Good Bones (2016–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Decaying Duplex Gets a Transformation - full transcript

I'm Mina,
and this is my mom, Karen,

and we're
renovating Indianapolis

one house at a time.

Every rotten,
nasty house that we see...

- Holy moly.
- ...we try and buy.

Then, with a little vision...

And a lot of hard work...

... we create beautiful homes
for our neighbors.

- Wow.
- Oh, my gosh.

Wow. I, uh, I love it.

There she is.



- Wow.
- You guys nailed it.

Here it comes!

- Every tragic house...
- Oh, shoot!

...deserves a second chance...

This is our best
energy flow ever.

...because underneath
all that mess,

you might find
some really good bones.

- Good morning, ma'am.
- Good morning, sunshine.

You want some eggs
and kippers and toast?

You don't look
ready to go.

As usual,
I'm up in the morning.

I'm ready to go.
It's time to do some stuff,

and I wander over
to Mom's house to fetch her

'cause she usually
doesn't answer my texts



or phone calls,
and she's...

Because she always
wants me to work.

...just cooking
breakfast leisurely.

Can we sit at the table

and do this like
civilized human beings?

- There's no time for that.
- These eggs are perfect, Mina.

What do you mean
there's no time for that?

She's living the life

as if she was retired
in Florida,

but she's not.

We got to eat,
and we got to go to work.

- I'm still in my pajamas.
- All right.

This is lovely, but I need you
to put clothes on.

- Aw.
- And we're going to
go see the new house we have.

- Okay.
- Clothes.

We're heading over to the house
on Orange Street right now,

and this is the duplex
that we bought

for $4,000 from the city.
- From the city.

So awesome price,

but again, framing in it
is super messed up.

That's what I remember.

Right now,
it has two front doors,

but it's partially
- demoed inside.
- Right.

So the Orange Street house
cost us $4,000.

It's 2,300 square feet
and currently a duplex

with 4 bedrooms,
2 bathrooms,

and our plan is to turn it
into a single-family home.

Right now, it's got
two of everything

with the living area
on the main floor

but all the bedrooms
on the second floor

and no bathrooms up there,

which is definitely a problem.

One of the things I like
about the house on Orange

is it's in Bates-Hendricks...
- Mm-hmm.

...which is so close
to Fountain Square,

and it's a lot
like Fountain Square

because it's really
a neighborhood.

Everyone knows one another.

All of the amenities that people
move to Fountain Square for

are equally accessible
to Bates-Hendricks.

Yeah, the market's definitely

a little bit different
in Bates-Hendricks.

It's a lower-income
buyer pool,

so we're going to have
a lower price point.

- Yeah.
- So we definitely
need to be careful...

- Sure.
- ...budget-wise with that.

What you think?

Well, I like the front porch.

- Okay.
- It needs a lot of masonry work.

I like the shape of it.
It just needs a facelift.

- All right. Inside?
- Yeah.

I just think it's cute,
and it looks happy,

and it kind of looks
like its arms are out,

and it's going to hug you.

I think it's going
to be a good project.

All right.
You get your door.

I'll get mine. Oh.

I don't know about inside.

Whoa!

Holy moly.

I'm going to get
a little face protection first.

It stinks in there.

It's a little hard to breath.

We hadn't been in in months,
and it's just nasty.

Obviously, there used
to be a wall here.

- Yeah.
- So these were the living rooms

of each side of the duplex.

- Right.
- But for us,

it will probably be our one big
living-dining-room area.

- Yeah.
- We'll see.

- Okay.
- I love the ceilings in there.

- Yeah, 'cause they're high.
- These drop a little bit.

I'm guessing this was
the dining room.

- Oh!
- Words. Say words.

I'm sorry. This ceiling,
it's supported on the outside,

but look what's
happening here.

No joist hangers.
It's just toenailed in.

That wouldn't hold up
a second floor,

so we need an entirely
new joist system.

- It's terrifying.
- Awesome sauce.

We knew the framing
was messed up

but couldn't even
imagine this much.

I really like this staircase.

I would like to be able
to keep it if possible.

It might not be realistic

because the treads may be
in really, really bad shape.

Like, I like the idea of it.

Since when are you the dream
ruiner, negative Nancy?

I know.
What's happening here, right?

But it just may be
less work to recreate it.

- Let's check out...
- The kitchen.

And I'm just assuming
it's the kitchen

because we have a little bit
of plumbing over here

and a little bit
of water damage.

- Yeah.
- ...which screams kitchen.

Super squishy.

And then, a real creepy
6-foot-ceiling bathroom.

It's just the perfect
amount of creepy.

But let's go
check out upstairs.

- Don't touch the railing.
- I know.

Be careful. There's a lot
of nails sticking up.

So this seems to be a bedroom.

Everything up here seems
to be a bedroom.

- Yeah.
- There's no plumbing.

- Right.
- So we need to get a bathroom
up here for sure.

