Good Bones - General Discussion

[Percysowner]

On 6/20/2019 at 8:50 PM, ECM1231 said:

6 houses under construction in 10 months sounds like a lot of houses to flip. I'd think it would take at least 3 months from start to finish b/c they are basically rebuilding these houses; the aren't just cosmetic flips. Now, another question I'd always wondered about. On these shows, when then they say they have let's say a 150K renovation budget, does that include materials AND LABOR?  I mean, I guess it would b/c laborers don't work for free. So I guess they aren't doing too badly, even without the television show's money. But Karen is an attorney. I'd think a law practice would generate a lot more income than flipping but maybe this is her passion. 

BILGISTIC, that's nuts that the city expects the residents to kick in 15K to hook into a new water line!  

On a few other flipping shows they talk about flipping different houses at the same time. so Tad, et al. demolish one house then move on to the next one, while the other contractors are working on this one.

I wonder if Mina and Karen owned the awful house next door. I noticed that by the time this one was being shown, it was being worked on. I can't imagine M&K would renovate this house unless they KNEW that the house next door was going to be renovated before they tried to sell.

[bilgistic]

12 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

@ Biglistic was the $15K a lump sum, or was there an option for a special assessment?

When we bought our house 17 years ago,  it was new construction, and we had to pay the county for the cost of building the street.  We had payments of $355 twice a year, and I just recently made the final payment.  I don't remember how much we owed originally.  Asking people for a lump sum does not seem fair to me.

I don't know. My parents are retired and on Social Security. They both work part-time jobs, so they don't have anything to spare.

[irisheyes]

Thanks to Mina giving away the house number, I was able to find the property info!  They sold last week’s house for $278K, and this week’s for $304K (but not to the couple who looked at it).  So, whatever they’re doing must be working, cause they’re getting these sold. 

[retired watcher]

On 6/22/2019 at 2:59 PM, Percysowner said:

On a few other flipping shows they talk about flipping different houses at the same time. so Tad, et al. demolish one house then move on to the next one, while the other contractors are working on this one.

I wonder if Mina and Karen owned the awful house next door. I noticed that by the time this one was being shown, it was being worked on. I can't imagine M&K would renovate this house unless they KNEW that the house next door was going to be renovated before they tried to sell.

I am surprised they didn't speak about that falling down eyesore even if it isn't one of theirs. I was glad to see renovations started. It really looked like a tear down. I wonder if it had a fire since it was in so much worse shape than the others.

[CrazyInAlabama]

This house with the funky front pergola is two doors down from the other Easy Street Bates-Hendricks area flip, with the blue one in the middle, with the pictures on page 5 at the bottom.

I am so over the wood beams, and wish they wouldn't have even tried to do the ones in last night's house.   If you need color, the darker flooring worked, and they could have done a marble look, or other veined quartz counter tops with a little color.    With furniture added, it will look spacious.   

Was the bedroom door to the back yard the only way out?  They should have used a Queen size bed in the upstairs room, having a King, and the headboard extending over the windows doesn't appeal to me.   I'm glad they sold to the couple who toured the house, I think they'll be very happy.    

I hate wallpaper.   If they wanted to save money, they could use larger porcelain back splash tiles, and in the shower, porcelain floor tiles, and not the fancier tiles, skip the wallpaper, forget the beams, 

Tad is fun, and  great at demo, and it was hysterical watching Tad and Corey with Mina.   However, I really like Austin.  Austin was so cute with Karen last week doing the plant/chemical beaker installation.  

Edited June 26, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[sheetmoss]

22 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Tad is fun, and great at demo,  but I really like Austin.    

I really like the Mutt & Jeff pairing of  Karen and Austin

[Writing Wrongs]

It's good that anyone walking by can come take a shower at the side of their house now.

I can't believe how close together all these houses are. That would drive me nuts.

[dleighg]

30 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

I can't believe how close together all these houses are. That would drive me nuts.

It looked like there wasn't even enough room to walk there if you are a reasonably large person. Painting the siding must have been a challenge! 

[dleighg]

On 6/26/2019 at 1:23 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I am so over the wood beams, and wish they wouldn't have even tried to do the ones in last night's house. 

I thought it was really weird that the beam was two pieces of wood. A true structural beam would never be two pieces. I would have added some sort of metal wrap or something to cover up the break, given that the break was necessary given the budget.

[Jeeves]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

I thought it was really weird that the beam was two pieces of wood. A true structural beam would never be two pieces. I would have added some sort of metal wrap or something to cover up the break, given that the break was necessary given the budget.

