Last Monday, I was on the treadmill at Fitness Together and someone had one of those home remodeling shows on. I don’t remember the name of the show, but it was about two people buying a fixer-upper home. The show brought in a design/build contractor to design the renovation and tell the prospective home buyers how much it would cost and how long it would take.
This particular show had a young couple sitting on a couch listening to the contractor describe what he would do:
- A beautiful kitchen remodel
- Two complete bathroom remodels
- A complete master bedroom renovation
- New flooring throughout the house
- Paint and trim throughout the entire house.
Then he described to his starry eyed audience that he could have all that work done in four weeks and for just $90,000.
Interesting. For what he showed them, and for the price he quoted, I would have guessed the project to be twice that amount and twice the time.
Now I have to confess that when you design and remodel kitchens, bathrooms, and whole houses every day, I’m not too likely to come home and watch TV shows about the same thing.
This show had me intrigued, though. How could they do all this renovation work for about half the cost and in about half the time?
I started looking into it and found some interesting answers.
I found there was an incredible amount of work being done that was not shown on the TV show. It seems that often times, the companies supplying the materials and labor were supplying them at low or no cost. This was part of the “price” they paid to be on the show.
I spoke with my interior designer friend, Brooke Voss.
In the past, she did some work for Hometime. When I asked her about why the costs for projects on TV shows seemed low, she pointed out that many times, the materials are donated from vendors and suppliers or sold at less than true cost. Those companies considered those donations to be advertising money.
Brooke shared that she put in 10-15 hours of her time, prepping for a segment on design and finishes for that particular show. That prep work resulted in a mere 5-minute segment on the show.
In talking with Bob Shaffer with The Foundation Architects and Consultants , he shared his experience designing a project for the DIY Network. While Bob was quick to point out that he had a lot of fun doing the show, he told me things were not always as they appeared.
For example, in one 15-second scene, where the homeowner and actor were supposed to be just spontaneously showing up and talking to each other, it took 27 different takes to create the right lighting effect and right look for the show.
He went on to say that while the project looked like it was done through the eyes of the camera, the truth of the matter was that if you could have seen more than the camera was showing you, you would have seen dust and debris in the cabinet drawers, sink faucets just sitting in place and not hooked up, tools and materials everywhere the camera was not showing, and the floor did not even have a finish on it.
Bob also echoed Brooke’s comment on costs. The cost of the project Bob was involved with was a lot lower than it should have been because the flooring, cabinets, faucets, appliances, and the lighting were all donated.
Imagine what the cost of your kitchen remodel would be if you didn’t have to pay for all of that!
What about those unrealistic time frames to complete the project?
Bob clued me in on how TV shows handle this. What the show considered “done” was what they photographed. The whole project that they didn’t photograph was still in various stages of construction and was not done anywhere near the timeline that the show made it appear. Here’s a picture Bob took of what the show considered “done” – the kitchen way in the background:
Here’s a photo of what Bob’s project looked like when it really was “done”:
While these kinds of TV shows can introduce you to the different possibilities in home renovation, they are still TV shows and not true representations of what home renovation costs or time lines are in the real world.
Good post, always been amazed (and dissappointed having done a lot of remodling, and paid for it) by the numbers on those shows, but I just can’t turn them off.
Don’t feel bad, my wife wanted to redo a bathroom in our house. I told her what the rough cost would be. Her reply, “Why so much, the room is so small. You should see this bathroom they did on Design on a Dime”
Thank you for sharing this information about real home remodeling verses Home and Garden TV’s version. I was just having this conversation the other day with clients, a conversation that comes up often in my line of work. While HGTV programs can excite homeowners and motivate them to start a project they are often misleading. Another point to make is that the labor to construct and install as well as the designers time to create are often paid for by the show. That number in many of these TV programs is not accounted for.
Thanks Sarah – I get asked why what I am telling people about remodeling isn’t what they saw on TV more than you’d think.
Some parts of what we do would make for some really mundane TV shows.
Nice article. I love TV remdoling shows because it is fun to see the before and after. This was an eye opener! Thanks for the interesting article that tells it like it is.
What are some of your favorite shows?
spot on Mike with this article, I spent many years in the remodeling field and shows like this paint an unrealistic view of what really happens,the main problem is that it creates a credibility issue for pros like you, they need to label on their credits what the ingredients were and the TRUE COST
I agree the shows are unrealistic and they should show how much was donated by manufacturers and suppliers. I think though it would be hard to have a reality show about remodeling that was entertaining if they showed everything. There are thousands (literally) of details that need to be thought through. Most of those details are pretty mundane – unless of course you forget one or two then it gets interesting.
Great post, Mike! When I meet with new clients, it is not uncommon for them to have unrealistic expectations of cost and time after seeing some of the design shows.The upside though, is that we can work within a clients budget and still give them a new look.
Ahh, but how do you talk to people about the reality of what things really cost. When you first meet someone and they want something done at a fraction of the cost in half the time, how do you deal with that.
Well said Mike! I was involved in siding the home in St Paul a few years back for that extreme-tear-down-rebuild-in-7-days-show. Four siding crews installed prox 40 sq of cement board siding and trim in 16 hours…in a continuous, pouring rain. I got a kick out of primer applied to the cut edges and promptly running down the lower courses. It had to get done and everything would be dealt with “later”.
Getting it done faster does not by any means mean better. I wonder how you fix primer that washes out of but joint ends.
The dominant concept in the phrase “Reality TV Show” is no more “reality” than the dominant concept in “son of a b!+$#” is “son.”
I agree. Well put. Nice to see you downtown earlier. You should have had the MG out in this weather
Very interesting. I shared this with my wife, who loves those shows. However, I still want it done in 4 weeks for $90K.
I know and I really want you to have it for 90K in 4 weeks. Hope your Holidays are great and I look forward to the first Secretary’s report for 2012
Great article. Definitely lays out the need to know your General Contractor and how those “estimates” for remodeling and time frame are arrived at. No major surprises to ruffle the feathers! Mike Otto is thee Man to see for your next remodeling project!
Thanks Paula – and your right. Know who you are working with. One size does not fit all.