This is interesting.
You see, like, one beam...

That's not much
of an overlap.

Well, and there's
nothing underneath them.

It's right in the middle.

There should be
a support wall underneath,

and there's no support wall,
and they're not attached.

- These are just hanging.
- It's a mess.

I feel like this is

the most hodgepodge-y
haphazard framing job

we've probably ever seen.
- Ever, yeah.

This room's
pretty much the same,

just a little bit bigger.
- Watch where you're walking.

- Want to go to the other side?
- Sure.

How low can you go?

- Look at that.
- Just the same.

It's very pink.
They're just twinsies.

- They're the same. Exact same.
- Okay.

No big deal,
so one bedroom here.

- Bedroom over here.
- Then another bedroom here,

exact same
as the other side.

Each side of the duplex has,

like, 2 bedrooms
and no bathroom,

so to make this a nice,
functional single-family home,

we're going to take one
of the 4 bedrooms

that was upstairs
and turn that into a full bath.

Boom.

Good?

- Good.
- Let's go.

So now we're going
to go down the stairs

on the opposite side
of the duplex

than we came up.

Ew! Bad smell.

There have been animals...

- Defecating?
- Yes.

That's not shocking.

So, yeah, exact same thing.

So this is slightly more
obviously a kitchen

because there's a stove.

Another nasty bathroom.
All right.

I think I've got
a good grip on it.

- Oh, basement!
- Oh.

We forgot to check
the foundation.

Dirt floor.

Ew.

- Ugh.
- Oh.

Crapolla. Holy moly!

Ew. Ugh.

Crapolla. Holy moly!

Um, I'm afraid if I poke that,
it's going to jump at me.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.
That's like a tribble.

That's just mold!

I thought it was for sure
a stuffed animal or something.

If you were a "Star Trek" fan,
it looked like a Tribble.

- That's what it looked like.
- I don't know what a tribble is.

It looked like a Tribble.

But it's legitimately the
craziest mold we've ever seen.

It was like this poof.
I don't even know!

This is so muddy.

I'm really glad
I wore my rain boots.

There's mudslide coming in
and bricks coming out.

Come look at this.

Can you see how the wall
is not touching the ground?

You have brick,
brick, brick, brick,

and then, you have nothing.

You have air,
and you have...

There's some bricks
floating above dirt.

It shouldn't be standing.

This foundation is supposed
to touch the ground.

This house
is held up by magic.

I just really feel bad
about our situation right now.

- Yeah.
- I'm going to go back upstairs.

All right.

So now that we've taken

a really good look
around the house,

it's going to take
so much work.

We not only have to tear
down all the walls,

and then we have to add
a bathroom on the second floor.

We're going to have
to replace floor joists.

The foundation's still
a huge question mark.

So it's going to be
a big project.

Look at this.

I think I can just
take this completely out.

So that's bad.

This foundation, as of now,
I would rank it as the worst.

- Oh.
- So this just confirms

the foundation is crap.

Now that we've got kind of
our head wrapped around things,

let's go back up front
and chat.

All right. So I know
we only got this for $4,000,

but I'm pretty sure

we're going to have
at least $200,000 all in.

So I'm guessing
our purchase price combined

with our renovation costs
are going to bring

our total investment somewhere
to around $204,000,

and if things go well,

I'm hoping we can sell it
for $259,000,

which means our profit
would be $55,000,

but there are so many variables.

We really need to get
a contractor in here

and assess how bad
the foundation is going to be... Right.

...because that's going to be
a big part of the budget.

Maybe we can look
on the bright side.

We're going to make
a beautiful house

for a wonderful
little family.

I'll be happy
if we make $5,000.

If we could not lose money,
- that would be awesome.
- Yeah.

Today is demo day at Orange.

Tad's going to be
coming in today

and his whole gang
of misfit toys.

- Good morning!
- Good morning.

Hey!

And we're going
to gut this place,

and it's going to look
like a different house

by the end of the day.

- You guys ready for demo?
- Yes, always.

The framing in this house
is really, really, really wonky,

so when you're doing
the demo, first of all,

take out no structural elements

and be careful when we get up
to the second floor.

Do you have any questions?
No? Okay.

I kind of like you being
worried, keep you on your toes.

- All right.
- We are ready.

- Ready?
- Here we go!

Let's break some stuff.

Ha!

We are ready to tear
some stuff up,

fill these dumpsters.

Whoo!

40% of the inside

is already demoed,
which is awesome,

but there's
still tons to do.

Overall, demo day
is going really well.

- We're making progress.
- Mm-hmm.

No one's been injured.

- Always a bonus.
- It's great.

Are these windows
coming out, Mina?

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

- But don't break 'em.
- I will do my best.

I did my best.

I told you not
to break the windows.

I tried really hard not to.

- The windows are going to break.
- Yeah, it's not that big a deal.

But it's just a pain,
and it's dangerous.

