Holmes on Homes

[e-tek]

Holmes is going to run for Prime Minister next year on a platform of cleaning up all the poor work done by contractors!

 

[adam728]

We like HoH at our house. He doesn't always bash the previous contractors, I've seen a number of episodes where he points out that the work was done well, but with the bare minimum cost in materials, so it just didn't last.

I got a chuckle from one of the posts above. Apparently if you get yourself in shape you have too much time and money.

 

[dirttracker18]

I am amazed at the number of Americans chiming in on this. It is not often a Canadian show makes it to the air in the US, let alone do well.

I would guess that being on Ellen helped out a little on that front.

 

[BBQ&Love]

I am amazed at the number of Americans chiming in on this. It is not often a Canadian show makes it to the air in the US, let alone do well.

I would guess that being on Ellen helped out a little on that front.

Holmes doesn't do much for Canada's image with Americans. Just saying.

 

[sneezer41]

Half the fun of watching the show is yelling at the TV about how could anyone possibly do work so badly, and how could Holmes possibly make more work for himself if he tried.

I feel he is fair to the contractors, there are many times he says 'look these guys did a nice job' but c'mon, every show has wire splices in the damn wall.

He is captain overkill, I think of the bow window where he extends floor joists 6 feet into the house, maybe a tad much. Or building full interior basement walls.

He does two things, focus on code, but also common sense, trying to improve floor layouts and make the house make sense.

 

[dirttracker18]

Holmes doesn't do much for Canada's image with Americans. Just saying.

How so?

 

[JohnJL]

I am amazed at the number of Americans chiming in on this. It is not often a Canadian show makes it to the air in the US, let alone do well.

Now if only you guys down south would keep your American Top Gear to yourself! What a steaming pile last night.

 

[SuperSocket]

I am amazed at the number of Americans chiming in on this. It is not often a Canadian show makes it to the air in the US, let alone do well.

I would guess that being on Ellen helped out a little on that front.

Almost all of our HGTV shows are Canadian... I'd even go as far as to call the entire program Canadian.

 

[scarrylarry]

Absolutely, especially when they have put enough new wire in to look like it was done correctly. If they are just poor contractors that’s one thing, but to know you are doing something illegal, rip into them, and have the law there to cart them off too.
As with many of the shows now, show me more work, tools, materials, equipment and leave the drama for the soap operas.

Creative cars
I here what your saying on the aspect of the showing of tools and how to use them correctly and just plain knowledge,no useless dialogue.I just can't see how producers don't realize this.I think there are plenty of DIY homeowners who with more knowledge could tackle more jobs with their skill set.Just for example take a guy who claimed he was a professional painter,I saw his work and man just could not believe he was a professional.I know there are good and lousy in all walks of life including tradesmen and doctors.
Just my 2cents!
scarrylarry

 

[creativecars]

Creative cars
I here what your saying on the aspect of the showing of tools and how to use them correctly and just plain knowledge,no useless dialogue.I just can't see how producers don't realize this.I think there are plenty of DIY homeowners who with more knowledge could tackle more jobs with their skill set.Just for example take a guy who claimed he was a professional painter,I saw his work and man just could not believe he was a professional.I know there are good and lousy in all walks of life including tradesmen and doctors.
Just my 2cents!
scarrylarry

Yeah, the producers see the ratings and get excited patting themselves on the back too much. They don't realize what people are really wanting out of these shows. They will take 100's of hours of footage, and choose which parts they are going to show us viewers.
I think the show has evolved enough that mfg's are letting him use their latest equipment and materials to get it on TV, and that allows all of us to see it.

 

[csp]

Holmes doesn't do much for Canada's image with Americans. Just saying.

You mean like he pronounces the word "about" as if it's "a-boat"?

 

[paranoid56]

Now if only you guys down south would keep your American Top Gear to yourself! What a steaming pile last night.

yea true. only good one is the UK version. but i am just happy we also have something, even if its not as good.

now for HoH i love the show. me and the wife enjoy watching it. just goes to show you that canada has hack contractors just like the US. now when the job is very bad i do wish they would post up the contractors info and picture that way nobody else gets a hacked job.

 

[Marauder470]

My .02 cents:

Good:
It shows most homeowners what to watch for when you hire a contractor. Which is why I still watch it.
It does show how some contractors have cut corners or just do bad work.
It does show how to correctly do some things.

