Property Brothers - General Discussion

[Honey]

Wow, who really cares if they're actors or what they are? I know a lot of people think they are really a real estate agent and general contractor. My mother is one of them, and I would never want to spoil her fun by putting a disclaimer before the show that says they're just actors. Who the hell cares?

[Biosynth]

Good grief, can't we just talk about the brothers, the show, and the remodels here?  Why does "The Truth" need to be every other post?

[Diane]

I agree, let just talk about the brothers and the show, I don't need someone pushing their version of the truth.

[radishcake]

Guys all opinions are welcome here. There are threads here in the Property Brothers for other discussion so feel free to use those!

[BearCat49]

I disliked how they filled so much of the outdoor space in the LV property. The dog run was the only open area it seemed. And with the basketball court, the one brother said he'd be mad if he were the neighbor and someone hung tarp outside his window. The court's wire fencing was a foot away from the neighbor's house -- I'd be upset that it looked like I lived 12" from a prison.

 

 

Agree, it appeared that those neighbor's bedrooms had the pleasure of staring into that wire fence plus the backside of that guest house.  I, too, hated how they'd filled every square inch of that yard.  It felt like a concrete jungle to me. 

 

Just thought about it - that guest house was 2 stories, wasn't it?  They never revealed the upstairs, did they?  Hmmm, more to come?

 

Sorry but I couldn't help noticing their mother's fake, actress cry during the reveal, i.e. covering face with hands, whimpering and then appearing head-on to the camera with perfectly dry, pancake makeup and no smudges in the eye area.  All their lines and TH's were about their mother's tears of joy.  Too funny ...  would love to have heard them off-camera setting that scene up with Mom, hahahaha ...

Edited December 29, 2014 by BearCat49

[MsTree]

Truth seeking is fine if that's your passion. However, repeating the same mantra ad nauseum on almost a daily basis is boring IMO. We get it, you want the PB to admit they're actors. Guess what? Ain't gonna happen...no matter how many times it's written.

 

Also, IMO, there are many other 'backstage' items we could be discussing instead of the constant discrediting of the PB and the family's "acting".

[radishcake]

As this conversation has become quite repetitive I will ask that you move on to other backstage topics as MsTree has suggested. Any further posts like this down the line will be moderated. 

[chessiegal]

Gah!!! They're everywhere! Co-hosting the Rose Parade on HGTV. No thanks, can't stand them or their shows. It seems like you can't tune to HGTV without them showing up. I, too, resent HGTV turning themselves into the Scott Brothers Channel.

[friendperidot]

I usually watch the Rose Parade on HGTV, but I may go to the grocery store, dislike hearing them giving stupid commentary.

[chessiegal]

The Rose Parade is on NBC and ABC in my area. Of course, you have to endure commercials, but it's worth it to have a Property Brothers free broadcast. :)

[Kiddvideo]

Lol. Saw the Kristine and Paul episode yesterday. He said about 2 words. She was condescending and ended all of her sentences by raising the pitch of her voice as if she were asking a question. She told Jonathan at the end that he performed above her expectations. Except she thought she was complimenting him!

Best thing about the show were all the problems. She was the one who wanted the Crazy DIY house, and it was a total money pit. The kitchen turned out to be an addition that hadn't been approved by the city; there was charred electrical wiring in the walls; the flammable sewer exhaust fumes were being piped into the walls next to the charred wiring...just expense after expense after expense. I LOVED it.

[Ciarrai]

Watched the (newest?) one with Glenda and Dave. I think they had the biggest budget I've seen on Property Brothers. I still hated that staircase, even after it was remodeled. Come to think about it, I really didn't like the house at all. Far too narrow.

[NYGirl]

Tonight's new episode..Belinda and Tiago.  I just hated her with the passion of 1000 suns!!  She was so snotty and arrogant.  Run Tiago run...you're too nice for her.

 

Both their father's not only got involved in the renovation but they took over all of the decisions.  I hated this episode and everybody involved.

 

Jonathan whined for the whole episode.  I really think he's passive/aggressive.  Why not tell them what you're telling us???

