I was watching the episode the other day when (I think it was) Hildy painted the couches and left them outside to dry, only to have them ruined in a classic Seattle rainstorm. Paige then granted a reprieve from the rules (in terms of budget) in order to save their asses so Hildy? could buy new couches/chairs.
I was wondering if anyone knows about any other instances where the rules were bent/broken, or violated by the participants?
There was one episode where Doug’s homeowners (a Mother/Daughter team) went out with dates instead of staying in and doing their homework. Doug came back to the house after running some errands or something to find total strangers staining the furniture (or whatever, I forget what they specificly had to do.) They’d either bribed or goaded their friends into doing the dirtywork for them while they went off to play. Tacky!
Actually, the couches being left out in the rain was a story cooked up by the producers. They felt so bad about how the couches turned out (just with the paint, not being wet), that they essentially bought new ones.
Another case of a cooked up story–it was one of Doug’s rooms, where they used a slide projector to project Chinese paintings on a wall, and then traced the lines and painted them. The next morning, when Doug saw their homework wasn’t done, he flipped (they said other projects took too much time). What really happened–the projector bulb blew out.
Also–there’s a full-time seamstress, and an assistant carpenter that we never really see. And when it comes time for “homework,” all the production staff helps pitch in.