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- Bob Vila Says He Was Only Paid $200 for "This Old House "Episodes, Calls It 'Volunteer Work' (Exclusive)</p>
<p>Mark GrayAugust 23, 2025 at 2:03 AM</p>
<p>PBS / Everett; Tiffany Sage/BFA/Shutterstock</p>
<p>Bob Vila in This Old House; Vila in 2018 -</p>
<p>Bob Vila hosted This Old House for 10 years, a time that he views "almost as volunteer work"</p>
<p>The home restoration expert recalls his favorite project and his legacy</p>
<p>Vila reveals his honest thoughts on modern-day home improvement TV shows</p>
<p>Bob Vila's name quickly became synonymous with home improvement and DIY all throughout the '80s via This Old House, but riches didn't exactly follow him in those early days.</p>
<p>"I looked at the 10 years that I hosted This Old House almost as volunteer work. They didn't pay you. Well, they paid you a little bit," the former Peace Corps volunteer tells PEOPLE of the long-running PBS show. "At the beginning, it was $200 an episode. I think I managed to get them up to about $1,000 an episode, maybe."</p>
<p>PBS did not return PEOPLE's request for comment.</p>
<p>This Old House, which premiered in 1979, was an instant hit, particularly by the second season, in which Vila, 79, restored the Dr. Henry Jacob Bigelow House, also known as The Newton House. To this day, that's the home repair specialist's favorite project.</p>
<p>By then, Vila, despite his meager paycheck, was a bona fide star.</p>
<p>"I think the first thing is that I realized was that I no longer had anonymity, and the whole concept of fame is not something the average person ever thinks about, and I was certainly the average person until I wasn't," he says. "And that had its pluses and minuses, but in terms of, oh wow, we've got something here. It happened right away."</p>
<p>Not long after, Vila was appearing on news programs, late-night shows, on ABC's Home Improvement opposite Tim Allen, and he even had a guest role in the Rambo parody, Hot Shots! Part Deux.</p>
<p>"That was a 'What the hell am I doing here?' moment," he says of the movie set. He adds, "I remember the first time I was an answer on The New York Times crossword puzzle. That was cool. That one you save."</p>
<p>For Vila, the TV career was "accidental," after his work involving brownstone conversions was featured in the Boston Globe's Design section in the late '70s. At the time, Vila was trying to carve out a successful career in architectural preservation. After the article was featured, though, TV producers knocked on his door (literally) and explained their vision for an educational program about restoring old houses.</p>
<p>"For the next decade, that kind of upended our lives," the father of three says. "I remember having a toddler who was convinced there were two of me. One of them lived in [the TV] in the den, and the other one picked him up at school."</p>
<p>ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty</p>
<p>Bob Vila appears on the show 'Home Improvement' in 1992.</p>
<p>Since his foray into TV, which included 1990-2007's Home Again with Bob Vila, the home restoration television genre has exploded in popularity. Vila, the Godfather of home restoration, sees a difference between what he did and the HGTV norm.</p>
<p>"Somebody coined the term infotainment, and so, okay, I suppose it's infotainment," he says of the modern-day shows. "Ultimately, it's all a good thing in that it inspires people to get away from the 'throwaway' society and be part of the 'let's preserve' society. I think some of the programming that came along was a little bit irresponsible in terms of tempting people to do more than they possibly could do, because some of these shows in the space of a very short period of time created these kind of marquee projects that in the real world were not going to work. I don't watch any of that anymore."</p>
<p>Whereas Vila was approached to appear in sitcoms and movies, home renovation shows aren't clamoring for him to make a TV return.</p>
<p>"No, none of these shows reached out to me in terms of having me participate, or maybe some did, but I just didn't follow up on it," he says. "Mostly from the new media perspective, I've got all the eyeballs I want online. I'm not that interested in TV anymore."</p>
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<p>Sitting at his picturesque summer home in Massachusetts, Vila has no regrets about his career and the legacy of his name.</p>
<p>"I'm glad we inspired a lot of people in the area of home improvement and preservation, and after all, preservation is the one thing that I'm the most proud of in terms of," he says. "I hope my obit mentions the fact that I helped popularize the idea of preserving our past in saving places."</p>
<p>He also beams with realization that his career and television presence have altered people's lives for the better.</p>
<p>"The most gratifying part of my career is having been able to touch people and inspire them in their own career paths. There were countless times when somebody that met me or stopped me, whether it was in an airport or whether it was at a dinner party, I would find out that they had chosen this career path because I had inspired them to do that," he says. "Sometimes it's been an architect or an interior designer, but sometimes it's just been a contractor. I think in terms of the ultimate impact, when you learn about this direct influence you had on another human being who is possibly your son's age, that is really the most rewarding thing you can imagine."</p>
<p>on People</p>
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