I know. That also struck me as - odd. I mean, Karen's stupid beaker/light/planter thingie in that other house was also quite odd. And, IMO, fugly to the max. But it was easily removable. The buyers have to live with those obviously faux beams. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess is on the special features that a lot of us hate, that the buyers already have been lined up, and approved features, like the beam, and the price is set, so that's why Mina and Karen use the same higher end finishes in the house, and don't really make a profit sometimes.     I bet the wood beam was a planned feature, or they would have dumped it.     I didn't like the beam, and if I was looking at the house (which I can't afford) I would have passed because of the beam.     I wouldn't have bought because of the fact that the house was so close on the side to the neighboring house, I don't know how they'll even replace siding on it.        

[Jeeves]

I suppose it's possible that they have buyers lined up in advance. But often, we see them giving potential buyers "sneak peeks" during renovations and then the final walkthrough/reveal of the staged house. Then the final VO often says, "[potential buyer(s)] decided against buying the house, but we [got another offer/have had a lot of interest in it]." I haven't kept track of how often the show ends with those potential buyers having turned into actual buyers vs. them not buying. But I remember seeing episodes with both outcomes.

[sheetmoss]

On 6/29/2019 at 7:12 AM, Writing Wrongs said:

It's good that anyone walking by can come take a shower at the side of their house now.

I can't believe how close together all these houses are. That would drive me nuts.

Urban living

The standard lot size in Chicago is 25ft wide x 125ft deep

[palmaire]

It was nice to get a bit of reality on the show when M&K admitted they hadn't made much or any money on the other two houses they'd rehabbed on the street. Wasn't one of them the shiplap place?

I think all the flipping shows exaggerate their profits by not including costs like project managers, design teams, staging, interest on construction loans, etc. I always hope people at home don't decide to try it based on cable TV! They wouldn't be getting the cushion of production company money.

M&K also seem to buy houses and not start work on them for months and months. It seems more doable when they were paying under $10K, but I have to wonder what their carrying costs are now.

I miss old project managers Lenny and Lonnie (I think?). Cory is fun but I also liked the calmness and experience of the older guys.

If you're an experienced contractor, do you decide to just flip the danged houses yourself for a potentially large profit, or take the security of a guaranteed income working for someone else as project manager?

I'm risk averse and my acid stomach couldn't handle all the errors, unreliable subs, and general aggravation. I ended up exhausted and in tears more than once on my own full house reno.

[ByaNose]

On 6/29/2019 at 11:03 AM, Jeeves said:

I know. That also struck me as - odd. I mean, Karen's stupid beaker/light/planter thingie in that other house was also quite odd. And, IMO, fugly to the max. But it was easily removable. The buyers have to live with those obviously faux beams. 

So UGLY. That beaker would be the first thing in the trash. 

[Jeeves]

8 hours ago, palmaire said:

It was nice to get a bit of reality on the show when M&K admitted they hadn't made much or any money on the other two houses they'd rehabbed on the street.

I got the idea that they'd bought several properties on that street (or in the immediate area) for very low prices, because the area was in their opinion ripe for gentrification (I hate the word and the downsides of the process, but still, that's what it is). Or for being spruced up, revitalized, or however you want to characterize it.

And I also had the idea that they probably expected to make slim-to-no profits on the first two or three houses they flipped, because those houses would likely be the first renovated/updated homes on their block. The profits would start to roll in on the later renovated houses, as the neighborhood/block started looking nicer and was more desirable.

As mentioned in this discussion, these are small houses on small lots, and it looks like most don't even have room for a garage. So I don't think they're going to make crazy profits on any of them. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think they mentioned that the prices had gone up on the street with this week's flip.  

[retired watcher]

I liked the competition between mom and daughter. But both houses came out to feminine for a house they were trying to sell. Also, I don't understand a 4 bedroom house with such a small common area. Mina's kitchen had no room to walk in due to the table a chairs.

[dleighg]

Isn't it really bad to have rain (for awhile apparently?) on that wood framing? Doesn't it damage/warp the wood?

[2727]

1 hour ago, retired watcher said:

I don't understand a 4 bedroom house with such a small common area.

Right? M&K kept saying it was the biggest house they'd ever done, but each side was dinky! I wouldn't think 2700 sf could be so cramped but it was all bedrooms and "loft space" upstairs that we didn't even see. Like Karen said, her side didn't even have space for a dining table, although she ended up cramming one in. Not family friendly homes at all.

