How come the renovations on HGTV cost less than in real life?

[cantdrv55]

Name the show on HGTV and I guarantee you that the cost of a similar job in real life will be a lot more. I don't know how they do it. The labor must be donated or materials deepy discounted. What do you think?

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Name the show on HGTV and I guarantee you that the cost of a similar job in real life will be a lot more. I don't know how they do it. The labor must be donated or materials deepy discounted. What do you think?

I dunno. Some of the work looks pretty $hitty to me, so I'm not always surprised that it's cheap.


Getting a good price on renovations depends completely on your relationships with the trades, and getting good labour at reasonable prices. Not that easy to do, is it? Over the past 3-4 years, I've been through several painters, carpenters, masons, electricians and plumbers.

Renovations I did 3-4 years ago probably cost 50% or more than the ones I do now, for a couple of reasons:

- I act as my own GC, giving me control over the schedule, and control over the tradesmen doing the electrical, plumbing, etc

- I have better tradesmen that may not work cheap, but work hard and work on time. They also work well with one another, and try to work in such a way that minimizes work for the other tradesman. IE the carpenter thinks about the electrician, who thinks about the drywaller.

- I pay fair. I get my trusted guys to give a quote, but they know that if they run into additional issues, I will not begrudge them for charging me more. Working with them this way means they don't have to pad their quotes to protect themselves from "what ifs"

- I've taken on enough projects that I can size a job up more accurately and "guestimate" what my plumbing/electrical etc work will cost me. I rarely, rarely run over budget because I better understand the projects I take on.

This summer we reshingled the house, put in all new windows, did the roof, redid the bathrooms, added a 4th bedroom, did a stone retaining wall, and now were in the process of finishing the loft above the garage. We're under budget by almost 10k, but behind schedule by 2 months... because I insist on waiting for the guys I've had good experences with.

[look 171]

As a contractor, I can tell you that it takes a lot longer then a few days to do something unlike HDTV suggest on their shows. Just compare to This Old House. They take a long time and their work is far superior then most you see on HDTV. I saw one where a local furniture shop supplied their products for one of their shows and HDTV suggested it was $1400 for rental to stage a flip. I got excited and called the owner for more info on their pricing. To my disappointment they wanted three time more to stage a place. The owner did the work for free basically just to get their name out there on national TV. I know pricing on construction pretty well, but some of those numbers are labor free and materials only. At times, I think its below material cost just to get ratings. Those damn send a terrible to home owners on both cost and methods of work.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

I dunno. Some of the work looks pretty $hitty to me, so I'm not always surprised that it's cheap.


Getting a good price on renovations depends completely on your relationships with the trades, and getting good labour at reasonable prices. Not that easy to do, is it? Over the past 3-4 years, I've been through several painters, carpenters, masons, electricians and plumbers.

Renovations I did 3-4 years ago probably cost 50% or more than the ones I do now, for a couple of reasons:

- I act as my own GC, giving me control over the schedule, and control over the tradesmen doing the electrical, plumbing, etc

- I have better tradesmen that may not work cheap, but work hard and work on time. They also work well with one another, and try to work in such a way that minimizes work for the other tradesman. IE the carpenter thinks about the electrician, who thinks about the drywaller.

- I pay fair. I get my trusted guys to give a quote, but they know that if they run into additional issues, I will not begrudge them for charging me more. Working with them this way means they don't have to pad their quotes to protect themselves from "what ifs"

- I've taken on enough projects that I can size a job up more accurately and "guestimate" what my plumbing/electrical etc work will cost me. I rarely, rarely run over budget because I better understand the projects I take on.

This summer we reshingled the house, put in all new windows, did the roof, redid the bathrooms, added a 4th bedroom, did a stone retaining wall, and now were in the process of finishing the loft above the garage. We're under budget by almost 10k, but behind schedule by 2 months... because I insist on waiting for the guys I've had good experences with.

My plumbing, electrical and other sub all know each other so they would not do things to screw each other. If they do, they will never hear the end of it from me and the others. They know they WILL work with each other again. I use the same sub contractors all the time. They are trained so there is no fussing and bicthing. That's worth a lot more then money. If you fall behind schedule, that will cost you lots. They are not the cheapest guys on the block but they do wonderful work and to my standard, my way, which is the most important.

[azasadny]

I've never seen any TV show factor in labor... When the show includes an auction to raise $, they never factor in the percentage the auction house gets. I HATE these shows, which is part of the reason I don't watch TV at all (2 years, so far...)...

[nightheart]

Not on HGTV, but I know some guys who worked on an extreme makeover episode. They got paid, but their boss didn't. These guys also worked something like 48 hours straight through, and the entire company was there. That's about 20-30 contractors. The company did it to get their name on national TV, and to get even more local exposure. That's something a regular homeowner isn't going to get, since donated labor and materials will definitely lower the price. If I remember right, lowes or home depot donated most of the materials used.

[targa911S]

Because it's TV. TV is not real. Television shows are only there to make spaces between commercials. It's about selling air time not portraying reality of any kind. They will do anything to get you to watch.