Edited January 8, 2015 by NYGirl

[auntjess]

I disliked her a lot too. 
How many shows have we seen with the second-chance at the one that got away?  A fair number.

I guess they're back in Toronto now.
And is there a maximum height limit for contestants on all their shows?  Seems like most of the people they help are about a head shorter than the bros, men shorter too.

[hoosier80]

They re-aired Belinda and Tiago's episode tonight.  (I'm catching up on my tv watching due to whatever bug I've got and it being frigid outside).  

 

Could not stand Belinda.  Oh but I want more money to go towards the bling.  Ok, honey, no one wants to pay for plumbing or electrical, but that is what you have to do if you own a home.  I'm guessing that if anything needs maintained or changed at that house, she'll be calling daddy in a heartbeat.

 

It also kills me that nearly every one of these home buyers wants a mini mansion done to the 9's, are shocked when they find out they can't afford it, and then want to buy some of these houses for next to nothing.  I'd say it's part of the script, but not every attitude can be so awful (and they can't all be great actors).

[lightbeam]

I just watched an episode where two brothers who only cared about a Keger and entertaining with their bros buy an astonishingly beautiful historic home. I was aghast and horrified. I was actually hoping they would lose their bid. No such luck. So concerned with having an open concept, they ignored Jonathan's rec for adding columns for supporting a beam. What idiots. I'm afraid they will have a cue ball go right through the beautiful stain glass window that they were not allowed to remove. Sigh. It's frustrating when people buy homes like that and just want to modernize, without truly appreciating it. At least Jonathan didn't rip out the beautiful fireplace. He painted though. Ugh.

[NikSac]

I just watched an episode where two brothers who only cared about a Keger and entertaining with their bros buy an astonishingly beautiful historic home. I was aghast and horrified. I was actually hoping they would lose their bid. No such luck. So concerned with having an open concept, they ignored Jonathan's rec for adding columns for supporting a beam. What idiots. I'm afraid they will have a cue ball go right through the beautiful stain glass window that they were not allowed to remove. Sigh. It's frustrating when people buy homes like that and just want to modernize, without truly appreciating it. At least Jonathan didn't rip out the beautiful fireplace. He painted though. Ugh.

 

I just saw that one too and had the same thought. Why in the <bleep> would you put a pool table RIGHT in front of a beautiful historic stained glass window?  Was that their way of getting rid of it in spite of the rules against it?

 

I also couldn't believe their budget, and the fact that if they couldn't afford it they were just going to go back and live at the "pool house" (which was nicer than a lot of regular houses I've seen!) for a year - presumably rent free - while renting out the reno house. They struck me as completely spoiled brats.

[momn8or]

I have a question on Season 6 Epsode 10. It's the Nadine & Greg episdode. Who is Nadine's sister Nicole? It's driving me crazy! She's been on another show somewhere.

[Honey]

I have a question on Season 6 Epsode 10. It's the Nadine & Greg episdode. Who is Nadine's sister Nicole? It's driving me crazy! She's been on another show somewhere.

Nicole is Dr. Nicole Jasper from "Untold Stories of the E.R"

[MyAimIsTrue]

Nicole is Dr. Nicole Jasper from "Untold Stories of the E.R"

 

She was also on The Amazing Race with her husband, who is an ER doctor as well.

[NYGirl]

I just watching the latest new one in a rerun.  It's the single girl buying a condo.  I cannot stand her friend.  It's like she's auditioning to be an actress and acting like it's her house they're buying because the homeowner is so indecisive and annoying. She's wearing bright red lipstick and won't shutup.

[Honey]

I just watching the latest new one in a rerun.  It's the single girl buying a condo.  I cannot stand her friend.  It's like she's auditioning to be an actress and acting like it's her house they're buying because the homeowner is so indecisive and annoying. She's wearing bright red lipstick and won't shutup.

You mean the one who kept saying boudoir?  I think that's her mother.

[NYGirl]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat??????   I don't think its her mother..no way...

[daisydonut]

No, boudoir lady was her friend. But I was glad for the red lipstick so I could remember which one was actually buying the place. The friend was very irritating.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Boudoir-best-friend was ridiculous.  "My friend needs to have a sexy bedroom." I'm afraid to see what a sexy bedroom looks like.

