Bargain Block: Door to Door

[Ray1936]

Watching a show on HGTV [[the Home and Gardens channel) of homes being rebuilt in Detroit. The crew is doing some magnificent work on those cottage-style homes that were all built in the post-war years of 1946 to the 1960's. Unfortunately, most of those homes were slapped together very quickly [[read, "cheaply") due to the demand from the returning WW II GI's, when finding a home for sale was a job in itself. I lived in one from 1959 to 1971 [[Lindsay, just north of Pembroke) and put a lot of work into upgrading the place; building out the 'attic' into a bedroom and the basement into a nice den for me.

That said, it's great watching this TV show which is really all about making Detroit better.

Huzzah!

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I’m glad the show got picked up for a second season.

While Keith’s design style is a bit over the top for my tastes, it’s nice seeing something other than the ubiquitous flipper gray with white cabinets.

I also love that they work in entry level neighborhoods that generally don’t get a lot of renovation interest due to the lower price point. Targeting multiple abandoned properties in close proximity is nice to see, since it can really have a positive impact in the neighborhood.

The fact that they are a white gay couple, both recent transplants to Detroit, adds an interesting spin to the show as well.

[jcole]

Cheaply made? Those bungalows were built better than most homes today. My parents bought on in 1941 and we lived there til 1973. My dad was handy when not being a cop and extended the kitchen, finished hte basement and the upstairs. The quality of the base house was good; we just need more room for 5 kids. I live in a similar bungalow in an inner ring suburb which hasn't been up graded at all and it is still built better than the 1973 ranch we moved out of.

Watching a show on HGTV [[the Home and Gardens channel) of homes being rebuilt in Detroit. The crew is doing some magnificent work on those cottage-style homes that were all built in the post-war years of 1946 to the 1960's. Unfortunately, most of those homes were slapped together very quickly [[read, "cheaply") due to the demand from the returning WW II GI's, when finding a home for sale was a job in itself. I lived in one from 1959 to 1971 [[Lindsay, just north of Pembroke) and put a lot of work into upgrading the place; building out the 'attic' into a bedroom and the basement into a nice den for me.

That said, it's great watching this TV show which is really all about making Detroit better.

Huzzah!

[royce]

This show and many other HDTV shows are interesting and entertaining, but they skip out on a lot of details that go into rehabbing the homes that they feature. For example, these shows are notorious for putting a master bedroom in the attic, but they never show how they are going to heat and cool this area.

Another thing, they rarely show the basement to show if they have put any work into them. Many abandoned homes have structural damage to basement walls due to water leakage or flooding.

Finally, these shows, particularly this show, often show the fixer-uppers fixing up two houses in one episode. These guys start on one, stop, and start working on another one, stop, go back to finish up the first one and finish, and then go back and finish the second one. I guess the network wants to freshen up the way these shows are sequenced, but I'd liked to see the start and finish of the project instead of having to adjust to a new project in the middle. That's just me. I still enjoy watching This Old House where they take several shows to explain the renovations instead of 25 minutes. What can I say, I'm old school.

[313WX]

This show and many other HDTV shows are interesting and entertaining, but they skip out on a lot of details that go into rehabbing the homes that they feature. For example, these shows are notorious for putting a master bedroom in the attic, but they never show how they are going to heat and cool this area.

Another thing, they rarely show the basement to show if they have put any work into them. Many abandoned homes have structural damage to basement walls due to water leakage or flooding.

Finally, these shows, particularly this show, often show the fixer-uppers fixing up two houses in one episode. These guys start on one, stop, and start working on another one, stop, go back to finish up the first one and finish, and then go back and finish the second one. I guess the network wants to freshen up the way these shows are sequenced, but I'd liked to see the start and finish of the project instead of having to adjust to a new project in the middle. That's just me. I still enjoy watching This Old House where they take several shows to explain the renovations instead of 25 minutes. What can I say, I'm old school.

Hollywood giving a misleading potrayal of life?

Shocked, I tell ya!!!

/s

[stasu1213]

Many post war homes in Detroit were massed produced with quality materials.

[13606Cedargrove]

Agreed. Very little is "real" about reality shows in general. I liked the "This Old House" style of production better [I still catch a couple of shows now and then) because they addressed non-glamourous issues such as structural integrity, leaks of all kinds, dry rot, etc. If you don't fix that stuff first, the cosmetics will soon deteriorate.

[Sehv313]

Cheaply made? Those bungalows were built better than most homes today.

Exactly this. It is a reason why homes on the land bank that were built over 100 years and abandoned for over 20 years are still standing before renovation. Not just brick homes, but frame houses as well in Detroit almost seem to be indestructible outside of fire damage of course.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

On a recent episode the guys were demoing a bathroom and they referred to it as a “concrete bunker,” specifically referencing the high quality of the construction. A lot of these “modest” houses were built way better than today’s homes.