Throwing
all this stuff out.

Tad and I have the same dad
but different moms.

She's just also kind of his mom
because she's my mom,

and he's my brother, and...
- Yeah.

Our family dynamic
is complicated,

and I claim Tad as my child.

My mom passed away
about 11 years ago.

My eighth-grade year,

I wasn't getting along
with my father too well,

and Karen invited me
into her home.

You know, it's love
that makes someone

a mother or a father.
It's not the relation, you know?

You just come on.
You hug me all you want.

And we look out for each other
'cause we're family.

Heads up!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Tad.

You never know how far
I can throw these things.

Ready, set, go!

Whoo!

Uhh!

Chimney's coming down.

There's no pretty fireplace

anywhere that would make it
worth keeping these chimneys,

so we should just
take them down.

The biggest challenge with
this chimney is it's so big.

Usually, you'd knock it down
a little bit by little bit,

and you'd drop it
in the chimney, but, you know,

we're demoing
this whole house in 1 day,

so we got to move quick.

I'm going to push it
over as hard as I can,

and try to get it
to slide down the roof.

Tad's plan for the chimneys,

in all the houses ever,
is usually a bad one.

Here it comes!

- Oh!
- Oh, shoot!

Chimney's coming down.

Here it comes!

Oh!

Oh, shoot!

I did not expect that.

I did not foresee
that happening.

I just don't want
to be in trouble.

Is it safe to come down
from here?

I was like, "Oh, no."

I'm not mad at you.
Lenny might be.

I need a suitcase.

I need $10,000
and a ticket to Mexico.

My immediate
first reaction is, "Crap.

Lenny's going to yell
at all of us."

Tad! Tad, huddle up.

The story is,
"That hole was already there."

So I just got
the whole team on board.

I'm like, "Get the bricks.
Get 'em gone."

We're all pretending
this didn't happen,

and that hole was
already there.

So I want two skylights
on either...

Somebody fall
through the roof?

- That was there.
- The hole was there?

- Yeah.
- No, that's fresh wood.

That hole wasn't there.

What fell through
the roof, Tad?

- That hole's been there.
- It's been there, dude.

That hole was not there.

Yeah, it was.

Listen, you guys,
I'm not stupid.

- That is flashing.
- That's flashing from the vent.

- There's no vent that big.
- It's the attic vent.

Nice try, but all right. So...

It all came down in one piece.
We weren't expecting it.

I don't like this whole
bro-code thing, this...

- What you talking about?
-"Hey, don't tell Lenny!"

What did you say,
"Don't tell Lenny"?

Is that the first thing
you said?

- It was actually my idea.
- Oh, was it?

But it wasn't a great roof
anyways, right?

So the bad news is, we now
have a hole in the roof.

Heads up!

Good news, inside the house,

demo's pretty much finished.

- The house is almost naked.
- Yeah.

Now, we can
really see things,

and it just looks like
it's breathing a little.

There's a whole nother chimney
to knock down,

and this one, we're going
to knock down from the inside.

Hopefully, Tad will do
a better job this time.

Whoo!

Next time, I want it
to come down piece-to-piece.

That's not going to work.

If I had to give Tad a grade
on taking down the rear chimney

and the front chimney,
he failed both of them.

But there's a curve, okay?

Now that we have
completely demolished the house

and can actually see
what we're dealing with,

it's time to create
our final floor plans.

All right.
This house has a ton of change

'cause we're going to from
a duplex to a single-family.

So the very first thing
is changing the front.

So we only have an entrance
on the left side now,

and that front door
stays about where it was.

Before, when you walked in,

there was this wall all the way
down the middle of the house

that we're getting rid of,

so we have this open-concept
dining and living,

and then, if you go
to your right,

you're now going to come
into our new kitchen,

and we'll leave
that staircase

going to access
the second floor.

Where the staircase angles up
over this row of cabinets,

we're not going
to have uppers probably.

- Right.
- So it's going
to give us an opportunity

to do a cool backsplash

and maybe some
cool open shelving.

Mm-hmm.

I just like the idea
of stairs in the kitchen.

I don't know why.

I don't think we've
ever had that.

- We've never done it before.
- So it's just new and exciting.

It is.
It's new and exciting.

I might want to do it
all the time.

And then, as you go through
the kitchen, the back area,

we're going to put
in a nice half bath,

a nice laundry room
and a pantry.

And in this back area,
where there were 2 bathrooms,

we're going to tear all that out
and make a back porch again.

So it'll be nice and shady
and quiet and peaceful.

I think it's going to feel,
like, cozy. Yeah.

And if you come back
to the front of the house

and go to the other side,

which was the left portion
of the duplex,

we'll make a master bedroom,

and then the section on the left
that used to be kitchen

will be a master bath
and master closet,

and there'll just be
a nice window that kind of looks

from the bathroom
out to the backyard.

