Flip Or Flop - General Discussion

[Real4real]

This house felt a little disjointed to me--hard, industrial concrete floors with the variegated wood panel on the island and the super sleek finish on the fireplace?  Then upstairs with all the chandeliers and blingy tile?  There was too much going on.  Usually the staging helps to connect the dots for me, but not this time.  Maybe I'm out of touch, but I'm ready for the 50 shades of gray fad to end! 

Also enjoy seeing Tarek and Christina's relationship--they seem like a sweet couple!

[ByaNose]

I think the house was too modern and impractical for a family. It might appeal to a single or a young married couple though. Of course, the list price sounded crazy even for that neighborhood thus it not selling. I wish they had done a little staging for the deck near the fire feature. It looked like a stage for a Las Vegas show. I also thought the fireplace looked too flat. It was an improvement over all of the brick but it needed a mantle or some big a** clock on it. LOL!!!!

[doodlebug]

Yeah the deck and fountain were fairly unique and should've been staged with a couple of chairs at least.  The fireplace was blah to me, but they seem to like that 'flat against the wall' look for them.  I much prefer a mantle myself.

[Albino]

19 hours ago, Real4real said:

Also enjoy seeing Tarek and Christina's relationship--they seem like a sweet couple!

I hated Christina until this season.  She was just another pretty bottle-blonde robot who wore false lashes to demos.  And she never blinked when she talked to the camera.  Never.  It was creepy.  Don't know if it's being pregnant or not, but this year she seems much warmer and relaxed, which makes her and Tarek's relationship more interesting to watch.

Wish I could be as enthusiastic about their choice in boy baby names.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Albino

[tabloidlover]

I don't care for her clearly staged facetime segments with Tarek.  She is at home, supposedly, yet is fully made up with false eyelashes and a pound of makeup just posing.   Irritates the fuck outta me.

[doodlebug]

13 hours ago, tabloidlover said:

I don't care for her clearly staged facetime segments with Tarek.  She is at home, supposedly, yet is fully made up with false eyelashes and a pound of makeup just posing.   Irritates the fuck outta me.

But its all staged.  The trip to look at the property, the phone calls 'negotiating' the price, the 'surprise' problems, the trip to pick out finishes (ever notice how the same shaker cabinets, and mosaic tiles get chosen every time?  With a business as large as T&C's, it's obvious they buy in bulk and store that stuff in a warehouse someplace to use in house after house and the forays to Home Depot are fictional. When you see scenes at their home, notice they've got the exact same gray mosaic tiles, cabinets and flooring in their own home. They stockpile it.).

I do think Christina's massive fake eyelashes look silly.  She's a very pretty woman and a lighter hand with the makeup would look better, IMO. The thick foundation and ugly false eyelashes actually detract from he natural beauty. Good lord, she lives in California and makeup artists abound.  Surely someone could to lash extensions or do a less obvious job of using false lashes if that's what they want.

[Broderbits]

It might not be just Christina or California: the overuse of makeup extends to many other HGTV shows, so it might be part of the producer-driven shenanigans. Some of the women on House Hunters look like they totally cleaned out Sephora, and the fake eyelashes are ridiculous. Even JoJo on Fixer Upper wears a lot of makeup.

[magicdog]

Quote

I know a contractor who says those glass tiles are a fad and the next thing people are going to be ripping out because they're "dated" in about ten years.

My dad used to work in construction in the 60s and also did a lot of demo/remodeling work on the side.  He found it funny how people wanted subway tile again in the bathrooms and kitchens - since 50+ years ago, people couldn't get it out of their homes fast enough to make room for laminate and linoleum!!  He was definitely a fan of subway tile and thought the people who wanted it ripped out (especially hexagon shaped tiles used in bathrooms) were clueless.

 

Quote

I'm hearing that concrete counter tops are becoming trendy right now, although they are fairly high maintenance because you have to oil them like butcher block. Which makes me wonder what you have to do with concrete flooring. Presumably it would crack over time as it dries just as concrete counters would.

