
This Old House: The Rare Home-Improvement Show That Spotlights Skilled Workers - pseudolus
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/05/old-houses-legacy-home-improvement-tv/589372/
======
Townley
The intellectual successor to This Old House's take on the entertainment
potential of skilled craftsmanship probably isn't drama-filled reality TV, but
rather YouTube channels like that of Paul Sellers. My drama-detesting father-
in-law and his grandchildren watch those videos all day long to appreciate the
craftsmanship, learning opportunities, and creativity of final products.

I don't feel particularly concerned by the espoused narrative that skill is
being replaced by drama on TV. We live in a world where people seeking drama-
free, skilled craftsman content can access all they could want and more, and
This Old House can be proud of their contribution to this through a 40 year
legacy of television content (and, relatedly, an awesome YouTube channel)

~~~
abakker
Agree so much with this. Frank Howarth, Abom79, This Old Tony, Welding Tips
and Tricks, Jimmy DiResta, Stumpy Nubs, Stefan Gotteswinter - there's so much
great content like this on youtube. TV was never a great place for craft
because it has to serve a general audience. Youtube has so much niche specific
content with pretty great production values.

~~~
paddy_m
Wow you named almost every channel I pay attention to. I would add Matt
Cremona, AvE, NYCCNC and April Wilkerson.

I listen to the Welding Tips and Tricks podcast that features a 60 year old
from Alabama (Hi It's Jody from Welding Tips and Tricks) talking to two guys
in rural Ohio. They regularly mention how Instagram in particular has
encouraged friendly competition amongst welders. Whereas previously a great
welder would only be known to the 20 guys in his shop, now he can post those
intricate welds on Instagram and people countrywide try to emulate that
technique. The maker community is positive, kind and encouraging. For all the
negativity swirling around social media, it is nice to see it used in positive
ways to unite people.

~~~
zachrose
Project Binky, from Bad Obsession Motorsport

Two rally car fabricators and lifelong friends in Shropshire who, over the
last five years, have been fitting an AWD turbo Celica into the rusted out
shell of an old Mini, while adding an air conditioner and a stereo. The craft
and attention to detail are absurd.

~~~
hinkley
I’m sure there are perfectly good reasons having to do with logistics, but I
find it hilarious that they put the sound system in before they had the
radiators built.

Doing the important work first :)

------
legitster
Man, I love This Old House.

Even as someone who is not terribly handy, it is so nice to see professionals
at work. Even though they are all hosts, you quickly can see that they know
their stuff. Contractors and handymen are so hit and miss - it's a great way
to understand quality work.

And again, the professionalism. These guys are all old fogeys who know their
way around 100+ year old construction techniques. But the show has a great
focus on embracing new technology and weaving it in successfully. If anything,
it is a great way to wave off false nostalgia - seeing a host talk about how
robust an octopus furnace was back in the day, but then describe how superior
a modern system actually is.

In comparison, the HGTV shows seem obsessed with blinging out boxes of
drywall.

~~~
mywittyname
> But the show has a great focus on embracing new technology and weaving it in
> successfully.

My favorite clips from This Old House is when the hosts talk about how much
better the new tools and techniques are and why.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Those are mostly native ads which is the main weakness of the post-Abram
series.

~~~
function_seven
Are you sure of that? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I find the
lengths TOH goes to to obscure and omit brand names fanatical. It's never "The
Home Depot", it's always "your local big box store" (even though it's always
orange shelves).

Likewise, a lot of logos are blurred out or taped over. They use generic
references whenever possible.