Bad:
Since he doesn't talk price...his renovation (to quote 'do it right') would probably cost much more than the homeowners original budget. I think that most contractors should consider budget every job they do. Having said that, there is bad work on the show for sure, but some things he said was bad work...really wasn't; it just wasn't how he would have done it. Given the budget of the homeowner, the original contractor probably did the right thing, at that time, for that budget. Then Mike comes in a says he is a crappy contractor - I don't agree with that.

Also a positive thing is that at least you know the work you see on his show...is mostly correct. One show I watched on DIY was/is horrible. They screw things up all the time (like screwing 1/2 drywall into a drop-ceiling . Then you see it fall later in the episode.) Surprise, surprise.

Astronomically high. Trust me. I'm in Toronto, where most of the footage is shot. One of his contractors -- Alpine Roofing, is known for shoty work.

 

[santagary]

We watch HOH avidly right after Judge Judy...those programs should be in reverse order with the contractors on the defense...that now would be some good TV. My wife so loves the way Mike looks in his bibbs, she bought ME a pair of Carhart bibbs, but I REFUSE to wear them while watching the show! Seriously though, his craft skills and use of tools has taught me a lot and my formerly "cobbled" projects have been redone to a higher standard and I've had to buy MORE TOOLS!!!

 

[Steevo]

Anyone that can wear Carhartt overalls and not look like an idiot is ok by me.

 

[PCO6]

... My wife so loves the way Mike looks in his bibbs, she bought ME a pair of Carhart bibbs, but I REFUSE to wear them while watching the show!

May be that's not where she wants you to wear them!

 

[yellowdartdave]

I would like to see it where the original contractors would be brought out to the site for the inspection and tear-down and have a judge sitting next to them.
He has exposed some really crappy work and he has good words for the people that do good work.

Crappy and shoddy work is like an Earl Schieb paint job........ you can cover a bunch of **** with a coat of paint but it will bite your *** soon enough.

And a lot of the expense of him re-doing the work comes from having to tear a bunch of crappy work down and haul it away.

Rule # 1--Inspection and permits !!

Just make sure the inspector is not friends with the contractor.

Permits means the work is inspected by someone else.

And I have learned a bunch of stuff, both how not to do **** and neat and creative ways to improve my house.

 

[DaveN13]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned one of the best reasons to watch the show - Kate Campbell! Oh, and all the contracting stuff too, of course...

 

[stevefasano]

removed due to

 

[MoonRise]

Sometimes he talks or mentions price, most times he doesn't.

Some shows are recent, others have a copyright date back much earlier in this (last?) decade, like to 2004 or so.

Some of the 'bigger' jobs have been of the scope of pretty much rebuilding an entire house. Some times he's mentioned the time frame (approx elapsed time) for the work. Geee, 5-6 months of work gets compressed into 1-2 hours of TV time! Including commercials!

It's TV, so the 'drama' factor is played up (or 'edited' up).

And related to the TV/drama factor, the 'little' fixes or 'easy' stuff ain't gonna make it for TV land. "Oh, here we have a previous contractor who didn't tighten a fitting and now the sink hose is dripping." Doesn't make for interesting TV, I agree and understand.

Instead we see where they find a couple who buy their first house and have a 'home inspection' done and buy the house at least partially based on that home inspection that says 'Nothing to worry about'. Only to find out that there are electrical 'issues' (how many hidden junction boxes has he found so far? Like pretty much -every- show!), structural issues (missing MAJOR structural supports), rot (usually due to water, whether from plumbing leaks or outside water getting in), major termite damage, crumbling foundations, disintegrated drain pipes, etc, etc. I'm probably blending episodes of HoH and HolmesInspection, but you get the idea.

Or the guy who is having his house fixed up in stages over the years, saving up enough money to go through and do the project over time. Hires a 'contractor', not the low bidder either IIRC, and the guy screws up the job pretty big time on the kitchen reno.

Tile jobs done so poorly that during the demo the tiles come up pretty much completely intact.

Contractor who put toxic substance in a softdrink bottle (paint thinner or lye paint-stripper IIRC?) and left it on the counter or in the fridge. The young kid comes home and ends up drinking it. ER, hospital, etc. After -other- screw ups on the reno job. Then gets 'fired' by the homeowner and tries to lien/sue the homeowner for costs. Finally gets to Canadian Court, and judges rules against the contractor (TG). IIRC.

etc, etc.

Sometimes comes across as 'smug', sometimes not.

Generally I give it a + as an example of screw ups and short cuts and shoddy work(manship) and how to 'do it right'.

 

[billspit]

Almost all of our HGTV shows are Canadian... I'd even go as far as to call the entire program Canadian.

Well now we also have a bunch of Aussies and Limeys on real estate shows, as well as news shows. I guess we don't have enough smart Americans to do the job.

 

[billspit]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned one of the best reasons to watch the show - Kate Campbell!

Is that Pinkie?

 

[billspit]

Mikes new show here is Holmes inspections. It shows that inspectors are about as bad as the contractors he has been following.

On one episode, he interviewed the local law enforcmenet agency who stated there was nothing they could do if the contractor started on a project and did a completely lousy job. It was a civil matter at that point.

 

[creativecars]

"My wife so loves the way Mike looks in his bibbs, she bought ME a pair of Carhart bibbs, but I REFUSE to wear them while watching the show!"

Wow, I think i just threw up a little in my mouth.

 

[dlenkewich]

Mike Holmes is a quack.

Everyone takes his word on his show as fact. But he's wrong about a lot of things, and he blows everything out of proportion. It's to the point where I can't even watch him without getting mad his little elf helper(Damon?) is a jerk-off, too.

Try dealing with customers after they watch him or Shell Busey. All of a sudden I don't know what I'm talking about because these pro's saw Mike or Shell do something different (or way more expensive) on TV!

From the original comment in the bunker thread.

The problem with Mike's show is it portrays a totally unrealistic renovation.

One of his first "Holmes Inspection" episodes, he looks around a house, stops, point to a piece of highwall and says "Let's open that up, I want to see what's in there."

His helper climps up the latter, cuts into the drywall, insulation and vapour barrier. Looks at the camera after he makes a mess and says "Wow. I'm actually surprised. This was done realatively well."

I would be furious if I was the drywaller/insulator who's work just got hacked and they could do nothing but televise a half-assed compliment.

Let's not even get into how you just compromised the drywall, insulation and vapour barrier for no reason at all.

Here-in lye's the issue. People don't objectify what they watch. Now, not only do they feel like a pro after watching a season of Holmes on Homes (Que's: But Mike Holmes(4 provinces away) said this, or did this..), but they wan't the same approach to their renovation/project - - "It's gonna cost HOW MUCH???". Then the contractor with the bid is left having to somehow educate this all-knowing home owner that Holmes and Homes is far from reality, without damaging their hero, too much.

While it's good that a show can help people, fact is, it's got an unlimited budget to do it, and doesn't spell it out to the viewer's.

You can believe Mike Holmes is a god, but in reality he's a smart business man. I really don't believe for a second he pulled $40k out of pocket to help, unless he was already a successful, well established man. I don't personally know any contractors who could pull out $40k for charity in one year.

He's gone on to establish trademarks(For those who wish to purchase those and use them to sell their company/business), has a magazine, and has launched his brand into all of North America.

Smart? Yes. Successfull? Yes. Big hearted-Charitable-Savior? - Yes? Hardly, when you go on to make a brand of yourself to sell to others, sell yourself to Ford, etc. It's hardly a good will mission.

 

[dirttracker18]

Wow you should really get more information before you badmouth someone like that.

So just because the show (which he was hired to do) has made him successful financially you think that he is not on a good will mission? Because he does well personally he is not giving back?

I won't even get into all the things he has done but a few worth mentioning.

Building houses in New Orleans for people that could not afford to rebuild.

Started a fund dedicated to young men and women that want to go into the industry but can't afford it (money for trade school).

and yes he did take money out of his own pocket to help out home owners in the first couple of years.
and yes he was a very susccessful contractor prior to the show, that comes from being good and doing work right the first time.

Here we have a guy that started to go out of his way to help people on the brink of financial ruin. Because of his work he became famous and thus enjoys the spoils of that. If you knew anything about him you would know that the more he made, the more he gave back.

For those that think his way doing things is totally unrealistic, I think the many people that have hired his company to build houses would disagree. You pay for quality and that is what you should get. No most of those people on the show could not afford the products he uses but if he can give them something great after being screwed by some unscrupulous contractor, hey why not?

 

[Frank The Plumber]

One of the worst shows on television. Have never seen an inspector come in behind anything and approve it. Have never seen one certificate, license or professional document to give any precedent to any of the dialogue. The level of negativity is disgusting. If he didn't do it, it surely must be ****! The I am god and what I say is golden BS gets old in about 14 seconds. Are you God? No! Show me some papers or get The F out of the house!

That is how the show comes across. That is the persona he is projecting. Whether he is a fantastic guy or not becomes irelevant. Perhaps he should address his demeanor.

 

[jabberwoki]

I` d bet he has a life size picture of him self hanging in his house with a stand next to it and on that stand is a box of tissues!

 

[TommyK]

Having been in the construction industry for nearly 25 years, I can tell you that most of the "victims" on the show have one thing in common; they chose their original contractor on price alone.

Holmes is a pontificating arrogant a$$ if you ask me. That doesn't mean he doesn't know what he is doing however.

BTW, hi everybody. First post. Glad to be here.

TommyK

 

[dirttracker18]

Welcome TommyK, way to jump right into the fire

 

[oldgoat]

So a person should base their chose on the most expensive contractor because they just have to be the best? If the contractor is licensed then the customer should be able to expect the work to be done according to code right? So shouldn't the cost of the job be a factor? For me the cost is a factor, but probably more is the impression I get of the person that comes out to do the quote. I know the contractors don't like coming out to quote without a fee, but on the other hand why should I also pay somebody to come out and two minutes after they get there I know that I won't go with them anyway? As far as that goes why should I pay this lowest price contractor that evidently we can't trust to do the job according to code to come out? To be honest I've had a hard time before just getting somebody to even come think about coming out to look at a job even before anything was said about a upfront fee. Some of them basically say that they won't come out unless I am planning on them doing the job. Really? We don't know each other from Adam and he wants ME to agree to a job without knowing the price or what he wants to do?

 

[dirttracker18]

Frank
I think you are one of the most valued members of this forum who openly shares his knowledge for the benefit of all. With that I do not want to offend you so please take this as a comment and not personal.

I would think that you only saw a couple of shows and got pissed and stopped watching because I have seen lots of shows where the inspector came in for approval. Therre have been many segments of Mike discussing his work with the inspector(s).

I would be interested to hear what you think of the plummer he uses. He uses the same guy almost all the time. He seems down to earth and knowledgable. He also seems about as pissed as Mike about the shotty work. He also speaks well for your industry as a whole. "Everyone thinks they can do plumbing, just connect some pipes. Then I have to come in when nothing works right."

 

[dlenkewich]

Mike Holmes fan boys are the best.

I have them in my family, and they all get equally shocked and defensive when you tell them their hero is, in fact, not the best thing since sliced bread.

He's our generations Shell Busey, a lot of older folks in the constuction business dislike Shell Busey too.

 

[TommyK]

So a person should base their chose on the most expensive contractor because they just have to be the best? If the contractor is licensed then the customer should be able to expect the work to be done according to code right? So shouldn't the cost of the job be a factor? For me the cost is a factor, but probably more is the impression I get of the person that comes out to do the quote. I know the contractors don't like coming out to quote without a fee, but on the other hand why should I also pay somebody to come out and two minutes after they get there I know that I won't go with them anyway? As far as that goes why should I pay this lowest price contractor that evidently we can't trust to do the job according to code to come out? To be honest I've had a hard time before just getting somebody to even come think about coming out to look at a job even before anything was said about a upfront fee. Some of them basically say that they won't come out unless I am planning on them doing the job. Really? We don't know each other from Adam and he wants ME to agree to a job without knowing the price or what he wants to do?

Highest price isn't the only or best predictor of result. Long list of references from satisfied customers is best predictor of positive outcome. In many instances homeowner will get two, three or four prices. One guy is 30-50% less than other bidder(s). I can almost guarantee you he does not have the best (or any) references. He is usually the out of work brother in law of a cousin's friend from work who finished a basement once. Job goes south and the crying ensues. Of course even when a homeowner does everything right bad experiences can occur but that can be said for anything in life.

I guess I don't like how all the homeowners are portrayed as innocent victims. They managed to find a decent contractor to bail them out of their mess. Why couldn't they select a decent contractor to begin with? I bet in most instances the answer is price.

 

[dirttracker18]

Holmes inspection on hgtv tonight at 9 eastern. For those that want to figure it out for themselves.

 

[ForceFed70]

I enjoy the show.

