Rock The Block - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the kitchen sink on Jenny & Dave's faced the neighbor's house (which hasn't been built yet), and the island seating view faced the same way.   However, I've been wrong about episodes before on this show, and I very well could be confusing their house with another one. 

I'm still surprised with the detached garages, and only Mike and Egypt attached it, and how close houses at this price point are.   

Edited April 8, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

I think you’re right. Iirc, they were complimented on turning it around to look out the window. Into another house😂

[Ohmo]

On 4/5/2022 at 1:30 PM, KeithJ said:

Anyone know if the houses have gone up for sale yet?  I'd love to see the listings for them.

Now that we've had three seasons of this show, I'd love if they'd do a special about at least some of the people that bought them, why they bought them, if they knew they were RTB houses, and anything they might have changed about them.

I'm fine with Egypt and Mike's house, but I also liked Dave and Jenny's house.  I want someone to appreciate Keith and Evan's house.

The twins were less annoying during the finale.

[Dehumidifier]

11 hours ago, Kip1 said:

My favorite part of the last episode is seeing the teams look at their competitor's work.

You just know the twins were peeking in the other teams' windows.

[pasdetrois]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:00 AM, Shelbie said:

The older I get the more I realize that there can be too much storage in a house.

I live near tons of places to buy stuff, and then there's a Container Store for storing all the stuff. It's madness.

[NYGirl]

Here's the houses on Zillow.  No Egypt and Mike though.  Maybe it's sold already?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/133-Sandy-Bend-Ln-Summerville-SC-29486/2064294918_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/135-Sandy-Bend-Ln-Summerville-SC-29486/2064293276_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/141-Sandy-Bend-Ln-Summerville-SC-29486/2064292781_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

[kirklandia]

12 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

 

Here's the houses on Zillow.  

 

Thanks for sharing this – I had been looking but didn't find them. It looks like they were just listed in the last day.

Interesting that Zillow has given them all the same value! $1,250,000.  So much for all the designers' efforts.

Egypt and Mike's house did sell. $1,320,000.  I found it on Redfin.  

https://www.redfin.com/SC/Summerville/139-Sandy-Bend-Ln-29486/home/175113154

 

[Cetacean]

How did the pink house end up with an extra 800 square feet?  It lists for 9100 sq ft and the other two list for 8300.  I thought the were all identical.

[CrazyInAlabama]

  

 

The three remaining houses hit the listings today,  and they're accepting bids 9 April, with the starting price at $1.250 million. 

Edited April 8, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Cetacean]

There is a $950 HOA for those places.  What would that get you?  It's not like they need snow removal services.  Alligator control on the lake?

[CrazyInAlabama]

The only amenities for the HOA fee is a club house, and walk/jog trails.  I'm sure one of these days, the club house will have a pool, and maybe they'll gate the subdivision or something.   The HOA might have to maintain streets within the community too. It's also possible that the HOA fee will pay for common area mowing, and landscaping, insurance for the common areas, guest parking areas, and taxes for the common area/club house.   They claim the community will have shopping, restaurants, and more recreation facilities.    

The street naming for the winning team was just for the show.   You don't change a street name in the postal service listings, and e-911 on a whim.  

Edited April 8, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

5 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The only amenities for the HOA fee is a club house, and walk/jog trails

So it's $79 a month times--not sure how many other homes are built in that Association just yet. When other amenities come online, that fee will go up, especially if there's a pool that needs upkeep and a lifeguard (the condos around here do--too much liability otherwise). 

Not surprised that Egypt's and Mike's house went for above the asking price. Waiting to see the allowance given to anyone eyeing the Marrs' slide replacement. If I had little kids, I'd still take it out. Before moving in.

[Chippings]

5 hours ago, kirklandia said:

 

Egypt and Mike's house did sell. $1,320,000.  I found it on Redfin.  

https://www.redfin.com/SC/Summerville/139-Sandy-Bend-Ln-29486/home/175113154

 

I knew you guys would find this stuff - thank you !!

Yes  that's definitely their house, which I wasn't 101% sure of until I looked at the photos.  I had some hesitation because it says the address is "139 Sandy Bend Lane". !?  

So much for the honor of having the street named after you.  I wondered, actually, if the post office will use a street name with an ampersand in it.  And we have to realize that they never said "will name the street after you in perpetuity !  So it's just actually "name it after you until it's changed.  Next week."

Thank you all again for the searches for the updates and extra info about HOAs and stuff.

