on 10/19/2007 2:39 PM DerbyDad03 said the following:
On 19 Oct, 12:33, "hillacc at yahoo.com" wrote:

On Oct 19, 11:03 am, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:






"Bill" wrote in message

...

I don't know about you, but these home improvement shows are WAY beyond my
budget lately.

I was watching This Old House last night and they had a $3000.00 plus
consultant hired in to study backyard water drainage and give
recommendations. Then they hired a crane to cut down a tree! (So they
could "lower" it down gently.) I'm sure that cost a pretty penny.

I just can't relate to these shows anymore so far as my home goes and my
budget. ($30,000.00 for a kitchen remodel, $60,000.00 to fix the place up
a bit, etc.)

Most people I know are hard pressed to come up with a few thousand dollars
for home projects...

I agree. Is that the show which sometimes goes to a "regular person's" house
to help out with a project, and it ends up being a custom carved teak mantle
found at an antique dealer in Tuscany, shipped by private yacht? :-)

Every time I look at my bathroom sink, whose replacement will involve 400
steps because of the stupid counter design, I think about writing to
whatever show it is and telling them I have a budget of $702.18, and not a
penny more.

There are two different parts to the This Old House show: The
"regular" This Old House, in which they come in and redo a house, and
the on the road part where they help someone with a single project.

The first one is necessarily expensive, because they only do houses
that need a lot of work and have a lot of potential, for owners who
have the budget to do it. After all, it would be pretty boring show
if it was This Old House: For the next several weeks, we'll follow
Joe Shmo as he repaints his front porch the quickest way with the
cheapest paint and supplies he can find.

I find the on the road segment often has ideas that I can use, such as
how to repair a squeeky floor without lifting or damaging the carpet.
Yeah, it takes the purchase of a special tool, but so do lots of home
repair projects. Last night, they showed how to replace an old cast
iron toilet flange so the toilet won't rock on a newly installed
floor. Not very glamorous or expensive, but lots of tips about why it
had to be done the way it was done and something I might very well
face in my own house someday. And trust me, I don't think anyone is
more low-budget (or less handy) than I am when it comes to home
repair!

Jo Ann- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


There are two different parts to the This Old House show

Actually, there are two different shows: "This Old House" and "Ask
This Old House". "Ask This Old House" is the road-show you speak of.

I don't know how old you are, but I believe the point that the OP was
making is the difference between today's "This Old House" and the one
many of us grew up with. No, they didn't paint Joe Shmo's porch, but
they did do projects that showed what an average to above-average
homeowner could do to improve their home. The projects were somewhere
between the small repair projects of "Ask This Old House" and the
multi-million dollar projects shown on "This Old House" today. And
yes, they did take a few weeks to finish, not three days like the DIY
To The Rescue shows on now.

IIRC it was just after Bob Villa left TOH that the projects began to
move away from the "I can do that!" style to "Meet Guisppe Guardalino,
Master Plasterer who is going to hand plaster this 6000 sq ft guest
house right after we raise the barn 2 ft off the foundation and turn
it 90 degrees"



I like the exterior restoration of old houses. What happens on the
inside doesn't impress me as much. Except maybe the plumbing.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
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