# What is the tattoo on Mike Holmes' right bicep? (the guy from Holmes on Homes) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298 "2008-03-22T00:54:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/21 "2008-03-24T15:56:53Z")
[QUOTE=Waenara] AFAIK, they don’t use the sob story angle. He might rip out a bathroom where the contractor didn’t install the tiling properly and there’s water damage and mould, but it’s not like EM:HO where they picked that family 'cause they have five kids and two puppies who are dying from asthma due to the mould. He just fixes shoddy construction, and they don’t really talk about the homeowner’s personal lives. [/QUOTE] He does talk about them (well, the owners do mostly) to the extent that their lives have been affected by the construction. I remember one show where the crew never cleaned up properly–one morning the owners’ son came down looking for a drink and accidentally drank some dangerous chemical that had been left out in the open :eek: The kid was fine, thankfully. I like Holmes. He may pour it on thick, but some of the stuff he encounters is obvious even to a novice that it was done horribly wrong, such as a house where one of the outside walls was sitting on the ground, with nothing else supporting it. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out how dangerous that is. He does a great job through his show of letting homeowners know what to watch out for, and will let them stick around to watch him work if they want, something he suggests people do when having renovations made. ---
**Author:** ![metonymic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/22 "2008-03-24T17:03:55Z")
thank you so much for this thread! I too love Holmes on Homes. I really appreciate his dedication to his work, and to getting things done right – so admirable. I unfortunately have no idea what his tattoos are, but coincidentally also tried to find out a few weeks ago, after watching this show, not getting a clear view, and becoming intrigued. 🙂 Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come in sometime! ---
**Author:** ![ladyk5dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@ladyk5dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyk5dragon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/23 "2010-10-08T10:26:44Z")
On the right bicep is a bulldog with a bowler hat, a newer addition to it is the words “MAKE IT RIGHT” his motto and the name of his foundation. Interestingly, on the left side is a cobra, similar to the Shelby Cobra design. hope that helps Lady K ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/24 "2010-10-08T11:27:34Z")
LMAO! Bowler hat!? It’s a construction helmet on the Bulldog! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/25 "2010-10-08T13:52:56Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > [QUOTE=noctilucent] > The homeowners don’t pay anything - which is good for them, as Mike frequently ends up doing far more to “make it right” than the homeowners ever thought was necessary, plus he throws in unplanned upgrades besides. I suspect he’s sponsored by the tool & material manufacturers whose products he uses on the show. I did see an episode where a family was gutting out a house or something and they ended up living in an RV provided by the contractor because the contractor was having problems getting the work done. In swoops Mike with his team, and they start fixing and finishing up so the family can move in. He did say at one point he had to tell the wife “We’re going to make it so you can move in, but we’re not doing this that and the other upgrades.” I guess she was asking for them to rip out stuff that was fine and upgrade it. I was shocked that she could be so nervy…she admitted living in an RV was putting a strain on her marriage, and she and the kids had to go stay in a motel every few weeks just to give her and her husband a break from each other. [/QUOTE] I’ve watched most of his shows from the early half-hour format to the current hour format. It seems very clear to me that when he goes in to fix the house he’ll add special nice touches, etc. but he’s made it pretty clear on more than one occasion that they’ll take it the way he fixes it and doesn’t really ask for input from the home owner. IOW You can either keep your shoddy unfinished construction, or let Mike do it his way. And as far as who pays for everything: From [http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/mike-holmes-on-homes/](http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/mike-holmes-on-homes/) > [@](#): > > Generally, the labor of Mike and the entire Holmes on Homes crew is paid for by his television production company, but new materials are often bought by the homeowner. That being said, the materials used are often bought “at a deep discount” and in at least one case a supplier came in and said he was going to donate it all to the show because he felt bad for the homeowners. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/26 "2010-10-08T15:18:04Z")
> [@Lok](#): > > Actually, it is on Discovery Home channel, not DIYNetwork. And yes he is Canadian, he has only done work in the US on one occasion I know of, when Ellen DeGeneres had him on her show and he helped run a reconstruction on a house in LA. Sometimes he deals with fairly small problems, other times he has gutted and rebuilt an entire house. [Mike Holmes](http://makeitright.ca/) has teamed up with Brad Pitt to [rebuild the Ninth Ward in New Orleans](http://www.makeitrightnola.org/). Holmes has a new series on HGTV called Holmes Inspections. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298/27 "2010-10-08T15:53:16Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > > [@Lok](#): > > > > Actually, it is on Discovery Home channel, not DIYNetwork. And yes he is Canadian, he has only done work in the US on one occasion I know of, when Ellen DeGeneres had him on her show and he helped run a reconstruction on a house in LA. Sometimes he deals with fairly small problems, other times he has gutted and rebuilt an entire house. > > [Mike Holmes](http://makeitright.ca/) has teamed up with Brad Pitt to [rebuild the Ninth Ward in New Orleans](http://www.makeitrightnola.org/). Holmes has a new series on HGTV called Holmes Inspections. Is it just Brad Pitt? That first house in the slide show, I thought they did with Harry Connick Jr. Or did he do something with This Old House? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-tattoo-on-mike-holmes-right-bicep-the-guy-from-holmes-on-homes/442298.md?page=1)