Holmes on Homes

[Racers]

I watched Holmes on Homes last night and a floor fitter was using a table saw completely unguarded to cut free hand an angled piece then to clear the off cut he wacked the opposite side of the still spinning blade!

Apart from that its an interesting program, it seems they have cowboys every where in the world.


Pete

 

[wizer]

yes I do like this programme. It's a bit repetitive and OTT. But wouldn't it be great to have him build something in your home? Piece of mind 10 fold.

 

[StevieB]

I too have been watching this on and off and overall find it quite good. The usual amazingly sized American houses with massive basements and 6 car garages - not sure whether all American houses are built to this scale or whether they only ever show very expensive houses (bit like this old house with Steve and Norm!).

The only thing that annoys me is Mikes smug commentary at the end of every episode. No doubt he is good at what he does, but for the most part he simply seems to be doing jobs to building regulation spec (or code) that were done badly beforehand. Perhaps thats a harsh opinion, but he uses trades as well, often extensively, its not like he is a one man saviour. One of the better ways to spend an hour with Discovery H&L though.

Steve.

 

[misterfish]

Nearly all of his projects are in Canada - though I have seen him do one in California. A bit like Tom Silva on This Old House he is often not happy with minimum code and goes a bit a better. In both cases they tend to work on large houses with large garages, though it seems that basements only tend to be 'normal' in the colde northern areas.

Intriguing that there seems to be no self certification by the tradesmen - all work seems to have to be checked and approved by the local building inspector as it progresses.

 

[Rich]

I don't think it's smugness as such, more that he iterates at the end of every show the need for the homeowner to educate themselves, as for using other trades, I think this is a good idea, that's why there are other trades and this means everyone makes a living, we had the same comments about Tommy Walsh recently, and I for one would'nt mind either of them coming into my home to improve things that I could'nt do in a professional manner.
Rich.

 

[wizer]

I'm surprised they haven't made a UK version with Tommy.

 

[andy king]

I've watched a fair few of these, and while he does do a great job, and exposes the shoddy practices involved by some tradesmen, I think he's a little unfair with his occasional rant as he rips stuff out, constantly referring to 'look, I can't believe it, they've built this to minimum code, it's not good enough'.
It's not the fault of the guy who installed it, if code (or our own building regs) state that you can use a certain size timber or whatever and it proves to flex or fail (he always rants about joist thickness and spacings) then it's the fault of the people who set the rules for 'code', not the guy doing it.
You have to ask yourself, if you were a tradesman, looking for work and having to price, if by working to the minimum code you could save money and keep the cost down and in doing so, get the job, would you do so? After all, the regulations are there for both parties to use.
OK, you could tell the homeowner that in your opinion you think minimum code isn't enough, but homeowners often work to budgets as well, so bump up the price to accomodate extra materials and your chances of getting the job may diminish. Not only that, they can, and do in some instances, see this as the tradesman loading the cost to try and get more money by pulling the wool over their eyes.
Anyway, yes, he knows his stuff, but by quoting minimum code as a failure, he should start a campaign in Canada to get minimum code beefed up, but he'd probaby find he's not on the telly so much! :roll: :wink:
just my 2p...
cheers,
Andy

 

[tim]

Andy I agree with you. I also wonder what the difference in the original budget/ amount paid by the customer and the bill that the Holmes team presents to the TV channel. Methinks it would make the customers have second thoughts if this was the number first quoted!

Cheers

Tim

 

[wizer]

Which also makes me wonder what sort of budget these programmes have? and probably answers my question above about a UK version.

 

[PowerTool]

Check out his website http://www.holmesonhomes.com/ - householders typically pay for the materials,his crews labour is paid for by the TV company,so they get the job for half-price;most of the time,they have already paid full-price once already.(which leads to my favourite Mike Holmes quote - "And what did they get for their money? 25,000 dollars worth of crap!")

Andrew

 

[tim]

Check out his website http://www.holmesonhomes.com/ - householders typically pay for the materials,his crews labour is paid for by the TV company,so they get the job for half-price;most of the time,they have already paid full-price once already.(which leads to my favourite Mike Holmes quote - "And what did they get for their money? 25,000 dollars worth of crap!")

Andrew

If labour is only 50% of a job price then your labour is undercharged! Most jobs are at least 75% labour.

Cheers

Tim

 

[andycorleone]

If labour is only 50% of a job price then your labour is undercharged! Most jobs are at least 75% labour.

Cheers

Tim

Maybe because in the UK is 75% it doesn't mean is the same in this big world from where I come from labour is only 25% or less