True.  As they say, there's two kinds of concrete:  one that's cracked and one that hasn't cracked yet.  Although it can look great in loft spaces and can be easy to clean.  I've seen the floors stained various colors to make them look warmer.

[Portia]

12 years ago we pulled up the impossible-to-keep-clean carpet in our big finished basement, thoroughly cleaned the concrete, and painted it. Then we crossed our fingers and held our breath, waiting for it to start peeling or scratching. I'm happy to say it looks amazingly good today, despite being flooded multiple times and being trampled upon by hordes of family and friends of all ages.  It's chilly during the winter, but we have a fireplace down there, which helps--and we're much more interested in how nice and cool that floor is during our hot Alabama summers. All that being said--it's fine for a basement/rec room. The concrete floor on the show looked a lot fancier than ours, but I'm not a fan of the industrial style for a private residence.  I'm old-fashioned and gravitate toward a warmer look.

[iMonrey]

Quote

With a business as large as T&C's, it's obvious they buy in bulk and store that stuff in a warehouse someplace to use in house after house and the forays to Home Depot are fictional. When you see scenes at their home, notice they've got the exact same gray mosaic tiles, cabinets and flooring in their own home. They stockpile it.).

In the early seasons they made a point of showing the name of the stores they went into to choose tile and flooring - clearly they were getting discounts (or maybe even free stuff) by promoting specific stores with their show. Your post made me realize they don't do that anymore, and probably because of the reason you specified - they have their own business now and have all this stuff stored somewhere in bulk.

[hatchetgirl]

A contractor came through and flipped a neighboring house and they did an amazing job! Redid the interiors to original, it was lovely.  Then after only 2 years, a flipper came through and destroyed it! Replacing a lovely Spanish arched window with a plain cheap home Depot window.  I'm so disappointed.  

[Writing Wrongs]

I just marathoned whatever season they have on Netflix. Every show seems the same. They buy a cheap priced house, thinking it's not going to cost much to flip. Then all problems follow and Tarek bitches and freaks out about cost. They high end it up and it miraculously sells for over asking. 

[iMonrey]

Well this latest one was different, anyway. I kind of liked the way they showed Tarek and Pete looking at two different houses before deciding which one to invest in. Plus the golf game was fun. But Pete was right, that was way too much white in the kitchen. Don't subway tiles come in any color besides white? I can't believe Tarek wanted to put white tile in a kitchen with white cabinets and white counter tops. I mean, financially speaking, he was probably correct that the back splash wasn't going to be a deal breaker in that house, but surely they could have come up with a compromise between plain white subway tiles and expensive glass tiles. I know tile comes in other colors and you don't have to use glass tiles.   

[Albino]

15 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Well this latest one was different, anyway. I kind of liked the way they showed Tarek and Pete looking at two different houses before deciding which one to invest in. Plus the golf game was fun. But Pete was right, that was way too much white in the kitchen. Don't subway tiles come in any color besides white? I can't believe Tarek wanted to put white tile in a kitchen with white cabinets and white counter tops. I mean, financially speaking, he was probably correct that the back splash wasn't going to be a deal breaker in that house, but surely they could have come up with a compromise between plain white subway tiles and expensive glass tiles. I know tile comes in other colors and you don't have to use glass tiles.   

I liked this episode too!  At the very least, they could have put a grey or black stripe or something to break up the white subway tile.  I wasn't a fan of Pete's choice either, but it probably would have looked better.  That kitchen hurt my eyes.

IIRC Pete was always the cheapskate in other episodes but I guess he had to take on Christina's role of spendthrift in this episode.  At least there were no blinged-out chandeliers or random Moroccan tile patterns in the bathroom.

[StaceyNotStacie]

I enjoyed the episode. I liked the two house comparison and I liked how they solved the white tile debate. All of the white didn't bother me. It looked good at the end and the new owners have plenty of opportunity to put their own touches of color to the kitchen. I'm thinking that the blue tile would have been restricting on color choices. The off-site bathroom design was also interesting. 

