C
Colour Republic
Sorry Dave, I’m not sure this is the right place for this post, so if it’s not could you move it for me?
I’m just wondering how you guys feel about prime time building programmes? Do you feel it enhances our trade or does it more damage? I only ask because yet another programme has started recently – Cowboy Builders, Channel Five and I’m not entirely sure it’s doing us any good. Of course it’s entertaining but it doesn’t help the consumer it just make entertaining viewing. I’ve listed just but a few of the programmes below and how I feel about them...
Cowboy Builders
This is a new one and on first glace would appear a factual and helpful programme but it’s not, It has Melinda Messenger running about town blagging free goods from any shop that will happily supply hundreds sometimes thousands of pounds worth of goods seemingly out of the goodness of their hearts but in reality just to get a one line mention on the channel 5 website and then Dom Littlewood charging about trying to grab the (so called) builder by the throat. I agree these builders need to be named and shamed but the programme never gives any real advice on how to avoid the same pitfalls and this is what makes it entertainment. Why don’t they say ‘If a price is too good to be true, then it probably is’ and ‘you get what you pay for’. Something that these programmes all have in common is that they are up against a deadline and as luck would have it they never miss it!
I think it’s also very rich of a programme that is trying to shame cowboy builders to then complete shoddy work themselves, I’ve just finished watching on channels fives website the episode in Leeds and there are a couple of scenes were it doesn’t do its self any favours, the first isn’t that bad at all but still... It shows one of the shows builders trying to drill through the side of the house with a 10mm x 400mm drill bit using a cordless drill. The drill is vibrating all over the place and you know it’s going to take him 10 minutes. I’ve done this myself but only because the bushes had worn out on my hammer drill that very same day. In another shot they show the decorators painting on to bare plaster without thinning out the paint to prime, Ok you can get paints that will allow you to paint without priming but these paints mark like crazy and I’d never paint someone’s house in it as I know it won’t last. Lastly in one of the end scenes it shows you the end product now take a look at how badly aligned the wardrobe doors are!!! I understand this is a programme that had only so much time to film but then at least put a disclaimer at the end that tells the viewers that the builders were on site for another week putting right everything that they had rushed!
60 Second Makeover
Where to start with this one! The finish is shocking, the camera rarely stands still enough to show how bad the workmanship is but when it does OH MY GOD! Another is that they never show that all the people working on the house would fill ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ (Just like those holes in Blackburn Lancashire)
Changing Rooms
Don’t tell viewers that a new bathroom cost £600, do labour charges not exist in your world? It’s almost as bad as B&Q saying ‘You can have this complete bathroom for £289’ ermmm aren’t you forgetting the £200 in plumbing materials to make the d**n thing work.
Grand Designs
I love this programme! It’s the only programme that gives a balanced view on building works, the highs and the lows, It’s very stressful having builders into your own home, in your own personal space but I believe this programme often shows the stress that tradesmen go through on a daily basis so that the customer gets what he/she wants. My only gripe with this programme is that it often champions German builders, but sometimes neglects the fact that the Germans spend weeks sometimes months building everything off site which means they only have to spend a few days installing but I can forgive grand Designs this oversight as it is generally an excellent programme. I love my job I started building when I was sixteen and have sometimes gone into other professions (I’ve been an accountant and worked for record companies, how detached is that from the tools!) but I always come back because I’ve not found a job that can give you the same job satisfaction as building does.
:rant:
I’m just wondering how you guys feel about prime time building programmes? Do you feel it enhances our trade or does it more damage? I only ask because yet another programme has started recently – Cowboy Builders, Channel Five and I’m not entirely sure it’s doing us any good. Of course it’s entertaining but it doesn’t help the consumer it just make entertaining viewing. I’ve listed just but a few of the programmes below and how I feel about them...
Cowboy Builders
This is a new one and on first glace would appear a factual and helpful programme but it’s not, It has Melinda Messenger running about town blagging free goods from any shop that will happily supply hundreds sometimes thousands of pounds worth of goods seemingly out of the goodness of their hearts but in reality just to get a one line mention on the channel 5 website and then Dom Littlewood charging about trying to grab the (so called) builder by the throat. I agree these builders need to be named and shamed but the programme never gives any real advice on how to avoid the same pitfalls and this is what makes it entertainment. Why don’t they say ‘If a price is too good to be true, then it probably is’ and ‘you get what you pay for’. Something that these programmes all have in common is that they are up against a deadline and as luck would have it they never miss it!
I think it’s also very rich of a programme that is trying to shame cowboy builders to then complete shoddy work themselves, I’ve just finished watching on channels fives website the episode in Leeds and there are a couple of scenes were it doesn’t do its self any favours, the first isn’t that bad at all but still... It shows one of the shows builders trying to drill through the side of the house with a 10mm x 400mm drill bit using a cordless drill. The drill is vibrating all over the place and you know it’s going to take him 10 minutes. I’ve done this myself but only because the bushes had worn out on my hammer drill that very same day. In another shot they show the decorators painting on to bare plaster without thinning out the paint to prime, Ok you can get paints that will allow you to paint without priming but these paints mark like crazy and I’d never paint someone’s house in it as I know it won’t last. Lastly in one of the end scenes it shows you the end product now take a look at how badly aligned the wardrobe doors are!!! I understand this is a programme that had only so much time to film but then at least put a disclaimer at the end that tells the viewers that the builders were on site for another week putting right everything that they had rushed!
60 Second Makeover
Where to start with this one! The finish is shocking, the camera rarely stands still enough to show how bad the workmanship is but when it does OH MY GOD! Another is that they never show that all the people working on the house would fill ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ (Just like those holes in Blackburn Lancashire)
Changing Rooms
Don’t tell viewers that a new bathroom cost £600, do labour charges not exist in your world? It’s almost as bad as B&Q saying ‘You can have this complete bathroom for £289’ ermmm aren’t you forgetting the £200 in plumbing materials to make the d**n thing work.
Grand Designs
I love this programme! It’s the only programme that gives a balanced view on building works, the highs and the lows, It’s very stressful having builders into your own home, in your own personal space but I believe this programme often shows the stress that tradesmen go through on a daily basis so that the customer gets what he/she wants. My only gripe with this programme is that it often champions German builders, but sometimes neglects the fact that the Germans spend weeks sometimes months building everything off site which means they only have to spend a few days installing but I can forgive grand Designs this oversight as it is generally an excellent programme. I love my job I started building when I was sixteen and have sometimes gone into other professions (I’ve been an accountant and worked for record companies, how detached is that from the tools!) but I always come back because I’ve not found a job that can give you the same job satisfaction as building does.
:rant:
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