The downside to choosing not to have TV in my home is that I’ve missed tons of fall premieres, including the slew of new and returning home improvement shows.  Just to have an idea of what I’m missing out on, I thought I’d have a peek at what the line up is for this fall on HGTV.

One of my all time faves, not to mention one of the few English programs that aired during the many years I spent in Taipei was “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.  I think that for most people, the favourite and most impressive segment of the show was when Thom would unveil his interior redesign.  Every time he’d knock my socks off!

The stable of HGTV shows also rely mostly on Cinderella-esque transformations.  But there’s no winning formula despite the similarity of these programs, it really comes down to a combo of talent and personality.  There was only one show that I’ll remember to check out the next time I’ve got a remote in hand.  It was the only one that I can say seems genuinely interesting, has an attention-holding premise and uses the host’s natural charm and humour instead of having to rely on cheesy editing or campy overacting.

Sarah’s House 2

The plethora of billboards dotting my neighborhood have done their mesmerizing work - this was the first show I checked out through the wonderful world of internet streaming (maybe it set the bar too high for the others).  Clips of Season 1 can be viewed here. It only took the length of clip 1 (about 6 mins) to see why this show got a second season.

As host Sarah Richardson (who has two other successful shows under her belt) traipses across town, seeking a diamond in the rough to sharpen and shine, viewers get a voyeuristic thrill, touring through otherwise uncrossed thresholds.  It’s sort of like getting introduced to one of those back alley nightclubs - or maybe that’s just from the retro shmaltz they venture into clip 1.  I can only imagine how once she makes her pick, the “after” portion of the series tops the “before”.

I wonder if there’s anything else worth catching on the tube?

Stay tuned …

Photo from www.HGTV.ca

Dear Reader: how many houses do you own?

I know, silly question. For those lucky enough to be homeowners, the answer is usually one, with perhaps a summer cottage or chalet added to the tally. For the super-rich or those who rent out properties, the number can climb up a few more notches.

And then there’s Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. When asked how many houses he owns, McCain—who paraded an everyman, town hall–style, let’s get back to basics campaign—couldn’t produce an answer. Two? Five? Ten? He wasn’t sure. Granted, he’s getting old, but surely his wife, Cindy, should know. “I’ll have my staff get [back] to you,” he said.

Can you imagine being so rich you can’t remember how many houses you own? Of course, a political gaffe such as this produces offspring only possibly in the YouTube, digitalized era.

This wouldn’t be so funny if it weren’t for the Rupublican party’s recent attack advertisement dealing with the U.S. housing crisis; in the ad, an announcer says, “Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems. One of his ‘biggest fund-raisers’ helped him buy his million-dollar mansion.”

So, for the record, Obama owns one house, a hefty $1.5 million mansion; and McCain owns (at press time) 10 houses worth about $13.8 million, just slightly less than the net worth of his prime time gaffe.

[ed: McCain's spokesman claims four houses, along with "investment properties and stuff." And check out the pictures here to see his Arizona abode.]

Thinking outside the box. I know, we’re all sick of this tired, old cliché, but Yale University graduate student Elizabeth Turnbull really did think outside of the box—in this case, the box being your typical dormitory or ghetto-ized student housing unit.

Estimating her housing costs for the year at $14,000, Turnbull brainstormed on more creative ways to live and spend that money. Her insightful solution: build her own house. After all, Turnbull’s major, Forestry and Environmental Studies, emphasizes shrinking carbon footprints and waste, and what could be greener than building a tiny, transportable house?

The new home is eight feet by 18 feet, built atop a flatbed trailer. Features include a small sleeping loft, a study room, kitchen and bathroom, plus some storage and (apparently) a designated “living room.” Seems a little cramped, but a neat idea.

Ever the idealist, Turnbull has installed solar panels to power up her cellphone and computer—free, off-the-grid power—and heat the house with propane. More ecological features include a recycled (and recyclable) aluminum roof, sailboat sails for ceilings (brilliant idea!), a composting toilet and salvaged fixtures and finishes for a total cost of $8,000.

While not the first to conceive and build a tiny, portable house—she was inspired by California builder Tumbleweed Tiny House Co.—she is certainly the youngest (age 26) and likely the first college student to do take such a green approach to living expenses.

Kids these days.

While traveling through London a few weeks ago, my wife and I were able to cut costs by staying with friends. Since buying their place a year ago, our friends were keen to show off the home’s special features, including a bright garden lined with dark brown, antiquated railway ties. Nice touch.

But it was the parts of the house I couldn’t see that I was most interested in: the second floor. You see, in London, at least, owning a home doesn’t necessarily mean owning the whole house; co-ownership is common, especially as house prices climb, pushing potential buyers outside of the market. Live downtown? Would love to, if only I could afford to buy and not just rent; plus, the houses are just too big. Solution: shared ownership.

