I don’t make a habit of watching this stuff, but I have run across it a few times. They’re doing a fairly large house in Colorado somewhere. The contractor is a young-ish guy who is long on charm but seems short on building savvy.
First episode I see, they have the forms in for the foundation (a lot of nice metal forms, I might add). The driveway up to the place is a long dirt track and the guy’s concrete pumper can’t get his rig up there. Readymix trucks are stacking up down on the road as they struggle to get the thing up over a hump and up to the site. They finally get pouring, but then one of the mix trucks gets stuck on the road while they still need several more loads to top off the pour. They make some calls and someone brings over an excavator and they get the mix truck out of the way and keep pouring, apparently just in the nick of time.
The other day I caught another segment. The framing looks mostly done but winter has hit and there’s a ton of snow sitting on everything, and there’s no roof on. There are ineffective tarps over stuff. The roofing shows up but lo and behold the driveway is impassible.
Fast forward (or is it backward) and they’re trying to get a flatbed with a knuckle boom up the road to drop a septic tank in a hole. There’s a fat telephone wire running over the driveway, and they nearly drag it down by trying to sneak under with the equipment. One of the operators nearly gets beheaded as he stands on the top of the truck and tries to support the wire as the truck rolls under. The narrator tells us that the owners risk a $100K repair bill if the wire is damaged.
The owners (young and hip) are seen frequently, grinning and bearing the drama, as though stupid sh!t like this is unavoidable in construction and their contractor is doing as well as anyone could. No wonder our industry has such a great image.
Replies
I saw that. Funny stuff. A couple of seasons ago they had a couple of idiots on there.
They stayed in the house while 85% of the house was being remodeled, in minnesota in the winter, complaining the whole time. They enlarged the house just in time for two of the kids to go to college (theres some thinkin'), so by the end of the season they end up selling the house.
"The contractor is a young-ish guy who is long on charm but seems short on building savvy. "
Sounds like Ty Pennington. Doesn't he sell grass seed or something too? :-) Anyway, that's my kind of job... New tools and toolbelt every house, no need to trouble myself with labor for more than about 45 seconds at a time, just acting cool and freaky in front to the camera. No need to worry about stupid stuff like budgets... :-)
Actually the problem is that reality tv neds drama for ratings. Few people would watch a house being properly built, or at least that's what the tv execs must think.
Chris
Not me. I could spend hours watching "Norm" build stuff.
Often wondered how much time was edited out while he set up his elaborate "jigs", I would have watched that too. No substitute for taking the time to do it right.
I've seen a few episodes. My favorite was the one where the cement trunk almost rolled down the hill. If it had not been for a tree, it would have rolled at least 100 yards down that steep hill. It was saved by the tree but it was leaning severly and they need to bring in a large tow truck and winches. The delay caused problems on a few of the cement walls and they need to be taken down the next week. The tarp problem I think is mostly because it is a sh!t comtemporary house with flat roofs and all kinds of weird box details all over the place.
You should have seen the dream builder 2 or 3 years ago. This idiot computer guy named Landry that was building a 3 floor house with concrete floors. He had an architect and a building advisor but he would completely ignore what they said and do just absolutely stupid things. They ended going way way over the budget and the building advisor needed to be jettisoned, the architect only put in a little time, etc. They also had radiant heat in all the floors, which really seems like a waste in a moderate climate like Maryland outside DC, and they must have put 3 dozen holes in those tubes. Every episode they were patching. The Landry guy was the most arrogant, know it all I've ever seen. If the HVAC contractor said absolutely do not do ______, that is exactly what he would do. The whole thing was a giant cluster XXXX.
"The whole thing was a giant cluster XXXX."Ha ha...cluster XXXX...This term always crack me up. You must've worn a tree suit at some point in your life.
The REAL way to term it is "Charlie Foxtrot" that gets the point made more clearly...LOL
not to get off the subject but anyone see the show flip this house ( was on tlc yesterday) were the guy hires some "dudes" off the internet to reroof the house he was flipping. Anyway the so called roofers use Tar to apply the Tar paper. Must have been a board roof cause the garage door was up and when they close it there is Tar all over it. The short of it is the property owner ends firing these "dudes" before they do any more damage. Ends up hiring a roofing company to finish the job including removing the Tar appliied Tar Paper. Insult to injury is that one these dudes says to the propery owner "you get what you pay for" but still maintains that using Tar to apply the Tar paper is still the right way to do it.