- Second floor.
- You come up this one staircase

on the right side
of the house,

and it's basically
a four square.

Right. So we'll leave three
of the squares as bedrooms,

and we'll take one
of the bedrooms

and make that a bathroom.

This is going to be
a good-sized bathroom,

really roomy.

It's going to have
a big linen closet.

I am kind of sad

that there's only one bathroom
on the second floor.

I just like a toilet
for everyone in the house.

That's what I like.

Everybody has their own
dedicated toilet.

That's what I like.

Your, uh, expectations
are a little high.

- Yeah.
- This is going
to be an awesome house.

Now that we have
our floor plans figured out,

and we're in agreement,
I just got to get 'em to Lenny,

and then work starts.

When the front chimney
came down,

it hit the floor joists
really hard

and broke a bunch of them,

so the guys pulled all the floor
up and the floor joists,

and they're putting
all new ones in,

so we're checking in and making
sure everything's looking good.

- Ooh!
- Ooh!

- Lonny!
- So pretty.

This is so pretty!

It's like a sign of progress

'cause all the old wood
in the house

is this dark, dark brown,

so when we walk in,
I see brand-new wood.

I'm just like...
It's so exciting!

It's pretty!
Those are huge.

Yes, they are.
They're 2x12s.

You can get by with 2x10s,
but I went 2x12s

so we could take
the bounce out of the floor.

So we have Lonny here
helping us today.

Lonny looks for
our general contractor, Lenny,

so Lonny and Lenny
are not the same.

It could be confusing,
but Lonny and Lenny

are two different people.

I don't have any trouble
keeping them apart.

I love them both.

This is serious business.

If anybody else saw it,
they'd think,

"No, this doesn't look good."

But it looks way
better than it did.

So after our initial
walk through of the house,

we were a little worried
'cause the foundation

looked like it
could be pretty bad,

but turns out we were able
to shore it up in a few places

and not add
a significant amount of money

to the cost of the renovation.

- Hey, Lonny!
- Hello.

- Hey, Lonny.
- How are you ladies doing today?

Good.

Today, Mina and I

are going to put in
the second-floor joists.

- Oh.
- When we first walked through,

I mean, the floor joists
were just screwed,

so to be able
to fix all of that,

what we have to do first
is jack up

and get the house level,

and then we can
switch those out.

I'll hold that if you want
to start jacking it up there.

Yeah.

You have the level on
up there, Mom?

- Yep.
- I like jacking stuff up.

You're good at it.
I'm telling you.

- How's it doing?
- It's moving.

We get a lot of practice
jacking up houses

because none of our houses
have all their parts anymore,

so you have to lift
them up a little

to put their parts back in.

It just happens
all the time.

- And it's so weird.
- Yeah, but it's true.

You have to jack 'em up
a little

to put their parts
all back in.

The bubble's a little
bit to the left.

- Take it easy.
- Slow down, slow down.

- Be real easy.
- One more.

Go real slow though.

- Whoa.
- Stop.

- Hey, hey. Yeah. We...
- Stop.

- Stop?
- Yeah.

And all of the sudden, the level
just starts shaking like mad...

But they're jacking.
They need to stop.

All right.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!

What's your favorite design
this season?

I don't know you you're always
trying to make me pick.

- I love them all.
- Okay.

Well, you don't have
to have a favorite,

but if you guys
want to see some more

behind-the-scenes footage...
- There we go.

...of our awesome renovations
and designs,

go to...

You have the level on
up there, Mom?

- Yep.
- Go some more.
Go real slow though.

Be real easy.

One more.

Whenever you jack up
part of a house,

you have to be really,
really, really careful.

They're, like, creaky.

It sounds like
it could collapse.

- Are we good?
- Keep going.

Okay. Good?

- Ah! Nope, stop!
- Whoa. Hey.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!

All of the sudden, the level
just starts shaking like mad.

If they're jacking,
they need to stop.

You need to put
a brace on it.

We're going to run some braces
on a angle right here,

this back wall right here.

So what we needed to do

before we continued
jacking up the house

was Lonny
put in another brace

on the back portion
of the house

to make sure things
stop wobbling.

- Looks good.
- It does look good.

Braced it, finished
the jacking up,

and then all we had to do
was put in the support beam

and finish cutting
and installing

all the second-floor
floor joists.

There was a lot of give
on the second floor.

We have 2x12s now,
and they're massive,

so that should be
nice and sturdy.

You could get, like,
a hippo up there running around,

and you should be fine.

- Cute little street, right?
- I love it.

So today, we're walking

through the house with Jeff
and his mom

because Jeff
is a potential buyer.

Obviously, there's still
a lot of work left to do.

I'm here looking
for my forever home.

I need as much room
as I can possibly get.

I like to socialize

and entertain
as much as I can.

This whole open space
is your dining-living room.

Definitely
a fenced-in backyard.

Big dog lover.

I think Jeff's the perfect buyer
for a couple reasons.

