You have a water problem.
Water's coming out all over the place.
[Mike] There's so much moisture, it could cause surface mold.
[woman] I wonder if that's why I'm getting all these
breathing issues.
I was in the hospital for two weeks...
-[Sherry] Oh, my goodness. -...'cause my oxygen was very low.
That's a long time.
I definitely don't want my husband and my daughter
to go through what I went through.
It was very scary. I'm still scared now.
[Mike] This is not a small job.
We've got to investigate the inside.
There's an awful lot of moisture.
-[Sherry screams] -[Mike laughs]
[Sherry] I hate bugs!
[Mike] We've got to pull the back deck,
excavate the exterior of this home.
It's not waterproof.
And then we've got to stop the water from
penetrating the foundation.
And that is a lot of work.
I'm Mike Holmes,
and I've been making it right for homeowners for 20 years.
I'm teaming up with my son, Michael,
who can build anything,
and my daughter, Sherry,
who's highly skilled and has an eye for design.
Together, we're gonna rescue families
who have been scammed by bad contractors
and crappy workmanship.
This is Holmes Family Rescue.
This is a huge job.
And we've spent the last week
completely overhauling the outside
of Maria and Frank's house.
Once the foundation of the house was
fully waterproofed,
all our efforts went into
completely regrading this property
to control the flow of groundwater.
The idea is to take the water
from running this way,
and controlling it to the side here.
With the new slope established,
we poured concrete pads
for an incoming shed and pavilion.
[Sherry] Yeah!
[Mike] Trucked in all our drainage gravel
to bring the yard up to level,
and got to work laying our patio stones.
I promised Maria I'd go a little bit further
than just replacing their deck,
but she has no idea how far I went.
Now that we're really progressing on the outside,
I wanted to call Maria
and give her just some good news.
Hi, Maria, how are you?
[Maria] I'm good, how are you, Mike?
I am good. I just wanted to give you a quick update
as to where we're at right now.
We recently got the permits for the basement,
so we're getting going on the basement.
Oh, awesome.
And I wanted to tell you we did a complete
air quality control test
for your home, radon gases, you name it.
It came back...
good.
That makes me happy,
knowing that my family is safe.
So thank you for doing that test on the basement there.
I'm gonna add maybe a couple of other things
for your health,
to make it even better for you.
Breathing should be a lot better
by the time I'm done.
Thank you so much, Mike.
You know what, you're such a blessing.
Loved you before, but I love you even more now.
I love you too.
Looking forward to seeing everything.
Which won't be long from now.
[Maria] I'll be waiting patiently.
-Thanks again, Mike. -Bye for now.
Well, that was good.
Now that the permits have arrived,
we're starting this basement from the ground up.
We'll wall off the utilities,
allowing half this space to become Angelica's colorful
friends-and-family-ready rec room,
complete with plenty of seating,
built-in media storage,
cozy study corner
and a custom-built kitchenette.
On the other side of the stairs,
we'll create a spacious bathroom
featuring a glassed-in shower
and ample cabinetry,
while the space across the hall
becomes more badly-needed storage.
Brightly colored and built for action,
this basement will finally give this family
the hangout-ready friend zone they've needed for years.
Even though this house is now watertight,
we're still going to protect this basement
with a waterproof subfloor.
This subfloor consists of two parts.
We've got the plastic dimple board membrane
that goes on the bottom, creating a waterproof barrier.
Then we have the plywood sheeting,
which will provide a stable base
for our vinyl floor.
All this adds up to making sure we never have
a water issue in this basement again.
[Sherry] With our basement one step closer to walls,
Dad and I are outside to help with
walls of a different kind.
Tom, good morning.
I love your fence.
Look how easy the install is.
That's my favorite.
-[Tom] You want to try it? It's simple. -[Sherry] Yeah.
[Tom] Here, take a couple of these.
I'll go on this side.
The other nice thing about this fence is that
when the boards do get a little grey and,
you know, weathered,
you can slip them out, slip new ones in,
and you've got a brand-new fence again.
But the framework being all aluminum stays forever.
-It's a fence for life. -[Tom] Yeah.
[Sherry] And the bonus is,
you have something big to fit in the backyard,
you decide you want to put in a pool one day,
you can pull a panel
and get in the backyard.
It's perfect. You don't have to cut a fence apart.
[Mike] Lookit, you're almost done.
Uh, you know what, Tom? I love this.
I'll get the guys to help...
-[Tom] Sure. -...and I get the feeling it's gonna be done today.
There's a lot more fence to do.
[Tom] There is.
Just got to cap rail this, and we should be good to go
-on this section. -Sounds good.
[Mike] This fence is only one small piece of this build.
Overall, we're in an incredible space
in the backyard.
We've made it bigger, and we've made it beautiful.
And thanks to our grading work,
water permeable stone borders
and zero-maintenance turf,
we've made it so now
we control the water away from the home.
Man, this looks so good.
They're not gonna recognize it.
Yeah, thank you.
So as you can see here, we've got the turf area.
We're gonna throw some planting in here.
And then here we've got those two relief points
-that we talked about. -This is just a backup.
This is an overflow, exactly.
So when there's a lot of rain,
we're gonna actually have a spot that'll
let the overflow out.
[Mike] Picture it this way.
We have the walkway.
Underneath it,
we have approximately eight inches of drainage bed.
That drainage bed
runs towards the side of the property.
With that drainage bed, we've added
two weeping tile fields,
which will ensure that
instead of going toward the foundation of the house,
all the water runs to this point
on the other side of the fence.
And what I love about these is
that you can still cut the grass out here.