Dan
Next time you catch an episode, listen for what my wife and I call the "Doom Music". They usually play that when the inspector shows up and they fail their inspection, or when they find out that the extensive pour that went so well in the last episode placed the piers for the 2 story porch 6" off where the metal fabricator expects them to be. You may also notice that the narrator gets even more cheerful and chirpy when things are at their worst (ratings you know).Still, when things on your site are at their worst, you can still probably say "at least its not Dream House"
Ha!! That's exactly what I've said when we've caught a few episodes! At least our build is going better than that! My favorite was the concrete support wall that was 6" out of plumb. They'd already knocked it down and repoured it once, but said they couldn't do that anymore because it was supporting the master bedroom above. Um, doesn't the fact that it is supporting the bedroom mean you don't want it to collapse someday??? They were more concerned with how bad it would look than the structural implications.Oh, then there was the time when they'd just had the floors poured, and the contracter was talking about how important it was for the floors to stay clean because they were the finished floor--as guys are tracking mud all over it. The homeowners don't seem to have taken into account the needs of their baby with concrete floors everywhere. That poor kid is going to be crawling on concrete, learning to walk on concrete--she'll be covered in bruises from head to toe. I guess that's assuming they'll be finished with the house anytime in the next few years...Like I said, makes me feel better about our own build--at least we're doing better than that!Jo
I saw tha smae episode., and had the same thought about that front support wall. Putting that piece of steel on the edge of that wall to make it appear plumb has got to be one of the most rediculous ideas I've ever seen on TV building shows.
And I agree about those concrete floors. That baby is going to have callouses everywhere.
I have seen 2 or so episodes of the Colorado house, what I don't get is that fiber optic line hanging in front of the house. With the camera angles it is hard to see where that line is exactly, but I think I would have located the house better or have that thing raised or buried. Course the $100,000 may be an issue, but that figure was if it broke how about just bury it?? My guess is there will be a lot of area rugs for the little one.
A few months back I read an article in Qualified Remodeler. And it referred to these shows as "remodeling porn" Did anyone else catch this? It was brilliant in summarizing how these shows create ridiculous expectations within many home owners.And the many other ways this crap effects our industry.
I guess I'm clueless... no idea to what extent these shows are staged, the people are real, or is it all just acting? In some ways I'd feel better if it wasn't just a straight documentary. I know the 'extreme home remodeling' shows where 80 guys attack a major remodel in 2 days, that's all crap, but the Dream House looks like an actual witless contractor building an actual house for actual owners, huge mistakes and all.
"Dream House" is on my TIVO list...it's ....shall we say..."interesting".
I remember well the Maryland house...the huge concrete U shaped 3 story deal...and wow, did I have some chuckles over that one. The "We must be in by Labor Day" ultimatum was given...with the lighting wiring unfinished, no sheetrock...and it was Memorial Day! A 10,000 sq ft house, with a HUGE lighting automation system ..and they still hadn't decided on the light locations...all 400 of them! Yea, you'll be rocked, and trimmed out by the end of summer...suuuure you will! (And this was a roll back of the July 4 deadline! LMAO!)
The best part was that he was a banker, but thought he could GC the whole deal himself! And work full time...
Somehow, (maybe because there was no on site GC???) the window rough in sizes ended up...wrong. Over a hundred of them! In concrete!!!!!!!!! THAT was a bit of an embarassment, not to mention a HUGE time setback...and the $$$..wow..what waste.
This Colorado house, in comparision, is running like a well oiled machine!
I DO agree that the GC is making mistakes...but he's probably been forced, to some degree, into them. I am sure the owners are not interested in drive improvements...too much $. Now, it's obvious that a cement truck on it's side is more money, of course...
The roofing thing seems like he had ordered and gotten confirmation of an earlier delivery...again, not his fault, but he could have been better prepared for the inevitable sub contractor and delivery screw ups.
The cistern?? yeah, thats a good one! Esp as the owner is the guy who planned the house, along with his architect partner!!!!!!!
I have to assume the fibre optic bundle is unmovable, and the house sighting HAS to be the way it is...I mean....it's a pretty obvious issue to anyone who's even done an addition, much less ato a team with TWO architects and a builder....right????
I think the show is entertining, and I imagine the producers might look for the strife, the conflicts and the mistakes, and highlight...maybe even encourage them.
That Maryland house deserves a rerun! I could use a good laugh!Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
I forgot about the Maryland house, that was some goooood watching.