I didn't like Karen's staging, especially all the billowy draperies in such a small space. Custom candles my ass. The exterior looked clean and new but not charming or pretty.

Painting kitchen cabinets is not "easy" Mina: prepping/sanding, taping, covering the entire kitchen in plastic. Don't forget buying or renting a paint sprayer and respirator.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, retired watcher said:

Also, I don't understand a 4 bedroom house with such a small common area.

Our first house was 2300 square feet, had a large family room, a large living room, a formal dining room, an eat-in kitchen, and 4 bedrooms. WHERE THE HELL WAS ALL THE SPACE IN THOSE HOUSES?

[Ninamags]

Mina showed us her little baby boy! He's adorable.

The little girl is too cute for words. She looks to be a handful. She probably has the same outgoing, do-my-own-thing-type  personality. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

   It's about time they had a decent, attached garage on a house.   The original green on Karen's side was awful.     Enough with the Carrera back splashes.       I hated the stencils in Karen's kitchen.    

   Mina's sofa area in the kitchen should have been the dining room.     Both sides looked very feminine, and stuffed with furniture.        If they didn't over decorate, then buyers might have an easier time visualizing the space, and what they would do with it.  

I bet they had prospective buyers on the line, because flippers usually go for the widest buying pool, and don't do taste specific decorating like the duplexes were last night.  

Edited July 3, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, dleighg said:

Our first house was 2300 square feet, had a large family room, a large living room, a formal dining room, an eat-in kitchen, and 4 bedrooms. WHERE THE HELL WAS ALL THE SPACE IN THOSE HOUSES?

I'm going to answer part of my own question. Why did they have two master suites? This house, a few hundred sqf smaller than mine, had a whole extra full bath. Why???? I guess they were dealing with the upstairs downstairs thing, but why not make the upstairs Master the only Master, and replace the master downstairs with more room for living/dining, and a small study??????

Edited July 3, 2019 by dleighg

[sheetmoss]

21 hours ago, dleighg said:

I'm going to answer part of my own question. Why did they have two master suites? This house, a few hundred sqf smaller than mine, had a whole extra full bath. Why???? I guess they were dealing with the upstairs downstairs thing, but why not make the upstairs Master the only Master, and replace the master downstairs with more room for living/dining, and a small study??????

Having a master suite on each floor is very desirable - lots of people like to be on the same floor as their younger children/kids. 

First flr master can be used for visiting inlaws/guestroom

Then as you age  where climbing stairs can an issue, having a first flr master suite becomes very desirable.

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, sheetmoss said:

Having a master suite on each floor is very desirable - lots of people like to be on the same floor as their younger children/kids. 

First flr master can be used for visiting inlaws/guestroom

sure, all that is nice. But I don't think at the expense of a decent living/dining room when you've only got 2000 sq ft

[chessiegal]

I can't do stairs anymore. A first floor master is a must.

[bilgistic]

Karen's designed kitchen was as small as mine, and I live in an 800-square-foot apartment. I don't understand why they didn't reframe some of the downstairs area in both townhomes to make bigger kitchens/dining/living rooms. I'd expect that people buying 2,000-square-foot+ homes want big kitchens and common areas.

The stencils on the bar wall were hideous.

That mustachioed hipster real estate agent looked like he just rolled out of bed and put on a hoodie to go see the townhomes.

Edited July 5, 2019 by bilgistic

[bilgistic]

22 hours ago, dleighg said:

sure, all that is nice. But I don't think at the expense of a decent living/dining room when you've only got 2000 sq ft

My childhood home/my parents' home is only 1,100 square feet, but has a kitchen the size of Karen's designed townhome, an adjacent dining area (shared space), a living room, three bedrooms, two baths and a walk-in laundry. My parents eventually enclosed the covered, fully attached carport and made it a garage, which also houses a walk-in storage closet. Two thousand square feet is a lot of space. It just doesn't seem like the original framing was very well planned.

[car54]

While I am someone who is older and would prefer a downstairs bedroom, those townhouses ---with room for 4 bedrooms--did NOT have enough common space for the people it would take to fill 4 bedrooms to be comfortable being together.

I would have removed the downstairs master and made some sort of great room and kept a downstairs bath.   

The living room what was supposed to be a dining room and then the kitchens were too squished up for me.

And I think Mina and Karen make each other better--I did not care for either of their individually decorated sides as much as I usually like the homes the work together on.    Altho I did LOVE the artwork that Karen brought in from the artist she knows, and I liked the step/fountain.

