OT - Extreme Makeover Home Edition?

[cyberben]

I don't know if you think the same way I do about this reality show?

I work for an architect firm and even the best designer here will take several days before making up his mind and finalize a project as simple as a bathroom remodel. Now we're talking of redesigning a complete house (and not a small one) for a client the designer(s) don't even know in the first place. Just the construction alone of a 300K$ is nearly impossible in a week even if you staff it with 10 000 workers. You reach a point where the number of worker becomes a nuisance and slows down the entire project. Plaster, paint, varnishes and all those products need time to dry too.

I think this TV show lies to the public at least on one aspect: they have work prepared already before showing up at the door of the lucky family. The design and the construction dwgs are already made minus maybe a few details, the prefab house has been ordered already and ready to ship, etc.

What do you guys believe?

Cyberben

[B A R R Y]

1.) It's a TV show.

2.) There's no Easter Bunny.

[ALF_SCHUMWAY]

"2.) There's no Easter Bunny. "

Wha????

[Brian Elfert]

Anyone would have to be crazy to think they don't have 95% of the project preplanned before they start. You don't get a building permit and line up a contractor and 100s of workers overnight.

I'm sure they interview relatives and friends to find out what the families like beforehand. I'm also certain they have the blueprints drawn beforehand. Thay would have to for permitting and such.

They used to do silly things like claim they have no house and then the next day a prefab house shows up from Canada. No way anyone builds a prefab house overnight, let alone ship it from Canada. I noticed they quit doing this silly stuff.

It is still an interesting TV show. They really ought to do a show that shows how they go from picking a family all the way to the door knock and everything in between that happens before the week of building.

Brian Elfert

[cyberben]

Obviously, I don't beleive a single minute that all that bluff is possible. I'm in the business and I just know too well it's impossible.

There are only 2 things that piss me off with this show:

1. It gives a "tangible proof" to the uneducated public that all this crap is possible so you quickly get requests from your customers to hurry up because "they can do it on TV". They want you to design and draw the working dwgs of their dream house in 24 hours.

1. The second biggest problem is when SWMBO watches the show and gives me that disgusted look and says: "Gheeeez, they can build and furnish a house in one week and it takes you months to complete a small piece of furniture".

Cyberben

[remove]

Sure, it ain't no extreme makeover, but it didn't take a week either:

"If speed were all that mattered, how fast could you build a home? Some years ago, the Building Industry Association of San Diego County sponsored a competition among builders to answer that question. The home had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and was made from standard materials.

The fastest time: 2 hours and 45 minutes. How do you build a house in less than 3 hours? By forgetting everything you thought you knew about building a house. The winning team used 700 people divided into subgroups of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople. For weeks, the teams practiced to find ways to accelerate the process. During the competition, the winners managed to complete the rough plumbing in 8 minutes and set the main roof in just over 9 minutes.

It was fun -- and the experience also generated useful insights. Which is why Professor Tom Malone, of MIT's Sloan School of Management, shows a video of the competition to his students and executive audiences. "I use it to illustrate the power of speed," Malone says. "Not just as a way of satisfying customers but of inventing whole new industries. It helps people free up their minds to think about how to build organizations for the 21st century."

Bill : >

[Lee Gordon]

Last year, when they occasionally ran an adjunct program called "Extreme Makeover Home Edition. How'd They Do That?" I thought we were going to get a little more insight into what goes on in the pre-planning stages of the show. That show did focus a bit more on the construction than on the sob story of the family, and we did see some behind-the-scenes stuff like the fact that scenes such as the one where the design team shows up at the front door with the bullhorn often have to be re-shot, but they never really got away from the myth that all of the magic just materializes on day one. They also have not done anything to dispell the myth that so many of the great things that happen on the show are a result of Ty Pennington picking up his cell phone and placing a call to "a friend." One somewhat surprising thing I got from that show, however, is that it would appear that Ty really does take a major role in the design and construction of his "secret project" room.

Unfortunately, "How'd They Do That?" is about as close as we're likely to get to seeing what goes on behind the scenes. Anything more revealing than that (i.e. how many months in advance the preliminary work begins, how they apply for and receive a building permit in a small town without the word getting out, how they arrange for a guy to take a week of vacation without his boss spilling the beans, etc.) would be a little like pulling away the curtain and revealing the true nature of the Wizard of Oz.