But, despite all that, I know that Tommy loves Festool, and Norm is Kreg guy.
But is there money changing hands?

~~~
mcpherrinm
It's from Ask TOH, but there's things like
[https://www.thisoldhouse.com/watch/solar-panels-follow-
sun-i...](https://www.thisoldhouse.com/watch/solar-panels-follow-sun-insider-
sneak-peek) which is surely a "native advertisement".

------
HeyLaughingBoy
I haven't seen This Old House in years. As an apartment-dwelling teenager in
the 80's, I watched it every week. My grandfather had been a carpenter and I
was amazed at the skill of Bob Vila and Norm Abram, who at first was a
peripheral character.

The current "reality show" home improvement shows all have the same flaw: no
one cares about the actual work; it's all about the fake drama. We used to
love the Restoration show on the History Channel when it actually showed the
process they went through to estimate costs, get parts and do the real work.
But a season later, all that stuff was pushed to the background for, you
guessed it, more fake drama!

It really bugs me because you'd think that with as many available TV channels
as there are, there'd be room for all kinds of quality entertainment, but in
the end it all just seems to be a race to the bottom in search of more viewers
with miniscule attention spans.

~~~
skookumchuck
Try "Detroit Muscle", "Truck Tech" and "Extreme Off Road". They show how to
customize/restore cars without any drama. Just straightforward exposition.

~~~
selimthegrim
Vaguely remember an Orange County Choppers episode taking gratuitous potshots
at Intel

~~~
EADGBE
OCC was definitely dramatized. The parent comment's suggestions though are
indeed TOH-style mechanic shows.

~~~
zrobotics
Which was such a shame, since the guys definitely had great technical skills &
I really wanted to like the show but couldn't get past the screaming. I'm not
really into choppers, but am into antique bikes (currently mounting a sidecar
on a 73 HD), so it should have been right up my alley.

~~~
EADGBE
Not a bike guy, but definitely watched to see their creations in the end.

------
scrooched_moose
As an aspiring woodworker and handyman, I just want to suggest This Old House
Insider [1]

The subscription gives you access to the entire This Old House and Ask This
Old House library. They're in the process of adding all New Yankee Workshop
episodes as well as PDF plans of those projects (normally $14.99 each). It's
become my Sunday morning go-to now.

1) [https://www.thisoldhouse.com/introducing-this-old-house-
insi...](https://www.thisoldhouse.com/introducing-this-old-house-insider)

The most recent episodes of the current season are also available on PBS
Passport which you can get for a $5 monthly donation to your local station.

Edit: It's something like $95.60/year. I've been getting it as a gift so
didn't realize how bad the signup form was. Also, they don't have any app/roku
support yet so I cast the video from Chrome.

~~~
tux1968
This looks really interesting. However they don't seem to list any prices
without you first giving them all your personal contact information. Would you
mind sharing the price?

~~~
scrooched_moose
I believe it's $95.60 per year.

------
falcolas
There's a YouTube channel that I feel espouses the values set forth by "This
Old House" \- and is as much fun to watch:

Essential Craftsman

I grew up on This Old House, and I relax to Essential Craftsman today. I hope
someone else can find it as much fun as I do.

~~~
davidblair
Essential Craftsman is fantastic. For anyone who doesn't know, the concept is
that he is building a spec house and walking you through every step of the
process, from surveying the site, to getting permits, all the way through
building it.

It's going to take him a long time, but anyone who wants to catch up he has a
playlist of the first 32 episodes at
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZePj70B4IwyNn1ABhJW...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRZePj70B4IwyNn1ABhJWmBPeX1hGhyLi)

~~~
daxorid
Strongly agree. I'd like to point out that his Spec House project is only one
of _many_ things he's involved with. The blacksmithing, woodworking, and other
videos are equally great. One video in particular is ostensibly about
construction work ethic, but I like to think applies quite well to software
development:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP1AmDRhoas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP1AmDRhoas)

------
dhd415
This Old House is great for people interested in DIY or just knowing more
about how houses should be built and renovated. Having done a fair amount of
that myself, the HGTV shows can be very misleading. There's no sense of the
scale of a project when everything finishes within the duration of a one-hour
episode and the HGTV budget numbers are completely opaque and questionably
realistic. I sometimes wonder if they're including any promotional discounts
they receive in those budget numbers since some of them are far below what it
would cost me to do a project even in a lost CoL area of the country.