 

[deirdra]

5 hours ago, kirklandia said:

Egypt and Mike's house did sell. $1,320,000.  I found it on Redfin.  

https://www.redfin.com/SC/Summerville/139-Sandy-Bend-Ln-29486/home/175113154

It has a flood factor of 8/10: severe -There’s a 1% chance of 0.9 ft (11 inches) of water reaching this building this year.  That alone would steer me to a different house.

Edited April 8, 2022 by deirdra

[buttersister]

26 minutes ago, deirdra said:

It has a flood factor of 8/10: severe

WTAF, HGTV? Those houses could have been built anywhere! (But not as cheap to buy, I imagine. Unbelievable.)

[CrazyInAlabama]

Then, that partially explains why the houses had raised foundations, with about a foot step down.    I hope the generator Mike and Egypt put in was on a platform, and the airconditioning units also.   That would make the attached garage a necessity to hook the FROG above the garage into the main house, so Egypt and Mike were very smart to do that.    The three houses without attached garages would be miserable when you get a lot of rain, you can't have anything on the garage floor, and the FROG would be awful to get to with the only access the stairs from the garage.     

I'm wondering if that pond or whatever it was right behind the houses is actually a runoff from the subdivision.   That's a huge subdivision, and I bet they have a runoff containment area, and if that water didn't have a current in it, then I would worry about mosquitoes, and other problems that come from stagnant water.     

Where I live there's a subdivision by a small lake, and the houses that back to it have to have a specific, open metal rod fence, and no privacy fences on the back, maybe on the sides, but I'm not sure about that.   So, since only one team put up a big fence, it may not be allowed. 

Edited April 9, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Cetacean]

48 minutes ago, buttersister said:

WTAF, HGTV? Those houses could have been built anywhere! 

I don't believe HGTV builds them, do they?  I think they likely search for housing projects alreeady under contruction that fit into their McMansion framework and likely in a place that will be easy to stage filming.  Which certainly rules out my neighborhood.

[LittleIggy]

7 hours ago, buttersister said:

So it's $79 a month times--not sure how many other homes are built in that Association just yet. When other amenities come online, that fee will go up, especially if there's a pool that needs upkeep and a lifeguard (the condos around here do--too much liability otherwise). 

Not surprised that Egypt's and Mike's house went for above the asking price. Waiting to see the allowance given to anyone eyeing the Marrs' slide replacement. If I had little kids, I'd still take it out. Before moving in.

I think it’s a hazard. Kids do dumb things, and I can just see a kid getting stuck and suffocating in that thing. A sleepover would have to be supervised non-stop.

[letusprocrastinate]

I agree with many of the assessments provided here, particularly the indoor slide being a bad idea.  Once I saw what the Maars were going to do that I knew they were going to lose and once the generator was mentioned I knew Egypt and Mike were going to win and it was only a matter of trying to edit things to make it look like the other teams had a chance.

Seriously, put that slide in the yard instead of wasting two perfectly good rooms on something that young kids will outgrow and could be a legal liability, adults on the show enjoying themselves taking turns going down said slide notwithstanding.

I will give kudos to the twins for keeping the living room windows instead of adding doors and therefore making it more difficult to have furniture on the front porch.

I will also give kudos to the Detroit guys for adding the ceiling fans to the covered portion of the backyard. 

That being said, and I'm saying this because of comments here about where these houses are located, why didn't anyone screen in some part of a backyard to allow people to sit outside bug-free?  What's more, with all of the added outdoor furniture (yeah, I know, staging), have fun dragging that stuff inside when the weather gets funky.  Furthermore, fireplaces and hot tubs in a location where you're dealing with heat and humidity for a good chunk of the year?  Not to mention saunas, including one on the top floor of a house that is already going to have a big AC bill?

Finally, and I realize this is something that happens all the time in new construction, but what concerns me more about the closeness of these houses is not if the neighbors can see you but what if one of those houses catches fire.  Embers don't have far to go to hit the neighbors' houses.

Edited April 9, 2022 by letusprocrastinate
Sheesh, I wrote an essay

[Fellaway]

18 hours ago, deirdra said:

It has a flood factor of 8/10: severe -There’s a 1% chance of 0.9 ft (11 inches) of water reaching this building this year.  That alone would steer me to a different house.

Thank you! I spent the whole season wondering why anyone would want to live that close to water on such flat land. Not to mention how on top of each other these houses are.