I liked the Christina-lite episode. I'm sure she's a lovely person IRL, but her pissed off facial expressions whenever she doesn't get her way or when they find something wrong annoy the snot out of me. 

[topanga]

2 hours ago, Albino said:

I liked this episode too!  At the very least, they could have put a grey or black stripe or something to break up the white subway tile.  I wasn't a fan of Pete's choice either, but it probably would have looked better.  That kitchen hurt my eyes.

IIRC Pete was always the cheapskate in other episodes but I guess he had to take on Christina's role of spendthrift in this episode.  At least there were no blinged-out chandeliers or random Moroccan tile patterns in the bathroom.

Now I'm really learning that Christina has the better eye for design. The two designs that Tarak has been in charge of--the guest bathroom and this kitchen--have been visual nightmares. That guest bathroom gave me a headache and might have caused a seizure if I had epilipsy. This kitchen was too white--I agree that it hurts the eyes.

I don't always agree with Christina's design choices, but at least they make sense. Except for that master that bathroom--I hated the entire design. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I'm thinking that the blue tile would have been restricting on color choices.

I thought they were blue at first too but Tarek and Pete both referred to them as gray, so I'm assuming the sample was covered in a blue plastic. A gray tile back splash would have made sense with the gray flooring. And they could have compromised on some sort of gray stone tile instead of the expensive glass tile. I bet Tarek and Christina have subway tiles stocked in bulk in their warehouse. 

Quote

I liked the Christina-lite episode. I'm sure she's a lovely person IRL, but her pissed off facial expressions whenever she doesn't get her way or when they find something wrong annoy the snot out of me. 

The only time she annoys me a little bit is in the initial walk-thru when the house is a mess and she keeps going "ewww" and "gross" like a 13 year old valley girl. She should be used to messes by now. 

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IIRC Pete was always the cheapskate in other episodes but I guess he had to take on Christina's role of spendthrift in this episode.

I think both Pete and Tarek got off pretty easy with this flip; if Christina had been there I bet she'd have never gone for that pre-fab bathroom. Nor would she have ever caved on the back splash.

Notice there were no monumental "surprises" during reno - no undiscovered mold or termite damage or wiring or plumbing problems or any of the million other obvious problems they should have spotted on the initial walk-thru that somehow always seem to take them by surprise. Instead they filled the extra time with comparing the two houses and the golf match. I hope they continue to break from the formula a little bit because the "surprises" which should have been obvious are the worst part of the show.

[topanga]

I watched some old episodes this weekend. I really miss Israel. He's smart, and has an animated personality--he makes busted pipes and termite damage sound interesting. I know he isn't always featured on the show because he works on their other flips--at least he did in the past. But he also has his own construction/contracting company and isn't a part of T & C construction. Does this mean that Israel and the El Moussas might have parted ways?

 

On 7/15/2016 at 4:00 PM, iMonrey said:

I thought they were blue at first too but Tarek and Pete both referred to them as gray, so I'm assuming the sample was covered in a blue plastic. A gray tile back splash would have made sense with the gray flooring. And they could have compromised on some sort of gray stone tile instead of the expensive glass tile. I bet Tarek and Christina have subway tiles stocked in bulk in their warehouse. 

The only time she annoys me a little bit is in the initial walk-thru when the house is a mess and she keeps going "ewww" and "gross" like a 13 year old valley girl. She should be used to messes by now. 

I think both Pete and Tarek got off pretty easy with this flip; if Christina had been there I bet she'd have never gone for that pre-fab bathroom. Nor would she have ever caved on the back splash.

Notice there were no monumental "surprises" during reno - no undiscovered mold or termite damage or wiring or plumbing problems or any of the million other obvious problems they should have spotted on the initial walk-thru that somehow always seem to take them by surprise. Instead they filled the extra time with comparing the two houses and the golf match. I hope they continue to break from the formula a little bit because the "surprises" which should have been obvious are the worst part of the show.