In North America, where this type of co-ownership isn’t as common, sharing a house usually means finding a buying partner and then retrofitting the place, either vertically (dividing the house in half from basement to attic) or horizontally, with one owner taking the bottom and one taking the top. In most cases, the two units will not be defined legally as separate dwellings, so the house title and the mortgage will be singular. In other words, unlike the U.K., where a single floor—a flat—can be defined as a dwelling, and carry its own mortgage and title, North Americans must choose their partners wisely or risk mortgage-payment fiascos and other shared-property problems related to renos and repairs.

Still, risk acknowledged, shared ownership can be a smart move so long as you’re prepared to do some extra planning and, let’s face it, live with other people. Because even if you build separate entrances, you’re still sharing space, so make it formal by writing up a set of rules and protocol for things like emergency repairs, large-scale fixes (what happens when the roof needs an update in a few years?), and, most importantly, what to do if one person wants out of the agreement. Like any investment, co-ownership carries risk and reward.

While the U.S. Census Bureau no longer gathers statistics specifically focused on home renovations, up in chilly Canada yearly stats are published on what’s happening in the world of remodelling, compiled by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Usually, what’s happening in America is happening in Canada—economically speaking. Usually, but not always; it seems like Canada is charting its own future these days. Unlike American builders and renovators, which have taken a hit since the economic slowdown and credit crisis began, Canadian contractors are doing well.

In 2007, Canadians spent close to $19.7 billion on home renovations—about 37 per cent of households across 10 major cities from Vancouver to St. John’s, N.L., according to the recently released CMHC Renovation and Home Purchase Report. An estimated 1.5 million households completed some form of reno in 2007, and while this number is down slightly from 2006, when 39 per cent of all households renovated, things are not exactly cooling off.

Homeowners across Canada spend an average of $12,800 on renovations in 2007, an increase of more than $1,000 compared to 2006. The highest average amount spent was in Calgary, at $15,600, and increase of $3,000 over 2006. The lowest average for 2007 was Winnipeg, at $7,900, a decline of more than $2,000 from 2006.

Statistics Canada divides home renovations into two categories: improvement/alteration, which refers to work done to increase the enjoyment or value of the home, such as a deck or addition; and repair/maintenance, a renovation undertaken to keep the home in working order. According to the CMHC report, 59 per cent of households renovated for improvement, 48 for repair or maintenance, seven per cent to add more space and five per cent to make their home more energy efficient.

More stats: 31 per cent of renovating households remodelled a room, followed by painting/wallpapering and flooring/carpeting, at about 27 per cent. In Ottawa and Edmonton, 20 per cent of all reno projects in 2007 involved some type of major landscaping or exterior addition, including patios, swimming pools and outdoor kitchens.

It’s official: I’ve entered my Carlsberg years. it seems like only yesterday conversations with friends revolved around derelict landlords, overdue philosophy papers and who did what at weekend house parties. But these, as it turns out, were minor stresses compared to thirty-something worries over marriage, new homes and—the crux of the matter—home renovations.

Renovating a home is a rite of passage most of us go through, the lucky ones at least, and yet few things in life create such high stress as figuring out what projects to set in motion, how to pay for it, and whether or not to hire a contractor. It can be overwhelming to say the least, especially since most of us have never encountered anything of this sort before, which often results in nothing getting done. Sad but true, this is the new wing-night chat.

Not surprisingly, the web is full of blogs created by newlyweds with renovation on the brain, whether they’re greening their lives or trying to turn an old home new, complete with his and her shopping trips. But for every keen couple there’s a flipside—those who barely made it and those that broke down, thanks, no doubt, to the fantasy world of home renos depicted on TV.

Rather than planting a few platitudes on how to manage stress (count to 10, breathe deeply…as if this ever works), let me leave you with one tidbit of real reno advice: plan ahead. Like everything else in life, remodelling is all about deciding on a plan of attack and executing it.

Project derailment (and that other D-word) is avoidable with preparation, so before saying “I do” to that bathroom fix-up, make sure you’re both in tune.

Have you ever walked into a friend’s home and noticed similar design elements to your own house? You know, the same kitchen layout, or carpeting or even—heaven forbid—the same wallpaper. Sure, we all steal ideas, but some of us are more stealth, taking the idea itself and running with it.

Open house season is upon us, whether it’s someone’s daughter finally graduating high school, BBQ invites, garden tours or public viewings of for-sale homes, June is all about opening doors to friends and strangers. But don’t just hang around the bacon-wrapped scallops and Yellow Tail — there is a certain manner in which to approach open houses. But better yet … take a look around for reno inspiration.