Lee

[Ba r r y]

I wonder how long it really takes Toll Bros. to prefab a luxury home in the factory?

[ghost]

Several things have bothered me.. no argument that the people they choose deserve the help, but to go from 'poverty' to 'mansion' in a neighbourhood of far less value homes.. why not expand the area and spread the funds around a bit..

Speaking of which.. with the resources available to them, I was surprised that except for one program, they could have applied their manpower and resources to alleviate a lot of the gulf coast destruction.

Given their on going efforts to out do themselves with million dollar mansions, I seldom watch the program anymore..

[todd]

I can only imagine that they sign their life away when they "apply" to have their home made over, because having gotten most of the way through a major home addition, my biggest question is how they get a building permit without the city talking to the actual owner.

todd

[Lee Michaels]

"ghost" wrote

There is that. And I agree with you.

I used to watch it too. But when it became a game show format where little if anything was shown as to the actual construction details, it became a lot less interesting. When it became a manipulative process to make you feel sorry for the housing "victims, game show winners", I got totally turned off.

If they really wanted to help these folks, there are a lot better ways to do it than building a mansion with designer bedrooms.

Afterall, what is the objective here? To build houses or to really help people? I don't think they know.

[MJ]

Ok. They did a house in our county about 14 or so months ago and yes, it was done in an entire week! The producers cooperated with the County Bldg Dept to get the permits way ahead of time, a design was also done and all furniture, fixtures, etc were all stockpiled. They worked all day/night on the thing and it was a big event. The house was where the daughter has a condition that prevents her from being in direct light. The had an Inspector onsite for the entire time. The biggest noise that came out of it was the that the house was appraised at a tax level MORE (obviously) then the original house. Here in Calif, we have Prop 13. Your tax level remains at level until 1) you change owners or 2) remodel. The family was a bit put out about the taxes. Not sure if they got some relief. The show claims that there is a loophole for taxes if they RENT the house while the family is out. Not sure what got resolved.

But as to the building, yep, they do it in the time they say! Teamwork and very, very tight planning. The architect and builder were all assigned well ahead of time and plans were approved by the County before the Extreme Makeover team arrived.

MJ Wallace

[MJ]

This snip is from a story that was in our local newspaper - Press Democrat - Santa Rosa and it points out that the "design team" really isn't designing on the fly:

[Tim Taylor]

EXACTLY!!! Along with a ton of others. Trading Spouses, Survivor, the list goes on! It's a TV show. But wait, what about Star Trek, or.........

[Lee Gordon]

[ghost]

ROAR.. and there are several different species.. HD, L, R..

[ghost]

Obviously ratings with the masses.. and maximum exposure of sponsors..[g]

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

While I generally don't appreciate their work, it is definitely possible. I saw a video of an effort I believe in San Diego where they were trying to set a world record for building a house in record time. It took over 18 months to plan and 750+ workers but they literally built this house in under

3 hours (I forget the time but it was under 3 anyway). They made use of fast curing materials and worked in expert precision....obviously, 18 months gives a lot of practice. It really was pretty incredible to watch even if, at the end of the day, I wouldn't have lived there! They had inspectors there checking everything as they went and at the end, they issued the occupancy certificate. Judging by the hair cuts, it appeared they did this in the 70's sometime. Anyway, I personally think the show is crap and is more about the emotional aspect vs. renovation so I don't watch it. Cheers, cc

[Locutus]

The home they just built in a week is near where I live, they did build it in the time they stated, in the rain a large majority of the time. They had people working on it 24 hours a day.

Of course they have it planned out ahead of time, it is VERY orchestrated and planned to meet deadlines, many local companies and contractors were involved, and the local news followed it very closely.

For the most part, what you see is what really happened.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

First thing they should do is shove that bullhorn up Ty's ass. Damn, he can be annoying.

I'm sure many of us would be interested is the actual planning, seeing the Gantt chart that was hanging in one of the trailers, etc. My guess is the basic construction is a variation of existing plans that the company has built many times in the past so they know the steps to be taken. Materials are probably pre-cut and/or pre-fabed when possible. That would allow for practice runs as that model is built 20 times in a development someplace to check the feasibility of having three plumbers in the bathroom at the same time.

Last week the Hartford Courant had an article about the cop in Kansas that got a new house. A year later, it is still "as seen on TV" but he is appealing the $4000 property tax bill. These people end up with no mortgage, but plenty of tax and utility costs.