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Home Town - Season 10 - Episode 01: The Biggest Yet Part 1
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00:00Good morning.
00:02This is another day of making our favorite small town better.
00:05Erin, we got to go, babe.
00:06Go fix some old sad houses.
00:08Ben, let's go.
00:09Growing up, I didn't see what was so special about Laurel.
00:12So every day we make sure our girls see it.
00:14Good morning, Katie.
00:15Hey.
00:16Can you believe we fixed up over 100 houses in Laurel?
00:18There's so much opportunity, so many unloved houses.
00:22I don't know what is going to go wrong in here today.
00:25I'm sure something.
00:27Girl, the fat just flew through here.
00:29That's not good.
00:31No way.
00:32We're about to see the house for the first time.
00:34This is the best part.
00:35Oh, my God.
00:37Holy cow.
00:38Are you serious right now?
00:40Ben, did you make this?
00:41Yeah, I made this.
00:43The real truth of living and working in your hometown
00:45is that you're going to see these people everywhere forever.
00:48It's your superpower, Erin.
00:50Color is her superpower.
00:51It is.
00:52It is perfect.
00:53Every day is different when you're renovating houses
00:56in Laurel, Mississippi.
01:06Such a great street.
01:07Mm-hmm.
01:09Wish it were mine.
01:10So the Gallaghers have been ready to fix their house
01:13for a really long time.
01:15And they've finally called to say,
01:17do y'all want to come over and talk about it?
01:19As far as Laurel goes, this is as historic as you get.
01:23It's the oldest house on this street.
01:25We know each other, but we've never been in their house somehow.
01:28So we're going to get to finally walk through their house
01:29that's a little bit famous.
01:31Look at this.
01:32Hello.
01:33Good morning.
01:34Hey, y'all.
01:35What a day to sit on the porch.
01:37I'm so excited about this house.
01:40I mean, this is an iconic house.
01:42And you've lived here your whole life?
01:44Whole life.
01:45Parents bought the house in 1970.
01:46I'm 56 years old now, and most of that was spent here.
01:50Two older brothers, two older sisters.
01:52Definitely been the gal at her house forever.
01:54Wow.
01:54The Whitakers had it before we did, and that's the only two families.
01:57That means there's going to be lots of original features that you love.
02:01That's right.
02:01I love the front porch.
02:02How old is your youngest now?
02:04Mick is 19, Logan's 21, Jacob's 22.
02:08All three of them were born in this house.
02:11Having the boys grow up here is a blessing, really.
02:15This house is home.
02:18We've had all their birthday parties.
02:21Tons of kids always come.
02:22It's a great house, and it has so many memories
02:26from his family and our family.
02:29The best memories, I think.
02:33Yes.
02:34Just trying to raise the boys and get through that, the house has kind of taken a toll.
02:41In the last six months or so, things have definitely worsened.
02:45It always seems like once you get one problem fixed, there's another one coming on the other side.
02:50I think we need new windows, because our power bill is $900.
02:54Oh, my gosh.
02:55Mm-hmm.
02:55You've got to prioritize, and kids are always going to be your first priority.
02:59That is very true.
02:59And now they're out of the house, so it's time.
03:02Yes.
03:02Yes.
03:02You don't want to do anything upstairs right now, correct?
03:05No.
03:06We've done a lot to the upstairs, so we're good there, I think.
03:09So how much are we wanting to spend?
03:11Around $250,000.
03:13Dang!
03:13Yeah, that's what we're hoping to get from the bank.
03:15That's a big budget.
03:16I don't know.
03:17That's a lot of house.
03:183,900 square feet.
03:19Right.
03:19Yes.
03:20Five bedrooms, two and a half baths.
03:231904, when it was built.
03:25It's a historic house.
03:26It's in the historic district.
03:27There are rules and guidelines that we have to follow.
03:30As far as building materials and practices and styles and...
03:34It all costs more.
03:36So today we're just going to walk through the house and give them some ideas, and then we'll
03:40come back later with a budget.
03:42Oh, my gosh.
03:43These doors!
03:45They're cool, aren't they?
03:46They're so great.
03:48And you like the dark trip.
03:50This is the part about the house that's awesome.
03:52What's the story on this door?
03:53This used to be my father's chiropractic office in the 70s, and so that was the entrance to
03:58the clinic, which there's a sign outside for the clinic still.
04:01You got to keep the sign.
04:03Yeah, it's pretty cool.
04:03He practiced here in the house till the late 70s, and then he purchased our office, which
04:09we are in now, which is just a block over.
04:11Drop your shoulders.
04:13There we go.
04:14And we've been practicing there for over 20 years.
04:17At some point, obviously, there was some type of globe or light that was on the top
04:21of this banister.
04:23But it wasn't there in our family's lifetime.
04:25When we were young, we would dare each other to put our finger in and, you know, get a little
04:29shock.
04:30You were just living your life.
04:32That's right.
04:32That's right.
04:33It's tiny.
04:35You can hurt yourself walking in, so be careful.
04:38Oh, my gosh.
04:40This is it.
04:42You have been cooking in here for 20 years.
04:44I know.
04:45This is rad.
04:46It's tiny.
04:47Our oldest calls it the hallway with appliances.
04:50You can't open the freezer.
04:52If someone's at the stove, someone's got to move.