He likes the neighborhood.

He wants a cute little yard
with some dogs,

and it's a transitional neighborhood,

so most of the buyers
are my age-ish.

This half of the house is going
to be your first-floor master.

Then this space
is your new kitchen,

and then this is the staircase

that will lead up
to the second floor,

3 bedroom, 1 bath.

How much square feet?

Just over, like,
2,200, 2,300.

I'm just kind of maybe looking
for a little bit more room,

square-footage-wise.
- More square footage?

Yeah, that's about the only
thing holding me back right now.

- We'll work on that.
- What do you think, Mom?

I've got to tell you.
This terrifies me.

There's a lot of
nails sticking out.

Just to be honest,
I can't-- I can't imagine.

- Which is totally appropriate.
- Yeah.

There's no house,
and for having no house,

they both reacted very well.

So I know it doesn't
look like much right now,

but it's going to be
really pretty when we're done.

So I have high hopes that
it's going to be perfect,

just need more square footage.
I've got my fingers crossed

that they can figure
something out.

Okay, this is first
and second floor.

So today, Mom and I
are going to hash out

all the details
for our design plan

for the house
on Orange Street,

but first,
we need to figure out

how we can maybe
get a little bit

more square footage
for our potential buyer, Jeff.

So the gist of it is Jeff
wanted a little bit more space.

- Uh-huh.
- And I think a good solution

is this space back here.

So I'm thinking about
the second floor,

back of the house,
the area under the roofline,

opening that up.

So we would put in a hallway
that would end

in maybe a game room,
a reading room.

Yeah, exactly.

Now, all this space
down here...

Is usable.

...is like a second
- living space, chill space.
- Mm-hmm.

So you like that plan?

Here. I'm going to
initial these changes.

- Yeah.
- You'll be like,
"No. Here's your initials."

And then I'll say
you forged that.

I make a lot of stuff up.
I do.

So we need to figure out
a color scheme,

and I do want
to keep Jeff in mind.

These are all the other
pretty things we have.

So these are the outside,
and these are the inside.

This is just
our outside accent.

Yeah, so that'd be,
like, the door

and some caps or something?

Yeah.

I like it when the outside
gives you a clue

as to what's happening
on the inside.

Yeah.

Yeah,
I think these are pretty.

This is so peaceful. Yeah.

I think it's going
to be very lakeside, chill.

I like this
for the countertop.

I think, when you pair it
with the gray cabinets,

this pretty blue color...

And then some clean white
backsplash and this floor...

...and that,
you'll have the contrast.

Whereas this one wouldn't
provide any contrast.

I think it'd wash
- the whole house out.
- Oh, yeah.

But I think we take it
a little bit more masculine

with, like,
a big stainless-steel,

metal farm sink,

a slightly more
masculine faucet.

So we feel good
- about all this?
- Oh, absolutely.

- I can start ordering stuff.
- Yes.

- ...giving people money?
- Yes.

- Give people money.
- Cool.

- Nice work.
- Thank ya.

See you later.

We're getting a lot
of work done

over at the house
on Orange Street.

We've got it all framed.
And it actually turns out,

putting in that second-floor
bathroom was pretty easy

'cause we were able to tie
into the plumbing line

that was already coming up
through the first floor.

Does it matter which one
goes on which side, Lonny?

- No, it doesn't.
- All right.

We've got windows going in.

It's coming right along,

but now that we've added
this little loft room,

we need to get some more
natural light in there,

so we're going to add
some skylights.

I think Jeff is going
to be really psyched

about this cool extra bonus room
we were able to give him.

You going to come up
and play with us, Mom?

Oh, no. No, no.

You're doing an excellent job
of handing nails to Ricky.

I'm just like
his sous-roofer.

- Yeah, like being a sous-chef?
- You want me to hold that?

- Oh, I'm putting it over here.
- Putting it over there?

- Yeah.
- Were we able to use
the hole that

Tad put in the roof
with the chimney

for either of these skylights?
- No?

So we had to fix that hole,
- make two new holes.
- Yeah.

Is the hole in the roof

what gave you the idea
for the skylight?

See, look at this
positive spin on it.

An accidental hole in the roof
led to inspiration.

It happens all the time.

That's what I'm going
to stick with.

It was all on purpose.

Ta-da! That looks good.

It's starting to become
a house.

A whole lot of stuff
has happened

in the last 2 weeks at Orange.

We got spray foam,
drywalls up, sidings up.

We started paint,
all kinds of stuff.

What's going on?

- Hey there.
- What's going on?

- The paint color looks awesome.
- This is beautiful.

I'm really happy
with the paint color.

The house is coming together.

- Hmm.
- Oh!

It smells good.
It looks like a house-ish.

This is our best
energy flow ever.

Do you feel this spot
right here?

- No.
- It's like all the confluence

of all the goodness right here
as you walk into the kitchen.

- Yeah.
- You can't feel it?

