Well, I don't personally hate him. Don't even know the guy.But that's the title of the latest piece by one of my favorite columnists in the /Berkeley Daily Planet/, Matt Cantor, local owner of a home-inspection business who writes a weekly column on home repair and maintenance.Here's a sample: I do genuinely hate these specific shows: "Hometime," "This Old House" and "The New Yankee Workshop." I hate them for one simple reason: they make most people feel like idiots. Even if a show only demonstrates how to build a basic chest of drawers, it does a lousy job of preparing the average Joe or Joan for the task. In the end, the show provides nothing more than boutique shopping and showing off. I suppose that would be a lot of fun if you only want to learn that you?as a homeowner or stock broker or bank clerk?know nothing about houses or furniture or nails and that you?ll never stand a chance of doing more than hanging a picture on the wall. On shows like these, the jobs are made to look so darned easy. All the materials are waiting for assembly and nothing is spoiled, the wrong type or missing. The air gun never misfires and the compressor never needs to be drained (yes, you have to drain compressors daily because they fill up with water and will rust out if you don?t do so). That?s another thing I hate: in actuality, there are many small details that fill a contractor?s day (or your day when you play contractor) but they?re neatly edited out, just as they are in a cooking show. Just pop the raw one in the oven and Voila, the new freshly baked one comes right out of the other oven.(See article at

Well, don't take this personally but for many of us the shows are equal to or shallower to our learning curve. Basically we get ideas or learn how to do a specific detail. We don't need to see the mistakes, we have that part covered.I feel that if the shows start with identifying the difference between a board and a screw that 99.9% of the viewers would get bored very soon. Take the "Router Workshop" for instance, same old routine over and over and over and over..... Then I get fixated on the "knot" on the old man's head and all I remember from that point is RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr, bla bla bla, rrrrrrrr, bla bla bla......I believe for our society to gain knowledge and advance intellectually that we should always challenge ourselves. I don't like the idea of dumbing down a class or instructional video to the lowest common dominator of it's students intelligence level. If the show seems a bit too advanced, take a look at the other 95% of what is showing on the DIY channel or watch a...

Why I hate Norm Abrams

Aug 23, 2009 121 Replies

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Cindy Hamilton 16 years ago

It was the back of the house in a yard where you couldn't get far enough from the house to really see it. I'd have done what the builder first proposed. The architect has also made it more difficult/expensive to insulate. Luckily, the builder seems like a stand-up guy, so he'll probably do it right.

Relating back to the original topic, while I can see why one could dislike NYW and TOH, one of my favorite TV renovation shows is Holmes on Homes. The guy is capable of a mighty, righteous anger.

Cindy Hamilton

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krw 16 years ago

As was mine. It still looked dumb.

That's you. As I said, to each his own. But, there is *good* reason to do what the architect suggested. Full shed dormers over the main wall look *dumb*.

The architect did his job so now it's up to the builder to do his. If he didn't think he could do it (and right) he had no business taking the job.

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