------
pseudolus
It's a great show, sort of the housebuilding equivalent of "How It's Made".
One of the problems with the various HGTV shows is that they tend entirely
gloss over the nature of the work that's actually performed. Plus, you got to
love those Boston/Massachusetts accents.

~~~
thrower123
Another gem from that area on PBS is Rough Cut with Tommy Mac. It kind of
makes you want to quit your job and just build furniture, but I love that he
tends to go into the weeds of the little tricks and techniques.

~~~
mcguire
_The Woodwright 's Shop_
([https://www.woodwrightschool.com/](https://www.woodwrightschool.com/)): he's
been doing this for longer than I've been alive, he's in freakin' great shape,
and he has the sharpest tools known to man.

[Edit: Holy poop! "BlockChain Implementation w/ Roy Underhill"
([https://www.woodwrightschool.com/classes/blockchain-
implemen...](https://www.woodwrightschool.com/classes/blockchain-
implementation)).

 _Hometime_
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hometime_(U.S._TV_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hometime_\(U.S._TV_series\)))
with Dean Johnson and (as the Dianne and I liked to joke) this season's TV
wife.

~~~
stallmanite
The blockchain implementation course is the best thing I have ever seen. So
deadpan

------
jccalhoun
I still watch the show and as I'm closing on my first house this week I am
more dedicated to watching it. However, for a long time they have done these
super expensive houses with cutting edge techniques that don't really reflect
the homes of most homeowners or the techniques available to most (the current
house is a midcentury modern house with EIGHT different sets of stairs.) They
have recently done more modest homes in Detroit and Charleston but even then
they did two houses at a time which meant they were more superficial than I
would like. Ask This Old House is more my speed.

~~~
cardiffspaceman
You will have noticed that the "B story" during the midcentury modern project
is other projects they did in old episodes.

The unrealistic element in TOH is possibly down to sponsors or donations. One
house will be done with cast-off-site foundation walls and another house will
be done with poured-in-place foundation walls and it is not clear why.

I watch the show religiously obviously.

~~~
EADGBE
> The unrealistic element in TOH is possibly down to sponsors or donations

Or budget.

 _How does This Old House select project houses?

This Old House chooses two projects each season.

The fall project is usually located in or around our base of Boston, so that
the crew can stay close to home for a significant part of the season.

The winter project is generally located in a mild climate where outdoor work
may be undertaken during the winter months.

The renovations are completely funded by the homeowners and not by This Old
House, though the show arranges for product discounts and donations where
possible. All donated items are considered gifts and the homeowners pay taxes
on them._

------
mjevans
In addition to This Old House, I'd also really recommend viewers check out a
Canadian show Holmes on Homes (and some of the successor series by the same
guys) - That's more how modern construction and repairs should be done right
and they also tackle cleaning up after some nightmares left behind by bad
contractors.

------
mcguire
Then there was that one season (roughly around when Bob Vila left) where they
had new carpenter who was missing some fingers. One episode he shows up with a
mass of bandages on one hand, gives a lecture on saw safety, and never
appeared again.

~~~
mistrial9
here in the city, we do sew them back on now, you know..

~~~
mcguire
Sometimes, we use toes, too.

------
bluedino
These guys always do things 'the right way'.

I'd love to see a similar show on software development. Building an interface
for ecommerce with an existing 20 year old computer system.

'This old mainframe'

~~~
DoofusOfDeath
> I'd love to see a similar show on software development.

Given the quality problems with most software systems, I would expect the host
to be Gordon Ramsey, not Norm Abrams.

~~~
DoofusOfDeath
Although I would pay serious $$$ to see Gordon Ramsey do a code review.

~~~
matwood
"Would you let your mom online shop at a store using this code?!"

------
gitgreen
Pluto TV has a 24/7 This Old House streaming channel that I often find my way
into as it makes for wonderful background entertainment while doing other
things around the house. Always interesting DIY material, drama free, no
wasted air time.