I spent the rest of the time thinking how remarkably unremarkable everything was this season, even the winners' house.  The basic house they were all given to work with just didn't seem as nice as the houses in the previous seasons, and nothing any of these teams did was a "Wow!" moment. And, for the most part, they all had the same ideas - move the pantry, more bathrooms, outdoor kitchens, mini-apartments over the garage, etc. If they keep who adds the most value to the house as the sole criteria for judging, then this show just becomes a game of who can put in the most bathrooms and livable square footage. Important, yes, but boring and predictable as far as the show goes. Maybe they should start giving more credit to original design in their judging.

I think the right team won, but solely by virtue of the brick, connecting the garage to the house, and, maybe, the generator. (Didn't a team do that last year?) Their house was nice but... unremarkable. I'd never plunk down that kind of money on a rather ordinary house that close to water and the neighbors.

Having Nate and Jeremiah as judges this season brought back memories of their house and how luxurious and high-end they made it, and that wasn't to the benefit of the houses they were judging this season.

[debbie311]

Random thoughts.  I thought the wall of tea lights was about the dumbest thing I have ever seen.  Who would want to bother to light them/turn them on (if battery-operated)? So "Trading Spaces." And that slide! Completely ridiculous.

I also agree with all the comments about not having a screened-in porch in the back.  I mean, the houses are right on the water.  Mosquitoes? I would imagine that in that area of the country, there would be a lot of flying insects, especially in the summer.  I can never understand the big fold-back glass doors to "open up to the outside." Sure, it would make for a nice unrestricted view, but it would let any number of bugs in the house.  So not practical.

[letusprocrastinate]

7 minutes ago, debbie311 said:

Random thoughts.  I thought the wall of tea lights was about the dumbest thing I have ever seen.  Who would want to bother to light them/turn them on (if battery-operated)? So "Trading Spaces." And that slide! Completely ridiculous.

I also agree with all the comments about not having a screened-in porch in the back.  I mean, the houses are right on the water.  Mosquitoes? I would imagine that in that area of the country, there would be a lot of flying insects, especially in the summer.  I can never understand the big fold-back glass doors to "open up to the outside." Sure, it would make for a nice unrestricted view, but it would let any number of bugs in the house.  So not practical.

To me, those tea lights looked like the kind you can buy dirt cheap by the hundreds at the Mart of Wal.

[debbie311]

Just now, letusprocrastinate said:

To me, those tea lights looked like the kind you can buy dirt cheap by the hundreds at the Mart of Wal.

Exactly!  I have some - I use them at Christmas, but I put them in tea light holders, I don't just set the cheap little metal candles around. 

[40Love]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:26 AM, LittleIggy said:

I think it’s a hazard. Kids do dumb things, and I can just see a kid getting stuck and suffocating in that thing. A sleepover would have to be supervised

Plus, how many years is that even viable? 5 years at the max... before a kid outgrows it... or just loses interest. That slide was the most ridiculous idea ever. What were they thinking? One of them should stopped the other. 

[Grrarrggh]

4 hours ago, 40Love said:

Plus, how many years is that even viable? 5 years at the max... before a kid outgrows it... or just loses interest. That slide was the most ridiculous idea ever. What were they thinking? One of them should stopped the other. 

Why? It's not like they're going to lose their HGTV spot because of it. Someone will still be either stupid or desperate enough to pay $1m+. The whole of the competition in all the series, except maybe the Detroit couple and Egypt and Mike this year, are just cruising along. Why bother doing the true work of design, let alone architecture, when they can get paid just as much by churning out the same product, thought up and 'designed' by someone else, over and over and over.  Easy peasy. 

[Cetacean]

2 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

It's not like they're going to lose their HGTV spot because of it.

So true.  Do they ever bring up their Big Win on their normal shows?  I don't regularly watch any of them so I couldn't say but I can't imagine they'd bother. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Cetacean

[Dehumidifier]

6 hours ago, 40Love said:

Plus, how many years is that even viable? 5 years at the max... before a kid outgrows it... or just loses interest. That slide was the most ridiculous idea ever. What were they thinking? One of them should stopped the other. 

They did it because it was free money for them to use on a crazy idea. Like when you get a gift card and you go to the store with it burning a hole in your pocket and buy something you never would have purchased otherwise. Me anyway, sigh.

[carrps]

3 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Like when you get a gift card and you go to the store with it burning a hole in your pocket and buy something you never would have purchased otherwise. Me anyway, sigh.

Is there a support group for this???

