What is with the astronomically high costs for renovations? I live in Ohio, and the cost is seriously like 1/2 or 1/3 of what the homeowners are paying. Plus, Im sure the 2 twin brothers are getting paid pretty well by the network, and the homeowners even help knock down walls, do minor tasks, etc. Maybe the network is not paying the twins much, since the show I'm sure is pretty good publicity for their business?
From watching the show it seems that the renovations also cover the costs of new furnishings for many homeowners (when some homeowners are pushing their budget, for example, Jonathan suggests recycling their old furnishings to save money). Oftentimes the budgets seemed to include top-of-the-line cabinetry, appliances, and other materials so perhaps that factors into the budget.
I'm not sure on timelines, but they usually get the homeowners to do minor work, but since these homes are fixer-uppers, they have a crew come in and do more of the major projects that require specialization, plus they have to have at least a few guys to get it done within the time constraints.
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where i live,unfortunately they seem low. :(
I work in the remodeling buisness, and the reno prices on this show are astonishingly LOW!! I can't even begin to figure out how they are getting the materials at such a bargin...unless the labor is free.
But of course, the show is probably paying for most of the costs.
While I agree with the OP that the renovation costs usually seem quite high for many of these rather modest homes on the show (then again, a lot of these are in Canada which HGTV is semi-mum about, which kind of defeats the purpose of "what you get for the money" when you're talking about another country, even a neighboring one) you bring up a good point HGTV shows often bypass - labor costs!! They will say something like "(they) have $50,000 to spend" and never mention any of that going to pay the workers, just supplies and fixtures.
The reno prices on the show are very low compared to what's market in my area (southeast PA).
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