For the prices they list those houses, I don't think they should use pre-fab either. 

And I wish they would stop using laminate in kitchens. We have laminate wood in our kitchen, and I'm always running around with a towel or mop to wipe up water spills so the floors don't buckle. And I hate it. It goes against the nature of kitchens--water drips from your wet hands when you wash them or from dishes when you take them out of the dishwasher or dish rack. It's a pain trying not to get the floor wet. 

[doodlebug]

I had laminate floor in my kitchen years ago and it was a nightmare.  A light color, it got scratched so easily and never looked clean for more than 5 minutes after it was washed.  A flood from a faulty garbage disposal wrecked the floor in front of the sink. The finish wore off where my dogs walked to the door to go out. And, as everyone here probably already knows, it cannot be refinished like real hardwoods; once it's hacked up, it's hacked up.  It looked terrible less than a year after installation, I wouldn't have it again.  Replaced it with ceramic tile almost 5 years ago and haven't looked back.

Laminate, to me, anyway, is a deterrent and I'd avoid buying a house that had it, no matter how nice it looked initially.

Edited July 18, 2016 by doodlebug

[iMonrey]

Some laminate is just as expensive as real wood, and I think in some houses you can't have real wood depending on the foundation. A lot of these SoCal houses don't have basements and the foundations are slab so I think we see a lot of laminate because of that rather than cost. 

[Bastet]

Such foundations are common here, yes, but you can use hardwood with a concrete slab, you just have to make sure it's good and dry (e.g. if the foundation was just poured a month ago, you're not going to be able to put down hardwood yet) and use proper technique.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Bastet

[Tree0817]

So I have seen it asked, but have not seen a response.  Where is Israel??  I loved him on the show.  Is he home because they have their own construction company??

[chessiegal]

12 hours ago, Tree0817 said:

So I have seen it asked, but have not seen a response.  Where is Israel??  I loved him on the show.  Is he home because they have their own construction company??

From what I understand from following them on FB, they still use him. I think maybe he's just not showing up on camera.

[topanga]

15 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

From what I understand from following them on FB, they still use him. I think maybe he's just not showing up on camera.

What a shame. He is missed. 

[doodlebug]

Quote

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Tree0817 said:

So I have seen it asked, but have not seen a response.  Where is Israel??  I loved him on the show.  Is he home because they have their own construction company??

I think that might be the case, at least for the TV show.  Israel and his brothers own their own company, Battres Construction, specializing in remodeling for flips.  Their website has info on when Flip or Flop airs, so it doesn't seem like there are any hard feelings.  It might be TLC's decision for the only contractors to be seen on the show to be employees of T&C for some sort of legal reason or something.  But I agree, Israel is my favorite, too.

[iMonrey]

There was another contractor they used in the first season besides Israel, I think his name was Dan. But I agree it seems likely that now T&C have their own construction company they have their own contractors. It would be nice if they had one or two with a little more personality.

It's possible, as they claim on their Facebook page, they still use Israel's company from time to time, but there might be some kind of contractual thing going on with who they can show on their TV show. Since they're trying to promote their own brand, it may be that their own contractors sign contracts agreeing to appear on the show for either no extra money or some nominal fee. It doesn't really service T&C's interests to promote Israel's company. I also wondered whether or not Israel asked for some kind of appearance fee; I'm not sure how it works. I'm guessing T&C are paid a flat fee by HGTV for each episode and the only money Israel was making was from the construction work, without any additional fee for being on the TV show.

From Israel's perspective, I'm not sure it helps his business any to appear on the show, and in fact it be more likely to hurt it. The way they keep setting up these dumb "surprises" once they get into the demo phase often makes the contractor look negligent. Would you hire a contractor who consistently missed really obvious things like termite damage and wood rot on the initial estimate? I wouldn't.