It’s no surprise that a home for sale is typically a house that’s been recently renovated, so even if you’re not in the market (why move when it’s so much fun to renovate?), go in and see what they’ve done to the place. Not only will it give you ideas for new projects, but browsing also gives you a sense of how much your home is worth, and what you can do to raise the resale value.

So the next time you see that “Open House” sign with an arrow, consider it a personal invitation to learn from someone’s else home triumphs … or trials.

It seems every time I flip on the boob tube, there’s another happy couple—well, generally happy, but momentarily disgruntled couple—undergoing a home reno while TV cameras roll. Welcome to prime time, where homeowners and professional renovators flip the ugly, the outdated, the unlivable into a contemporary nest in less time than it takes most of us to re-tile a small bathroom.

If home reno shows have done one thing well, it is to expose the bad guys in the business. But while they have raised the status of a few good men, and women, these shows have also given off the impression that renovation is a card game where you need to call bluffs and gamble your savings.

Money Blue Book, a blog about “smart investing, frugal living and credit card offers” offers up what it considers the best house-flipping and house-hunting TV shows. But it should be noted that “best” here refers to “most entertaining.” For example, here’s Blogger Ray (no last name) on A&E’s Flip This House: “I love the show and found it irresistibly entertaining due to the endless stream of scam and fakery controversies [including] Atlanta “real estate developer” Sam Leccima and his Season 2 housing-flip scam debacle. His on-the-air house flipping prowesses were later exposed and discredited as shams by news investigators when it was revealed that he had duped many investors in an elaborate flipping cover up.” “Ray’s” passionate analysis continues on the site.

But I don’t mean to just focus on the negative. Instructional TV has come a long way since the days of Bob Ross reminiscing about wartime while painting his latest water-colour masterpiece. While we’re inundated with a few too many shows these days, there are at least a few worth your half hour.

Canada’s HGTV carries a wide selection of less glamorous, more realistic reno shows, even if they are slightly sped up—hey, come on, it’s television. Most notable is Holmes on Homes, starring contractor Mike Holmes as the tough-talking, bicep-wielding here-I-come-to-save-the-day pro.

The original reno shows belong to This Old House, the New England program starring everyman Norm Abram. Beginning in 1982, this is probably television’s longest-running reno show.

Of course, we can’t really talk TV without mentioning the Kenny Rogers of DIY, Bob Vila. This guy can sell, and unlike us regular folk, his hair never seems to grey and his golf shirts never seem to fade.

If you are considering renovating your home, buying a home to renovate, or flipping a house, this will give you some insight as to what it really takes to do a total home renovation.

Week 3 and 4
After gutting the entire interior of the house, the wiring, and plumbing, needs to be replaced. Seeming these are things that I am not willing to allow my husband to do, in fear that he might blow himself or the house up, we brought in the professionals!

After these two weeks, the stress scale hit a nine on the stress “o” meter. Some problems we came across were:

Issue #1 was finding a good plumber and electrician. No easy task! There are a number of excellent resources available such as the Home Renovation Guide that can make the search easier, but we knew that with the amount of work that was apparent, both these teams would be in the house for at least a week each.

The Plumber!
The plumber was great in the end. After 5 days they had completed all that was needed (which was everything!). Every pipe in the house was replaced, as it had been 80 years since anything had been. Additionally, the hot water tank needed to be move to open up the space in the laundry room, the basin sinks relocated to accommodate the washer dryer, and a drain needed to be dug up in the basement and run out side, to eliminate further water damage, and the list ran on, and on, and on.

Issues Encountered
The main pipe that ran from the basement, up through the kitchen, and then up into the bathroom, was rotten! This was something that we thought (the plumbers and us), would have been okay as it was the original cast iron pipe. Of course with replacement, come added costs, and more time. However, replacing this also eliminated the smell of urine that was so predominate.

The second major problem we ran into was in the basement. As mentioned earlier a drain needed to be created outside that would act as a place for the water run off instead of going into the basement. Once they began digging the way for the pipe, they realized that the pipe they were going to link to was broken. So add another day, and more money.

Over all because we supplied the materials, and were able to work out flat rates with them, we were only $245 over the plumbing budget, but still had significant savings from the original quote.

Electrical
Well, knob-and-tube is just as confusing as it sounds. Who really knows how it works, and why it was legal? With the condition of the knob and tube, the house would have burned down long before the breaker went … words right from the electrician.

Again, we supplied the materials, which helped save money, but it was also time consuming because there were things that we could not find easily. That said, here are some of the “fun” encounters we had:

• Time - these guys are not timely! As patience is a virtue, one in which I try hard to possess, without success, this was terrible for me! They make their own schedule, and seemed to have dragged things on for over two weeks, while it could have been done in 5 days if they worked consecutive days.

