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Flip Or Flop - General Discussion


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I wanted to cry when they ripped out all that gorgeous skinny hardwood to install awful wide laminate. I'm so over light-wash floor colors, too. Nothing in the design of that house was mid-century at all. The fireplace was particularly ugly - the tile pattern was interesting on floors but for an entire fireplace?? The mantel didn't look high-end either. Haaaated the shiny gray cabinets, another not-MCM design (more Scandi). They also should have either moved the toilet away from the shower onto the vanity wall or extended the vanity. One of the worst houses I've seen.

Painting that wood ceiling was another big sin. Look how amazing beamed wood ceilings can look in MCM homes: 

4b6b01fa4ebc9b7cb764fb549ae88bd8.jpg

https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/07213a150faac9bf_4-9971/midcentury-living-room.jpg

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1418&bih=727&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=mid+century+modern+wood+ceiling&oq=mid+century+modern+wood+ceiling&gs_l=img.3..0.97315.98312.0.98456.12.6.0.6.6.0.163.595.3j3.6.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.12.600...0i8i30k1j0i24k1.fL8LJ4KWnUw#imgrc=_

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Wow that picture looks amazing versperholly. Just confirms my hatred for what they did with that ceiling. Still . . . I'm sure there are in fact buyers who would walk into that home and think it's too "dark" because of all the dark wood. I had a realtor come into my house and recommend I paint everything white (even the stove!) and install white carpet. This must be some commonly held realtor belief. There are probably studies to back it up. But, dammit . . . some people like natural wood. And will be furious to see it painted over.

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On 1/21/2017 at 8:56 PM, freeser said:

I watched these last two shows because they were listed as "New" and I had not seen them before.  But once is enough.  Unless there is something that really draws me back, I won't be watching any repeats.  It is so hard to watch knowing what a mess their lives are now.

They're going through a divorce, it happens to a lot of people, but it doesn't mean their lives are a mess. 

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On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 10:22 AM, iMonrey said:

If there's a tub it often makes more sense to have a curtain because it's easier to keep clean and it shows better that way. 

Well, maybe you wouldn't remodel on the cheap, but the fact remains that most "flips" are known to be done on the cheap and have a bad reputation. A lot of reputable contractors do not want to be associated with flips because they do not want their names attached to shoddy work. 

T&C make it look like you can make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on flips but their situation is unique because of where they live. Not all housing markets are like that and it's just as common to lose money on flips. That's why a typical flip cuts a lot of corners and uses the cheapest materials - the flippers want to get in and out of there with as little money as possible so they can make a profit. 

There is a reason they make frameless shower doors for shower/tub enclosures.  You can see the tile work, not get hung up on a track and glass is a lot easier to clean than a plastic lined shower curtain.  Who really totally wipes down a curtain liner after a shower? The liners get water spotted and although cheap to replace it is not as if people do it weekly or monthly.  Most people I know I have a squeegee in the shower so you can wipe the door down before you exit the shower.   

I agree about where they live dictates the big swing in profits.  I also think they make a profit off the contractors.  There are some ridiculously high bids for pretty simple corrections.  I am guessing by now they employ their own contractors. 

I was raised with the theory you are paying for labor so a few dollars more to get quality doesn't really matter in the long run  I would be more curious to see if T&C have to upgrade or re-do to make a sale. It seems odd the caveat-if this sale goes through-I am quite certain by the time the show airs escrow has closed.   

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1 hour ago, zoeysmom said:

I also think they make a profit off the contractors.  There are some ridiculously high bids for pretty simple corrections. 

Wow, I live in Northern California and we have had much of our house renovated in the past three years. The bids T&C get always strike me as insanely low. No way you could get the amount of work done for what they are quoted. They must be paying the equivalent of wholesale and even that strikes me as on sale.

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glass is a lot easier to clean than a plastic lined shower curtain.  Who really totally wipes down a curtain liner after a shower? The liners get water spotted and although cheap to replace it is not as if people do it weekly or monthly.