- I'm in another dimension. Yeah.
- Yeah.

It surprised me. The...

What's the word?

Ugh.

She has no words.
She just has wiggly fingers.

- Just...
- What she thinks is,

all the good juju that's
flowing through the house

is flowing in this
lovely pattern,

and it's all circling
- back to this one wall.
- Spot!

I think
he's just humoring you.

No, no, no, no.
Originally, I wanted

to put a rain garden
at this house,

but you know what we need?
We need a plant wall right here.

That's why that wall
is so big.

It's just a perfect place
for a plant wall.

It's a perfect place.
I have to.

There is some magic happening
in that house.

Mom thinks there's magic
- happening.
- There is.

And the magic requires
a plant wall.

It's going to be cool.
Don't worry. Don't worry.

You're going to love it.

Today, I'm going to
build a plant wall.

You have to order
these planters online.

I have 20 of these,

so I'm just going to climb
up there and start.

I did the brackets by myself.

It's the top one,
so it gets a watering reservoir.

- Wow.
- Ta-da, only 19 more.

- It's super, super easy.
- Mm-hmm.

- Wow.
- Right?

You got a lot of plants
out there, lady.

I know. So my thought is,

if we lay them out and look
at all the plants

and sort of decide
what kind of design

we want to do.
- Okay.

Those are good greens,
and then I think this purple

'cause it's got a little
more oomph to it.

Okay.

For me, this would
be dead in a week.

My goal was to find plants

that were durable
and shade-loving.

This looks good.

This is killer.

So we let these guys settle in
for a couple of days.

Then we put 'em
in the wall.

- All right.
- I'm really happy with this.

I am, too. All right.

Bye, plants.
See you later.

We are killing it
over here at Orange.

The inside's getting painted.

There's workers on the front
porch taking it apart.

So we just have
one entrance now

instead of the two
for the old duplex.

And in the backyard,
we're putting on a deck

and a fence
so that maybe Jeff

can get the dog
he's always wanted.

So today, we're going
on a field trip

that I'm hoping is going
to help seal the deal

with Jeff
buying this house.

We talked to his mom, Paula.
She's totally on board,

and she gave us
this little secret weapon.

This is Jeff's high-school
senior picture

with his childhood dog

that he loved more
than anything in the world,

and Jeff doesn't have
a dog now,

but he wants to get one,

so we're going to do
something special with this

and hopefully surprise him.

So we found this guy

who makes really cool
wooden furniture

out of salvaged wood

and just amazing
pieces of wood.

Hey.

- Hey, how's it going?
- Good. How are you?

Doing very well.

We're going to build this
really cool furniture piece,

dog crate to help kind of
show him,

like, it's Jeff's home.

So we're renovating
this house,

and he is the potential buyer.

- This dog is no longer with us.
- This dog is deceased.

He's getting a dog.

And all we're going to do
is suggest to him

that this is the house
he wants to buy

because we're going to have
a really cool dog crate

as a side table.
- Okay.

Here's a couple
that I've done.

So this one is a 7-foot one,
so it's used as a big buffet.

- Mm-hmm.
- So then, this one,

if he goes with a smaller dog,
this one is made into a bench.

So size-wise,
I think the aesthetic

we're probably going for
is wherever, like,

the couch is.
- Yeah.

- On the end of it...
- Right.

it's like an end table.

So probably more sized
for a Jack Russell

than anything much bigger.

Normally, I would do those
at about 32 inches.

- Uh-huh.
- So...

- By 24?
- By 24 wide.

That's much deeper
than most couches.

If it doesn't work like
as a sofa table,

I feel like it doesn't work.

we've got that
loft space upstairs

that I think it would look
really cute in, too.

Oh, it would be
perfect in there. Yeah.

This is just
a little icing on top.

Like, "See, your house
and your dog,

and it's just home."
- Coup de grâce.

Wait, how long?

- Two weeks.
- And how much?

$650.

I don't think I would even
buy my dogs an $80 dog cage.

- Done.
- We got it all figured out.

- Thank you very much.
- Done. Thank you.

- Thank you, sir.
- See you guys soon.

- See you later.
- See you in a couple weeks.

But we're going to
sell this house

with this $650 piece of art.

If we were smart, we would
have had a puppy here for him.

"Here's your house and a puppy!"

Yeah.

- Ta-da!
- Wow. Wow.

It's getting very exciting

'cause we are
in the finishing phase.

I'm kind of hoping
this is the one that works.

The staircase in this house
was really the only thing

with any charm to it.
- Yes.

It had a good newel post
that came down,

and the stairs, when they turn
the corner angled,

like, curved around,

and it was just really
pretty and charming.

It's just not even
- close to dark enough.
- It's not dark enough.

- That's all right.
- But why is that all right?

Because we'll put
a couple coats on it.

But the stairs were a mess,

so we pulled them out,
cut new treads, sanded 'em,

and now we're staining them
to match the new flooring.