[palmaire]

This listing says Mina's side of the duplex is 1841sf, which seems more consistent with what we saw on the show. That would mean around 800-850sf of actual living space on the first floor, minus the stairway, powder room, closets, etc.

[bilgistic]

Yikes! The listing price has been incrementally dropped by $90K. So much for them making a profit on that project.

[Jeeves]

14 hours ago, car54 said:

While I am someone who is older and would prefer a downstairs bedroom, those townhouses ---with room for 4 bedrooms--did NOT have enough common space for the people it would take to fill 4 bedrooms to be comfortable being together.

I would have removed the downstairs master and made some sort of great room and kept a downstairs bath.   

The living room what was supposed to be a dining room and then the kitchens were too squished up for me.

Were you secretly sitting beside me when I was watching this? Because, that ^^ is pretty much what I think too. 

That floor plan was just wrong for a ground level master suite, in the context of the whole house. I agree - have a full bath downstairs but expand the living space. 

If I bought one of those units, I would use the downstairs "master bedroom" as a den/TV room. I'd appreciate the fact that there's a full bath downstairs, which allows someone to live there who can't manage stairs. But until you need to use the ground floor that way you can have more than a squished-up living/dining/kitchen area as common living space. 

I also didn't like the staging/decorating in either of those units. Their typical style is too cluttered and fussy for me, but I rarely think "oh, that's ugly." This time? Meh. Karen needed to spend less time faffing around with custom scented candles (!!!) and focus on realistic space planning on this project.

I mean, this duplex has the most sterile and unwelcoming exterior of any house I've seen them renovate on this show. It looks like the headquarters of a private correctional facility. Then, you step inside to overdone-to-the-choking-point decor that looks like a 12 year old's idea of Disney princess heaven. That only accentuates how little common area living space there is. Oy.

I'm sorry if they aren't going to turn a profit on this one. I hope they don't lose their shirts over it. We all make mistakes; I'm glad I don't make mine on a cable TV show for the world to snark about. Because, yeah, I like this duo and wish them well.

[CrazyInAlabama]

3 hours ago, Jeeves said:

I also didn't like the staging/decorating in either of those units. Their typical style is too cluttered and fussy for me, but I rarely think "oh, that's ugly." This time? Meh. Karen needed to spend less time faffing around with custom scented candles (!!!) and focus on realistic space planning on this project.

I mean, this duplex has the most sterile and unwelcoming exterior of any house I've seen them renovate on this show. It looks like the headquarters of a private correctional facility. Then, you step inside to overdone-to-the-choking-point decor that looks like a 12 year old's idea of Disney princess heaven. That only accentuates how little common area living space there is. Oy.

I totally agree about the outside appearance of the duplexes.    The staging was just as bad as you said too.     With less furniture, and extra decor items removed, buyers could see how big the rooms are.   Too much oversized furniture makes a space look small.     

[dleighg]

macrame, OMG. The 70s called......

[2727]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

macrame, OMG. The 70s called......

I was wondering where Karen was going to hang it so that the globes were suspended properly, but no. Smack against a wall. Poor fishies!

I generally like green kitchen cabinets but that shade was a little intense. At least the staging was less cluttered and pink this time.

Someone on this show must have a considerable bank account (or investor) to be able to buy so many properties at once and then put $150k+ of work into each of them. Even if the houses have mortgages and construction loans, the carrying costs are nothing to sneeze at.

[irisheyes]

I suspect they rent a lot of them out to help cover the carrying costs. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Karen made a good point about buying a bunch in a not so great neighborhood, and after the first is rehabbed, the prices will go up.     

If they don't want to over improve, and make a little profit on the first house, then don't put in wall paper, or putting a wall of tile, or wood walls for decoration.  And stop putting Carrara marble as a back splash in the kitchen, and doing the shower stalls with it.    

The house last night was a mess, especially that basement, and the foundation.    Talbott street is going to look very different within a few years, but I hate to think of the prices for houses then.      I didn't like the dark green cabinets in the kitchen, especially with dark granite.   

A lighter cabinet, even a lighter green or gray, and a lighter granite would be much lighter and brighter.   Also, porcelain tile for the master bath floor would have required less maintenance, and looked much cleaner.   The wall cabinets with the butcher block counter looked so much better than the dark granite island. 