I use a plastic curtain liner between the glass shower door and the shower compartment.  (I have a really old glass door that is textured and frosted.)  I rarely have to clean the glass, and I toss and replace the liner whenever it gets gunky.  I buy a few at at time, $2-$5 each at Walmart, so I always have a new one ready to go.

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The thing about curtain liners, though, is that they separate the outer shower curtain from the shower/bath. In other words, they aren't visible when drawn closed to the outer bathroom. A glass door, on the other hand, is visible to the outer bathroom so must be kept spot-free or it looks crummy. I don't have a squeegee in my shower because I have no place to put one and don't really want one in there anyway, but I use a towel to wipe the doors down after every use so I don't get spots. 

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I can't remember a thing about the house, I spent this entire episode trying to decode every look and every interaction Tarek and Christina had with each other. The collapse of their marriage is on display, no matter how well they think they're hiding it. It's sad. 

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7 hours ago, roughing it said:

I use a plastic curtain liner between the glass shower door and the shower compartment.  (I have a really old glass door that is textured and frosted.)  I rarely have to clean the glass, and I toss and replace the liner whenever it gets gunky.  I buy a few at at time, $2-$5 each at Walmart, so I always have a new one ready to go.

Thats what I do my glass is frosted and has a nude etched in it.

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On 1/24/2017 at 9:58 PM, jcbrown said:

Wow, I live in Northern California and we have had much of our house renovated in the past three years. The bids T&C get always strike me as insanely low. No way you could get the amount of work done for what they are quoted. They must be paying the equivalent of wholesale and even that strikes me as on sale.

I'm back East and the quotes they get frequently induce me to laugh out loud.   They seem like 1980s prices.  

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8 hours ago, millennium said:

I'm back East and the quotes they get frequently induce me to laugh out loud.   They seem like 1980s prices.  

I live in the Midwest and the prices they quote seem low to me, too.  I keep thinking maybe they are just quoting wholesale prices on materials and not labor, but that doesn't make sense since it would make their totals off when they calculate their profits.  Of course, we know the trips to retailers for countertops and tile are staged; maybe they've got a huge warehouse full of subway tile they got on final closeout.

Of course, here in the Midwest, even flipping disasters like T&C do, it's tough to break even, let alone make a profit.  No way does anyone get full price and more for a bathroom or kitchen reno when the house is sold.

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I can't remember a thing about the house, I spent this entire episode trying to decode every look and every interaction Tarek and Christina had with each other. The collapse of their marriage is on display, no matter how well they think they're hiding it. It's sad. 

I think it might be a mistake to read anything into their interactions on the show, because a.) it's a lot of fakery anyway (even in the happiest of times), and they probably have to do re-shoots a lot, and b.) these episodes were filmed before they broke up. I thought they seemed pretty genuine with each other when they were doing the distressing job on the mantle piece. They seemed to be really laughing and having a good time. 

I'd be more interested in going back and looking at some of those "selling summer" episodes, because those were filmed right around or after their breakup.  But those episodes were so weak I'm not really interested enough to watch them a 2nd time.

I do remember that as recently as Season 5 whenever Tarek and Christina were talking to each other over the phone they made a point of saying "love you" before ending the calls. We haven't seen that since Brayden was born. Then again, editing.

Edited by iMonrey
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15 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I do remember that as recently as Season 5 whenever Tarek and Christina were talking to each other over the phone they made a point of saying "love you" before ending the calls. We haven't seen that since Brayden was born. Then again, editing.

And didn't Tarek used to say "babe" and "hon" a lot? Again, unsure how real it was. But I certainly don't hear it much anymore. 

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Exactly. No one knows what goes on in a marriage so if two people decide to walk away, it is their business and their decision should be respected. Maybe they walking away before their relationship deteriorates further. It never ceases to amaze me how people ignore the danger of Tarek running around with gun when so many men murder their wives, ex-partners, and children everyday. 

