# Who Pays for What on "This Old House"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-what-on-this-old-house/96394 "2001-12-02T01:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-what-on-this-old-house/96394/1 "2001-12-02T01:37:55Z")
Do the producers cover the entire cost of the renovation or do the homeowners have to chip in, and if so how much? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-what-on-this-old-house/96394/2 "2001-12-02T01:47:51Z")
> [@](#): > > The renovations are completely funded by the homeowners and not by This Old House, though the show arranges for product discounts and donations. All donated items are considered gifts and the homeowners pay taxes on them. > **[This Old House | PBS](https://www.pbs.org/show/old-house/)** > > TV's original home-improvement show. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-what-on-this-old-house/96394/3 "2001-12-02T02:08:25Z")
They also often buy houses and fix them up and sell them on the market for a profit to help fund the show. I believe Bob Vila was actually sued by a hollywood star who bought a ‘smart home’ that they built for a project on TV and then claimed that the hardware and software was full of bugs. It was someone like Conrad Bain or something…