 I don't like the art projects, such as the macrame/globe one last night.  The kitchen tile back splash tile was a good savings, and looked very nice.    I hated the stairway niche idea, but plain drywall, or bead board on that and the accent wall would have been quicker and cheaper.    I hated the first floor bath location.   I loved the hole in the glass on the master shower, so you could turn on the water, and not get frozen by cold water.   Another house with no dining room, just three bar stools at the island.    I'm glad they made a profit on the house.  

Edited July 11, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[izabella]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I didn't like the dark green cabinets in the kitchen, especially with dark granite.   A lighter cabinet, even a lighter green or gray, and a lighter granite would be much lighter and brighter. 

I agree.  They put light colored butcher block counters along the walls, so they had the right idea there.  If they'd user lighter green cabinets with the butcher block, it could have been a cute and fun cottage or farmhouse style kitchen.  But then Mina wanted to mix in an industrial style so she brought in the black granite.  That made the the green cabinets seem too heavy and dark.  It wasn't horrible, though, and the high ceilings helped a lot to make the space feel larger and airy.

What made me cringe, though, were the teeny tiny tiles in the bathroom.  That's a million miles of grout to clean.

Otherwise, it's a cute starter house for a young couple or single person. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by izabella

[ShellyD]

The location of the first floor bath on Talbot was atrocious. I would rent that house but would never buy it. 

The macrame was 🙄, I didn’t like it in the 70s either lol.

Count me in with a thumbs down on the kitchen cabinets. 

I liked the idea of shiplap or bead board over the niches. 

[Jeeves]

I'm just over the demolition antics. At least that seemed to get less airtime on this episode.

And, I have wondered, what steps do they take to abate any asbestos materials in those old places before they bring in their crew in shorts and t-shirts to start smashing things into dust? What about lead paint?

I'm also really over Karen's hippy-dippy "art" projects. I also hated macrame back in the 70's, and time hasn't changed my mind. I felt sorry for the fish in those bowls. 

I was surprised they hadn't dealt with the foundation issues before they started all that framing work. That's unusual for them. I remember them finding similar foundation issues with other houses on their inspection walkthrough, and showing how the foundation was fixed either before or just after they had the demolition derby upstairs. This was one of their projects that spanned Mina's pregnancy and delivery. I wonder if several things slipped through the cracks, like this foundation, during that time.

[retired watcher]

19 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Karen made a good point about buying a bunch in a not so great neighborhood, and after the first is rehabbed, the prices will go up.     

If they don't want to over improve, and make a little profit on the first house, then don't put in wall paper, or putting a wall of tile, or wood walls for decoration.  And stop putting Carrara marble as a back splash in the kitchen, and doing the shower stalls with it.    

The house last night was a mess, especially that basement, and the foundation.    Talbott street is going to look very different within a few years, but I hate to think of the prices for houses then.      I didn't like the dark green cabinets in the kitchen, especially with dark granite.   

A lighter cabinet, even a lighter green or gray, and a lighter granite would be much lighter and brighter.   Also, porcelain tile for the master bath floor would have required less maintenance, and looked much cleaner.   The wall cabinets with the butcher block counter looked so much better than the dark granite island. 

 I don't like the art projects, such as the macrame/globe one last night.  The kitchen tile back splash tile was a good savings, and looked very nice.    I hated the stairway niche idea, but plain drywall, or bead board on that and the accent wall would have been quicker and cheaper.    I hated the first floor bath location.   I loved the hole in the glass on the master shower, so you could turn on the water, and not get frozen by cold water.   Another house with no dining room, just three bar stools at the island.    I'm glad they made a profit on the house.  

I agree with not putting in high end fixtures, tile, and decor. But it could be that people watching want to see high end not low end. They could save in so many places.

[bilgistic]

How is the new owner supposed to get the fish bowls out of the macrame to clean them?? They didn't look gently suspended by a few pieces of moveable yarn; they looked pretty tightly interwoven. What a ludicrous idea.

[car54]

So.....latest house.....

I felt like it had many layout issues and instead we spent most of the show discussing niches.

2 bedrooms on the main floor at the front of house--have to go all the way to the back to use the bathroom.    

A three bedroom house with only a counter and 3 stools for dining.

They used the attic to add a closet and bathroom--but then left a small part of the attic unfinished.

If these people have kids, they are not going to want to sleep upstairs and put the kid downstairs--I would have finished that space and it could be a small alcove for a crib or if no kids, a small office or tv space upstairs.     Also no door to their bedroom --it is open to the stairs.

I know it would cost more but I'd have bumped out the back and moved the kids/guest bedrooms to the back of the house and pushed the living room up to the front, add a dining table area then the kitchen.

