I do love the outdoor shows, but I do not like that many of the homes they makeover, the homeowners are less than energetic! May I say pigs? I would love to see the homes a year or two after DIY has come in and given them a makeover. If the homeowner lives like slobs before the project do they really keep up with it after the cameras are off? Just wondering !!!!!!

That has not been my impression at all. For the most part, shows like Yard Crashers seem to select people who are pretty lively, but for various reasons have not been able to spend the time and resources on making their outdoor space beautiful. If anything, it seems that the people selected are upper middle class. I don't recall seeing a Crash that helped an underprivileged family. I know I am always envious of the selected home owners--my family could use the design, materials, and human and financial resources that the Crashers shower on the selected home owners. But, I wonder if I could keep up with their frenetic pace for two or three days.

It would be interesting though to re-visit some of those Crashed sites after a couple of years. I know that the Extreme Makeover Home Edition work has been sited as being somewhat shoddy due to the rushing (for example, they don't leave enough time for plaster etc... to setup properly). Yard Crashers seems to be pretty conscientious though, but what do I know? I'm easily impressed :-)

I agree that many of these people live like pigs. It costs nothing to trim plants, rake, pick up trash etc. I'm always amazed how some of these shows make no provision for watering systems, even in California! I'm betting the plants are dead in six months.

I personally consider a fair amount of the "feature" items on improvements shows to be a little, ahhh, impermanent. "woo, fabric wall!" "we'll make ceiling beams from old pallets!" "isn't the pattern on this sheathing floor just marvelous?"

if it makes you feel better, the drywallers on those shows generally use sheetrock-20 mud, which is not that day and a half to dry stuff, but ready to sand in 20 minutes. I mean, rock hard in 20 minutes from the time you pour the water into the powder and start mixing with the drill. ever try it? you better know your stuff with that material.

The shows are rather boring, IMO. They really do not show you how to do anything, just show you a lot of things being done.

Do they really do makeovers? It looks to me like the show is just that a SHOW..The same things over and over..I think the people in the Home Improvements Center are staged also..What is your thoughts? I would love to have a make over for REAL..

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I have not had the experience of running into one of those hosts... nothing really left but concrete work and the back deck/patio area. and they'd better not mess with the long family heritage plants, or the tape would be evidence in a trial

but I've seen both types of "ambush" on TV... hundreds waiting in a line at a mall for Josh, and what passes for an ambush in a home center. hard to sneak up on somebody with two cameras, boomer, fill light, and a unit producer, but there ya go, I just notice the things of my childhood at least any "meet the Crashers!" signs are away from the front of the store when they all stride out.

I prefer the type of DIY show where they teach you something, also. otherwise, I'm likely to point at the screen and say Holmesian things three times in the half hour

mostly, I get ideas from these shows, and research how to do things best-practices on Da Webs. often enough, I use cheap wood to prototype what I want, so I wreck several generations of thingies until I know what I'm doing, and then do it correctly on the good stuff.

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