• Of course, there were problems! Trying to feed the new lines through the house prompted some harsh words under the breath of the electrical team. Because of the board and batten walls that currently existed, it was not easy to get the lines up. Moreover, the existing electrical in the house was sparse, so there were a lot of new light fixtures, switches and outlets put in to get the house up to code.

In the end, the electrician has to come back once more after the drywall is finished to put up the faceplates and futures.

Well, these two weeks were not as exciting as next week, when we stop demolishing and start rebuilding! Yep, the walls are going up, and the exterior is being started.

Suggestions
Here are a few suggestions to make sure that your stress “o” meter doesn’t hit the 10!

• Ask if you can supply the materials. This saved us a great deal of money by avoiding the mark-up of at least 10%.

• Ask if you can pay a flat rate instead of by the hour. That way they want the job done speedily as well.

• Get at least 2 quotes to hear out any suggestions that they may have. Contractors can tell you how to save space, money and time if you listen, and you can see what they offer that is different if the prices really vary.

• Lastly, you are going to have to interact with the people you hire, so like them! Money is not always the deciding factor, your sanity is too…

If you are considering renovating your home, buying a home to renovate, or flipping a house, this will give you some insight as to what it really takes to do a total home renovation.

Week Two

The homes interior needed to be completely gutted. After speaking to some of the neighbours, we discovered that there were 10 illegal immigrants renting small sections of a room, so they wound up dividing bedrooms into 2 or 3 very small spaces to rent out more spaces. Along the way there were some surprises; here is what happened.

Knowing that it was a physically challenging job, and that don’t come close to having my husbands strength, we started with the upstairs. This way the thinks that took the most energy I could do right away.

The small room on the upstairs addition previously used as a second kitchen to accommodate more people. We removed the sink, walls, and ceiling. One pleasant surprise was the ceiling under the pressboard. It was actually usable! Updating the windows to create a beautiful solarium looking over the back yard, this can be an office or baby area. The exposed brink will add a unique feeling to a small but great space.

The bedroom attached to this area was sectioned off, creating a walkway to the makeshift kitchen. We took down the way, and we very happy to see that they had not destroyed the hardwood floors that we are refinishing. They did however reinforce that wall into the molding around the door, so all of that has to be replaced.

Once we were able to open the room up a bit, we starting by demolishing the wall connected to the bathroom. Any stress that I had, I put to good use, as this wall was all board and baton plaster so required some serious strength.

One thing to remember when working with board and baton plaster, WEAR A MASK, or you get the black lung! It’s messy and not pleasant to breathe in!

Meanwhile, in the other two bedrooms, all the T Bar ceilings had to go. They are okay at an office, but not a home. Both the master and the larger of the other two rooms had limited closet space, so the master bedroom is getting a new wall-to-wall closet that is both functional and accommodating. The existing closet in the master bedroom now opens into the second bedroom so there is one large usable closet for added storage.

Now on to the fun stuff! The upstairs bathroom, in all its pink glory was completely town out, including the floorboards. This is where we noticed the weak floors that we need to replace. No light duty here, the tiles in the bathroom weighed a ton and was dragged down stairs and out the back into the dumpster.

After day one, the upstairs was finished and we were on to the main floor. In the front entrance, we decided that the hardwood was too damaged to repair, so marble tiles will be laid. Easier to keep clean and an warm welcome home. After removing the hardwood, we found more hard wood! Still too much damage from the 100+ nails per square inch, but it was a nice surprise that will save some money by not having to redo the entire area.

Next, we took out the living room doorway. It closed off the entire space and the fireplace in the living room can now be seen as soon as you walk in. Again, board and Baton plaster.

The dining room was already in good shape. Little needs to be done here so we were off to the Kitchen.

No small task, we tore out the kitchen. Cupboards, counters, and floor all needed to go. There was previous water damage so we took out some walls to ensure that everything was sealed up properly. We have yet to decide how to handle the century hardwood floors we found in the kitchen, originally we had intended on tile, however, the beautiful floors we discovered are priceless, and we hate to cover them up.

A small area of the kitchen converted to add a second bathroom, not a bad idea, however they had no lights so they added (and poorly) glass planes to allow the light in. Both the tub and toilet had to go. Its still a mystery where the sink was suppose to be. After much deliberation, we decided to move the bathroom into the back addition and make it a half bath, leaving much more room in the kitchen.

Day 2 was a long day spent mainly on the living room and kitchen, but will be worth it in the end.

By the end of the week we were tired, and swore, however the feeling of accomplishment was there making it worthwhile, and why the stress scale was only a 7.2.

Come back next week as we start framing and the electrical. Goodbye, knob and tube wiring!