money
I have not seen one episode where Jillian could complete everything and did not run into problems that cost more money- I just don't buy it. It happens every single episode.
share[deleted]
While Jillian and Hillary generally have good budgets most of the time, they also do most of their work on older homes which tend to have a lot of problems. The older the home, the more problems and the less there is to code because this changes over time as architects and engineers make better discoveries where house building is concerned. Laws and codes change to reflect this.
It also costs to renovate a kitchen and bathroom and almost EVERY owner wants one or both and in some cases they want more than one bathroom or a bathroom and a powder room done. The average cost to renovate a kitchen is $27,000 while the average cost to renovate a bathroom is $10,499 This about how much I spent to renovate my bathroom a few years ago SO I can tell you these averages are pretty bang on in terms of being correct.
And then, of course, you factor in new things needed that owners let go because they're so old they simply don't know they need replacing like a new roof or new boiler or furnace. The average cost of a new roof is $6,000. The average cost of a new boiler is $5,150 and the average cost of a new furnace is $3,835. All these things cost and add up and it's not just the item that costs, it's the labor as well. That's where they really get you. The labor.
Still, Jilian and Hillary usually receive budgets over 100,000 that should allow for everything you are saying in your post and still leave some room for additional reforms.
I understand that it's normal to have problems appear during a reform. But for the sake of credibility it would be nice that at least once or twice they would be able to finish the planned work.
When Hilary was in Canada she did, for the most part. Now that Hilary's in the U.S., North Carolina to be exact, she typically has smaller budgets to work with because the people aren't as well off as the ones in Canada were. She and David are dealing with middle class families now.
That said, I think there were a few times where the ladies were able to redo an entire house just as the home owners wanted them to. And yes, while most of the time they aren't able to do 3 or 4 projects in addition to everything else that was asked of them to do, there are times they're able to do most of what's asked sans one or two projects.
I've bought new appliances (washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc...), had things replaced, like the roof and boiler, and have had remodeling done inside the home (remodeled my bathroom in the summer of 2007) so I'm well aware of costs and how quickly things add up, especially when it comes to structural matters.