If you haven’t caught on, the renovations that you see on T.V. are not quite as realistic as the networks would have you believe. Most of these high-speed renovations are planned well in advance. The Kitchens and Bathrooms are not the makings of quality performance.
Casting the Goods and Services
Ironically, a lot of planning goes into making it look like it all happens on the fly. Months of scheduling well in advance, materials pre-ordered and ready to go. Kitchen renovations are the most misrepresented room on these shows. Cabinetry is designed and ordered 6-8 weeks in advance but betrayed as if it is all worked out on a laptop days before installation. This is all great entertainment, but unfortunately gives people in the real world an unrealistic expectation of how a renovation should happen.
Going for the Logie
Some of the experts you see on the screen are there for the camera alone. When the scene is over they disappear until another scene is needed. Often pretending to be part of the work going on, gathering tips from the Real workers about how to build something or make design choices just before the camera rolls.
Cleaver editing will make the simplest of issues into a full-scale war, after all the primary concern is ratings. Without ratings, there is no show. Conversations about the project management and adapted planning on-site can take several takes to look genuine.
Places people
A great exercise is to watch a few episodes and pay particular attention to everything in the background. If you watch closely enough and long enough, you will see things in the back ground that don’t agree with what you are being told. Sometimes there will be materials leaning against the wall behind and later in the week you will see the decision of purchasing those same materials.
Stuntman stand in please
As much as I would like for this not to be true, unfortunately, it is. These television work sites are far from safe. Building and Renovating Companies in the real world spend lots of time and money making sure work sites are safe. If there is a serious accident, there will be an investigation. A lot of this care goes out the window for the sake of good entertainment. There will be electric power cords running all over the place, illegal plasterer stilts being used, Power tools being used in the dark and protective wear ignored. These are just some potential dangers at play.
That’s a wrap
When it is all said and done, I feel for the buyers. Rushing through these processes affects the long jeopardy of the finished product. Since these shows have become popular, we are finding that consumers in the real world have raised their expectations of the time it should take to renovate. Unrealistic expectations are not the best way to start the renovation process. It can feel like a let-down from then on.
Careful planning along with engaging an experienced company that has a current Builders license (DB…..) is the way to go. Check out the companies references and ask for a completion date. If the front of your contract does not detail the time expected to do the job, it is not a building contract. If you are being asked to pay tradesman directly, then your provider is dodging Victorian Law. Do you know how many power points have been allowed? How many meters of flooring have been allowed? If these kind of answers are not forthcoming and detailed clearly in the paperwork, run for the nearest door.
For answers to these questions and lots more practical information, call Select Kitchens for assistance (03) 9885 9911
