In 2008, Americans were just starting to get to know Mike through his show Holmes on Homes. Of course, today he's just as much of a hero here in the good ol' USA as he is up north. (In fact more than half of the readers of this blog are American!) And of course, Mike's biggest fan (me!) is American as well. It only goes to show what a few short years can do.
The article also talks about Mike's books and his side job as host of Handyman Superstar Challenge, the Canadian forefather of All American Handyman, which is ironically hosted by two Canadians (Mike and Scott McGillivary).
Get your flux capacitors in gear and enjoy this Holmes Spot BLAST FROM THE PAST...
Canada's busiest contractor
Canada's most trusted contractor is also Canada's busiest contractor.
Canada's most trusted contractor is also Canada's busiest contractor.
As if being inundated with requests to fix shoddily built homes on this side of the border didn't occupy enough of his time, Mike Holmes is filming two different shows for HGTV Canada, writing a second book, and being called upon to help Americans make sure that their homes are also up to snuff.
Somewhere else in his 24-hour days, Holmes is moving forward with his plans to build Holmes-approved new houses across the country and attempting to get more young people into the homebuilding sector.
Like the Energizer bunny, he just keeps on going and going and going.
After a number of successful appearances on the Los Angeles-originated Ellen DeGeneres Show -- he is the talk show's resident contractor having already helped one Ellen viewer who was left with a contractor on the run, a huge new mortgage, and construction bills piling up -- Holmes will soon pop up on ABC's 20/20 news magazine.
"I just got back from New York and was on 20/20, which will air at the end of September. They came here and filmed me here, I went there and filmed in the studio and I went to a homeowner's home devastated by a contractor," says Holmes. "It's all about how do you get into this position and how do you get out of it."
And Holmes notes that builders on the other side of the border can be just as bad as the ones that he finds problems with here.
"Most definitely, the home construction is just as bad there. I think the show is what makes everyone aware of it -- Holmes on Homes is climbing very fast in the States," says Holmes.
On this side of the 49th parallel, Holmes is busy filming a new season of Handyman Superstar Challenge with Jim Caruk -- he notes that they started with 20 contenders and on the first day there were just 10 left -- and season seven of Holmes on Homes. New episodes will debut in the beginning of October, with six new shows from season six followed by the beginning of season seven.
One of the highlights this year was a plan to take the Holmes on Homes crew across Canada and try to fix at least one home in each province, but to Holmes' chagrin that didn't come about.
"The whole hope was to go right across Canada, but we needed an extra $3 million to do it -- so we ended up settling to do four outside of Toronto. It's not what I wanted, but at least I got to do some (work) outside of Toronto," says Holmes. "It's too bad it wasn't more."
Two of those four shows have been filmed, the first in Saint John, N.B., and the second in Calgary. After shooting on Handyman Superstar Challenge wraps up, the Holmes on Homes team will head to Northern Ontario and then Vancouver to finish the four non-Toronto shows.
"When we filmed in Saint John, the mayor came out, and we got the red-carpet treatment. They gave me a 'building inspector of Saint John' award -- I could not believe the number of people that came to the site. In Calgary, the mayor came out and I got the key to the city, which was a hat," says Holmes, referring to the traditional white cowboy hat given to honoured dignitaries.
In between all this, he's about three-quarters of the way through penning his second book, which is about selling your current house and buying your next one.
"The first book (Make It Right, Inside Home Renovation) is doing phenomenal. It's still as strong today as it first came out. I wish I could give everyone in the country a book -- it's all about the homeowner, it's not about me," says Holmes.
But even with all this on his plate, Holmes continues to fight to get more women into the business and is working with Canadian colleges to get more young people into the construction trades.
"I have two full-time female apprentices on the show. They're very eager, very hard workers. I'm impressed with the women I've met across the country: electricians, carpenters. I love it. It's really going to wake up the men (in the industry) and keep them honest," says Holmes.