------
Finnucane
I don't watch much of HGTV these days, but from what I've seen of the shows on
it, I get the impression that the reason they don't feature the worked of
skilled tradespeople is that they don't use skilled tradespeople. A lot of the
work you see go by at double-speed is quick and dirty set dressing.

~~~
dpeck
That is true at least some of the time. Some close friends were selected for a
renovation of their living room and at the end it looked nice but things like
electrical outlets weren’t hooked up, tv mounted on new wall but no plug, etc.

Looked good on the show but there was definitely work to be done to finish it
so it was livable.

------
SQL2219
One of the main problems with This Old House, the cost of the homes and
projects are for the top 10% of income earners, so generally, they're not
examples of rebuilds that can be had by the majority of home owners. I get
that real copper gutters are cool and will last two lifetimes, but how many
people can afford that? I could think of about a dozen examples like this that
regular folk can not afford, slate roofs, stone fireplaces, old growth
flooring etc.

~~~
jghn
This is where "Ask This Old House" comes in. It's aimed at more normal person
level of material.

------
MDWolinski
Wasn't a fan of This Old House, but was a huge fan of HomeTime, which is of a
similar vein and as other's have said, much better then the current crop of
Reality Home Improvement shows out there.

[http://www.hometime.com/home.html](http://www.hometime.com/home.html)

------
werber
I absolutely love the sub PBS channel, Create (56.3 in Detroit). It comes in
over the air, plays This Old House and all of the other content is soothing,
professional and drama free. If you've cut the cord, but sometimes just want
to turn on tv again, it might be a good idea to pick up a 5 dollar antenna

~~~
acomjean
I will second create tv. In Boston it’s 44.3 They tend to have a lot of
cooking shows, but there is a fair amount of woodworking/this old house.

~~~
werber
I love the cooking shows! It's all instructional and not competition. It's
really nice to have in the background while working from home, at the volume
level I wish my open office was at (a decibel over a whisper)

------
sgt101
The New Yankee Workshop

[https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0184144/](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0184144/)

Just sayin'

~~~
acomjean
I remember norm abrams asking someone to be allowed to measure their table.
Cut to back at his workshop recreating it from his notes. Amazing woodworker

------
darkstar999
Check out their reddit AMA from 2017

[https://old.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/5m7ild/hi_reddit_greet...](https://old.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/5m7ild/hi_reddit_greetings_from_this_old_house_and_ask)

------
ariwilson
Since I bought a house, I have begun to truly appreciate the craft that goes
into house construction and repair, as well as how little it's appreciated
outside of the industry. Screw all the "project guys" who have their insane
ideas of how something should work; they're not worth as much as a properly
concreted fence post any day.

I'm still no DIY home guy but I love learning from professionals when I need
something done. I've used Angie's List and Thumbtack successfully, but
honestly there are still huge parts of matching crews to projects that are
entirely offline and very inefficient.

------
sjs382
Skilled workers _and_ safe practices. There are people all over the DIY and
HGTV networks that make me wonder how they they still have all of their
digits.

------
DoubleCribble
Had TOH offered the Generation Next apprenticeships 20+ years ago, I would
have jumped at the opportunity to spend a few months working alongside these
master craftsmen. They've been a great example of the skill and hard work it
takes to do things the right way and turn a busted old house into a beautiful
home.

------
PorterDuff
I find myself only watching the cars shows that are pure amateur affairs.

The instant that there's money involved (or Motortrend TV) it gets awful. I
could give a rip about some pro shop putting together a $200k Camaro in about
22 minutes...usually artificial deadlines and all.

------
stuart78
I got to work as a Production Assistant for Bob Vila back in the mid-90s for a
shoot he did in my local town. It was after he left This Old House.

Really enjoyed the day, he was quite friendly, as was his crew. Always have a
soft spot for him and that kind of show.

------
unfocused
I have no idea what the Japanese text is, in fact, there are no words spoken,
but this channel is addictive:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3N0EPxNFKDFKHFNhB9YaZw](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3N0EPxNFKDFKHFNhB9YaZw)

It's Japanese Crafts. Not a whole of details as each video is 3 to 5 minutes.
For example, this video shows Japan Hakone Marquetry
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxvOMHoLRBY&list=PLYNekzFSRD...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxvOMHoLRBY&list=PLYNekzFSRDjOk6UDY-w3r1rfyQZIaixAi&index=3&t=0s)

------
asciimov
I love TOH, but the last few seasons they have started doing more "field
trips" (lets go see how glass is made) and less home improvement. For me this
makes it less enjoyable to watch.