[red-beard]

One of my contractors worked on one of the shows. He said the camera doesn't show the mistakes. The "weekend update" took about 3 more weeks to fix everything.

[A930Rocket]

Good, cheap or fast. Pick which two you want.

HGTV is probably fast and cheap, but not good.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by look 171

As a contractor, I can tell you that it takes a lot longer then a few days to do something unlike HDTV suggest on their shows. Just compare to This Old House. They take a long time and their work is far superior then most you see on HDTV. I saw one where a local furniture shop supplied their products for one of their shows and HDTV suggested it was $1400 for rental to stage a flip. I got excited and called the owner for more info on their pricing. To my disappointment they wanted three time more to stage a place. The owner did the work for free basically just to get their name out there on national TV. I know pricing on construction pretty well, but some of those numbers are labor free and materials only. At times, I think its below material cost just to get ratings. Those damn send a terrible to home owners on both cost and methods of work.

Excellent point here. The contrast between HGTV and This Old House is striking. TOH will sometimes spend a month worth of episodes on one renovation, detailing the extent of the work done. HGTV will dedicate an episode, if that. The difference? Look at how deep they go into the house and the products they use. HGTV work is what most would do for a rental or flip house. Paint the cabinets, throw on some new countertops, update the fixtures, etc. TOH is full custom cabinets, all new woodwork, high quality floor coverings, major structural work, etc.

I'm rather convinced that HGTV is just a 24/7 advertisement for Lowes/Home Depot. All of their shows have the "you can do it" theme and make things appear to be incredibly simple even when they aren't. As a former remodeler I can tell you that DIY gone bad is a scary thing.

[widebody911]

I've watched a couple of episodes of various HGTV crap. The "shows" on HGTV are thinly-veiled commercials. No more, no less.

I don't work in the trades, but I can see people getting unrealistic expectations. "What do you mean you 'crash' my kitchen and completely remodel it in 3 days. What kind of crappy contractor are you?"

I saw a tiny bit of one some show yesterday morning where the 'contractor' (some chick with a tight pants, big rack, lots of cleavage, perfect hair and makeup) was helping someone drill something. She put her hands on either side of the drill bit while Suzy Homeowner struggled with trying to learn to use a power drill. Real smart.

The common theme with these type of shows (and their automotive analogs) is that quick is more important than quality. The viewer never gets to see the bondo'd POS up close 6 months after completion, or a half-assed "crashed" bathroom.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Because it's TV. TV is not real. Television shows are only there to make spaces between commercials. It's about selling air time not portraying reality of any kind. They will do anything to get you to watch.

Spot on! Television is not "real life" what ever that is.

Like Overhauling, the sponsors donate thousands of $$ to get their name out there, and in the end you and I doing the work would have to pay out the nose for the same product rolling out the door...

[jyl]

The few times I have watched a HGTV improvement show, my main reaction has been: no taste, cheap, flashy crap for white trash.

[BReif61]

Nearly all the furnishings (couches, bookshelves, cabinets, etc) are all IKEA as well.

That being said, I do like to watch them. Especially "Renovation Realities" on DIYNetwork.

[TGTIW]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Spot on! Television is not "real life" what ever that is.

-This is correct.

Nearly all the furnishings (couches, bookshelves, cabinets, etc) are all IKEA as well.

This is not.

[BReif61]

Originally Posted by TGTIW

This is not.

Would "alot" be better for you? I watched one show were I watched them assemble it on camera. Everything save for the TV stand and end tables were straight from IKEA.

Trust me, I've spent enough time assembling IKEA furniture to spot it

[TGTIW]

There have been shows co-branded with Ikea, but certainly it's not a standard.

[patssle]

Because they know when they bring in the next film crew about some couple wanting to buy the house - they know the couple is going to nitpick and whine about every little thing in the house - thus having to re-do it all.

[stealthn]

I hear ya man! As I just typed in another thread we just finished with 4 quotes from reputable companies including Home Depot (They outsource renos too) and for a 800 Sq ft basement, with one bathroom, one gym, a bar and entertainment wall; all for came in at over $100K (CDN)

My wife and I were shocked, and this is with all the framing done already (by me), 80% of the electrical run and done and the plumbing done for the bar. You watch those home shows and some of them can do a whole interior gut and nice redesign for 75K, what the hell?

So I think we'll selectively look at outsourcing some of the work and do the rest ourselves.

I can appreciate a mark up or labour costs, but geez...

[matthew-s]

Everything is expensive.

I just got a quite today for 12" cedar boards, enough to side ~2/3 of the 4x8 woodshed I'm building, and just that one expense is ~$300. That was the low quote of two places.

The opposite of those shows are the other shows like "Storage Wars". I chuckle when they claim they can get $500 by selling an old dresser in their thrift shop to claim they can come out ahead on their $1000 purchase of a storage locker.

Maybe I should pitch a show where the Storage Wars folks try to sell their wares to the folks doing the HGTV remodeling show. Just put them together and watch the fireworks happen. It would be good for a least two episodes.