I'm really uncomfortable
with this whole process

'cause I would like
to have practiced all the way

through on a test piece instead
of winging it the whole way.

I'm not winging it.
I'm not. I'm not.

I might be winging it
a little.

Not.

We're really, really,
really close,

so I say we let these dry
for a couple hours,

go inside and work
on spindles.

- All right.
- Okay. It sounds like a plan.

Ooh, look how
pretty you made 'em.

These are better
than the old ones.

There a lot of of routing
and little trim pieces.

- It's just real pretty.
- It's beautiful.

Okay, so what
I'm going to do is hand you

the jigsaw-puzzle pieces.
- Okay.

The spindles
just went in like clockwork.

Ninja execution. Strike.

Boom, boom, boom. Done.

Done. I mean,
this is just real pretty.

It's going to be even prettier
when we get these

death-trap stairs changed out.

Put your arms behind your back.
Put your arms behind...

- There's not room.
- Yes, there is.

Now that the treads are in,

and they're all stained
in the very complicated,

beautiful way,
they look amazing

with these nice,
crisp white spindles.

They have, like,
the routed edge.

It just could not
be more perfect.

- This is bottom left?
- Yes.

The plants needed to settle
in their little cubbies

for a couple of days,
and they've done that,

and now we're going
to take the planters over

and hang them on the wall

because I've already
put the brackets up.

Mom was cleaning
the little things,

and I was carrying them in,
so I was seeing it,

like, go up slowly,
and I'm like,

"Mom, you have to wait outside
until the last one gets up,"

so she can come in
and be wowed

because she didn't see it
slowly come together.

Okay. Now, open your eyes.

- It looks great!
- It's really cool, right?

Yes!

It's amazing.

I feel like I did
something magical.

- All right.
- All right. Good job.

Yay.

We've made tons of progress

on the Orange Street house.

The outside is looking good.

We got the brick all smoothed
out on the front.

It's all landscaped out there.

Sorry.

And now we're going
to focus on the inside

and get all the furniture in.

Today is
furniture-move-in day,

which means we're
even closer to Jeff

coming back through
and looking at it,

which means we're even
closer to selling it,

which means we won't be
poor soon hopefully.

You guys are doing
a real good job.

This is not my skill set.

So not only do
we get our furniture,

but Jason's coming
with the dog kennel today.

- Look at how nice that is.
- That's cute.

I love the color, too.
Oh, look at that.

- Nice!
- Is that a magnet?

- Yep.
- On there?

- Perfect.
- Yep, a full magnet's on it.

Okay, are we good?

Oh, that's so cute.

The dog crate's so cool.

It looks perfect
- in that corner.
- Yeah.

It fits, like, right under
the angle of the ceiling.

There you go.
There's a new piece.

- Nice, huh?
- I'm super happy with it.

Thank you so much.
You're all very welcome.

- Thank you very much.
- Great to see you. Thank you.

He's going to be
super happy with it.

Yep.

So a long time ago,
Mina bought this little,

tiny, skinny sideboard
to use for something.

I forget what, and it's been
sitting around for a while,

and she had this
brilliant idea.

Let's put a piece of marble
on top of it.

Let's put casters on it,
and it can be multi-function.

If you need more prep space,
you can roll it in.

If you don't, you can put it out
in the living room

or the dining room
- as a sideboard.
- Perfect.

So now that we have

all the furniture
in the house,

it's just a matter of moving
everything around,

getting it in the right place,
getting things on the wall,

and then it'll be time
to bring Jeff through again,

and...
- Wow him.

...see if we got him hooked.

Today, our house on
Orange Street is finally done,

and it's time for Jeff
to come see it.

When was the last time
you saw this house?

When I was here with you guys.

- Oh, really?
- Yeah, yeah.

Where's your mom this time?

She is back in Pawleys Island,
South Carolina.

This is definitely going
to be the house for you.

Do have, like,
a puppy picked out

that you're going to get,
like, the day you move in?

- I don't yet.
- Do you know what?

If we were smart, we would
have had a puppy here for him.

"Here's your house
and a puppy!"

Yeah.

We're going to bring you around.
Keep your head down.

- Okay.
- And now look at it.

Now you can look.

- Oh, wow.
- It's way prettier, huh?

Oh, my God. Wow.

What do you think
about the color?

I, uh, I love it.

You guys have
done an awesome job.

You got a nice
little front porch.

Before, this house
was a duplex,

so there was two sidewalks,

two sets of stairs
and two front doors.

So now we just
have one entrance,

and it looks like
a single-family home.

All right. Well, let's go
- check out inside.
- Let's do it.

- ♪ Ta-da ♪
- Wow.

Oh, my God.
I absolutely love it.

It looks a little different,
so... A little bit.

A little bit.

I didn't know what to expect,

and it really blew me
off my feet.

I mean, I knew you guys
were good at what you did,

but, um, this is beyond
what I could ever imagine.

Before, you were just in half
of a duplex's living room.

Now, when you first walk
in the front door,

you're in this open-concept
living-dining room.

I'm sorry. I can't stop
looking at that thing.

- This thing over here?
- Yeah.

So this is the plant wall
that Mom concocted in her brain.

- That's amazing.
- They're all low-light plants.

They just need to be
watered every now and then.

The plant wall
is very impressive.

I never thought I would
ever have one of those,

never thought
I would ever need one.

Okay.
Now, close your eyes.

- Okay.
- Can you feel it?

- Yeah, right?
- Yeah.

I think he was
digging the vibe.

I think he really felt
what I feel when I stand there.

You want to get
the full view of the kitchen?

When you guys are ready.
You ready? Yeah, yeah.

Do we need, like,
a cleansing breath?

I think he's going to cry.
I love it.

A cleansing breath
before the kitchen?

- So...
- Oh, my God.

...you've got this
nice big space now.

Before, it was
all just kind of... This is...

- ...gutted.
- Come on in.

It's amazing.

Super-high ceilings. Yeah.
Oh, this is the best part.

You've got
double-stacked cabinets.

Oh, this is the best part.

You've got some open
shelving over here,

so you can display
some cool stuff.

This looks so good.

Are you mentally
ready for upstairs?

No. I'm not mentally
- ready for any of this.
- Because there's more.

Mom spent a lot of time
staining these stair treads

to match the hardwood.
- Really?

So I don't know
how many layers Mom decided

needed to go on these
to make them look right,

but it was a lot,

and they turned out real pretty.
- They're beautiful.

Your first of three rooms upstairs.

Oh, my...

And you get so much
natural light

from the front of the house.
- Yeah.

And this is
your guest bath.

- Oh.
- So nice and roomy.

- Yeah.
- A nice big double vanity.

So the next room
is your office,

and that's really
exciting, I think.

- Yeah?
- Yeah. This
is where Paula comes into play.

- All right.
- So let's go check that out.

And this is your office.

Oh, my God.

And this is what
Mama Paula gave us.

Incredible that this was
your senior picture.

Like, when you were 18,
you were like,

"What should I do
to look really cool?"

I knew I wanted to have
a picture with my dog,

the greatest dog that ever was.

- Yeah.
- Sit down in your desk chair.

- Oh.
- Give it a feel.

See if this is
going to work for you.

All right.
I think it's going to.

This is where you sit,
and you pay your mortgage.

Yeah.
I do all my adult stuff.

Yeah.

I feel very... So I know one
of your sticking points

was we need to get
some more square footage,

and I think we have
one more room

that probably solved
that problem,

so come along this way, sir.

Now, she had
a little stroke of genius.

- Okay.
- She really did.

We've got this space
that we kind of--

It was just under
the eaves before.

Wow.

- This is awesome.
- We beefed up
the floor joists a bit,

put in some skylights, and...

Take a look at that.

- This was handmade.
- Wow.

The dog kennel--
I was really impressed by that.

I was really touched
that they made that for me

and let me have that.
All right.

- Let's get back downstairs.
- Sounds great.

So we've got your master
on the first floor,

which, although you're never
going to sell this house... Right.

- ...is really good for resale.
- Okay.

Whoo!

- Nice high ceilings.
- Wow.

Like,
I love that light fixture.

- I don't know about you.
- Yeah. Wow.

Wow.

- Wow.
- And then you've got your
en suite bathroom right here.

- That's going to be too much.
- It is only yours.

You never have to share
a bathroom ever again.

A nice double vanity,

you got the big
oversized soaking tub.

- Two sinks?
- Two sinks.

I never needed that before.

The last spot
is the backyard.

Okay.

- Your back deck.
- Wow.

Plenty of room for a dog
- to run and play.
- Oh, my God.

Comfy, we've got
a nice fire pit

with some Adirondacks.
Do you love it?

Is there anything stronger
than love to describe things?

So what do you think?

- Sold.
- We brought you down easy.

Yeah, where do I sign?

I have the paper in my car.
We will sign.

- Done deal.
- I love it.

You're going to be our neighbor.
I'm really excited about it.

This house was,
I think, a success for us.

We bought it for $4,000.

We ended up investing
around $185,000 in it.

Our contract sales price
was $259,000,

so after closing costs, fees,
all that stuff was removed,

we ended up making around
$44,000.

- Thank you so much.
- I'm so glad to have you
as a neighbor!

This is excellent.

It's important to us
that the people who live--

that move into our houses
love the house

and love the neighborhood,
and he does.

Karen and Mina-- they just--

they really knocked
my socks off.

I just-- I couldn't believe
how good of a job they'd done.

It's like they knew
exactly what I wanted,

and it seems like they were
really keeping me in mind

when they made this house,
and that meant a lot to me.

I love it.
I love everything about it.