Renovation Realities Episodes
Freezing During a Family Room Renovation
Jamie and Kim Biddle decided to completely renovate the family room of their Pennsylvania home in the dead of winter. The 60-year-old colonial home that they bought from the original owners needs a lot more work than they'd anticipated. During the renovation, the family is camping out at Jamie's mother's house. As if that weren't pressure enough, when a $300 heating bill arrives, the renovation project takes on new urgency. Jamie, a painter and carpenter, is in uncharted waters when it comes to reframing a large window, running HVAC to the room and hanging drywall in just four days. And Kim has some anxiety about this unknown expedition, which only worsens and bad weather, wrong measurements and frazzled renovators collide.
Salvaging a Deck and Making It Sturdier
Geff and Tiina Vitale have a home not far from the Jersey shore. They have an old deck attached to their house that they want to salvage, while also enlarging it and making it sturdier before spring arrives. Geff's idea is to detach the deck from the house, knock out every other plank, add then add new wood. With a newborn, Tina is limited to the amount of work she can contribute, so Geff recruits his best friend, Jay. The deck proves to be a bear to restructure, and below freezing temperatures only add to the difficulty of the job and test Geff and Jay's friendship.
The Stanton Job
Tyler and Amy Stanton are a young couple in Georgia with their first child on the way. Tyler has procrastinated on the renovation of their master bathroom until now, a month before the baby's due. With timing already an issue, everything goes wrong for this couple as they try to create a more spacious bathroom. Tyler thinks that he can handle everything, including soldering the plumbing, until the fixtures catch on fire. There are drywall mishaps, a mix-up on tile quantity, plus two broken vanities. Then, things become even more serious when Amy gets sick and winds up in the hospital.
Warehouse Renovation Woes
Simon and Christi dreamed of living in a warehouse beside a body of water. The one they finally found in Barnardsville, North Carolina literally has a river running through the property, but it's devoid of walls, kitchen and insulation. Little by little, they are building their dream home inside the warehouse, but with two small kids, they are ready for a master bath. Combining new materials with some saved from their architectural salvage business, the plan is grand and the timeframe is tight. They plan to raise the floor, frame walls, install a sink, shower, toilet, lighting fixtures and new windows in just five days. Fortunately, Christi has secured five days of daycare and lots of help from friends and family. However, when their children fall ill and can't go to daycare, the plan erodes -- despite the parents' best efforts to keep plugging along.
The Rue Lafayette Project
Araceli Kopiloff bought an old building that once housed a mortgage company with the dream of converting it into a chic cafe and boutique called Rue La Fayette. Contractors estimated that she'd need $180,000 to complete the renovation, so Araceli decided to take a bite out of the budget by recruiting two friends to help her turn the building's foyer into a cozy welcoming area for guests. Together, their goal is to tear out a wall to open up the space, rip out and replace the tile flooring and create a counter out of a pair of old doors. To add to the madness, the women have only three days to finish the project before a preview party they've scheduled.
Kitchen Renovation Chaos
Haven and Jessica Fuller have decided to renovate their '80s style kitchen to make it more functional for their family of five. Haven is fairly handy, but this is Jessica's first renovation project. Their plan is to tear out their entire kitchen, replace the floor, the cabinets and countertops, and expand the room by removing a bathroom. Problems plague the Fullers when a one-day demolition turns into a three day-nightmare. Them, the HVAC unit compromises their design plans, and an extremely complicated cabinet installation almost does them in.
Apartment Renovation Anxiety
Jana Schmieding and Abby Lovett want to raise the value of the New York City apartment that they own, so they're taking a three-day weekend to renovate their kitchen. They soon find that renovating in the city is not so easy. From getting supplies and tools to their home to their lack of construction knowledge, everything seems to stand in their way. As the obstacles increase, they ask for an extra day off and have to do battle with a snowstorm.
Troubled Waters in a Houseboat Repair
Robert Hopkins and his son, Grayson, own a houseboat that leaks. Robert is a tour guide in Charleston, South Carolina, and he's already let one summer go by without any work on the boat. He plans to fix the boat over a weekend as a surprise for his son, but he has no idea where the leaking problem starts. After pulling down the ceiling, he finds that the structure of the houseboat is in better shape than he thought, but he also realizes that the job will require two people if any progress is to be made and calls on son Grayson for help. While they embark on the project, troubled waters are brewing.
A Shocking Discovery in a Kitchen Renovation
Aaron and Darcy, their two children, and Darcy's mom, Hiroko, all live in a quaint North Carolina home. Although the home seems crowded at times, the kitchen is especially cramped and out of date to boot. With their busy schedules, Aaron and Darcy plan to renovate the kitchen over Spring Break. That means they have one week to gut the entire kitchen and add new walls, ceilings, floors, cabinets, countertops, electrical outlets and appliances. While Hiroko watches the kids, Aaron and Darcy run into all sorts of issues in their kitchen overhaul, from delays in getting the cabinets to drywall disasters. Then, the discovery of a huge electrical problem proves to be both a curse and a blessing.
Fast Farm House Fix
Ian and Mabel Williams own a beautiful farm house, built in the 1900s in Preston, Maryland. As with most older homes, there's always work to do. Now that they've completed a kitchen renovation, Ian and Mabel are ready for a redo of their living room, updating its look with new walls and adding insulation. They also want to tear out a big window that's driving up their heating bill. While Ian has some experience with home improvement, neither of them has ever installed windows. To add to the pressure, they need to finish the project quickly since both of them have to get back to work.
Contemporary Asian Master Bath
Marcel and Daryl Fingers are a busy couple with demanding jobs, leaving them little time to renovate their bland, boring master bathroom. They hate the room so much that they instead prefer to use a small, cramped guest bathroom. Finally ready to tackle a renovation, they take a couple of days off of work in order to take out the shower, the walls and the countertop and infuse the bathroom with a contemporary Asian style that they call contasian. From the beginning, Daryl takes time out to attend to other business, while Marcel finds that she has a natural knack for renovation. Even when Daryl is ready to quit, Marcel refuses to give up.
The Lucas Project
Tim and Annie Lucas desperately want a playroom for their kids since their craftsman style home is becoming overfilled with toys. They have a spare room on the back of their house, but it needs a lot of work. They begin their renovation by renting a sandblaster to take the paint off a brick wall. Next, they tear out an opening for a new door, rip out carpet, put up fabric as a wall covering and install new flooring. All the while, Tim drags his feet, but Annie makes sure they get this room into shape.
Making a Master Bathroom Wheelchair-Friendly
Lori and Marshall Mitchell, both wheelchair users, have purchased a fixer-upper in Austin, Texas that is not wheelchair-friendly. Their first priority is to convert the existing master bathroom into a space that both Lori and Marshall can easily access. Since the job's going to involve a lot of work that neither of them can do, they've recruited their son-in-law Adam to help. However, none of them are too familiar with plumbing, and in a master bathroom that needs to be gutted, that could be a problem.
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