[Chippings]

Well, the recap episode was kind of interesting.  I liked the Detroit guys a little better, and the twins a little less.

The good news, they did promise another season next year !  I'd been wondering. So, 'yay for that!  

Well, oops, I correct myself  Definitely not much enthusiasm here (so far) for another season.   I sort of enjoyed the yelling at the screen saying "Are you nuts?  Why would you even do that??" and feeling smarter than the contestants.  Mileage obviously does vary.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Chippings
Other viewpoints

[Grrarrggh]

25 minutes ago, Chippings said:

The good news, they did promise another season next year !  I'd been wondering. So, 'yay for that!  

Really? Unless the competitors are actual designers you might as well watch the first three (?) series. Practically the same houses and "drama" in all of them.

[Cetacean]

5 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Unless the competitors are actual designers you might as well watch the first three (?) series. Practically the same houses and "drama" in all of them.

I agree.  It's the same old, same old every time. The only different thing was that stupid slide. I won't watch again. 

[CruiseDiva]

It was kind of an interesting wrap-up. Dave, and especially Jenny, came off as not so nice. The twins acted like teenage tomboys. The Detroit guys were very humble and dignified. Egypt and Mike were the most likeable. I'd like to have lunch and margaritas with them. Ty looks just as stinky and homeless as ever.

[buttersister]

CruiseDiva, thanks, you just saved me an hour. I recorded it but hadn’t watched because the few seconds I checked in had the twins rolling around or some such. Hard pass on future seasons unless they score snarky celebrities and actual designer teams—and lose Ty.

[GeorgiaRai]

14 hours ago, Chippings said:

The good news, they did promise another season next year !  I'd been wondering. So, 'yay for that!  

I'll yay with you (or alone now, if you've changed your mind)!  I like this show - even when I don't like all the people or all of the designs.  

[Chippings]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

I'll yay with you (or alone now, if you've changed your mind)!  I like this show - even when I don't like all the people or all of the designs.  

Yes thank you, GeorgiaRai.  I am still looking forward to another season, seeing ideas I never would've come up with that are good, and the awful ones too.  I will be wondering who they commandeer from their stable of "designers" who haven't already done it (and have any following at all), or maybe invite back.  

[CruiseDiva]

6 hours ago, Chippings said:

Yes thank you, GeorgiaRai.  I am still looking forward to another season, seeing ideas I never would've come up with that are good, and the awful ones too.  I will be wondering who they commandeer from their stable of "designers" who haven't already done it (and have any following at all), or maybe invite back.  

Maybe they'll invite the losing teams back. 🤣

[kirklandia]

8 hours ago, Chippings said:

  I will be wondering who they commandeer from their stable of "designers" who haven't already done it

I'm putting in my vote for the Boise Boys.

Of course they are ill-suited to this type of competition. Tweaking enormous  pricey cookie-cutter new-construction homes is not really in their wheelhouse.
But, Boise has become one of the hottest real estate markets in the country recently. So maybe they could film next season there?  
Anyway, I would be happy for any opportunity to see them on TV.

[Grrarrggh]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:18 PM, CruiseDiva said:

The twins acted like teenage tomboys. 

Wouldn't that just be teenagers then? Aren't we past the time where a female who isn't slathered in pink and who hates sports/outdoors/tools needs to have another name to describe them or a qualifier? Can't they just be women? Though I can't stand people, especially women, who call other women "girls". Ick. 

But yeah, Dave and Jenny don't come off well at all. Ty never really did. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Grrarrggh

[CrazyInAlabama]

I don't think HGTV will ever feature anyone on Rock the Block who doesn't have a show on their network, and doesn't have another season in the works.   

Unless, the network uses it as a way to try out teams for possible future shows.    I don't know how long the filming and all of the work takes, but I'm sure a lot of people who have shows won't be leaving their work, and home for however long the filming takes. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

2 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't think HGTV will ever feature anyone on Rock the Block who doesn't have a show on their network, and doesn't have another season in the works.   

Too damn bad it is, too. A series with primetimers and HGTV 'talent' would be awesome. But that might let out the secret that there is more to houses than open concept grey/white... 

[SusanwatchingTV]

Luke and Clint (The Boise Boys) had a new show for 2021 called Outgrown.

I really enjoyed it.  I don't know if they'll do another season this year, but it's not too late. It aired in the fall in 2021.

It's still on the HGTV website:  https://www.hgtv.com/shows/outgrown

[SusanwatchingTV]

I finally sat down and watched the recording of RtB from last week.

