Somewhere between This Old House and Fixer Upper
May 23, 2021 7:20 AM Subscribe
I've been binging old episodes of This Old House and I'd love to find more house-fixing content. What I like about This Old House that I don't get from the vast majority of the HGTV content out there is the level of detail about how/why they're doing what they're doing and all the various "real life" steps involved.
Looking for content where basically a house or building in not-great shape gets fixed up. I am looking for content where they really go into the weeds on what they're doing. Along with This Old House, Daniel Kanter's historic home renovation Instagram and blog scratches the itch. Part of what I like is the before/after but I also just love learning about all of these techniques that go into construction and contract work.
To me, both of these examples just have a really different vibe than most of the house flipping shows on HGTV these days.
Looking for content where basically a house or building in not-great shape gets fixed up. I am looking for content where they really go into the weeds on what they're doing. Along with This Old House, Daniel Kanter's historic home renovation Instagram and blog scratches the itch. Part of what I like is the before/after but I also just love learning about all of these techniques that go into construction and contract work.
To me, both of these examples just have a really different vibe than most of the house flipping shows on HGTV these days.
You would probably like any of the series Mike Holmes has. Most of them are Canada-centric but the building principles are mostly the same, with some code differences. The two series I am most familiar with are “Holmes on Homes” in which he fixes botched or incomplete renovations, and “Holmes Inspection” where he fixes major issues missed in the home inspection before purchase. He usually does a good job of explaining why things are wrong, which usually come down to three or four things which have become catch phrases.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:53 AM on May 23, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 7:53 AM on May 23, 2021 [10 favorites]
If you have Amazon Prime and your interests extend to a British show, try Project Restoration. The host is a very knowledgeable historic building surveyor and she travels to multiple restoration projects where she digs into building techniques.
posted by Preserver at 8:20 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Preserver at 8:20 AM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Does it have to be TV? The Journal of Light Construction is a magazine that gets into the details of both renovation and some new construction. It’s great!
posted by MonsieurBon at 8:54 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by MonsieurBon at 8:54 AM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
In the same vein as Daniel, @rademacherrevival on IG is one of my favorite follows.
posted by girlalex at 8:58 AM on May 23, 2021
posted by girlalex at 8:58 AM on May 23, 2021
I too love This Old House and Daniel Kanter, for exactly those reasons! There are a couple of other bloggers who, while they're in different specialities, scratch some of the same itches.
Addicted 2 Decorating - Generally, this tends to be a bit more on the design side of things than inside the walls, but she does projects like building her own cabinetry from scratch and she's goes into quite a bit of detail at each step.
DIY Diva - She hasn't been as prolific of a writer lately, but some of the archives are great for going into details on indoor and outdoor projects. The projects aren't really here's a how you would do this, so much as a retrospective of here's how I did this and why (the good and the sort of oops).
posted by past unusual at 11:14 AM on May 23, 2021
Addicted 2 Decorating - Generally, this tends to be a bit more on the design side of things than inside the walls, but she does projects like building her own cabinetry from scratch and she's goes into quite a bit of detail at each step.
DIY Diva - She hasn't been as prolific of a writer lately, but some of the archives are great for going into details on indoor and outdoor projects. The projects aren't really here's a how you would do this, so much as a retrospective of here's how I did this and why (the good and the sort of oops).
posted by past unusual at 11:14 AM on May 23, 2021
My favorite show on DIY Network is Restored, and it's hosted by a guy named Brett Waterman who works out of the Southern California area around Redlands and thereabouts. I just adore the show, because he's so incredibly knowledgeable about everything from Spanish colonial to Craftsman bungalows to midcentury modern, and he's also just this big goofy guy who gets excited about everything (I loved the time he sort of lost his shit when he discovered a Batchelder fireplace that had been tiled over). He's focused on preservation and restoration, not remodeling. I have learned so much from watching it, and I wish DIY treated it a little better (I also can't watch the latest season because I don't have a full cable package anymore, grrr, and I barely touch HGTV anymore for reasons like yours). I see from looking it up that he has an Instagram, too, linked on that page, so I know what I'll be adding to my feed.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:05 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:05 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I love Restored and miss having DIY solely for it and it alone. Brett's enthusiasm is great and doesn't feel forced.
Ask This Old House has detailed explanations but it's more in the vein of an advice show.
posted by fiercekitten at 1:29 PM on May 23, 2021
Ask This Old House has detailed explanations but it's more in the vein of an advice show.
posted by fiercekitten at 1:29 PM on May 23, 2021
Youtube is great for this.
ex:
The Indie Projects
Matt Risinger
The Honest Carpenter
Austin Flipsters
posted by oceano at 2:28 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
ex:
The Indie Projects
Matt Risinger
The Honest Carpenter
Austin Flipsters
posted by oceano at 2:28 PM on May 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Double recommendations to Holmes on Homes (especially the early seasons - the later aren't as good) and Restored on DIY. Brett Waterman on Restored goes into real details and explains old features better than most and they do little vignettes on specific parts of a restoration like This Old House.
On the top end of the market, Vanilla Ice's show The Vanilla Ice Project also on DIY goes into the dollars and decorating decisions (even as they come from Vanilla Ice's mind) better than most.
posted by The_Vegetables at 5:32 PM on May 23, 2021
On the top end of the market, Vanilla Ice's show The Vanilla Ice Project also on DIY goes into the dollars and decorating decisions (even as they come from Vanilla Ice's mind) better than most.
posted by The_Vegetables at 5:32 PM on May 23, 2021
OMG! Yes to ‘Escape to the Chateau!’ It’s streaming free on Peacock and it’s so good. It seems like the setup is going to be HGTV style but it really is both far more down-to-earth and realistic but also very escapist. I can’t wait for more seasons and I really hope they weathered the COVID shutdown(s) okay.
posted by amanda at 6:54 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by amanda at 6:54 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Lowe's actually has some pretty good content on that front. The Weekender is a designer who does five very do-able projects in one room over a weekend with the homeowners helping/learning, and Our Little Warehome is a 10-piece series of a family converting a warehouse to a home. Not a ton of detail there but enough to keep it interesting IMO, and no drama.
posted by headnsouth at 6:30 AM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by headnsouth at 6:30 AM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Seconding youtube as a resource.
For renovations / rework including anything drywall I really enjoy Vancouver Carpenter.
For the process of building a home from start to finish I really enjoy the Essential Craftsman spec house series. Their other content is great as well.
posted by Quack at 8:51 AM on May 24, 2021
For renovations / rework including anything drywall I really enjoy Vancouver Carpenter.
For the process of building a home from start to finish I really enjoy the Essential Craftsman spec house series. Their other content is great as well.
posted by Quack at 8:51 AM on May 24, 2021
My favorite restoration show on YouTube right now is from N S Builders. They do ridiculously expensive house remodels/restorations in the Boston area, and the results are just incredible. They go over all of the details, just so you know they mean business.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 12:48 PM on May 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by halfbuckaroo at 12:48 PM on May 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by amanda at 7:50 AM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]