I know macrame is back --I see it all the time on design blogs, but that was not good macrame--it was kind of a mess, and I think the niches were so shallow as to be pointless--kind of an awkward spacing and depth.   I'd have made them deeper so if I wanted to use them as book shelves I could.

I did not mind the green cabinets although that green is not my favorite--I'd have done one with more of a grey-ed tone.    With the color they used I feel like the grey appliances didn't help, and the butcher block should have been stained a warmer color or something---or maybe a warm white countertop and backsplash.

So while each individual choice was not horrible I think if I went to look at this house there were so many disjointed things I would have trouble picturing how I'd live there.    For homes I've moved to there has always been an instant feeling of "yes!" that lets me see my stuff and myself there.

Also I thought when the fake buyer tour couple was there Mina said that there was a back deck and big back yard but did they even show that in the tour?

[sheetmoss]

On 7/5/2019 at 6:05 PM, car54 said:

While I am someone who is older and would prefer a downstairs bedroom, those townhouses ---with room for 4 bedrooms--did NOT have enough common space for the people it would take to fill 4 bedrooms to be comfortable being together.

I would have removed the downstairs master and made some sort of great room and kept a downstairs bath.   

The living room what was supposed to be a dining room and then the kitchens were too squished up for me.

And I think Mina and Karen make each other better--I did not care for either of their individually decorated sides as much as I usually like the homes the work together on.    Altho I did LOVE the artwork that Karen brought in from the artist she knows, and I liked the step/fountain.

What amazes me, this was new construction... and they still didn't add a basement that could be used  as a family room. Granted it's another $10 to $20-ish thousand added to the budget, but it would make these place mover desirable w/the potential add'l sq footage

Quote

  On 6/20/2019 at 7:50 PM, ECM1231 said:

6 houses under construction in 10 months sounds like a lot of houses to flip. I'd think it would take at least 3 months from start to finish b/c they are basically rebuilding these houses; the aren't just cosmetic flips. Now, another question I'd always wondered about. On these shows, when then they say they have let's say a 150K renovation budget, does that include materials AND LABOR?  I mean, I guess it would b/c laborers don't work for free. So I guess they aren't doing too badly, even without the television show's money. But Karen is an attorney. I'd think a law practice would generate a lot more income than flipping but maybe this is her passion. 

BILGISTIC, that's nuts that the city expects the residents to kick in 15K to hook into a new water line!  

Remember, they're also getting contractor prices so that helps.

Also, not sure if IN/Indy is union, but if it isn't that would reduce/lower the $$ for the trades.

Awhile back I read--not sure if true or not, but an electrician in TX average $12.-ish/ hr 

Saw that  in a quick google search,, Chicago average is $33./hr

Edited July 13, 2019 by sheetmoss

[chessiegal]

$33/hr for an electrician? What a bargain! Last time we called one they were here for 1 1/2 hours and charged us $175.

[car54]

I wonder if them doing all the homes in the same area helped them with filming---so that they could hire more crew and the named players could move from house to house as they filmed.   I do think they probably had to do some extra organizing because of Mina's pregnancy to get all the episodes in.

Also---on the HGTV site there is a new show coming with some of the hosts --Mina, Lee Ann Ford, Alison Victoria and the host of Hidden potential --I haven't watched that show for a long time so I don't know her work.     It looks like they started filming this week.

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/hgtv-news/there-s-a-new-competition-show-coming-to-hgtv-with-a-ton-of-girl

Mina and Karen are also on the Brady Bunch House reno show that is coming later this summer.

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/hgtv-news/brady-buzz--look-whos-talking-about-the-renovation-

I don't know where they get all their energy!

[2727]

I started choke-laughing when Karen got stuck in the heater vent. Girl's got some serious back tattoos!

Karen and Mina: "We'll refinish the floors; that's within our expertise level and it'll save some money." Flash to someone else refinishing the floors. Best intentions go astray, ladies!

[sheetmoss]

43 minutes ago, 2727 said:

I started choke-laughing when Karen got stuck in the heater vent. Girl's got some serious back tattoos!

Karen and Mina: "We'll refinish the floors; that's within our expertise level and it'll save some money." Flash to someone else refinishing the floors. Best intentions go astray, ladies!

I heard that too and then I saw the guy doing it.  😮

Maybe the  'we'll', was using one of their workmen instead of contracting it out?

[dleighg]

Did they make the (only) bathroom accessible only through the bedroom? I get the reason, but..... maybe for a single professional (the target audience) it would work ok.