 

Loved the project though, especially the kitchen.  I'm glad she chose the larger condo.  The other one was around 750 square feet? The larger one not only had more space, but had a better layout and the nice outdoor space.

 

I also REALLY appreciated how Jonathan helped her make decisions to save or reallocate money.  For example, he talked about how the wood feature would cost X amount, whereas wallpaper or paint would be cheaper.  And he talked about choosing less expensive bathroom tile and fixtures. More of that, please.

[NikSac]

I also REALLY appreciated how Jonathan helped her make decisions to save or reallocate money.  For example, he talked about how the wood feature would cost X amount, whereas wallpaper or paint would be cheaper.  And he talked about choosing less expensive bathroom tile and fixtures. More of that, please.

 

Yes this was great!  I wish all of the various reno type shows would do this more. It seems like a win-win because the homeowner/buyer gets what really is most important to them, and the designers can make the most of their budget.

[NYGirl]

Since this show has Jonathan and Drew Scott I thought we could discuss it here rather than make a new forum.

 

I'll start:

 

I hate when the homeowners make video selfies during the night complaining about a stupid 2 week renovation!  For crying out loud it's only 2 weeks!!

 

I like that we get to see Drew actually showing nice houses.  Also Jonathan always does a fabulous job to get the house sold and on a small budget too..usually less than $10,000.

Edited January 29, 2015 by NYGirl

[Honey]

Holy cow!  You guys are right.  Vivienne was Katherine's best friend.  I swear she looked 20 years older than Katherine.  Wow.

[NYGirl]

I actually enjoyed last nights episode with the twin girls. They were not too much over the top and there wasn't a ton of drama. They were pretty likeable.

[auntjess]

Yes, they were.
From the houses we saw, looked like we're back in Toronto, since the alternatives seem to be Atlanta or Vancouver.  Undesirable part of Toronto, from the prices, but Toronto none the less.

I backtracked to make sure they did say there were 2 bathrooms, so I don't understand why they have to be able to fit both of them in at the same time.
That's why they're locks on bathroom doors.

[NYGirl]

What is it with these shows??  Why do they think 2 people MUST be in the bathroom at the same time?  I don't see this in real life. (except when my dog follows me in the bathroom but he just sits there)

 

I LOVE to see Vancouver.  The scenery is so fabulous there but I think the houses are too expensive.  I wish they'd go somewhere other than Toronto...every house looks the same.

[auntjess]

Yes, I figured if it were Vancouver, we'd see mountains, and in Atlanta, a search isn't finding lots of semi-detached old houses, and I don't remember ever seeing them on the shows.
There's grass, so that rules out their other place, Las Vegas.  Ergo, it must be Toronto.

The thing is, I think it's the people in Toronto that Property Brothers, and Love It or List Choose, that  MUST live in those neighborhoods, because Scott McGillivray, Mike Holmes, Paul LaFrance, and Bryan Baeumler deal with householders in that area who don't live in those look-alike houses.

Edited February 2, 2015 by auntjess

[SmallTownMom]

I just started watching this show last week.  I was on vacation to help my daughter with my brand new granddaughter :) and we watched a bunch of episodes on NetFlix.  I really do enjoy the brothers, they are very likable and seem like they know what they are doing.

 

What drives me nuts, though, is where do these young couples get a budget of say, $400,000?  Our daughter and son-in-law bought a REAL fixer-upper for $120,000 and spent the last 4 years making it nice.  You go with what you can afford.  They, too, were thinking they would have their "dream house", son-in-law especially.  Took him a little while to realize that you don't start out with what your parents spent 30 years acquiring!  End result is a cute 3 BR, 1 bath rancher on a really nice size lot, built in the late 1950's, so a really solid well-built home that they will be able to sell for a nice profit when they are ready.  They worked hard on the place (with a lot of family help) and built some "sweat equity".  So I just don't understand how you can afford $400,000 right off the bat.

 

I too, think a lot of the houses kind of wind up the same - hardwood throughout, large kitchen w/stainless steel appliances, open concept.  And I totally agree w/whoever posted about curb appeal.  Wouldn't doing all that work inside be kind of a waste if it still looked bad outside?  Houses that don't have a nice front yard and entrance don't catch my eye, and I probably wouldn't even go to an open house if the outside wasn't attractive.

 

I like to see the couples pitch in and help w/demolition, painting, whatever.  That's just what we do here in PA Dutch country!

[MyAimIsTrue]

I too, think a lot of the houses kind of wind up the same - hardwood throughout, large kitchen w/stainless steel appliances, open concept. 

 

I enjoy the show but I'm getting tired of hearing the term "open concept" every five seconds.  Call me crazy but I like defined rooms and not one big open floor plan.  Also it seems to me that the trend of hardwoods and stainless steel appliances are just that, a trend, which is why I would prefer something a little more "boring" but that would be timeless, and I bet my black range cooks just as well as a stainless one.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

At least Jonathan didn't do white cabinets in the twins' kitchen.  White kitchens can be beautiful, but lately it is all that we see.

 

I liked that the twins admitted they didn't have nice enough dishes to put on open shelving in the kitchen, and that they got some stuff as gifts from the brothers.  I also liked just having that one set of open shelves to the right of the sink ... enough to make a style statement and be "on trend", without being ridiculously impractical. 

 

The twins did have friends come over to help in the yard, which I thought was awesome.

 

Although the single-family detached home was pricier, I would have gone with that house versus the attached.  Less money to renovate?  As another posted said, do what you can when you can.

 

I didn't see a TV in the front room/living room/ family room. As a big TV-watcher, I'm always curious as to where the TV is placed.  (Brothers often put it up above the fireplace, which in many cases seems too high.)  I know many designers, like on Fixer Upper, don't include a TV in a room where I would absolutely have one.  I know it may mess up your "design", but come on!

[auntjess]

 

Also it seems to me that the trend of hardwoods and stainless steel appliances are just that, a trend,

Not just here, but on a lot of these shows, the people seem to feel that they've arrived at true good taste, and everything past was tacky.

They have no conception of "this too will pass," even stainless, granite, and open concept.

One thing I would buy if I was changing plumbing, is something I saw once of I Want That, sink fixtures that just screw off an on, and when the brushed nickel era is over, (or maybe mine are the last), you screw on the next fad.  I think they're Kohler.

Edited February 4, 2015 by auntjess

[Biosynth]

Regarding Open Concept, I was talking about this with my husband recently while watching this show.  Though I like spaciousness, some of this open concept stuff makes it all look like one gigantic room with a kitchen station, some couches in a corner, etc.  There doesn't feel like there's any flow.

 

Oh boy, can we start on those giant two story foyers?  Waste.  You have a whole section of the upper floor missing there, and then you are paying to heat all that open space that is useless.  Same with cathedral ceilings.  Exposed beams is nice but it's like standing in a warehouse. 

 

One of these days I'd like a buyer to say, "I want cozy and intimate."  LOL 

 

I have to say, having grown up with hardwood floors, I prefer them.  I actually really like laminate.  That stuff is great, and doesn't stain like wood and marble.  Also, stainless appliances are nice.  I like white too.  Quartz counters or recycled glass in blues would be my choice as well.  I do like islands.  I like interesting tile work too.

 

I wish the twins would design a farmhouse style kitchen at some point.  Those are lovely.  Or go industrial.  Didn't they give one guy an airplane wing desk?  That's fun stuff.

 

And I'll repeat Drew and Jonathan are so cute!

[MyAimIsTrue]

I wish the twins would design a farmhouse style kitchen at some point.  Those are lovely. 

 

Even though I am very much a city girl I think I'd love a farmhouse style kitchen.

[aguabella]

Yes, I figured if it were Vancouver, we'd see mountains, and in Atlanta, a search isn't finding lots of semi-detached old houses, and I don't remember ever seeing them on the shows.

There's grass, so that rules out their other place, Las Vegas.  Ergo, it must be Toronto.

