Holmes on Homes, HGTV Sundays 9:00 PM

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Terry

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Homes on Homes.
Addicting television.
I spent some time with family on Easter watching two episodes of Holmes on Homes.
He is entertaining.
Of course, we all love demo'ing out jobs. Lots of fun there.
He follows up on the worst construction jobs know to mankind.
My family was asking me if what we were seeing was common.
Well, not really.
Normally when I'm working construction jobs, they have been done right the first time,
Permitted and inspected.
So really, any work we are doing, is maybe a repair due to age, or updated a look or layout.

Mike pulls off drywall, and the wiring isn't stapled, the pipes have the wrong fittings, the wrong glue, things aren't even connected.
The previous contractors are just the meanest junk yard dogs out there.

He sure makes it all fun.
Here is a way to see some of his past shows.

Full episodes here

Handicap-Accessible Bathroom Video
Have fun

mikedemolishes.jpg

Deconstruction: Holmes on Homes
 
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Jimbo

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I have been watching mike for a while now. It is entertaining. Funny that the Canadian plumbers and electricians that hang around this and other forums seem to take great pride in their work, but apparently some real morons or scumbags are getting away with incredible stuff up there!

Mike is fond of saying that such and such meets "MINIMUM CODE" and he likes to do MORE than code. I don't know if I agree with that, because the horror stories he uncovers are things that are certainly below minimum code. I don't even like the word minimum. It is either code, or it isn't. QUALITY and WORKMANSHIP are some words I would like to see him use, because that it what sets his work above the norm.
 

hj

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I wonder where he finds a "maximum code" standard. He likes to use the word "minimum" in his discussions of other's work. The other day he was working on a roof and he said is was a "minimum" pitch and the "other guy" used the wrong materials, but from what I saw, and since he was using safety ropes, (something I have never seen most roofers use, by the way), etc., it was the same pitch as MOST homes have today. The quality of work he is correcting is so poor, that I cannot imaging any "contractor", even the poorest one, doing it, but it is the quality that a handyman or DIYer would do to "just put it together".
 
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ghetterly

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I'm not sure what season you're getting where you live, but if it's some of the older seasons just remember this:

Mike Holmes is an ACTOR first and a CONTRACTOR second.

Mike didn't have any contracting background when he started the show. He is fully trained and licensed now, but going back to the older shows is a hoot. He doesn't have a sniff.

Some of the guys he worked with on the show (especially guys who deal with "weird" stuff like ICF basements) said he asked them for suggestions and then just repeated them verbatim for the camera.
 

Jimbo

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I was not aware of the "actor" part. Is that really true? Even down here, Norm Abrams and Bob Vila were contractors first...good ones....and got into the acting thing by accident. Now Steve Thomas and Kevin Oconnor are sidekicks, with no pretense of being tradesmen.
 

Shacko

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I have been watching mike for a while now. It is entertaining. Funny that the Canadian plumbers and electricians that hang around this and other forums seem to take great pride in their work, but apparently some real morons or scumbags are getting away with incredible stuff up there!

Mike is fond of saying that such and such meets "MINIMUM CODE" and he likes to do MORE than code. I don't know if I agree with that, because the horror stories he uncovers are things that are certainly below minimum code. I don't even like the word minimum. It is either code, or it isn't. QUALITY and WORKMANSHIP are some words I would like to see him use, because that it what sets his work above the norm.

>>> but apparently some real morons or scumbags are getting away with incredible stuff up there!<<<

I'm in the states and I can assure you that we have our share of scumbags and morons!!

Most of the codes I'm familiar with are minumum codes, non workmanlike manner shouldl not pass code!

In my old days I would take pictures that I called "Whats Wrong With This Picture", had to give it up because of cost of film!, bottom line, it's getting worse. :(
 

Krow

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I'm under the firm beleif that if you are a tradesman, you would not knowingly deceive a client with code violations. I suggest that the workmanship ,or lack of, are a common scenario when a potential contractor and DIY'er does not do his/her homework or does not hire the right tradesman to do the right job. They may bite off more than they can chew
 

Dlarrivee

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I'm not sure what season you're getting where you live, but if it's some of the older seasons just remember this:

Mike Holmes is an ACTOR first and a CONTRACTOR second.