I agree if two people decide to walk away, it is their business BUT for the fact that their entire show's premise has been them as a family. Also, from everything I've read, they're dedicated to "working together" and keeping the show going, which (and admittedly, this is JMHO) to me feels like greed, pure and simple. Additionally, Christina spends tons of time on social media and, apparently, makes a lot of money that way, so she can't have it both ways. Either their lives are private or they're not.

Neither of these posts are mine, but I'd made a post in response to a statement that Tarek and Christina were throwing away their family by getting divorced. And my point was that we have no idea how hard they might have worked to try to stay together in order to keep their family intact. 

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Tarek and Christina posted on FB this afternoon that tonight's new episode is the Premiere of Season 6. They said they started the renovation in November 2015, and finished March 2016. I'll be interested to see what kind of timeline they give on the show. My memory is that so often the timeline is 6 weeks.

ETA: I just set up to record the new episode tonight and my online guide says Season 8 Episode 1. ?? The episode that follows is not new and is S7, E7. Maybe a typo on their FB page. I double checked the FB post.

Edited by chessiegal
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According to HGTV's website, the episodes we're seeing now are Season 6. The "Selling Summer" episodes are listed as some sort of non-season bonus episodes after Season 5. This is not the first episode for Season 6 though - it's the fourth. 

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On 1/24/2017 at 9:58 PM, jcbrown said:

Wow, I live in Northern California and we have had much of our house renovated in the past three years. The bids T&C get always strike me as insanely low. No way you could get the amount of work done for what they are quoted. They must be paying the equivalent of wholesale and even that strikes me as on sale.

I almost choked when I heard them talk about putting in a "new fancy chandelier" in one of the more expensive houses they flipped and the on-screen graphic said $200. Not bloody likely!

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I see Christina has jumped on the blue cabinet trend. What, no bronze hardware?

It is bizarre to keep them faking the relationship but I'm not missing the kids being left out.

Does anyone know if it's typical in California to take a fridge with you but not the stove? Are stoves considered built ins? I don't get why they never buy fridges for their houses. You can get decent inexpensive fridges, even French door, for $900.

Edited by vesperholly
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A refrigerator coming with a house depends on the market. Here in MD the fridge stays. When I lived in GA, no fridge with the house. I've never heard of a normal sale (not short or foreclosure) that doesn't come with a stove/range or built-in dishwasher (if it had one).

Edited by chessiegal
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I want to say it's uncommon for a fridge to be included here in southern CA - whether renting or buying - because my experience bears that out, but I hear about enough places where the fridge is included that I'm not sure that's accurate.  To be safe, maybe it's 50/50 odds as to whether it will be included.  But definitely not strange for a fridge to go with the previous owners/tenant and the new resident to have to bring/buy their own.

But a stove is virtually always included, yes.

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My gosh, she's so overdone now with the bleached hair extensions or wiglet/piece, the stage makeup, heavy fake eyelashes, porcelain veneers, etc. 

He's falsely baffled at the prices and needed repairs.

They've become caricatures of themselves.

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I guess 'fridges are more "personal" than stoves and dishwashers. Maybe it's a matter of having just purchased the 'fridge recently and not wanting to part with it. 

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My gosh, she's so overdone now with the bleached hair extensions or wiglet/piece, the stage makeup, heavy fake eyelashes, porcelain veneers, etc. 

And that's how she looked "in bed" when Tarek served her breakfast. I think he won the bet; on second thought, she decided to re-paint the most visible part of the cabinets.

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57 minutes ago, mojito said:

I guess 'fridges are more "personal" than stoves and dishwashers. Maybe it's a matter of having just purchased the 'fridge recently and not wanting to part with it. 

And that's how she looked "in bed" when Tarek served her breakfast. I think he won the bet; on second thought, she decided to re-paint the most visible part of the cabinets.