[topanga]

48 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

From Israel's perspective, I'm not sure it helps his business any to appear on the show, and in fact it be more likely to hurt it. The way they keep setting up these dumb "surprises" once they get into the demo phase often makes the contractor look negligent. Would you hire a contractor who consistently missed really obvious things like termite damage and wood rot on the initial estimate? I wouldn't.

But wouldn't anyone with common sense know that these shows are scripted and that the surprises aren't real? When T & C bring Israel or any general contractor into a house to inspect and estimate renovation costs, there are things the contractor can do to assess plumbing or electrical issues without being invasive. 

[Chai]

I just watched Season 1 ep 11 a hilltop with a view where they borrowed money from his mother and it had a lot of renovations it needed and they maxed out their credit cards, and it still hadn't sold by the end of the show. He said he would take anything over 699 at this point, and they couldn't buy another house until it sells. Does anyone know how much it eventually sold for? I'm guessing it did, since they sold other houses?

I wonder how much is fake? Do the producers ever kick in any money? Maybe for the renovations? TIA :-)

[topanga]

3 hours ago, Chai said:

I just watched Season 1 ep 11 a hilltop with a view where they borrowed money from his mother and it had a lot of renovations it needed and they maxed out their credit cards, and it still hadn't sold by the end of the show. He said he would take anything over 699 at this point, and they couldn't buy another house until it sells. Does anyone know how much it eventually sold for? I'm guessing it did, since they sold other houses?

I wonder how much is fake? Do the producers ever kick in any money? Maybe for the renovations? TIA :-)

I can't remember if this was ever shown on a follow-up show. 

[Lovecat]

3 hours ago, Chai said:

I just watched Season 1 ep 11 a hilltop with a view where they borrowed money from his mother and it had a lot of renovations it needed and they maxed out their credit cards, and it still hadn't sold by the end of the show. He said he would take anything over 699 at this point, and they couldn't buy another house until it sells. Does anyone know how much it eventually sold for? I'm guessing it did, since they sold other houses?

From Wikipedia:  "Note: Tarek and Christina had to borrow against Dominique's (Tarek's mother) home equity line of credit in order to fund the renovation. During Flip or Flop Follow Up "High Risk, High Reward?" episode, it was revealed that they made $60,000 profit on the house."

[iMonrey]

No, I'm not sure I'd want to bank on the audience understanding that the show is so scripted that there are mandatory "surprises" built into every episode. If I'm trying to promote my business as a responsible contractor I don't want to go on a show where it looks like I'm going to have to raise my estimates on every job because I missed some kind of really obvious problem when I gave my original estimate. 

[Honey]

I'm watching the episode where they have the ultrasound, and they asked Taylor who the baby looks like.  I was hoping that she would say "Uncle Pete!".  I never get what I wish for though.  Lol.

[Albino]

3 hours ago, Honey said:

I'm watching the episode where they have the ultrasound, and they asked Taylor who the baby looks like.  I was hoping that she would say "Uncle Pete!".  I never get what I wish for though.  Lol.

LOL!

The house ended up looking pretty good. Almost positive Tarek had nothing to do with it. The only thing that tortured me was the patterned tile over the stove.  I loved the tile, but it would have been much easier on my symmetry-loving aesthetic if it had been centered, or if they had made a bigger frame so they could even it out.  It would drive me crazy as I stood there - staring at it -  while waiting for my bacon to fry.

Cute baby, unfortunate name.  And it was refreshing to see a makeup-free Christina in the hospital.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Albino

[valdawn]

Yeah, the Uncentered design tile in the kitchen would drive me crazy. No way I could have that in my house. I think even if it was centered is get tired of looking at it anyway. I understand having some design elements, but I guess I'm more of the thought of making it more neutral and letting the homeowner add their own style. 

Brayden has become a very popular name for boys. At least here in California. I know 4 little boys with that name. 

[ByaNose]

6 hours ago, Albino said:

LOL!