The thing is, I think it's the people in Toronto that Property Brothers, and Love It or List Choose, that  MUST live in those neighborhoods, because Scott McGillivray, Mike Holmes, Paul LaFrance, and Bryan Baeumler deal with householders in that area who don't live in those look-alike houses.

 

Agree, if the casting agents wanted to, the reno shows could easily represent varied home types in every major city.  One thing that might affect their selections is most of these programs have a travel limit.  That is, they usually restrict how many miles participants can live away from the downtown core.

 

If fans are interested in the various locations, the PB's public social media accounts often mention the location of at least the new episodes airing that week.  If they don't mention location of the particular episode you're viewing and you tweet or use FB, you can submit an inquiry.  The PB Facebook indicates they're currently casting for next season in NY, NJ and CT.

Edited February 9, 2015 by aguabella

[peggy06]

There are surprisingly few posts about this show. Oh well, I'll have a go anyway. I came into the middle of last night's rerun with Nadine. The one who joked (I hope) about picking floor tile that looked good with her shoes. When she went to Jonathan wanting a second dishwasher because their family is so large, I expected to hear they had 6-7 kids at least. No, it's four. Now I know four kids are more than average these days, but do you really need two dishwashers to accommodate six people? I was floored. To give up a whole cabinet for a second dishwasher seems crazy to me. However, I'll give her that she's a full-time employed mom, so time is at a premium. I guess you could just run one dishwasher one day, and then start loading the second one, while using clean dishes out of the first. So in a way, she kept that cabinet. :)

[daisydonut]

I love this show! I am currently undergoing a kitchen renovation, and I keep reminding my designer of how the Property Brothers would do it. He doesn't seem to appreciate it.?.

[auntjess]

I'd be reminding him of how Mike Holmes would do it.  Not always great design, but sound.
I liked the older couple in the last one, but hate to see a bedroom, however small, sacrificed to enlarge a bathroom.

[Ciarrai]

My high school science teacher and her husband were on this show! Stephanie and Chris, if anyone remembers them. It was cool seeing someone I actually know, though it was also giving me flashbacks to how much of a cow she could be.

[laredhead]

I didn't particularly care for the wife in the latest episode.  She came off being a bit snooty and queen (too old to be a princess) like to me.  Didn't seem to want to participate in the demo, and she was very good at making a snide comment and then immediately following it with a laugh.  I did enjoy their dishwasher dispute.   I agree that I'm not sure if I would have sacrificed a bedroom for such a large bathroom.  A very nice bathroom could have been built in the existing space, IMHO.

[Peanutbuttercup]

@laredhead I didn't like her either. And I hate to say this, because I generally think people should dress however they want regardless of age, but there was, for me, a real mutton-dressed-as-lamb issue with her in the final reveal. At one point one of the brothers was saying something like "there's one feature here that just eclipses everything else in the room, and draws your attention away from everything else" and I legitimately thought for a second he was going to conclude with "and that's your giant breasts spilling out of your extremely low-cut dress." Yikes. The camera was really lingering there too.

[Peanutbuttercup]

Just watched the episode from last night. Yet another design with white cabinets, dark wide-plank flooring, apron sink, sliding barn door, recessed lighting, Edison-style pendant lights, and white subway tile incorporated in it. Yawn. Why do people want houses that look exactly like everyone else's -- or at least exactly like everything else we are shown on tv?

[MyAimIsTrue]

Because people are sheep and many can no longer think for themselves.

[radishcake]

Just watched the episode from last night. Yet another design with white cabinets, dark wide-plank flooring, apron sink, sliding barn door, recessed lighting, Edison-style pendant lights, and white subway tile incorporated in it. Yawn. Why do people want houses that look exactly like everyone else's -- or at least exactly like everything else we are shown on tv?

Except for the white cabinets I was in for this design. I guess I'm a sheep! baa! :)

[aguabella]

Except for the white cabinets I was in for this design. I guess I'm a sheep! baa! :)

 

If you like it, that's nobody's business, radishcakes- go for it!  And, if you're planning on selling your house within the somewhat near future, it's all the better, IMHO.

[auntjess]

How tall are the brothers?  Because yet again, they seem to be a whole head taller than the male homeowner.