s, curl their lip, and declare it a gut job. I've seen espresso cabinets beaten down with a sledge and replaced with something weird.

Television renovation and decorating shows have done a good job of selling the idea of the five year renovation. ... they just haven't sold the idea to me.

 

[engineer2]

-- Tiling a shower or a tub surround with zero waterproofing behind the tile.

-- Pebble or mosaic shower floors where you can see the outline of each 12x12 sheet of tiles.

-- Expensive-looking tiled showers with only basic fixtures.

-- If Joanna in Fixer Upper sees brick, ya know she's gonna paint it white.

-- Marble counter tops. Pretty but not durable.

 

[aka Larry]

-- If Joanna in Fixer Upper sees brick, ya know she's gonna paint it white.

I never understood on TLC's 'Trading Spaces' why every time they saw a ceiling fan it had to be removed. Here in NC, we add ceiling fans to our houses, we don't take them down if they are already there.

 

[engineer2]

we add ceiling fans to our houses

Same here. I added ceiling fans to every bedroom and the kids love them. Now if I could get them to shut them off when they leave...

 

[Sal Bandini]

Yes, I should have specified. Wooden fence posts in concrete.

http://poststar.com/lifestyles/colu...cle_eee2a8aa-9bd9-11e1-a9c4-0019bb2963f4.html

I'm in the Midwest and all the fence guys use concrete.

 

[hangfirew8]

On TV, people walk into an oak kitchen from the 90s, curl their lip, and declare it a gut job. I've seen espresso cabinets beaten down with a sledge and replaced with something weird.

Television renovation and decorating shows have done a good job of selling the idea of the five year renovation. ... they just haven't sold the idea to me.

lol Who are the show sponsors? What do they sell? If no one renovated they would go out of business. The show is just a platform to promote home centers, appliance and building material companies.

 

[rodsnratfinks]

My **** list with HGTV is a mile long. I hate the wastefulness (destroying everything rather than donating old, good fixtures to Habitat for Humanity or the like), replacing quality things with junk, extremely generic, instantly dated finishes in homes with a unique character, shoddy workmanship, no PPE, their extremely misleading 'so easy, a caveman can do it!' attitude, AND they never fix real problems.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[GDPossehl]

I'm in the Midwest and all the fence guys use concrete.

It's much easier to dig a 1-2 ft hole with a spade and dump in some quikrete than it is to dig a 3 ft hole with an auger.

 

[Sal Bandini]

It's much easier to dig a 1-2 ft hole with a spade and dump in some quikrete than it is to dig a 3 ft hole with an auger.

They all go 3' with augers

 

[toolchaser]

My favorite was a pop up bubble on a remodel show. The host was sanding cabinet doors, the info bubble said "the grit number on sandpaper is the number of sand grains per sq. inch of paper"...

 

[jakemac]

Same here. I added ceiling fans to every bedroom and the kids love them. Now if I could get them to shut them off when they leave...

Add an outdoor light motion detecter to the ceiling fans wiring (the pencil type).

 

[Ign]

Any of the DIY stuff, during demo they wear eye protection maybe 10% of the time.

I've gotten to where the second I step into the shop or start USING TOOLS anywhere, I literally feel naked without eyes on. I can just tell, if I'm using a tool my brain expects something in front of my eyes.

edit: that said, it's their eyes and their choice. I don't think people should "learn" anything one way or another about PPE from watching them. I do wish they'd hurt themselves more though, they deserve it. Yeah, I'm a ******* for wishing harm on someone, whatever.

 

[TomB19]

One of the nastiest things they do is work on ceiling insulation without a respirator or even a mask. Looking up, mouth open, stuffing fiberglass batts into the ceiling. Anyone who has ever worked with insulation knows exactly what those individuals are going to feel like afterword. Their throats will feel like they have a partially swallowed knife lodged in their neck.

 

[MoparTrucks]

I dont have cable but the few times I have seen some of these shows I am always amazed at the people who walk into a reno or house (like on House Hunters) and make an offer with no inspection etc. They base their biggest financial decision on the color of the walls and carpet.

 

[ZRX61]

Some of the shows sometimes donate the old stuff. I've seen Allision Victoria donate cabinets & that squeaky voiced rodent woman who fixes worthless crapholes in Detroit.

.. who finally got a dose of Detroit reality this week when she was robbed...

 

[Ign]

My **** list with HGTV is a mile long. I hate the wastefulness (destroying everything rather than donating old, good fixtures to Habitat for Humanity or the like), replacing quality things with junk, extremely generic, instantly dated finishes in homes with a unique character, shoddy workmanship, no PPE, their extremely misleading 'so easy, a caveman can do it!' attitude, AND they never fix real problems.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yes, all of this too! They truly do install instantly-dated stuff.

One glowing example is just a few years ago Bath Crashers was doing those HUGE cabinets on the counter top between double sinks. They did it in EVERY bathroom.

A couple years later they'd run into the same thing and be like "OMG we soooo have to tear that out."

 

[TOOL FANATIK]

the worst is when they operate circular saws and table saws with no gloves!!! that really gets my goat!!

kidding. dont wear gloves.

 

[WVBrady]

wooden candle sticks?

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick

 

[Jason280]

Every single car show on TV, showing people welding with no mask or skin protection.

Or running a 4.5" cutting wheel in an angle grinder with no guard, gloves, and just a pair of safety glasses.

 

[1949 caddyman]

How about "we found pipes in the walls, this is going to cost more$$$" An inspection would of found that out, but would lessen the "DRAMA"

 

[78C-10]

I was watching one of those car shows the other night and one of the mechanics was trying to beat a tie rod end out of a steering knuckle. He was using a mushroomed punch and rust was falling off of the vehicle with every strike and he had no eye protection on at all. Nothing. Unreal. Where I work we have to have them on at all times.