I thought everyone was funny. (Though the wrestling twins was cringy.) 

I didn't see Jenny and Dave as bad at all, but maybe I missed something?  Egypt started the episode ragging on Jenny (teasing) about covering up windows with cabinets, so I thought it was funny when Dave played a prank on her at the end.

The only time I saw Jenny get upset was about the wrong placement of the lights, but I agreed with her that they were both in the wrong place and in a stupid place, plus it ruined the wallpaper, so she couldn't just take them down and move them.  Their solution worked, but I would have been upset too, plus she seemed exhausted.  Those are some long hard days doing that show. I wouldn't want to do it either, particularly when you have young kids.

Anyway, it was a pretty good wrap up to the show, and an overall enjoyable season.

Edited April 14, 2022 by SusanwatchingTV

[photo7521]

On 4/8/2022 at 4:34 PM, Chippings said:

I knew you guys would find this stuff - thank you !!

Yes  that's definitely their house, which I wasn't 101% sure of until I looked at the photos.  I had some hesitation because it says the address is "139 Sandy Bend Lane". !?  

So much for the honor of having the street named after you.  I wondered, actually, if the post office will use a street name with an ampersand in it.  And we have to realize that they never said "will name the street after you in perpetuity !  So it's just actually "name it after you until it's changed.  Next week."

Thank you all again for the searches for the updates and extra info about HOAs and stuff.

 

Retired Postal Worker here. You can name the street if you are the first house built on that street.  Many streets (parcels of land) in the past were bought by one person/family and they were allowed to name their property. I worked in the mapping division in the 80's and had a woman who owned several acres of land and wanted the street name changed every week or two. The city where the land was located was not going to change the street signs on her whim, so one of my jobs was to sending her an official letter with the new name. She was older and it made her happy.

Today with many municipalities being developed with companies, the developer will name the street and the city will have a limited veto. So the winners could possibly have the right to name the street. The Postal Service has no say so in the street name.

[CrazyInAlabama]

If you search reddit Bargain Block, about halfway down the page is a Rock the Block topic about the before and after of Keith and Evan's house.     

 The space with the wood detail just inside the front door is painted to match the wall.   The kitchen is neutral paint, the living room is now neutral, not that orangy yellow.   The main bedroom is painted a light neutral, with the wall sail decoration gone.   The wellness room still has a massage table, but the many little shelves for candles are gone, and the walls are neutral too.  The bonus space/loft is no longer painted teal, just the green wall tile remains.  The bright pink bathroom is now a light neutral too.  

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The main bedroom is painted a light neutral, with the wall sail decoration gone. 

Oh, I’m shocked! 😏

[katisha]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:33 AM, CynicalGirl said:

It's funny, because I've watched Unsellable Houses (not religiously, just if I'm flipping channels looking for something/anything) and the twins never bothered me as much as they do on this show. All their cutesy little antics are obnoxious here. 

Agreed.  They're fine on Unsellable Houses but on this show I wanted to bang their heads together halfway through the first episode.  Funny how some things just don't translate.

[CrazyInAlabama]

https://mylandmarkhomes.net/blog/who-is-rocking-the-rockies-in-season-four-of-rock-the-block/   

Talks about the teams, and who is on them.   This is Season 4.  

It's above Denver, and not that far south of Fort Collins.   

My guess for winner is Page, and her partner.   Jon and Kristina seem like a stong second.    

The new team aren't familiar to me, but one partner won Project Runway All Star season 6. (I might have that season number wrong). 

Certainly not Sarah and Bryan, 

The builder's website looks like the homes are upscale townhomes.   The prices are comparable to the previous Rock the Block communities.    Unless there's a separate section of four homes, I'm guessing they might have to go with the standard outside themes.   

My suspicion is the 'name the street after you' is just a gimmick, and a street sign they used for filming, and sign goes away with the cameras. 

Edited October 5, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

Does who is on the teams really matter? Every house in every series looks like it's been "designed" by the same big box store/on-the-cheap house flippers. 

[Soapy Goddess]

4 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Does who is on the teams really matter? Every house in every series looks like it's been "designed" by the same big box store/on-the-cheap house flippers. 

Yes, the houses are all the same. It's what they do with the interior of the "cookie cutter" houses to help them stand out, be different and add value...as well as the exterior landscape.

[tessabq]

The best part about the new season? The name "Allison Victoria" is nowhere to be found.