04:54How do you do this?
04:55It's important to know the route.
04:57One way in, one way out.
04:58That's right.
04:59Wait.
04:59You're going to go the other way.
05:01Come in that way.
05:02Get your food that's all laid out here.
05:04And then you have to go out into the den.
05:07Wow.
05:07These are your cabinets.
05:09And this is why I don't want open cabinets.
05:11That's going to be lead paint.
05:12200 percent.
05:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:14And a little more of the history of the house.
05:15You can see lots of markings.
05:17It goes back on.
05:19This isn't just your kids.
05:20This is a million kids.
05:21Jeff, nine years.
05:22Yeah.
05:23Nieces and nephews.
05:24Family.
05:24Oh, okay.
05:25Yeah.
05:25We would have to keep that.
05:27And then this is like the den?
05:30Right.
05:30That's the den.
05:31Maybe someday, soon, our kitchen.
05:34Okay.
05:35That makes a lot of sense.
05:36Yeah.
05:36You would love it if all of this could be kitchen.
05:39A huge refrigerator.
05:40Okay.
05:41If that's what you want.
05:42Yes.
05:42Okay.
05:43What do you think if we open up this wall between your living room and kitchen?
05:46And right here, you could put your huge side-by-side fridges.
05:50And what if we did an appliance garage for coffee?
05:52And then you could put to the right of it a wall oven.
05:56And I want eight burner stoves.
05:58Ooh.
05:59You're cooking now.
06:00I'm cooking.
06:00Okay.
06:01So on this wall, we could put your range and hood vent.
06:03Oh, nice.
06:05And the counter space left and right of it with lots of cabinetry and storage.
06:09Can you see it?
06:09I want a big island.
06:11Okay.
06:11And where we're standing, you could put a huge island with barstool seating, maybe a
06:17sink in the island.
06:18And then on the wall to the right, we would lose that door to the utility room.
06:22These windows would shorten up.
06:23So you have counter space.
06:25Yeah.
06:26Drawers, drawers, drawers, drawers.
06:28New cabinetry left and right where your food stores.
06:31Quartzite countertops, new lighting.
06:33Unbelievable.
06:34Those are the must-haves.
06:35Like Quartzite countertops.
06:37That's the most expensive stone countertop.
06:39Does that feel non-negotiable?
06:41Yes.
06:41You're going all the way.
06:43All the way.
06:43Do you want to open to the dining room?
06:45That would be awesome.
06:46Whoa.
06:47What is this light?
06:48This is cool.
06:50It's beautiful, isn't it?
06:51Is that original to the house too?
06:53And actually, that light hung in the Peabody Hotel.
06:56No way.
06:57That's cool.
06:58That's so cool.
06:59That's Southern royalty.
07:00Yeah.
07:00We've been there.
07:01Oh, nice.
07:02In through here, this is our guest bedroom.
07:05Okay.
07:05Only bedroom on the first floor.
07:07This is what we would love to be the primary.
07:09This is from that explosion in 69?
07:12The tank car explosion?
07:14Yes.
07:14Oh my gosh, it comes up all the time.
07:17The explosion was the train derailment.
07:20And a lot of train cars were exploding.
07:23Of course, everybody in the law thought they were being bombed by someone.
07:26It moved the whole house.
07:27You could still see the crack in the ceiling when they tried to shift it back.
07:30Nothing in this house is level.
07:32Nothing.
07:33Nothing's plumber.
07:35But the wall, the wall, that doesn't look like that was no insulation.
07:40You can see a little light.
07:41Yeah, I was going to say, I see daylight.
07:42That seems real concerning to me.
07:44Old houses are wonderful.
07:45They have so much character.
07:47Mm-hmm.
07:48But then new houses have their charms too.
07:50Yes.
07:51Which of the modern comforts for you are you really after here?
07:55Well, there's no overhead lighting in here.
07:57Old houses never did.
07:58Yeah.
07:58Love a statement light.
07:59We like eclectic kind of stuff.
08:01We like the old with the new.
08:03Okay.
08:03And then behind this door.
08:05Yeah, the hinges are not on there, so be very careful.
08:07This is the room that we do not speak of.
08:10The dilapidated room.
08:11Whoa.
08:12Oh, yeah.
08:14Will that hold me?
08:15Yes, sir, but I don't know how far I would go inside.
08:18Whoa!
08:20Not, not good.
08:23And water just constantly beat that roof in.
08:27Once you stay in the doorway, there's going to be a little more support.
08:30It is hard to let people see what's been happening to the house that we have not been able to
08:36correct, um, I guess monetarily in the last few years, so.
08:42Yeah.
08:43That's, um, expensive.
08:46It's bad.
08:46Wow.
08:47Do you remember this from childhood, this room?
08:49Oh, that was actually the x-ray room for my father's clinic.
08:53These two rooms are the first rooms where I've been, like, concerning about structural things.
08:57Issues.
08:57Right.
08:58Yeah.
08:58What are those two rooms there?
09:00There is a little storage closet and also a little bath.
09:02I mean, it is tiny.
09:04That could be a walk-in closet.
09:05Yeah.
09:06Okay, so if the bathroom on that side of the room is going to be the closet, then we could
09:10look at making the dilapidated room your bathroom.
09:14We'd like a big walk-in shower, zero entry.
09:18You want five-star hotel.
09:20Yes.
09:20Yes.
09:20All right, I'm going to throw out some ideas.
09:22Let's have two big windows left and right of the bed so the bed could be centered on the wall
09:27in the room.
09:27That would make sense, wouldn't it?
09:29Obviously, we've got to update the walls.
09:31Okay.
09:31A new dramatic light fixture and then tear out everything where the old small bathroom was.
09:37Make this one big walk-in closet.
09:40Oh, nice.
09:40And then the terrible room becomes your very fancy bathroom.
09:46Ooh.
09:46You could have a big walk-in shower to the right, the full width of the room.
09:50Oh, nice.
09:51And when you open the door, you would be facing your vanity.
09:54To the left, a cased opening with the toilet tucked over to the left.
09:57The floating toilets, wall-mounted, easy to clean.
10:01I'm all about easy to clean.
10:02Oh, yeah.
10:02Easy to clean.
10:02Okay.
10:02Easy to clean.
10:03You could do linen closet to the right, and we could do all those luxury finishes that you really love,
10:08like big pieces of marble, the backlit mirror, the five-star hotel look.
10:13But we won't be able to give you any firm numbers on that until we assess what is going on
10:18structurally.
10:19We just need to bring in someone who's going to definitely know what that costs.
10:24Okay.
10:25Before we know if $250 works for everything that you want because you've got great taste,
10:30and great taste usually isn't cheap.
10:33Yeah.
10:33I need to give you my design survey so I can know everything that you love.
10:37Okay.
10:38I know it's only a block away, but y'all need to go ahead and start packing up and moving
10:41to Jeff's sister's place.
10:44We have more unknowns than knowns, and so the process is going to be different.
10:48I am cautiously optimistic.
10:49I'm scared.
10:51You can see there's some rot here on the front.
10:53Oh, yeah.
10:54Around here, it's a lot worse.
10:56Good gracious.
10:57Yeah, this is a bit of a doozy.
10:58A doozy is an understatement.
11:00Some contractors have said I won't touch this one.
11:03Chris knows a lot, and Chris is Cliff Norman's son-in-law.
11:06It's Cliff's company.
11:08Cliff is Yoda.
11:09Very wise he is.
11:10The first thing, you'd have to check the seals to make sure those seals are okay.
11:14The seal, that's the main beam that everything sits on.
11:16All the way around the house.
11:18Don't do that.
11:18Don't do that.
11:19Unless you're prepared to stay here all afternoon and hold it up.
11:21This thing is a mess.
11:23It's a real mess.
11:24You can see it's already deteriorated all the way up the building.
11:28The water's gotten in at the roof.
11:29It looks like it's leaking at all of the windows.
11:32Yeah, a rod underneath every window.
11:33Yep.
11:34Oh, my gosh.
11:35Okay.
11:35It looks like there have been some desperate attempts to try to cover holes.
11:40You can see how many times it's been patched.
11:43There is a deeper problem here.
11:45Looking from the street, it doesn't look that bad.
11:48And then you get close, and it's really bad.
11:51That corner post has failed, and it's broken all the way back here.
11:54It would just be simpler to rip it off and start new than try to fix what's there.
11:59Like the utility room, screen porch, and sunroom.
12:02Just that little part right there.
12:03Any idea what it would cost to be comprehensive about the whole house?
12:07It's a big number because that old wood siding would be astronomical.
12:12On top of that, you go back with historical windows on this thing, it's going to be 50 or 60
12:16grand.
12:17And if we could get a vinyl pass, you'd be spending half that.
12:21Can you give us a quote soon so we can come back to them and let them know?
12:24Yeah.
12:25You got any other ideas?
12:26You got a match.
12:28We have torn a house down.
12:30For less than this.
12:31But this house is significant to the history of Laurel and to the history of this family.
12:38So you got to do what you got to do to fix it now.
12:41Hiding out of sight, no.
12:45Morning light.
12:47Look at there.
12:49Hey, hey.
12:50Hey, look.
12:51Oh, I'm excited.
12:52You want to walk out here?
12:53We got the estimate back from Cliff, and it's way above their budget.
12:58$250 is a lot of money.
13:01The number they hear is going to hurt their feelings.
13:05I think you just need to rip the Band-Aid off.
13:07It's $400,000 to do it all.
13:10Oh.
13:10Oh, my.
13:12That's very different than the number that you were planning on.
13:14Yeah.
13:15Yeah.
13:15I'm really sorry.
13:18It is definitely more than what we expected.
13:21It is a little scary.
13:23Heart-wrenching.
13:25Yes.
13:26Heart-wrenching, I think.
13:28Right.
13:28Because that's a lot of money.
13:29It is.
13:31Here's why.
13:32The siding is in such bad shape that we would end up having to remove all of it.
13:38You're reaching a tipping point with the house before you can make anything pretty.
13:42You have to fix everything that's wrong with it, or you have to walk away from it.
13:46Yeah, we don't want to walk away from it.
13:47It will become unsafe.
13:49Right.
13:50We love this house.
13:51We don't want anything to happen to it.
13:53You got to say that.
13:54We got to do what we got to do.
13:55We need to go back and talk with the bank and see if we can get a little more cash
14:00flow.
14:01So, we are going from a $250,000 budget to a $400,000 budget.
14:06That would be the biggest renovation we have ever done, for sure, for sure.
14:09Now, that extra $150,000 is just on the exterior.
14:13I want to show you what $150,000 looks like.
14:17I love it.
14:18That's awesome.
14:18That is awesome.
14:19The house has always been green.
14:20Yes, and we love that it's going to stay green.
14:24New siding all over.
14:26New windows, but keeping the style that they are now.
14:29Mm-hmm.
14:29These moss-covered steps, this mature landscaping, these things are good.
14:34Stain added to your cedar shakes to bring them back to life.
14:37Yeah, it's beautiful.
14:38I want to talk about something in the backyard.
14:40Okay.
14:41We're going to go through the best-case scenario with them,
14:43so they feel excited to have that conversation with their banker.
14:49All right, here's what I'm thinking.
14:50All of this would be torn off.
14:53The sunroom, the screen porch, and the utility room would be gone,
14:57because that's where so much water is getting into your house.
15:01Mm-hmm.
15:01And there's just nothing you can do about that until you start fresh.
15:04And that nook where we stepped out of the kitchen,
15:07Yeah.
15:08that would become the half bath.
15:09Okay.
15:09You would pass through it into a big laundry room, utility room.
15:13Keep these brick steps, though.
15:14You would build out to those.
15:16Now, imagine if the screen porch went all the way across the back of the house.
15:47Wow.
15:49I have to see Chris and Jeff everywhere I go.
15:51It's highly motivating for things to go right.
15:54Like, that's the real truth of living and working in your hometown,
15:57is that you're going to see these people everywhere forever.
16:06How are we feeling?
16:07How are y'all?
16:08Well, what did the bank say?
16:10We could only get $350,000.
16:12That's $50,000 short of where we want to be.
16:15But if they approve the composite siding and the aluminum windows,
16:19And that's it.
16:19We don't have a problem here.
16:21Plus, Josh now is on the board.
16:22If anyone is going to understand the importance of using different materials
16:26to save a house, it's going to be Josh.
16:29This is a $50,000 meeting for us.
16:31That's how much money we need to save today.
16:34And for some people, that might be the budget for their entire renovation,
16:37for their entire house.
16:39We're on the verge of this house falling down.
16:42I've seen them do changes on some of the houses there.
16:44It completely takes away from the beauty of it being in a historical area.
16:50Our homeowners have $350,000 to save this house, top to bottom, inside and out.
16:57Typically, with the house this age, it would have wood framing for the window.
17:01So we would be looking to do a vinyl or aluminum window.
17:05That'll save us about $30,000.
17:07Composite siding would save us around 20.
17:10And that gets us where we have to be to save the house.
17:13Our job here is to preserve the historic integrity.
17:17But we've found that one of the worst ways to do that
17:20is to not allow anyone to make changes to the houses.
17:22All in favor?
17:26Aye.
17:27So aye.
17:29All right, the motion carries.
17:30Congratulations.
17:30Good.
17:31Save that house.
17:34Kitchen.
17:35The outside's getting fixed.
17:37Windows.
17:38Primary.
17:40Everything.
17:41Everything.
17:42Everything.
17:47First things first, we have to tear off the back of the house.
17:50That's going to be step one of demo.
17:52How are we feeling about this?
17:54Feeling a little nervous.
17:55But before we do that, we're going to remove the antique chandelier.
18:00The Gallagher's love this chandelier.
18:03No pressure.
18:04And it doesn't feel fussy.
18:06I got it.
18:06It's very delicate.
18:07These thin little pieces of wire that are holding each crystal.
18:11And those are rusted and breaking.
18:15So we have to very carefully move it somewhere safe.
18:19It can be hung from one of the rafters in the attic
18:22until we're ready for it.
18:24Oh, these stairs are a workout without a giant chandelier.
18:35There she is.
18:37I'm going to get you some water.
18:38Yeah, water.
18:39You look like you earned that.
18:45Oh, man.
18:49The back of the house is too far gone.
18:51It's soggy.
18:52The ship has sailed.
18:53We've got an excavator.
18:55Well, we need to be precise.
18:57That's right.
18:59We need careful removal
19:02because we don't know if this house is going to stand up
19:04and if it were to get bumped.
19:08Oh, I don't like how the back wall is wobbling.
19:11Hey, Mike, this is moving too.
19:15Oh, oh, oh.
19:16The house.
19:17Mike, the whole house is moving.
19:20Oh, oh, oh.
19:21It's wiggling the whole thing still.
19:23The living room wall could collapse
19:25and the second floor above it drops.
19:30When you hit it, the whole thing moves.
19:33The whole thing?
19:34Can you try to lift up on the roof?
19:36Can you grab it?
19:39There you go.
19:49This house is not encouraging.
19:51It's going to be several weeks
19:54before I feel real confidence
19:56about what shape the house is in.
19:58So then I can really start to see
20:01what it will look like.
20:04The siding has lead in it
20:06and this is just to put the siding
20:09straight into the plastic and wrap it up.
20:11We are going to dig in to the siding.
20:13We're going to see just how far does the rock go.
20:16Why are we going so slow?
20:17We're worried about it falling down.
20:19We're just taking off sections
20:20so we can put sheathing back to hold it together
20:22to keep it from falling.
20:25Look at that.
20:26Oh, boy.
20:26That's a new one, too.
20:28That just came off like that.
20:29Yep.
20:30Where's your knife?
20:32The existing's so soft.
20:34That's crazy.
20:35What would make this rot so quickly?
20:37I don't know.
20:38This is not what you want to find on the first day.
20:40This is way worse than I expected it to be.
20:44I mean, like, that's wild.
20:45There's nothing there.
20:46It doesn't make sense of how it rotted the way it did.
20:49I mean, the only thing that could have happened
20:51is if you had a super cool interior of the house
20:54and an extremely hot exterior
20:56and you basically created a rainstorm dew point
20:59inside the wall that rotted this out.
21:02We budgeted the sister every stud in the house?
21:05No, we're not prepared for that.
21:07We're dipping into contingency.
21:09Every project, we also require a 10% contingency fund,
21:13which is 10% of your total budget.
21:16So $350,000 means they will have
21:19a $35,000 contingency fund.
21:21The Gallagher's have savings to cover theirs.
21:24I am worried that we will need to use all of that.
21:28We may run into more rot.
21:29Hopefully, it is not everywhere.
21:33If it's everywhere, then we may be pulling back
21:36on some of the projects.
21:49God, these guys are fast.
21:50Yeah, I know.
21:51It's not as bad as we thought it was going to be yesterday.
21:54Structurally, there's enough meat there
21:56that it's solid, which is awesome.
21:58We are still having to fix a lot of the studs.
22:00It was built incorrectly.
22:04On the north side, they are insulating.
22:06And we are sheathing the side of the house now.
22:09That's how fast it's going.
22:10So they'll just keep on demoing.
22:12Several more days ahead.
22:13Then we might finally be able to go inside.
22:29Look at this.
22:30Oh, wow.
22:31These are important.
22:32You have to take the doors off,
22:34and I'll keep them and give them to them.
22:35Love those old recipes.
22:37I know those are going to be Jeff's mom's.
22:39Some are really old.
22:40And the height chart.
22:42That is the most precious thing a family can have.
22:44I mean, this has Jeff at age two.
22:47Well, you and your golden retriever hair
22:49need to get out of here.
22:50I've got golden retriever hair today,
22:53so I'm off the hook.
22:57Oh, I see what you're saying.
22:58Okay.
22:59This is not trash, Drew.
23:07Look at what that is right here.
23:11So that room had the fabric on the walls?
23:14Yeah.
23:14Behind that is old pine that has been sealed,
23:17so that wall may have been what was holding up
23:19the whole house.
23:22Once we get all of the lead abated,
23:25then we can start building back.
23:38All right.
23:39Not a window in the house.
23:40It's so dark in here now.
23:42It's like a cave.
23:45Very open air back here.
23:47Yeah.
23:48There's some crazy framing going on.
23:50Real crazy.
23:53All right.
23:55It's safe to stand right here.
23:57I'm going to climb down.
23:58Chris, am I good?
23:58Yeah, you're good.
23:59Come on down.
24:00Today, we're pouring a new footer for...
24:02The addition on the back.
24:03The addition.
24:04There's like six additions off the back of this house.
24:07None of them were done properly.
24:09This will be the first time an addition is done correctly on this house.
24:12Exactly what I was about to say.
24:19So once the trench is full, then you start building with blocks.
24:25Yeah, we'll let it sit a few days, and we still got a lot of framing going on back here.
24:29Yeah.
24:30In the primary bath, there was nothing holding up that second floor where it's hanging over.
24:34How much of the contingency have y'all used?
24:36So we were like 8,000 last week.
24:39And then as we got up to the dormer and then onto this back section, it's looking like we're
24:43going to be closer to 15.
24:45We've used a chunk.
24:46I do hope that we don't go above our contingency, because that's the point where we have to go
24:51back to the Gallagher's and say, okay.
24:53Here's some things we can't do.
24:54So when is the back of the house going to start looking like the side of the house?
24:57Come a long way, but we've still got a way to go.
24:59The house, believe it or not, was worse than we thought.
25:03No one who lives in Marl knew that this is the shape the house was in.
25:07It's just crazy.
25:1591 and what?
25:1691 and 180.
25:21We're building a primary bathroom.
25:22The most important thing about the primary bathroom, zero-entry shower.
25:26Easy to clean.
25:27Easy to clean.
25:29We got to redo this wall to bring it out, so it's square up the room, because everything
25:33in this house is so twisted.
25:35It's feeling good, huh?
25:36Yeah.
25:37They're trying to frame up the back porch, laundry room, utility room.
25:41It's coming.
25:42It's high.
25:46Up in the middle, all you can do to pay you to pay you.
25:50Look at that, man.
25:51Worked.
25:52Golly, look at that.
25:53How many windows are we actually installed?
25:55Uh, just 43 is what my count was so far.
25:58Since this is the historic district, we have to get special permission to use these windows?
26:02Yes, sir.
26:02So this will be more efficient and look the same.
26:06Exactly.
26:10That is sweet as butter.
26:1241 to go.
26:1341 after this one?
26:14Yep.
26:14We'll have a busy day.
26:18Get her done, done, done.
26:20Make that mobile ride run.
26:21Get her done, done, done.
26:22Gotta get her done.
26:27Yeah.
26:28I wanted you to see how well everything is tied in back here, the way it's supposed to be.
26:34Blueberries are still living.
26:35We don't have fruit yet, but it's coming.
26:38That's nailed down so you can walk on out.
26:39This makes me so happy.
26:41Do you remember how I said there weren't going to be any more problems?
26:45We got a big one.
26:48What the heck are we going to do?
26:49This is the biggest challenge we've ever had.
26:52We have to fight through.
26:53If we're going to make them wait so long, we need to give them something to help them hang on.
26:56Let's finish out the primary suite and show the Gallagher's.
27:00This is what we like to call the appetizer reveal.
27:04Love it!
27:05Do you want to see the kitchen?
27:06Oh, heck yeah.
27:06We're missing a lot.
27:08Hmm.
27:13Big problem?
27:14Yeah.
27:15What's wrong?
27:16We started tearing up the floor in the kitchen.
27:19Our intention was to marry these floors here.
27:23But if you look right here, you can see how unlevel this floor is.
27:27Over here, we've got like three quarter inches high.
27:30And over here, we're almost a quarter inch low.
27:33I don't feel like we can patch this.
27:35I mean, we're putting this insanely beautiful kitchen back in this space.
27:38Right.
27:38Like, look, you're on a trampoline right now.
27:40Right.
27:41You see that?
27:41Yeah, I see it.
27:42We can't put a $60,000 kitchen on top of spongy floors.
27:45What the heck are we going to do?
27:47The Gallagher's entire house is heart pine.
27:49The floors, they're gorgeous.
27:51But in the two rooms that we're consolidating to create one big kitchen, none of them are the same level
27:57now that we've pulled out the flooring that was in there.
28:00They're all like that.
28:01What I think we need to do is completely rip out the flooring and level it all the way across.
28:07And then lay all new floor.
28:09But the whole house is heart pine.
28:12Yeah.
28:13This is going to cost us about $11,000, $12,000.
28:15Jeez.
28:16Tearing out all the floors and subfloors and some of the joys is a hit on the timeline.
28:21It's a hit on the budget.
28:22And we've already started building back.
28:24And to discover something this bad is huge.
28:28In the heart of the house.
28:30Right in the middle of it.
28:31But here's the thing.
28:32It's going to be fixed right.
28:33We're already how much over?
28:35About $15,000.
28:36We're getting close to $30,000 over.
28:38That's the biggest contingency we've ever spent.
28:41We're 75% into the contingency and 30% into the project.
28:46We're hundreds of thousands of dollars into this.
28:49So we have to see it through now.
28:51We have to fight through.
28:52I would probably want to see it with my own eyeballs if I'm the Gallagher's.
28:56Go ahead and mourn them.
28:57This is going to take several more weeks now.
29:00Yeah.
29:00We need to bring in the Gallagher's.
29:02All right.
29:02Well, they're at Jeff's sister's house.
29:04So that's just around the block.
29:05I'll shoot them a text.
29:07I'm not looking forward to seeing the disappointment on their face.
29:11Hey!
29:12When we tell them it's going to take a lot longer, it's going to cost a lot more.
29:15Don't be freaked out.
29:17Uh-huh.
29:19It's very upsetting to bring the Gallagher's into this house where they raise their children,
29:23where they have every memory they can see in their mind's eye, and we've gutted it.
29:27Oh, my gosh.
29:28This is going to be your kitchen.
29:31Not every homeowner gets to see their house at this midway point.
29:35We don't normally invite the family in to see the patient on the table opened up.
29:39Uh-huh.
29:40It's a little unsettling.
29:42Uh-huh.
29:42It's jarring.
29:43I was a little dumbfounded growing up in the house my whole life, knowing the way it was.
29:48I'm hesitant about it, anxious about it.
29:52This is where the problem happens.
29:56The floor is lower than the old kitchen there, but then when you get back here, the den is higher
30:03than the old kitchen.
30:04There was no world where we patch in and you love this.
30:08We want the whole thing to feel so rock solid and so done that you never worry about anything ever
30:14again.
30:14So we would take up the flooring and subflooring in both rooms, bring it up level.
30:19Okay.
30:19Bring in new historic pond flooring that would match the rest of the house.
30:24Oh, wow.
30:25It would cost $12,000 to do this.
30:28Out of your contingency fund, we've already used $15,000 because the rot was even more extensive than what anyone
30:37anticipated.
30:38At this point, they're so far into it, the only way out is through.
30:44If you're going through hell.
30:45Keep going.
30:47You just got to keep going.
30:47If you're going to go to this trouble, we might as well do it right.
30:52This way.
30:52So you don't have to ever worry about it again.
30:55Yes.
30:55It's also going to take a few more weeks.
30:57So we're going to be a little delayed now because of the kitchen flooring.
31:01They have so much work cut out for them on that house because it needs so much TLC.
31:06But we are putting our faith in Ben and Erin.
31:09We are.
31:10I thought maybe you would be happy to see your bedroom and your bathroom in a couple weeks.
31:15Oh, that would be awesome.
31:16Because we can finish that.
31:17We can finish that early.
31:18And then, you know, it's a little appetizer before the main course.
31:24That's awesome.
31:25Our biggest bargaining chip in this town is that we deliver when we say we'll deliver.
31:30I wish it were not as expensive, but you're also never going to worry about it again.
31:35I don't think I trust the house to be good yet.
31:38I think it could still give us trouble.
31:49Every time we open a part of the house that has not been opened in 100 years, you are risking,
31:56what else are you going to discover?
32:00We have one of the most beautiful houses in the historic district, and it was about to fall down, and
32:05these people were living in it.
32:06And no one knew.
32:08It feels like there's an actual spotlight on us because everybody in the neighborhood cares very much about this house.
32:14And we're messing with Laurel history.
32:15This is the biggest construction project I have ever been a part of.
32:20And it's an heirloom home that's multi-generational.
32:23Which means this is the biggest challenge we've ever had.
32:31Because we've never had to delay so bad, we went to the team and said, let's finish out the primary
32:37suite and show the Gallagher's.
32:40It's a long time to ask people to wait without showing them anything at all.
32:43And it lets them know they can trust us.
32:45So this is just us giving them a little snack before the meal.
32:48What's up, Mr. Stubbs?
32:50Howdy, big brother.
32:51Cabinet man extraordinaire.
32:53Man, what have we got here?
32:54An old one.
32:55This ain't a lot of cool things, just walking in.
32:57I need you to replicate that historic shape and styling.
33:01The closet will be such an upgrade for them.
33:03So before, this was a very small bathroom.
33:08And that was the closet.
33:10So we've joined them to make one big his and hers closet.
33:14This side will be hers.
33:15It's got a little more room.
33:16So we're going to have shoe racks, double hanging rods on this wall, dress hanging here.
33:23Then a built-in dresser, then open shelving to the ceiling, and then double hanging for Jeff.
33:29Yep.
33:30And then another built-in dresser in that corner with the shelving above it.
33:34What about shoes?
33:36No mention of shoe storage for Jeff was given to me.
33:39Maybe he's not a shoe guy like you.
33:41I'm a boot guy, not a shoe guy.
33:42You're a boot guy.
33:54Good morning.
33:57Good morning.
33:58Oh my gosh.
33:58Look at the tile.
34:00It's huge.
34:01That's a 24 by 48.
34:03Isn't it cool?
34:04We've never used such expensive and fancy tile, but these huge slabs are supposed to give the effect of having
34:11marble on the walls in the shower.
34:13Vertical, so the veining runs up.
34:15She wants as few grout lines as possible.
34:18And then this, the honed finish goes on the floor so it's not slippery.
34:22In the shower and on the floor in the bathroom.
34:24It's going to go a lot faster than these little small tiles we've been doing.
34:28Good.
34:29I'm not a one-trick pony.
34:30See?
34:31You can do oversized tile.
34:32Once we get going, it's going to cover a lot of area quick.
34:36Yeah.
34:36I'm excited.
34:37It's like the wallpaper of tile.
34:39All these little bitty ones we used to, it takes forever to get up there.
34:42I'm giving you a vacation.
34:44That's right.
34:51Just try not to like shake it around.
34:53I'm not trying to scare you.
34:55Bathroom vanity countertop is coming today.
34:58It is the most brittle, the most popular, the most expensive.
35:00It's a Taj Mahal Quartzite countertop.
35:04Quartzite is 50% more expensive than just granite.
35:07But Chris said the countertops are a non-negotiable for her.
35:10Looks like a five-star hotel.
35:11It does.
35:12This could be the start of something.
35:19You see the lights.
35:23Then you just got the light.
35:28We tied against the top good?
35:30Mm-hmm.
35:31Tied as little good.
35:32And the tank itself is countersunk in the wall.
35:35Low profile.
35:35She wanted it easy to clean.
35:37Chris had lots of very specific requests for her bathroom.
35:40Can you reach it?
35:41Including a lighted mirror so it feels like a five-star hotel.
35:44Anti-fog feature is pretty cool.
35:46Don't let my wife see that because she won't want it at my house.
35:57If we're going to make them wait so long, we need to give them something to help them hang on.
36:01We want them to see the bedroom and bathroom because it looks good.
36:06Andrew's custom-built mahogany poster bed makes the room feel quality.
36:11I love any piece of furniture that you know will become an heirloom.
36:15I hope that seeing their bedroom and bathroom will be enough to get them through the wait that's ahead of
36:21them
36:21because we're not really close on the rest of the house.
36:24But this is pretty exciting.
36:30How's your sister's house going?
36:31It's going pretty good.
36:33I think we're a little bit of a homey feel, I guess.
36:35Yes.
36:36As much as you can get.
36:37This is what we like to call the appetizer reveal.
36:40I've never done one before, but this is it.
36:42This is a job site, okay?
36:44Disregard the dumpsters.
36:45Your dumpsters.
36:46Dead grass from where the water was called up.
36:49Yeah.
36:50Oh, man.
36:50Check her out.
36:51Look, that looks awesome.
36:52The gal in her house.
36:53It looks great.
36:55No holes.
36:56Yeah, no holes.
36:56That is not the color your house will be.
36:58That's the primer.
36:59Soon we'll paint the whole thing.
37:03All right.
37:04Here we are.
37:05Wow.
37:06That's the hole.
37:06Wow.
37:07Two dust.
37:09I remember this.
37:11Yeah?
37:11Yeah.
37:12Looks like it's...
37:12Bedroom we go, right?
37:13Yes.
37:14Okay, I'm excited.
37:15Hold on.
37:17You ready?
37:17All right.
37:18Check it out.
37:20Jiminy Cricket.
37:22Oh, my God.
37:23Oh, my God.
37:24Oh, I love it.
37:25Oh, man, that's great.
37:27Oh, it's so...
37:29Yeah.
37:30Look at this bed.
37:31You like it?
37:33Oh, my gosh.
37:34Love it.
37:36Good.
37:36This is gorgeous.
37:37Our friend Andrew Reid custom-built this mahogany bed.
37:42Oh, my God.
37:43It is beautiful.
37:46I love it.
37:46Absolutely.
37:47It is gorgeous.
37:49So pretty.
37:51Oh.
37:52Again.
37:52Uh-huh.
37:53I can't believe it's in my house.
37:54It's a more casual version of a formal bed, which I think is kind of the story of your house.
37:59Mm-hmm.
37:59Yeah.
37:59This house is a very grand house, but y'all are a little more casual.
38:03Look at the light fixture.
38:05Yeah.
38:05And I love your lamps.
38:06Wow.
38:07Oh, I was wondering where they would show up.
38:11Yeah.
38:12And the windows are totally different.
38:13Yeah, only two.
38:14But there's no crack.
38:16You can't see daylight.
38:17That's what I'm asking for.
38:18Oh, my gosh.
38:18That is lovely.
38:19You should see what that little bathroom closet hall became.
38:25Nice.
38:26Ooh.
38:28Oh, yeah.
38:33Oh, my gosh.
38:36This is crazy how big this is.
38:39Look at all the storage.
38:40Yes.
38:41So this is Jeff's side.
38:43Here's your dresser.
38:44Good.
38:44Yes.
38:44Here is where your shoes can go.
38:47And here is where Chris's can go.
38:50He has more shoes than me.
38:52Is that so?
38:52Really?
38:53Yes.
38:54It's very interesting.
38:55I've seen something like that before.
38:56I've heard of people like that.
38:58Oh, yeah, yeah.
39:00It's a huge problem.
39:01Yeah.
39:02Because his feet are size 14.
39:03Oh, yeah.
39:04The bathroom was over there.
39:05Yeah.
39:06The closet, the hall.
39:08Yeah.
39:08Y'all have got to see the bathroom.
39:10Come here.
39:11Come here.
39:11Come here.
39:11See this.
39:12Oh, boy.
39:13I'm so excited.
39:14Oh, my.
39:21Look at the floor.
39:23Man.
39:24Oh, my.
39:27This can't be my house.
39:28Look at the faucets.
39:30It's incredible.
39:31You want it to feel like a five-star hotel.
39:33So you just hold it to brighten the light.
39:37Oh.
39:38Hello.
39:40Look at this shower.
39:43Zero entry.
39:45That is lovely.
39:48I'm going in.
39:49Oh, my gosh, baby.
39:50Yeah, look who it is.
39:51Oh, oh.
39:52I love the niche right here so you don't see the crap.
39:55You can hide your crap.
39:57This is something else, one.
39:59Oh, my gosh.
40:00And I love these big tights.
40:03Oh, good.
40:04So we did a clean.
40:05That was the goal.
40:07I went out to, like, five-star hotel, the thinnest and fewest grout lines possible.
40:12Yes.
40:13Yes.
40:13Check out your toilet closet there.
40:15Oh, yeah.
40:16It's different than anything we've ever done.
40:18Honey, we got the floating toilet.
40:20Oh, the floating toilet.
40:23The best part about that, easy cleaning.
40:26I love it.
40:27Everything here is lovely.
40:29Yeah?
40:30I love the primary suites.
40:32It's beautiful.
40:33Remember what this was?
40:34Yeah.
40:35Quite a turnaround.
40:36Yes, yeah.
40:37Primary suite is incredible.
40:38That was a wonderful little taste.
40:40It's hard to believe it's our house.
40:43The kitchen is coming.
40:44It is coming.
40:45Do you want to see the kitchen where it is at this point?
40:47Oh, heck yeah.
40:48It's not beautiful.
40:49That's okay.
40:49It's sturdy.
40:50It's sturdy.
40:51Which, for this house, we're getting somewhere.
40:53It is seeing a lot.
40:53We're getting somewhere.
40:55So just, you know, step carefully.
40:57We're missing a threshold.
40:58We're missing a lot.
41:00Yeah.
41:01But look, you can really, like, feel the space.
41:03The space.
41:05The volume.
41:06Yes.
41:06Mm-hmm.
41:07It's a lot of kitchen.
41:08There are walls.
41:09Hopefully, there'll be no more delays.
41:11Thanks.
41:15Um, at this point.
41:23Mm.
41:23There is so much work left to do.
41:26Mm-hmm.
41:26So much.
41:27The kitchen is my baby that I'm worried about.
41:29Let's hope and pray that there are no more surprises.
41:33Hopefully, they can do what they say.
41:34In a month or two, they can come home and see the rest of it.
41:39Hopefully.
41:42You are witnessing the end of the longest project in hometown history.
41:48That just made me want to throw up.
41:50Is this going to be something that's going to make them cry?
41:52I would love to do that.
41:54This is going to be crazy.
41:56Woo-hoo!
41:57Oh, my God.
42:00Wow.
42:00Wow.
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