The house ended up looking pretty good. Almost positive Tarek had nothing to do with it. The only thing that tortured me was the patterned tile over the stove.  I loved the tile, but it would have been much easier on my symmetry-loving aesthetic if it had been centered, or if they had made a bigger frame so they could even it out.  It would drive me crazy as I stood there - staring at it -  while waiting for my bacon to fry.

Cute baby, unfortunate name.  And it was refreshing to see a makeup-free Christina in the hospital.

Is Brayden a weird name? I think I know at least 3 of them. I don't think I even thought twice about it. It must be a new baby name because the 3 I know are newborns and they are super cute. Of course, all baby's are. I liked his baby room, too. I like the wood planks on the wall. I wish I knew how to do it. Maybe, Tarek can do it for me. LOL!!

[StaceyNotStacie]

I'm not a fan of the trendy names (Brayden, Jayden, Aidan, etc). The kids are cute, but sometimes less is more. I like the show, but too much of the precocious kids is annoying. 

I had to laugh when the one lady at the open house commented about wishing the kitchen was more open. Tarek should have responded that they looked into it, but it would have costed thousands of dollars. 

[Lovecat]

9 hours ago, Albino said:

The only thing that tortured me was the patterned tile over the stove.  I loved the tile, but it would have been much easier on my symmetry-loving aesthetic if it had been centered, or if they had made a bigger frame so they could even it out.  It would drive me crazy as I stood there - staring at it -  while waiting for my bacon to fry.

 

9 hours ago, valdawn said:

Yeah, the Uncentered design tile in the kitchen would drive me crazy. No way I could have that in my house. I think even if it was centered is get tired of looking at it anyway.

Samesies!!  I loved the tile, but was horrified at how they laid it out.  Somebody dropped the ball on that one.  I'm surprised Christina didn't start squawking on the other end of her Facetime connection when she saw it.

[Megan]

14 minutes ago, Lovecat said:

 

Samesies!!  I loved the tile, but was horrified at how they laid it out.  Somebody dropped the ball on that one.  I'm surprised Christina didn't start squawking on the other end of her Facetime connection when she saw it.

I can here specifically to say the same thing. I also would have filled the whole "alcove" area with the patterned tile and centered it.

[Portia]

I'm not a huge fan of Braden anyway, but spelling it with the Y makes me think of a braying donkey every time I see it. 

When did a double sink in the bathroom become this huge "must have"? I would 100% prefer the extra counter space. My husband and I pretty much keep out of each other's way when doing our ablutions, even though we have a decent sized master bath, so I just can't imagine why another sink would be needed. Right now we're visiting our daughter's nice home and using a bath with one of those fabulous two-sink set-ups, and my crap is constantly falling into one sink or the other. 

Edited July 22, 2016 by Portia

[Lovecat]

+1 point for using the word "ablutions." One of my favorites :)

[mojito]

I recently saw a rerun of Flip or Flop and heard Christina say that she wanted gray cabinets on the bottom and white ones on the top for that "mid-century vibe" (I think that's an exact quote). How did I miss this look when I was living in the middle of the century? I hear so many things attributed to a decade and so often, people seem to be picking the wrong decade for the style.

[iMonrey]

I'm baffled by the odd editing of the episodes this season. We've had a lot of Christina off-site preparing the nursery but completely out of order. An earlier episode had her showing off the letters spelling "Brayden" on the wall, and then an episode after that showed her putting up the letters, and now this episode showed her trying to figure out how to get them up on the wall. 

I can't be the only one in the world who thinks ultrasounds are creepy.

As for the house itself - I hated the "treatment" Tarak did to the exterior brick. It looked like someone gave it a light coat of white wash to prime it and then walked off. It looked unfinished. They should have either painted it a solid color or just left it. I don't get the big hang-up with bricks anyway. Every time they find bricks they have to be changed, like bricks are so offensive all of a sudden. I guess bricks are right up there with linoleum flooring and Formica counter tops, huh?

[auntjess]

12 hours ago, mojito said:

How did I miss this look when I was living in the middle of the century?

I agree.  I think of limed oak furniture and lots of turquoise.  The kitchens were white, until the 60s.
 