Check out the first link on that Maryland house. The last line, "then the trouble begins". LOL. I agree completely that after watching the Maryland house, the CO house is running smooth. The thing I remember most about MD was the owners arrogance. He did absolutely what he wanted when he wanted dispite protests from people in the know. He was just a complete jerk and he got the house that he built, a piece of crap.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_drh/episode/0,1806,HGTV_3831_13063,00.html
Here's that guy, he's the founder and ceo of a software development company.
http://www.conquestsystems.com/mgmt_team.htm#rich
"(the owners) young and hip" -- and apparently none too bright either. The episode I watched showed them lowering a huge PE cistern into a concrete walled room barely big enough to hold the thing. I guess the idea that it might someday need to be replaced never occured to them or the GC. Then they broke down pallets of sheathing and carried individual sheets up the muddy driveway because the GC was too dumb/cheap to lay some gravel for the forklift.
The house itself reminds me of a 21st Century version of a cliff dwelling. They should just save the money budgeted for front doors and use ladders from holes in the flat roof.
There was another one a few years ago where a building designer built his own house witha lady builder and it was to be included in an offsite tour of the Builder's show in Texas. The guy ignored the covenants to an all brick community and got caught. His builder wanted to lien the house in the end and the last show the house was for sale and nobody was interested and his wife was in tears. The builder pulled it off in the end with a ridiculous short schedule and told the designer/owner to back off in the end because he couldn't make up his mind. pathetic!!http://www.shelladditions.com
The local paper has been following the house from the start!
Here is the link to ALL of the print on it, long read so enjoy!
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/dreamhouse/
Hey everyone,
I am not a full time construction pro I do, do part time work and side jobs. I have checked out dream house several times. Each episode I watch of this current project leaves me wondering what the owners were thinking. I live on a small hill in a residential neighborhood. My home is a modest split level. I absolutely hate it. I can't wait to sell it. I don't know what those owners think they will do when there is ice, snow and sleet all over that winding drive way. As far as I can tell, I haven't heard anything about radiant snow melt for the driveway.
Why would you pick a lot like that, especially if you plan on having a family? Where is the kid going to play and ride a bike. Why would you buy a lot with a huge bundle of fiberoptic cable running across it?
All I heard was the "this is the veiw we love" from what I can see the veiw ain't that great. I guess to each his own but it really irritates me each time I watch shows like this that have yuppiish, dumb-a##'s with a litle bit of money building their dream house. My idea of a dream house is not perched on the side of a cliff.
Another example that infuriated me was that young kid who was mentioned in an earlier post who built a house on what looked like a peice of refuse land pitched at about a 45 degree angle. Building it I gaurantee with his daddy's money and a construction manager. That thing was a joke. I was upset that the city gave him an occupancy permit. I enjoyed each time the lady inspector came out there and busted their you know what's.
The best thing about that project was the framer that guy looked great, I hope he didn't get burned by kid and his daddy.
Frank Lloyd Wright said to pick a difficult site, but that was the advice of an architectural genius and egomaniac. There is some truth to what he is saying, but in my opinnion if you pick a difficult site, don't whine when you have issues that come up and drive the budget up...
Oh well, my two cents worth.
Webby
I liked the one where after the house was essentially up somebody clued into the fact that theywere in a flood plain and they had to raise the house and foundation quite a bit to get insurance. Don't think they ever settled if it was the architects or builders fault.Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
So, last nights episode was pretty calm, but I noted that they have no power and no heat and it's Feb in Colorado, and the roof is JUST getting put on!
Man, does THAT builder have patience! I would have been ballistic a long time ago, LOL. They have been shoveling snow off the roof since October! What a waste of time!
To teh poster who thinks the homeowners are nuts, I think they mentioned on the first show that the land is a family tract, and has been in the family for generations.
I also seem to remember they chose the spot it's on for the ability to get a foundation in as other spots surveyed had unfavorable bedding conditions, or an even worse view. I'm still not sure they have the best answer, but I thought they did consider some factors, at least.Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
The young couple with not that much money and their first child on the way have no business building a "dream house". They should build a modest house, live in it for 15 or 20 years and then build the dream house.
I started watching the show when it first started. I am planning on building a new house within 5 years, but I'm 58 and have some experience with building. The show has WAY too much drama and very little interest to me. The house is so ugly and impractical. The whole project is foolish. But the editing and replays of every agonizing detail is so frustrating to watch.
my girlfriend and I are starting to build in the Spring. most of these home improvement TV shows we've seen there is invariabley the "surprise"(???) pregnancy half way through the project. Of all the things that I can control, that is pretty much right up there towards the top. I think my new years' resolution will be separate bedrroms until we are done building.