Don't we all look like that when we wake up?  LOLOLOL

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2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I want to say it's uncommon for a fridge to be included here in southern CA - whether renting or buying - because my experience bears that out, but I hear about enough places where the fridge is included that I'm not sure that's accurate.  To be safe, maybe it's 50/50 odds as to whether it will be included.  But definitely not strange for a fridge to go with the previous owners/tenant and the new resident to have to bring/buy their own.

But a stove is virtually always included, yes.

Interesting. I figured the flips would be different because they're renovating almost everything - kind of like a new build. If you're selling or buying existing houses, it seems like 50-50. In my state (NY), either everything stays or fridge and range go.

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The house exterior was hideous - needed to lose that arch by the door and have a simple pergola over the walkway and porch. At the insanely cheap materials and labor prices they seem to get, that wouldn't have been over $500.

Doing reno on my son's house in the LA area and his roughly-square small kitchen is 10x10, so two 10' long walls of cabinets price out between $8,500 - $15,000 depending on cabinet quality. That is not including putting them in or counter tops or new appliances. The cheapest price is RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets from China. IKEA cabinets would be about $10,000. Custom cabinets would be north of $20k.

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The house exterior was hideous - needed to lose that arch by the door and have a simple pergola over the walkway and porch.

Agreed! Once they removed the decorative arches that inner arch just looked weird and out of place. And as they were standing there bemoaning the fact that the exterior looked too bland but they couldn't afford to repaint the entire house,  I was literally yelling at the TV "repaint the trim!" But not . . . with more gray! Gah.

Honest to God, there were two scenes where I could have sworn Tarek was stoned. One was when they were discussing what price to offer on the house, and the other was when they were talking about repainting the exterior. He had that red, glassy eyes thing going on big time.

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Just checked my guide and it says it is Season 8 Episode 1...so maybe they messed up their FB post!

HGTV considers this Season 6, so T&C are correct in calling it so. Your TV/cable company might be categorizing them differently based on how it thinks they've been spread out or based on breaks or whatever. It also might be 6/1 in order of filming, but not in order of airing. All new episodes since Selling Summer ended have been part of Season 6.

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It is bizarre to keep them faking the relationship but I'm not missing the kids being left out.

At this point they are not "faking" their relationship any more than they ever did. This episode spanned four months between November 2015 and March 2016. It took place before the big blow-up in May  2016 when police were called. I don't know to what degree things were strained between them prior to that or even if Tarek was aware anything was wrong prior to that incident in May. But the current episodes were not filmed after they officially split and Tarek moved out so they're not faking their living arrangements or anything. Yet.

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Yes, the McDonald's arch needed to go. It looked too out of place since the others were taken away. I agree that the blue cabinet is the newest trend on HGTV less the gold/brass finishes for Christina. Otherwise, the house looked nice and the addition with the en suite was a good call. You would almost think that was filmed after the whole blowup with the breakfast in bed being so forced. I still appreaciate that they keep this show to a half hour. It's somethig Fixer Upper with Chip & Joanna and/or HGTV should do. I don't care about the family feeding a goat and the kids coming to every job to eat. If want to see kids I'll look at my own.

 

ETA: The arches reminded me of the Brady Bunch at Fillmore Junior High. Yes. I'm showing my age

Arches.jpg

Edited by ByaNose
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On 1/26/2017 at 11:17 PM, Bastet said:

I want to say it's uncommon for a fridge to be included here in southern CA - whether renting or buying - because my experience bears that out, but I hear about enough places where the fridge is included that I'm not sure that's accurate.  To be safe, maybe it's 50/50 odds as to whether it will be included.  But definitely not strange for a fridge to go with the previous owners/tenant and the new resident to have to bring/buy their own.

But a stove is virtually always included, yes.

Much better than Italy, where they take the whole kitchen with them, cabinets and all. Lol

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Much better than Italy, where they take the whole kitchen with them, cabinets and all.

