Since I was a kid I always knew I wanted to do something with my hands for a living. Not really having any family members that were in the trades I didn't really have a direction to travel. Until one day a bearded man walked into my life via the TV. That man, was Bob Villa. Mr. Villa, or Bobby V as I like to call him gave me that direction. And just like that a contractor was born!
Thankfully I had the mechanical ability so it was easy to learn the hands on part of being a contractor but as a kid that wasn't of legal age to work, how was I supposed to learn about home remodeling? So, much like "Chip" Douglas (The Cable Guy) my TV became my teacher. Back then all there really was to watch was This Old House. But I learned a ton about construction watching the best of the best apply their expertise to build peoples dream homes. These homes were typically out of the financial realms of most people so at best you just envied the work. You only dreamt of doing those things to your home. It did however inspire ideas of design and application. Smart people picked up on this and started to make home improvement show after home improvement show.
HGTV and the DIY Network are essentially 24hrs of home improvement shows. They range from actual do it yourself work to the money is no object remodels.
When they started it was mainly do it yourself type shows that inspired homeowners to, you guessed it, do it themselves. Which most of the time resulted in catastrophe. Their DIY project would then result in calling an actual contractor to repair what was done, although usually after some time. Most of us never want to admit defeat so convincing yourself that the sponge paint you just put on your living room walls looks good isn't hard to believe. But a contractor eventually was called to save the day. This was good for me but unfortunate for my clients.
The DIY shows bled into the home makeover shows. Some of these makeovers even got "extreme". These shows, as cool as they are to watch, are awful in every way for the viewer. They create a unrealistic expectation of of how home remodeling works. Regardless of what you knew to be fact before you now think an entire home can be built in less than a week. AND for little to no money. This fad was brutal on the contractor. Every project I personally looked at and during the height of these shows all of sudden needed to be done in about a quarter of the time it actually takes and should be done cheap. My guys should work night and day but at the cost of a half days work. I think after Ty Pennington sobered up, so did the television networks because these shows started to fade away. Now I can get back to doing quality work at a fair price without hearing about how some guy on TV drywalled, painted, tiled and grouted a bathroom in 8 hours right?
Not so much.
Now these channels are full of shows that have a respected "contractor" come to the rescue and save a family that was screwed over by the contractor they originally hired. This TV contractor then has crews come to repair and finish their project. During the past year when I meet with potential clients I have noticed I need to work much harder for them to warm up to me. And I am easily warm up toable! (Its a word, don't look it up, trust me) Only after my last meeting did I put two and two together. These shows are creating a bad vibe towards contractors. If you watch these shows you now feel that every contractor is going to rip you off unless they are on TV. All non TV contractors are basically scam artists that will take your money and run or destroy your home one 2x4 at a time. This is just a major bummer for me. I work very hard at pleasing my clients as any existing one would tell you. To walk into a potential clients home and feel like I am a scumbag until proven otherwise sucks.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some BAD contractors out there. Hell, I have worked for some of the worst. But as a whole we are all mostly good and care about our work. We typically start off as carpenters and enjoy building. We see the business as an art form and our clients as our fans and you must keep your fans happy. This isn't our job, its our passion.
Oddly enough, as much as I see the negatives these shows can have on my industry I watch them all the time. I love seeing new applications or products. Design ideas I may not have seen. I learn something new every time I watch these shows. And since people looking to do a remodel often watch these shows for ideas it also allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of new styles and trends. So as much as I would like to tell you to not watch these shows and they are only poisoning your mind, I can't. I am guilty of drinking the Kool-Aid too. Just for different reasons.
Micheal Coreleone said it best: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" So HGTV and the DIY Network are basically my best friends now.