However, I've got a few tradesmen in the family and a couple of tradesman friends and they hate HoH.

Their complaints are 3-fold:
1) The show generates a lot of mistrust towards contractors and tradesmen.

2) They hate getting told "I saw Mike do this and he did it this way". HoH shows the Cadilac of renovations. Jobs that would cost 2x as much as a normal reno. In 99% of applications minimum code is perfectly acceptable. Mike is always saying the minimum code is inadequate.

3) To be competative, they need to quote based on minimum code requirements and hate it when the homeowner expects them to do much more work or use much more expensive materials. The homeowner no-longer trusts them to do the job they've been doing for 20years because of something they saw on TV. My Tyler buddy also thinks there may be some sponsorship side-deals going on. The orange plastic material Mike uses under most tile jobs for example: It's a very expensive product and is rarely needed....and it is only sold at Home Depot who are a major sponsor of the show.

What Mike does is top quality work using top quality products. The problem is that if homes were buld this way they would literally cost 2x as much.

I like the show, but like anything in life you need to take it with a grain of salt.

 

[ZRX61]

Don't bother buying the magazine.. compete waste of money. I keep most magazines I buy, I threw his out about 2 days after I bought it. Utter garbage.

 

[djd99]

Here's my take on mikes show although I think Everything mike does is overkill every job I've seen him do looks absolutely amazing when it's finished. It must be nice to have no limit when it comes to the products he uses so that doesn't surprise me.
I have learned many things from his show from building codes to the proper procedures when doing such project.
Just for that reason alone I will continue to watch as you never know when I will pick something up I had no clue about. Don't get me wrong I don't love the guy but I do think there's alot of people out there like me who do learn from the show.

 

[Frank The Plumber]

So a person should base their chose on the most expensive contractor because they just have to be the best? If the contractor is licensed then the customer should be able to expect the work to be done according to code right? So shouldn't the cost of the job be a factor? For me the cost is a factor, but probably more is the impression I get of the person that comes out to do the quote. I know the contractors don't like coming out to quote without a fee, but on the other hand why should I also pay somebody to come out and two minutes after they get there I know that I won't go with them anyway? As far as that goes why should I pay this lowest price contractor that evidently we can't trust to do the job according to code to come out? To be honest I've had a hard time before just getting somebody to even come think about coming out to look at a job even before anything was said about a upfront fee. Some of them basically say that they won't come out unless I am planning on them doing the job. Really? We don't know each other from Adam and he wants ME to agree to a job without knowing the price or what he wants to do?

The shows that I viewed I was least impressed with his choice of Plumbing talent.
The one episode had a situation where he was taking the valve body apart for re use. No safety glasses no cleaning of the valve body just melt heat and reslag the stuff together, real animal stuff. The other episode was a laugher to me, The hose bibb was running out to the exterior, the piping feeding it was going too close to the electrical panel. the decision was made to move it. So the "plumber" puts a pex adapter on it and more or less straps it out of the way, essentially not even resolving the issue and potentially not even solving the problem. The whole fixture should have been relocated. It was rather sad.

I would not say that this guy Holmes is a bad guy or anything else. I would just say that a show based upon the premise of showing the work as done by others and the commentary that goes along with the description is toxic. It is not good for our industry, it undermines peoples trust in contractors. I may blame it upon this sensationalistic society we exist in, where you can't just have an informative show, you need all of this drama and blame banter.

I'm sticking to the don't like the show thing, and if this guy Mike is really a nice guy and a wonderful feller I dislike the show even more, because that is not how he portrays himself to me as I watch it. Personally, if I watched myself on that show I would re format it towards more finding and solving problems and not so much blame game, the blame game stuff is what makes it hard to watch.

 

[brassmoney]

I live in ontario very close to michigan. I have many boater friends from michigan as we boat in the same lake. So with that said I have been in many homes in michigan. My thoughts on most of the homes I have been in over there is that they have been put together with glue sticks and staples!! I think the building code the must ****. Some of the worst built houses here in ontario are far more superior in my eyes. Like I said not all homes in Michigan are like this as I have been in many really nice houses aswell. Its just the lower priced homes I don't think would pass code in Canada.
As far as Mike Holmes...I think he does hell of a job. We need more contractors like him. By the way Im a contractor and don't feel offened by anything mike has to say. He's does it right in my eyes. Any contractor who takes offence is in the wrong trade and should hang up thier tool Belt!