And as far as his mantra of doing it right and the stunning amount of shoddy construction work he has had to repair, Holmes had one last thing to add.
"I can't say it enough: you steal a pack of gum, you get arrested. If you steal $100,000 from a homeowner -- and just because you've done a week's amount of work -- the legal system says you can't be charged with fraud, which means you won't get arrested and nothing is going to happen with you," says Holmes. "Let's fix this now.
As if being inundated with requests to fix shoddily built homes on this side of the border didn't occupy enough of his time, Mike Holmes is filming two different shows for HGTV Canada, writing a second book, and being called upon to help Americans make sure that their homes are also up to snuff.
Somewhere else in his 24-hour days, Holmes is moving forward with his plans to build Holmes-approved new houses across the country and attempting to get more young people into the homebuilding sector.
Like the Energizer bunny, he just keeps on going and going and going.
After a number of successful appearances on the Los Angeles-originated Ellen DeGeneres Show -- he is the talk show's resident contractor having already helped one Ellen viewer who was left with a contractor on the run, a huge new mortgage, and construction bills piling up -- Holmes will soon pop up on ABC's 20/20 news magazine.
"I just got back from New York and was on 20/20, which will air at the end of September. They came here and filmed me here, I went there and filmed in the studio and I went to a homeowner's home devastated by a contractor," says Holmes. "It's all about how do you get into this position and how do you get out of it."
And Holmes notes that builders on the other side of the border can be just as bad as the ones that he finds problems with here.
"Most definitely, the home construction is just as bad there. I think the show is what makes everyone aware of it -- Holmes on Homes is climbing very fast in the States," says Holmes.
On this side of the 49th parallel, Holmes is busy filming a new season of Handyman Superstar Challenge with Jim Caruk -- he notes that they started with 20 contenders and on the first day there were just 10 left -- and season seven of Holmes on Homes. New episodes will debut in the beginning of October, with six new shows from season six followed by the beginning of season seven.
One of the highlights this year was a plan to take the Holmes on Homes crew across Canada and try to fix at least one home in each province, but to Holmes' chagrin that didn't come about.
"The whole hope was to go right across Canada, but we needed an extra $3 million to do it -- so we ended up settling to do four outside of Toronto. It's not what I wanted, but at least I got to do some (work) outside of Toronto," says Holmes. "It's too bad it wasn't more."
Two of those four shows have been filmed, the first in Saint John, N.B., and the second in Calgary. After shooting on Handyman Superstar Challenge wraps up, the Holmes on Homes team will head to Northern Ontario and then Vancouver to finish the four non-Toronto shows.
"When we filmed in Saint John, the mayor came out, and we got the red-carpet treatment. They gave me a 'building inspector of Saint John' award -- I could not believe the number of people that came to the site. In Calgary, the mayor came out and I got the key to the city, which was a hat," says Holmes, referring to the traditional white cowboy hat given to honoured dignitaries.
In between all this, he's about three-quarters of the way through penning his second book, which is about selling your current house and buying your next one.
"The first book (Make It Right, Inside Home Renovation) is doing phenomenal. It's still as strong today as it first came out. I wish I could give everyone in the country a book -- it's all about the homeowner, it's not about me," says Holmes.
But even with all this on his plate, Holmes continues to fight to get more women into the business and is working with Canadian colleges to get more young people into the construction trades.
"I have two full-time female apprentices on the show. They're very eager, very hard workers. I'm impressed with the women I've met across the country: electricians, carpenters. I love it. It's really going to wake up the men (in the industry) and keep them honest," says Holmes.
And as far as his mantra of doing it right and the stunning amount of shoddy construction work he has had to repair, Holmes had one last thing to add.
"I can't say it enough: you steal a pack of gum, you get arrested. If you steal $100,000 from a homeowner -- and just because you've done a week's amount of work -- the legal system says you can't be charged with fraud, which means you won't get arrested and nothing is going to happen with you," says Holmes. "Let's fix this now.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment