My semi annual Mike Holmes rant.....

[tboy]

Ok, I watch his shows because I learn a lot and am interested in seeing how things I don't know how to do, are done.

But I am so SICK and TIRED of this pompous ass coming off as the hero. I mean, seriously! It is SO easy to be a hero when the customer doesn't have to pay for ANYTHING.

I just finished watching an older program and they basically gutted the house down to the brick. New structure, new high efficiency furnace, hepa filter, and then they move to the roof and find all these dodgey repairs. Oh they shouldn't have done this, this isn't right, that isn't right, the wood is all rotten etc etc. Well maybe the roofing contractor came in, same the rot, said to the customer: your roof has to come off and be rebuilt for $20,000.00 and the customer doesn't have the money. Mike Holmes steps in and gives it to them for free. FREE? of COURSE ANY contractor can do that when HE doesn't have to pay for it...

I wish this guy would just S T F U already and admit once and for all that ANYONE can be a hero when the customer gets everything for free....

JESUS

(whew, deep breath now, I feel better! lol)

 

[a 1 player]

I saw Mike on site one day and as I was driving by I yelled, "Hey Mike, how about a Nescafe!" Ok, so it wasn't sheer genius, but I HAD to say something.

Bastard gave me the finger.:grrrrrr:

 

[Friend of Greekster]

I've started to watch some of his shows and am really fascinated by them.
Given any new construction I may be involved in at some point in the future or even reno work I've got a really good idea on how to run up the bill.

 

[Iambad]

I've never liked the fuck face, he bores me.

 

[Northern]

He has done a lot of good deeds and has helped the average home owner... But now everyone wants to get the entire house redone because thats what Mike says, but have no idea the time and cost required.

Agreed there are a lot of bad contractors but he should put some of the blame on the customer who wants the "leak fixed" and not the bathroom gutted and rebuilt.

 

[Alexandra]

I love home renovation type shows, but although I watch Holmes on Holmes and his new Holmes Inspection, it does get frustrating when he goes a bit obsessive. Of course the home owner is going to be thrilled that it is done for free. I have learned a few things that have been helpful but have to say his white shirt and overalls have to go. Enjoy the show House of Brian.

 

[tboy]

I agree, his do it right is a great concept, and yes, it is always easier to strip down to the studs and start again, 99.8% of homeowners do NOT want to do that and do NOT want to pay for that.

He NEVER (ok once) says anything at all about the homeowners not having the money to do it right, and NEVER says on camera that the ONLY reason he can do what he does is because the customers aren't paying for it.

 

[Cycleguy007]

I saw Mike on site one day and as I was driving by I yelled, "Hey Mike, how about a Nescafe!" Ok, so it wasn't sheer genius, but I HAD to say something.

Bastard gave me the finger.:grrrrrr:

Really? :shock:

I've actually met him a couple tomes, and that seems totally out of character. He's actually the same "down to earth nice guy" he portrays on TV.

Having said this, he does tend to get boring after awhile. I enjoyed watching his show at the beginning too. Home reno is a hobby of mine and I enjoyed watching the show for that reason, but after a number of shows, I started to think... WTF- he goes on every project like there's an unlimited budget. The majority of homeowners are not on an unlimited budget, so the premise of the show is somewhat unrealistic IMHO.

 

[Haveanitch]

Have to agree with CG and others the show is too unrealistic for my liking.

 

[jumpingjackflash]

Most customers are looking to save money and leave the contractor with no choice but to cut corners. Holmes comes in on his white horse and saves the day with free elaborate work.

All of these reality home fix it shows are unrealistic to say the least. People are given the idea that the jobs are simple and can be done with a very small budget.

 

[Jawbone]

Tboy, you are obviously a contractor by trade. Please tell us some of your horror stories related to your business. I think it would make for some good and entertaining reading.

 

[tboy]

Tboy, you are obviously a contractor by trade. Please tell us some of your horror stories related to your business. I think it would make for some good and entertaining reading.

I will when I have more time but in the meantime, know what this retard just said?

and I quote:

We should all stand up and demand builders build the best house they can using the best materials...

WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT!

Sure, everyone who buys a new house has millions to spend on it....RIGHT

Oh MAN I wish I had his email address or phone number FUCKKKKKKK

 

[Friend of Greekster]

T-boy I don't see why you would have an issue with that comment.
It's the expectations of the buyer that he pays basically nothing and gets all the best of everything including all the bells and whistles.
Like Sy Syms used to say "An educated client is your best customer."

 

[james t kirk]

Holmes has done a lot to educate the consumer, maybe too much as a few of my friends in the trades now tell me that their customers question everything they do and cite Mike Holmes over and over.

My big bitch about Holmes is that half of the people on that show, maybe more, deserve the shit they got. They went with a stupid price and got what they paid for. In one episode this goof ball in Vaughan wanted to convert a trussed attic to a living space. Ok, so Beavis gets a pile of quotes - all of them are in and around the 120 to 150 k range and one price for 27 grand. So Beavis goes with the guy for 27 grand and almost gets his house collapsed on top of him.

Well, what did you expect buddy?

As far as I'm concerned, he deserved what he got.

Secondly, what you see on the show is not reality.

I hired "Better Contracting" after looking up the Contractors who appeared on the show under "Aluminum Siding" as I needed new soffit, facia, eave troughing etc. On the show - that fat fuck Robert Graves is there with about 5 guys, all dressed in matching T shirts and wearing fall arrest harnesses. He (the fat fuck) just mothes off about this and that and shakes his 4 chins.

In reality, when you hire his company to do a fairly straight forward job you get shit. You find out that Graves has simply subcontracted your job to a jobber named Sonny from Oshawa who shows up BY HIMSELF, oh, other than his skrawny girlfriend in the van who alternates between crying and smoking. Sonny proceeds to do all the work himself from a ladder and he's struggling. He's being paid piece-work (something Holmes used to decry on his show). On top of that, he's doing the job wrong, so you end up working with him, showing him how to do it right, and holding the boards for him because he's going to fall. Then you end up cleaning up for him because he's not that bright and he is that lazy.

Anyway, don't expect what you see on the show.

 

[tboy]

T-boy I don't see why you would have an issue with that comment.
It's the expectations of the buyer that he pays basically nothing and gets all the best of everything including all the bells and whistles.
Like Sy Syms used to say "An educated client is your best customer."

that is true, but what Holmes is doing is NOT educating the consumer, he's filling their head with caviar dreams when they only have a beer budget.

If every customer expected, no, demanded the builder use the best of everything, the customer couldn't afford to buy the house. Sorry, but the best of everything costs money.

As Holmes said on this show today: cheap bathtub vs good tub. $20.00. (which is bullshit but anyways) x 300 houses, x 2 baths per house, that's $12,000.00. Ok, is HOLMES going to donate that money to the new customer? Nope. He expects the builder to do it. He also expects the detra membrane put in behind all tiles. Have you priced that shit out? $105.00 a roll and you'd need 5 rolls per bath. Then you get into faucets, builder grade, $35.00 delta or kohler? $135.00. It all adds up and someone has to pay for it. THAT is what holmes never talks about. Who is footing the bill? Someone has to.....

I mean, there are some obvious BS contractors out there. Like the group who used the customer's couch for a ladder and got it all covered in drywall compound. Or the guy who buried all the electrical boxes behind drywall, or the guy who had live wires hanging down from the ceiling with no marretts or tape on them.

I mean in one episode recently they used solid poplar trim. Who the hell can afford that? Not any customer I've ever met. I mean hell, the $850,000.00 2 bedroom condo I worked on last summer had styrofoam crown moulding and MDF baseboard......(and they were done by Shane Bagdal or whatever his name is).

 

[tboy]

Ok, today's rant?

Goes in to fix a cracked tile job, and replaces all the kitchen cabinets and gives them new dishwasher, fridge, stove, and range hood...all in stainless steel!!!

Oh man, wouldn't I be the hero if on every kitchen tile job I replace all the appliances?

goddamn!

 

[Friend of Greekster]

Hence why I always preferred "This Old House". Was a lot more realistic. Not so much donation and the owners had to pay for at least the materials.

And Norm Abrams is a f*cking genius.

 

[tboy]

Yeah, Normie is the penultimate "master carpenter".

He occasionally does appearances at woodworking shows but don't even try to get near him. Last one he was at they said it was an 8 hr wait to talk to him.....8 HRS!!!!!