Unreality TV & the Truth About Remodeling

Television shows about home improvement are hugely popular in the United States and abroad. They’re inspirational and aspirational; they get the creative juices flowing at the same time as they make us salivate for a home that really lives up to our hopes and dreams.

Yet if you ask Twin Cities remodelers, they’ll say those shows have a lot to answer for. According to them, the programs have given consumers an unrealistic idea of what it’s like to go through a major renovation.

“I’ve been on HGTV, so I guess I’m adding to the problem, but absolutely it causes misconceptions,” says Brian Jones, president of Jones Design Build in Shorewood. “It’s a great tool because it exposes people to a lot of things that they’ve never seen before. But at the same time, it skews their perceptions.”

Television isn’t solely to blame for the lack of understanding. Even before scruffy TV hosts started redoing rooms in three days for $1,000, most homeowners didn’t know what to expect from remodeling companies. They simply didn’t have experience with major rehauls and couldn’t possibly know what to expect in the strange alternate universe that is created the moment demolition begins.

“Even before HGTV, it was always a challenge to give people a sense of what it’s like to live through the mess,” Jones says.

So in the name of peace and understanding, we’ve asked remodeling professionals to clear up some of the most common misconceptions they encounter among prospective clients. What you learn may surprise you.

A renovation costs more than you think.

You know that dirt-cheap room on the remodeling show? The one with the refurbished antique built-ins that were found at a garage sale for $5? It’s bunk. For starters, they’re not including the cost of the designer and work crews’ time. For another, those TV programs are notorious for doing a quick, superficial jobs that looks good on camera but are perhaps not so impressive in real life.

“Their mentality is, ‘We’re going to come in and do a quick fluff and buff, and you’re going to have a showpiece,’” says Tim Purcell, Jr., president of Purcell, Inc., a remodeling company in White Bear Lake. “That’s not reality. There’s a difference between a room makeover and a renovation. And even if you just want to paint a room, you’re not going to find a painter who will do it for a couple hundred dollars—not one who is qualified, anyway.”

Randy Bacchus, president of Bacchus Homes, Inc., a home-building firm in Maplewood, says he thinks homeowners might be doing the wrong kind of mental math. “I think they get sticker shock [when they get estimates],” he says. “Part of it, I think, is that they are looking at the room to be renovated as a certain percentage of their house. Say their house is worth $250,000, and they’re going to add a room on the back, plus redo the kitchen. They have a hard time relating to the idea that it’s going to cost $100,000 to $150,000.” After the homeowners get a couple of bids on the job, Bacchus says they get a more realistic picture. But even then, they’re often surprised by how much things cost.