 

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

bricks are so offensive all of a sudden

This too.  I hate it when the paint the brick exterior of a house, because you've set the owners up for expensive repainting on a regular basis.
 

Edited July 23, 2016 by auntjess

[mojito]

On 7/22/2016 at 0:41 PM, iMonrey said:

As for the house itself - I hated the "treatment" Tarak did to the exterior brick. It looked like someone gave it a light coat of white wash to prime it and then walked off. It looked unfinished.

Just watched the episode. That whitewash looked uneven. One spot was more coated in paint than the rest,and it just looked like an incomplete paint job. I have come around to painted brick, but only on older homes that were done with a straw-colored brick that looks extremely washed out and tired-looking. You just can't make a house look attractive with that color brick. And in the winter time, it pretty much blends in with the color of the dead grass. Ugly. That wasn't the case with this flip, though. 

I liked the fireplace in this episode. 

As for names....I think most people have names reflective of when they were born, which reflects a trend. In the 50s, more than half the girls seemed to have names that ended with the letter a (how many hundreds of Lindas do you know?). In the 70s, people got into giving boys and girls the more biblical/old-fashioned names like Joshua, Sara, Benjamin, Jason, Emily, etc. In the 80s, a friend named her son John and another friend couldn't understand why she went with such a boring name when she had cool names like Alex and Matthew to choose from. People will be going back to William, John, Thomas, James soon. I think those names cover a good deal of the presidents through the mid 1800s. Imagine baby girls named Gladys, Thelma, Gertrude!

[jcbrown]

I hated the exterior of the house, too. I had been doing something on the computer and listening to the show. Looked up when my husband said "ugh" at the exterior and asked, "wait, that was the before though, right?" I thought it looked dreadful.

We have double sinks in our master but that is because our overlords like to drink from the faucet and play in the water while we are in there. Double sinks mean we can use one and the cats can have the other.

[Honey]

On 7/22/2016 at 1:09 AM, Albino said:

LOL!

The house ended up looking pretty good. Almost positive Tarek had nothing to do with it. The only thing that tortured me was the patterned tile over the stove.  I loved the tile, but it would have been much easier on my symmetry-loving aesthetic if it had been centered, or if they had made a bigger frame so they could even it out.  It would drive me crazy as I stood there - staring at it -  while waiting for my bacon to fry.

Cute baby, unfortunate name.  And it was refreshing to see a makeup-free Christina in the hospital.

That drove me nuts.  It was centered over the stove, but the pattern wasn't centered.  Christina would have noticed something like that before it was installed.

[MsTree]

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 5:34 AM, Stacey1014 said:

The kids are cute, but sometimes less is more. I like the show, but too much of the precocious kids is annoying. 

Oh please...I'd take Taylor all day long and twice on Sundays (she hardly says two words) instead of someone like Milania at that age. Now THAT's precocious!

[cattykit]

17 hours ago, MsTree said:

Oh please...I'd take Taylor all day long and twice on Sundays (she hardly says two words) instead of someone like Milania at that age. Now THAT's precocious!

Her telling her father, "You didn't nail it but you did good."  Priceless, out of the mouths of babes.

I really disliked the patterned tile. 

They must be saving a fortune in closing costs by being their own realtors.  I'd love to see how successful they would be if they weren't in SoCal.  $230,000 for a remodel.  Sheesh.  And who are these people who can afford these houses? 

[Eeksquire]

Quote

They must be saving a fortune in closing costs by being their own realtors.

I have to say, that's one thing that bugs me - they list the "closing costs" on every deal, but if they're acting as - at least - the realtor for the seller, then at least part of that should be included in their profit.

[Maya]

That was one of the ugliest kitchens I've seen in a long time. Plus it seemed like nothing in that house was cohesive. The kitchen and bath looked like they were designed by two different people who had never met each other. 

I really hope they are planning on doing a second coat of paint on the exterior brick. 

Just so I say something nice - I liked the master suite.