WHAT?! I never heard that! Holy smokes, talk about making buying a house way more of an undertaking and ordeal than it is to begin with!

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Out of curiosity, where do you Californians store your crap? I can't imagine not having a basement for empty boxes, Christmas ornaments, etc. I guess this applies to many people in the South, too. None of my family members in Texas or Florida have basements. It just don't seem right, somehow. 

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2 hours ago, topanga said:

Out of curiosity, where do you Californians store your crap?

I was going to answer this in Small Talk, but either I'm blind or we don't have one.  So: In the garage.  Many people here fill their entire garages with crap, and then park their cars outside.  Which is so not my style, because in my garage I want my car, my workbench (and room to work) and all my tools, but to each their own.  Most of my stuff is in my closets, but things like Christmas decorations, an air mattress, folding chairs, and such -- things that only get used occasionally -- are on a big overhead shelf in the garage.  And then there are a few big things that are rarely used, but at times necessary, up in the rafters.

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We're in the South (TN). We have a huge storage room upstairs at the end of the house, a storage room in the garage and a wall of cabinets in the garage. Our kids have smaller houses with little storage so they just get rid of stuff they don't use or need. For years, they stored stuff at our house (after college) until I threatened to throw it out if they didn't move it. I didn't need 15 year old notes from Vet School in my attic-ha. In many areas of the country, you can't dig down for a basement, especially in the South. Or in MO where the bedrock is about a foot underground. We had a basement once-it was so musty and creepy that I refused to go down there. My husband stored his extra beer down there because it was always so cool. Different strokes for different folks.

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I'm in the Bay Area and I use my garage and a shed I have in one of my side yards.  I also have a huge laundry room with wall to wall shelves.  

I watched a little bit of yet another marathon today and I swear they could record Christina saying "I'm thinking...white shaker cabinets, quartz counters and white subway tile"  and "this is amazeeen (or super cool), buyers are gonna be obsessed" and she would never have to speak on the show again.  I haven't been feeling well,  stayed in bed today and saw about 8 episodes,  she said those things in every single one I saw.   She also said "we need a pop of color, I'm thinking dark gray" quite often. 

She's the least imaginative designer I've ever seen.  I did a better job decorating my house and I'm far from being a designer.  I always get compliments on my place and there's no subway tile, white cabinets, or gray anywhere.  Oh, I also have walls and separate rooms. 

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3 hours ago, sistersledge said:

I agree (above), but to be fair, they are only flipping houses, so she should remain somewhat neutral.... she can't really go crazy on design.

True, but there are other neutral colors besides gray and white.  I can't remember the last time Christina painted the exterior of a home anything but gray.  I can't remember the last time she DIDN'T do white shaker cabinets and white countertops.  And white subway tile in virtually every single flip.  Last night's episode, where they flipped a home that actually had some pre-existing cool architectural features like arched doorways and built-ins, was no different than any other home they've done recently.  They ignore any unique design elements in order to do the same ugly finishes everywhere; there are plenty of other flipping shows where this isn't the case.  I suspect they have a warehouse stocked with discounted white cabinets, 'sparkly' marble countertops and vats of gray paint and that's what they use every time.  This season, the new design 'twist' that is Christina's 'obsession' is a big ole gaudy sparkly chandelier in any and every room.  She put one in the dining room last night, after putting weathered gray flooring on the ceiling for an accent, it looked like hell. She has no sense of style or design, IMO, and it shows.  Take a look at the photos of her own home, it's also monochrome, sparkly and massively ugly.

Edited by doodlebug
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Ugh - wood planks on the ceiling??? That looked horrible. I guess they were going for some kind of "unique" feature to differentiate this house from all the other homes they do in white and gray but YUCK. And the dining room is the last room in the house I'd want to see it in. That's a sort of rustic touch that's completely at odds with the modern look they always go for. If they did a whole house in a rustic style (like Joanna always does on Fixer Upper), that would be one thing. It did not belong in one of Christina's modern white and gray houses.