~~~
function_seven
That, and the trips to the design centers. I find no enjoyment watching the
homeowners browse through different color swatches and light fixture designs.

------
nataz
Ohh, in this same thread I recommend danger marine. He is currently rebuilding
an old steel trawler. Welding, painting, engine work, all great stuff.

------
lifeformed
Wow, I totally kept reading this headline as: "The Rare Home-Improvement Show
That's Spotlights killed Workers".

~~~
tclancy
There’s always the next World Cup for that.

------
dangerboysteve
Some some odd reason I really enjoy Townsends.

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr2d4As312LulcajAkKJYw](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr2d4As312LulcajAkKJYw)

A channel dedicated to exploring the 18th Century lifestyle

------
uptownJimmy
Wonderful show, with wonderful hosts. I can't recommend it highly enough.

It's one of the many pieces of entertainment that should be far more popular
than it is, but instead most people choose whatever the heck is going on over
at HGTV _shudder_.

------
spott
Anyone know where to get old seasons of This Old House?

~~~
court17
There is a free app for AppleTV that has a subset of TOH and AskTOH seasons.
Looks like there is a similar Roku channel.

Hulu used to stream a few seasons, but when they did it was a subset of the
seasons available on the apps mentioned.

------
post_break
I love watching their youtube channel for the comments. So many things they do
aren't up to code depending on location and it's amazing to see what is kosher
and what isn't just depending on where the house is.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
I really hate the "code worshipers" that pop up in the comments on everything
building related.

You give someone advice on how to do something and then a million assholes
take it as their opportunity to butt in with some comment that usually start
with "well actually". They're all just virtue signaling to each other about
how much they know the code. Like, screw you. I told OP how to replace his
water heater. If the old didn't fill his house with CO then the new one won't
either assuming he does a straight swap. Trying to give practical advice is
such a pain in the ass.

~~~
0xffff2
On the one hand, yeah, it's annoying. On the other hand though, if a piece of
advice is wrong, it's wrong. It's not really a great idea to just ignore the
building code when it doesn't suit you. There's a real problem in some parts
of the internet where people with a superficial understanding of the problem
space offer advice as if they were experts, and it needs to be pushed back
against when those people offer bad advice.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
Yeah, but bad advice is easy to tear down without resorting to the "hurr,
durr, check your local code, my code requires X." The people that just worship
the code without understanding why the code says what it says are what I'm
complaining about. A lot of building code is there to facilitate consistency
and ease of inspection and in those cases the "wrong" way of doing things is
perfectly fine at small scale but it would be impractical/expensive to do that
at a larger scale.

~~~
function_seven
Any time someone from Phoenix posts their new deck, there will always be
someone chiding the shallow footings. ("Frost will destroy that in 3 years,
hurr, durr.")

When a new home addition in Los Angeles is featured, you get the Brick Mafia
laughing about how we use wood frame construction ("You yankees use cheap
stuff"). Never mind that earthquakes favor the bendy sticks over the brittle
blocks.

Huge swaths of code are tied to local weather and common disaster scenarios.
Florida really likes their hurricane ties, California loves their Simpson
ties, in New England you need to dig down 4 feet to install a birdbath!

Other large discrepancies just come from different attitudes toward methods.
Like mechanical vents for plumbing (where the vent goes to an interior check
valve instead of up through the roof). Some places allow it, others prohibit
it. I don't know why exactly, or who is "right".

But the point is: if The Code is someone's only objection to a construction
technique, then I don't think it's a valid objection. They need to say _why_
the technique or omission is wrong or dangerous.

------
dmh2000
its like the difference between Overhaulin and Pimp My Ride

------
AlleyTrotter
where is Bob Vila????