I am all for building what you want, in Boulder that home will always find a buyer and because its so difficult (permit-wise) to build in the foothills, the value will remain strong.
the homeowners' architect friend helped us with our design, I paid the bill and said no thanks.
My idea of a dream house is not perched on the side of a cliff...
So that's just it "your idea of your dream house" but their dream house is on the side of a mountain. So to each his/her own. I believe in the first episode they mentioned the land was his grandfathers or something and was bought for $3000 or so in the 60's? I'm sure the land is worth more now and this couple doesn't seem to be swimming in money so they built on that site. Some of the views look nice, but for me the hilly site would not work but for them the view is everything. Plus they are fullfilling the grandparents dream of building a house there, for whatever that is worth.
I am so glad you started this thread. I was watching the first episode, yelling at the TV, you should have BUILT A ROAD (DW thought I lost my mind) These yuppies think you build a house with 2 guys in a pick-up with a ladder on top. Construction 101: build access then build house. It was fun to watch and get a good chuckle at someone else expense.
He is a freakin' idiot for not having a usable road for mix trucks, pump trucks, semi trucks, the works. He's already cost himself way more than it would have taken to bring in the material and get a half-#### road made. But then I guess they wouldn't have a show.
The Colorado home reminded me of many of the Wyoming/Colorado mountain homes I worked on. The lots are quirky. The views are good and the mountains are fun to work in during summer and it's almost survival mode in winter.
The roads make no sense, other than being what the owner thought looked good. We chuckled when the boss decided not to chain up one winter morning and the overgrossed weight of our JD skidsteer and gooseneck dump trailer pulled the whole works back down the slick road and into an aspen filled gully.
Delivery drivers often can't drive, let alone drive on steep roads and slick conditions. "We couldn't deliver your beams because our truck lost a rear end a mile from your site and we can't get another truck there until tomorrow."
The concrete truck is filled with mud cooking fast while stuck in construction traffic or behind a big wreck. Locally, a driver was doing ok unless he rolled a truck--automatically fired for that.
The roofers all get drunk and end up in jail--7 day delay. They celebrate getting out and can't work for another day. Day 9 they're not worth a sheyt but show up.
It seems like the more money someone has the more they want all the walls to have BOLD colors--and a house should have at least 10 colors.
:-)
Just caught another show! Build the frikkin road dum AZZ. Now He has the county or city erosion and sediment people breathing down his neck.
Did you catch the deal about the front wall by the huge door that looks like its 4" or 5" out of level. They fix it with a huge steel plate. I bet that looks wonderful :15" at the bottom and 11" at the top or what ever.
Fire the project manager and get on with the ugly piece of junk!
Edited 12/12/2005 9:26 pm ET by VAVince
Maybe I need to watch the clip again, but when the architect/homeowner was planting the pine sapling it looked to me he totally tore apart the root-ball, as if the burlap was just a disposable wrapper. So basically he planted a green twig with a few dangly roots on it that would die in a matter of hours. Maybe for the final episode they can have a wrap-party/intervention--as the show progresses that contractor looks like he's being ravaged by the later stages of alcoholism.
I also Tivo this series. I eagerly await each new episode, so I can bitch and nitpick the whole thing.
>>The contractor is a young-ish guy who is long on charm but seems short on building savvy
Actually, I think he's an alcoholic fratboy jackass. I wouldn't let this guy be a night manager at a Blockbuster Video.
This season of the show illustrates one of my biggest aggravations in construction--builders who would apparently rather work in a big mudhole for months on end than bother to apply the effort, intelligence or forethought to do anything about it. These people live in the Rocky Mountains, where crushed granite road base can be had for six bucks a ton. Wouldn't it save time, effort and ultimately money in the long run to put some gravel down on the danged driveway?
Last week we saw the husband/architect drive to Ikea to get the kitchen cabinets which they started to assemble. I dunno--wouldn't one be better off waiting--at leastuntil the drywallers are finished mudding and sanding?
The house has some glaring design issues that would never make it past a crit in any of my studio classes. The open-air concrete staircase leading from the carport to the front door looks like a future death-trap during a Colorado winter. And that bridge at the master bedroom level will be dramatic looking, but who wants to roll out of bed in the morning and have stagger half-naked to the bathroom and closets in full view of everyone having breakfast directly below?
I do think the siding they devised for the house looks fantastic though.
