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House/Yard Crashers TV - Permits?

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kirbymurphy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
WTF do these show do about permitting for their projects?

When you watch the show it looks like they pick a house and start working the next day. Is that right or do they have an arrangement with the city/county in advance? Do they pay extra for an on-site inspector for the show during it's construction? Do they wing it and hope for the best like some guys I know?
 
#2 ·
And here's another thought regarding these shows.

Last night on Extreme Water Homes (or something along those lines)

They show an elevated shot of this fella's backyard as the pool is being constructed.

First off it's in a packed subdivision with everybody basically having the same 40 by 40 back yard (you can see at least four other homes) and they have this track hoe in the middle of the yard.

How the heck did it get there and what is it loading up exactly???

Secondly when complete this pool and lazy river takes up every square inch of the backyard. No set backs, no easements...
 
#3 ·
kirbymurphy said:
WTF do these show do about permitting for their projects?

When you watch the show it looks like they pick a house and start working the next day. Is that right or do they have an arrangement with the city/county in advance? Do they pay extra for an on-site inspector for the show during it's construction? Do they wing it and hope for the best like some guys I know?
Click to expand...
I highly doubt they start the next day. Unfortunately it's not that simple.

But.... if the girl from kitchen crashers wants to come to my house I wouldn't stop her.
 
#6 ·
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#9 ·
#11 ·
Gotta be forewarned, preplanned and heavy editing. Iron Chef America is a great example of it, where a challenging chef picks from the murder's row of iron chefs, then the two chefs are surprised by the secret ingredient. They have 60 minutes to do it. No way. Plus, the iron chefs are elsewhere, except for the one whose time it is for this show. They've got far better things to do than wait around to be picked.

Same for these home improvement shows I bet as heck, before you dig, you're supposed to call diggers hotline 24 hr before.
 
#13 ·
It's gotta be one of three things:

1. On the back end, they pay all of the fines, penalties, and in a worst case scenario, they tear down walls and ceilings so that the inspector can see the work.

2. They build this house on a Hollywood set where they can do whatever they want to do.

3. This isn't done in one day but over the course of several months. All of the supposed volunteers are probably actors who wear the same costume every day and keep their haircuts and facial hair consistent.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
http://boards.diynetwork.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5733972247/m/4183922857
MAYBE......

there was an answer somewhere on the boards once, and I have seen inspectors prowling House Crashers.

iirc, when a production company is planning to go to Gutcheck Gulch, they pre-contact the inspectors there, and provide basics of who they are using and what they have in their "gimmes" truck. they whip out drawings on computer once they've measured up things, pay the expedite fees, and charge ahead.

seldom you see all the ants crawling around behind a camera on a TV shoot. you don't even see half of them on "Turf Wars" and that looks like a flash mob. they're lining up all the dirty work and paperwork. just like a "Extreme Makeover Home Edition," the block on which one of these things is held has got to be swarming like the state fair with people and trucks.
 
#15 ·
Watch the show closely. Most of the time there are permits and it is not the next day. I have watched a few episodes where they are taken to the home after their "chance" meeting at Lowes and there are no leaves on the trees, and then the "next" day there are leaves and green grass. They submit plans, get permits and pay for the inspector to be on site green lighting the project as it goes.
 
#17 ·
I think I've mentioned this on another thread: they filmed one of those shows across the street from us. TV time was a few days; real time was months. They had permit problems, inspection problems, homes association problems - it went on and on. The first inspection failure was for the front deck - guardrail and posts only. They hired a local contractor to do the work, then came in to film every once in a while with the actors.

A couple months ago there was a story about those home-buying shows. They find recent completed sales, then contact the new owners to stage a show. The owners get their friends to stage their houses for the show, and so on. It's TV, i.e. entertainment, i.e. not real life. The home improvement shows are the same.
 
#19 ·
CO762 said:
Gotta be forewarned, preplanned and heavy editing. Iron Chef America is a great example of it, where a challenging chef picks from the murder's row of iron chefs, then the two chefs are surprised by the secret ingredient. They have 60 minutes to do it. No way. Plus, the iron chefs are elsewhere, except for the one whose time it is for this show. They've got far better things to do than wait around to be picked.

Same for these home improvement shows I bet as heck, before you dig, you're supposed to call diggers hotline 24 hr before.
Click to expand...
Iron chef have something like an hour between revealing the secret ingredient and the start if cooking to plan a menu. Then they cook for the hour and spend a half hour plating afterwards.
 
#20 ·
mbryan said:
Iron chef have something like an hour between revealing the secret ingredient and the start if cooking to plan a menu. Then they cook for the hour and spend a half hour plating afterwards.
Click to expand...
Yup, I saw that too, I was surprised and it makes it fairly impressive since they still have a very limited amount of time to come up with everything and make it happen.
 
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