I did get a kick out of Taylor looking at the wood samples and saying she was "obsessed" with one of them. Guess who's started picking up her mother's lingo?

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16 hours ago, doodlebug said:

True, but there are other neutral colors besides gray and white.  I can't remember the last time Christina painted the exterior of a home anything but gray.  I can't remember the last time she DIDN'T do white shaker cabinets and white countertops.  And white subway tile in virtually every single flip.  Last night's episode, where they flipped a home that actually had some pre-existing cool architectural features like arched doorways and built-ins, was no different than any other home they've done recently.  They ignore any unique design elements in order to do the same ugly finishes everywhere; there are plenty of other flipping shows where this isn't the case.  I suspect they have a warehouse stocked with discounted white cabinets, 'sparkly' marble countertops and vats of gray paint and that's what they use every time.  This season, the new design 'twist' that is Christina's 'obsession' is a big ole gaudy sparkly chandelier in any and every room.  She put one in the dining room last night, after putting weathered gray flooring on the ceiling for an accent, it looked like hell. She has no sense of style or design, IMO, and it shows.  Take a look at the photos of her own home, it's also monochrome, sparkly and massively ugly.

Also true, but you have to remember that they are designing for the buyers who see what they are doing as trendy. They want the "in" colors, "in" cabinets, and "in" countertops. Years ago beige was the neutral color. Today it's grey. Who knows what it will be tomorrow. So for the time being, they are doing what their buyers want...and it seems to be working for them. It speaks to the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

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BASEMENT discussion:

Texas native here. Spent most of the rest of my life in Florida, New Mexico, Louisiana and some in Oklahoma. Now we're in South Dakota where it's warm three months out of the year, gods help us.

I HATE the basement. It's damp, it's cold, it's musty-smelling (whoever said that, I co-sign). No, it doesn't leak, but ugh, I just don't like it. Granted,  I do appreciate having storage space, but I'd trade all of that for being back down south where it's warm. Soon, soon....

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Anyone else notice they changed the opening sequence? Tarek no longer says "I'm Tarek and this is my wife Christina." Now he says "I'm Tarek" and then Christina says "And I'm Christina." No mention of them being married. They also dropped the picture of the four of them as a family, and the title is superimposed over a shot of the ocean instead.

Still, in this most recent episode, they appear to still be together: They are at home with Taylor at the beginning of the episode, and Tarek says something about "our bedroom," and they are shown walking hand in hand down the driveway of the renovated house.

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@PepperMonkey, c'mon back. We'll leave the light on for ya. From chilly/occasionally cold for less than 3 months a year to warm three months out of the year....I feel your pain. 

I grew up with a basement that was the most used room of the house outside of the kitchen and bathrooms. I don't even think of it as storage space. It's where we watched TV, played games, played our records (yep, records), did laundry, ironed, sewed or practiced dribbling, etc.  I have no basement now, and I regularly purge my crap because it's really quite stressful having stuff. 

This last flip was pretty boring. The El Moussa's were very polite to each other. Don't recall any eye rolls. Tarek gave in to everything and complimented Christina on her choices more than once. Didn't show the frustration that he did on some of the more recently aired shows. If they were to continue in the business, I see him going the fast-and-dirty route and Christina going the high-end route. Maybe she can then show more creativity.

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I'm from Philly, where we always had basements. Moved to TX 20 years ago, never had one until we moved in this house - an odd subdivision where the builder offered them 30 years ago, so about half the houses have them.

It's really nice, not musty, doubles our square footage, has an extra family room & bath down there. Love it. It also stays nice and cool during our 9 months of hot weather. 

On the subject of the show, I think if it ends well, it's doing so at the right time. Not only because of their personal issues, but because they've gone as far as I think they can with the show. It's beyond boring now, really. And I need my tv to auto-mute "obsess" now.

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