Where did you come up with this?

Mike Holmes was a contractor for a long time before getting into tv.

As a general contractor do you know details on every aspect of every trade, or is that maybe why you hire specialized trades for specialized tasks? Do you hire a laborer to do foundation repair, or a foundation guy? Do you know everything about foundation repair already because you're a "contractor"?

Give your head a shake.

Mike Holmes learned his craft from his father, who started teaching him construction work (i.e. electrical, plumbing) when he was 6 years old. By the time he was 19, Holmes had started his first contracting company, with a crew of 13 employees. At 21, Holmes founded his own renovation company. He has run two companies during his 20-year contracting career.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Holmes
Mike_Holmes_006.jpg
 
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Rmelo99

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I'll second that. Holmes is very addicting. I have always been a junky of homeimprovement type shows, since I was a little boy watching THIS OLD HOUSE/HOMETIME(with Dean) and new yankee workshop.

Sometimes Mike goes overboard on tearing things out. I am very happy to see he uses what I consider good materials and "above minimum code".

I was brought to this forum a few years back from the John Bridge Tile Forum , where Kerdi/Ditra are highly regarded as good tile subbases.

I don't know if it's b/c Mike is up north in Canada or what but I see him use Kerdi/Ditra on all his tiles jobs (ALL). I used it on all of my tile projects at Home. Here in CT people look at me like I'm an alien when I ask for the stuff!

There are technological advancements in all aspects of life and there are too many people who are stuck in their ways to adopt or even try these new technologies.

Mike is onboard and I'm onboard too!
 

Jimbo

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MadMike is hilarious. I'd like to see him choke Armando the house flipper but he seems too cool for that snake.


.
That would be a hoot...seeing armado trying to get mike to remodel a whole house for $1995 !!!!

As for the "quality" of armando's work....it seems to end up OK, but he definitely has an attitude about "we don't need no steenking permits" which allows him to use possibly unlicensed contractors, and makes some of the quality dubious.
 
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Doherty Plumbing

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Being Canadian I love Holmes on Homes. He's great. What everyone has already said about the quality of work his crew does seems to be true.

And as far as him not knowing what he's talking about well that's just rubbish. Like the other guy already said ... just because you're a contractor doesn't mean you know everything about everything. The contractors I work for don't know the plumbing code as well as I do. They know the basics that's about it. And on the other hand they don't care about the code either. Either my work passes inspection or it doesn't and I'm the one responsible to know how to do the plumbing when all is said and done. Not the contractor.
 

Scuba_Dave

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I've watched the show for a while
Amazing some of the stuff they uncover
18 hidden junction boxes recently on one basement

Only thing I am not sure of is he tells people when they abaondon wire to twist the 2 wires together
That way if someone reconnects the other end it will trip the breaker
But could cause a spark ?
 

Doherty Plumbing

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I've watched the show for a while
Amazing some of the stuff they uncover
18 hidden junction boxes recently on one basement

Only thing I am not sure of is he tells people when they abaondon wire to twist the 2 wires together
That way if someone reconnects the other end it will trip the breaker
But could cause a spark ?

It's not usually a spark that causes a fire it's usually heat that builds up from friction on lose connections and that kind of a thing.
 

hj

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Armando, and all the rest of the flippers, had one motto, and one motto only, and that was "What will it LOOK like when we are done?" That was all that counted. It made no difference how something was done, once it was covered up. In, one program, filmed here, the girls did not want to "touch" the cabinets because they would have fallen apart, so they just replaced the counter top to hold them together and "look good".
 

WendyH

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Holmes is the one renovation show I actually record. That's where I first saw Schluter products in use. Finding a local distributor was a challenge, but I've got lots of orange stuff in the hallway ready to go into the shower if I can only find time to get the plumbing finished. I find the specialists Holmes brings in quite interesting, and most of his work applies to where I live in frozen Minnesota.
 
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