I guess charm isn't the word, maybe it's the ability to stay humorous in spite of all the stupid problems you've caused. Crushed rock is more like $20 per ton here and I'd still have 100 tons of more graded out on that road already.
what is the siding? it is listed as James Hardie but I can't imagine what product it is....
Dave
It's james hardie sheet goods. I don't know if it is their backer board reversed or if hardie has fiber cement sheet goods.
They had originally wanted steel with that type of rust color (I think they were going to leave it raw and get a natural rust color. The steel was something like three times the fiber cement and their budget was way under the actual costs so they started to cut costs, i.e. fiber cement, Ikea cabinets, cheaper lights, etc.
I have used Hardiepanel. It comes in 4x8 and 4x10 foot sheets. It comes plain, cedar texture, "T-111" type texture and stucco texture. I used stucco texture and painted it with Sherwin WIlliams stucco paint to help hide the seams. Frank DuValYou can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
they used hardie plank reversed because the owner didn't like the look of 'fake wood' (which I agree with) and then they had the supplier spray it with a rust looking stain.
>>>Actually, I think he's an alcoholic fratboy jackass. I wouldn't let this guy be a night manager at a Blockbuster Video.Hey !! I didn't know Bush was moonlighting. Maybe we should give the prez a raise. I mean what's it gonna look like to all the other countries if our prez has to work a second job to make ends meet ?
"If we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." - Edith Wharton
Ya know, I gotta give this "Dream House" show one thing - At least they don't make it look pathetically easy, like some of the other shows. They show some realistic problems, like the concrete truck getting stuck because there's no driveway. Better that than the shows where they slap up a bunch of painted junk and call it a "home renovation". Too bad they weren't around when I built the "Spec house from hell"..............(-:
Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?
I see the "bridge" is now installed as well as the steel staircase. The ringing sound those stairs make when walking up/down them would drive me batty :)
Renaissance Restorations LLC
Victorian Home Restoration Services
http://www.renaissancerestorations.com
Maybe on a future episode there will be a contactor-client confrontation followed by desperate attempts to glue large pieces of sheet rubber to the underside of the treads.
For some reason I have not come across the show since posting. It's never on the schedule and we're cave-people here... no tivo. Maybe for the holidays I should up the ante on the tv hardware and get a DVR.
DVR rocks. DVR will change your life. : )
I was actually thinking of dragging the TV behind my truck, but you're probably right.
What killed me was that on the latest episode they had to buy $20 "commercial" light fixtures because they have now gone 200k over budget (500k vrs 300k orig plan). They will put in the $250-$300/ea fixtures later.
Also, the owner, newbie archi, was spending evenings assembling the cabinet boxes to save money, and he had flown out to the cabinet co, and rented a truck to drive the cabs back to save a 1k.
How the heck do you spend 500k, and end up w/ cheap lights, cabinets, etc and a stained conc floor.
Some neat ideas, but this newbie has A LOT to learn. Good think his first lesson is w/ his own $$. I hope his next project goes better.
>>How the heck do you spend 500k, and end up w/ cheap lights, cabinets, etc and a stained conc floor.Because he went $200,000 over budget on those unduly elaborate foundation walls.I still can't get over that bridge. Imagine getting up in the morning and having to go pee with a stiffy in your boxer shorts, huge expanse of glass on one side, family eating breakfast below on the other... I hope they like wearing robes.
maybe a port-a-john in the bedroom . . .
This has been some funny reading, you guys. We just got cable. I gotta try to find this show now. Thanks for the laughs.
Here you go. http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_drh
I think almost all the cable and dish networks carry HGTV. I really cannot truly do justice to what a cluster (explative) the Landry's house in Maryland was. As stupid and arrogant you think a home owner could be, double or triple that and you would have the genius Landry. None of the stuff on that dream builders was tv hype to create a better show, they just shot the train wreck and made some edits.
Thanks, man. I scoured the TV listings and it looks like it's on Monday nights here. Can't wait to check it out.
I live just afew miles away, drove by the other week. In the paper this morning it's been appraised by the assesor for $ 650,000. So, my guess is that market value is in the $ 700,000-800,000 range.
To be "in the business", have a contractor in your pocket and STILL go that far over budget is so unprofessional.
Isn't the place only like 1700 sqft? They willl be adding on in a few years when kiddie number two pops. Here in the Pacific NW the show airs at 8pm Monday have to see what amazing things are going on.
With any luck, his house might make this list when it's complete:http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore_200511.html