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Blog
TrustedPros January 27, 2014: HGTV's Too-Great Expectations
| Posted on February 1, 2014 at 4:08 PM |
comments (158)
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HGTV's Too-Great Expectations  How HGTV's home improvement shows create unrealistic
expectations for homeowners. We've
all seen it. Turn on HGTV, and before long you'll run across a family in
distress after a home improvement project gone wrong. They've apparently been
wronged at the hands of an "evil" contractor who took their money and
ran, leaving behind a half-finished master bath or floor tile that began to come
up the moment they began walking on it. Never fear...Mike Holmes and the
Knights of Home Improvement are here! Before you can say "prime
time," half of the house has been gutted and miraculously recreated using
top-of-the-line products fit for Windsor Castle with no price tag in sight. The Ravages of Reality TV Ah
yes...even home improvement cannot escape the ravages of "reality"
TV. What the majority of these "save the day" shows forget to pass
along in their search for ratings is the fact that some of these
"wronged" homeowners tried to get their original contractor to
complete a $50,000 dream renovation on a $5,000 budget. Many shows simply do
not divulge all of the costs that come into play when you want your home redone
right. Just like the old saying about square pegs and round holes suggests, it
can't be done. You get what you pay for, and if you aren't paying much,
don't plan on getting a whole lot in return. Miracle Makeovers and Magical Gnomes While
some of the contractors who carried out the original work featured on some home
shows may have been dishonest or underqualified, expecting someone to
perform miracles you don't intend to pay for can make even the best contractor
look like a bad guy. Home improvement programs have done both homeowners and
contractors a great disservice by neglecting to dig into the underlying causes
of many "botched" renovations. Miracle makeovers that seem not to
have a price tag give homeowners the impression that good renovations are
completed by a team of magical gnomes who only expect a shady spot in a corner
of the garden in exchange for their efforts. Viewers have become detached from
the fact that home improvement has a price, and excellent home improvement has
an even higher one. They also fail to recognize that the majority of
contractors are honest, hard-working people who expect to be paid fairly for
their efforts, and that the building materials don't grow on trees bordering
the homes of the magical gnomes they expected to complete their renovation. Who foots the bill? Many
people simply expect too much for too less, and home improvement programs do
little to accurately represent contractors or educate homeowners. In the case
of many hugely-popular shows, the studio foots the bill, so viewers are never
exposed to the actual costs. Contractors come across looking like the bad guys,
and homeowners don't receive the information they need to secure quality work
by offering a fair and reasonable price. HGTV and friends could better serve
their loyal viewers by exposing the realities of renovation. Using materials
only the Hilton's can afford without second-mortgaging their lives away only
provides greedy eye candy for overly-hopeful homeowners. It simply isn't
possible to get granite tile on a linoleum budget, but at least people in the
latter category should know how to get the best linoleum money can buy. They
should also be able to sleep at night knowing the Mike Holmes and company won't
have to come and reinstall it for them in two weeks. When you know what your
money is worth, it's a lot harder to be disappointed when you get what you pay
for. Of money and miracles To
return to the realm of the realistic, it would be much more helpful if home
shows were to show homeowners how to set and work within a realistic budget,
rather than jump in with a "miracle" cure worth more than the value
of their home. Many renovations fail because people fail to correctly
anticipate costs. When the money starts running out, they start cutting
corners. Homeowners need information which can give them a better idea about
what their home improvement project should cost so they can form realistic
expectations. Home improvement programs would also do well to help homeowners
determine how to identify qualified contractors who are likely to do things
right the first time. You need the right glasses In
the meantime, HGTV and friends could do us all a favor by letting us know what
these "miracle" renovations really cost, and what led good ideas to
go bad in the first place. It would also be great if all contractors
weren't made to suffer at the hands of homeowners who want something for
nothing. In short, we've all got to stop watching home shows through
rose-colored glasses, and trade them in for green ones that reflect the actual
cost of quality home improvement. |