-Yeah. -When the water actually does come, it pops up.
It's gonna be seamless when it's all done.
[Mike] When we do work, we think of
absolutely everything.
It's about never having to come back.
And with these two little lines,
we've ensured no water will ever pool
in this backyard again.
I've got to get you to come to my house.
-[Matt chuckles] -Honestly.
-[Sherry] Doesn't make any sense. -You're doing laundry,
someone opens the door to come in...
-[Sherry] You get hit with the door. -[Michael] Yeah.
[Mike] Are we having a meeting in the laundry room?
We just thought this was a great space for
three of us to converse
really comfortably 'cause it's so tight in here.
-[Michael] Yeah. -Could you imagine doing laundry
-in this enclosed space? -No. This is--
And then someone's coming through the garage, hitting you with the door.
Well, this is actually rather tight.
-[Michael] You think? -Yeah, lookit.
So I want to put
the laundry room downstairs
and make this into just a little mudroom
-off the side of the garage. -So this is your idea?
-Perhaps. -Is this a make-work project?
I mean, I guess this makes sense, but, like,
-it seems like there's... -I mean, let's make their lives easier.
We're here for a reason.
When they design these houses, it's like,
"Oh, and you've got a laundry room on the first floor."
Well, people pay extra for that.
[Mike] You know, nowadays, everyone likes to have
their laundry room on the first floor,
on the second floor.
I still believe it should be in the basement.
-Why? -Because of flooding.
Number one leak in insurance companies...
Is washer.
And washer and dryer
-usually dances all over the place. -[Sherry] Yeah.
-And you're not gonna damage the floor. -Vibrates the floor,
and it won't vibrate on the basement.
There's probably not even a drain in the floor.
If this did flood, it would just go
into the basement anyway.
-[Sherry] Yeah. -So...
Let's put them in the basement.
-Good idea, Sherry. -[Sherry] I feel like we should have done
a "teamwork, break" here.
-[Mike] Good idea. -[Michael] Break!
Work!
-[Sherry] One, two... -[Michael] Okay.
[Sherry] You push, I'll... Okay.
[screams]
[Michael] Okay, you're okay. You're okay.
[Sherry] Scared me.
[Michael] Oh.
Chicken wire.
[Sherry] Oh, perfect.
We got chicken wire, thinset
stapled to the plywood.
This is gonna be a lot of work.
-[Sherry] Better with the hook. -[Michael] Oh.
Chicken wire.
[Sherry] Oh, perfect.
This is gonna be a lot of work.
We got chicken wire, thinset
stapled to the plywood.
The chicken wire and thinset
add a lot of strength with the tile.
It acts as a rebar.
So, back in the day before we had
an uncoupling membrane,
this is what they used to strengthen that tile bed.
And, of course, it's gonna be sharp,
it's gonna be a pain.
A little more work than I intended
to involve us in this morning.
We just had to do the laundry room,
didn't we, Sherry?
[Sherry] A little bit of effort.
It's really worth it in the end.
They're gonna have a great mudroom. They're gonna
have the better laundry room down in the basement.
It's going to be a perfect setup for them.
Agreed.
[Mike] Today, Sherry and I have been asked to start with
a trip to Kim's showroom.
Kim?
-[Sherry] Good morning. -[Kim] Hey, guys.
-Thanks for coming. -[Sherry] How are you?
[Kim] Amazing.
So, I brought you here today
so that I could get your opinion
and pick your brain on colors for Angelica's basement.
Right now, Angelica doesn't really have
any space to herself.
They have the loungy area upstairs,
but unfortunately, Maria has her office in the kitchen.
-[Kim] Yeah. -[Sherry] You're constantly crossing paths,
-so there's no real area for her to... - [Kim] There's no privacy.
...have fun with her friends and be herself.
[Kim] Like, it's not our typical
space that we do.
It's more for a girl who's 16,
has her friends over,
-sleepover parties. -Sleepovers.
[Kim] Yeah.
What do you think a young woman would want?
Anything to do with a cell phone.
-Okay, that's great for a basement design. -[Mike] Uh...
-In-ear speaker. -[Sherry] What...
Uh, what else?
Do you think you're really hip and in touch
with what the kids like nowadays?
I'm cool.
You're so cool. So cool.
If we were to have a slumber party tonight,
what would we be doing?
I don't do slumber parties.
If you were a young girl,
and you wanted to have a slumber party
-with all of your besties... -There'd be lots of pillows.
-Pillows. Okay. -[Kim] Okay. That's...
-[Sherry] What color? -Yeah, what colors?
It's like, don't do pink floors.
Let's do pink floors.
-Don't do pink cabinets. -Do pink cabinets.
I did, I did think about that in the beginning.
But then I thought for longevity purposes,
I don't know.
When you're 16, you like one thing.
I think as a young teenager,
the sky's the limit.
You can do whatever you want.
And if you make it simple,
there's no wow factor.
-[Kim] Right. -If you really dress it up for a teenager...
-[Kim] Right. -...and make it colorful
-and crazy... -Right. Fun.
...she's gonna walk in and go,
"Mom, I wanna move down here."
-That's my opinion. -Yeah.
So go crazy.
Really?
You're gonna let us do whatever we want?
Yeah.
Really?
Huh!
-That's amazing. -And you can't
-take it back. -Yeah.
This is gonna be fun.
Yeah, this is gonna be so much fun.
You're done. [chuckles]
-I'm excited. -Bye, guys.
[Michael] While the designs for the basement
are only just taking shape,
the plan for the backyard is well on its way.
We've already laid down our gorgeous
interlocking stone patio,
the perfect place for entertaining
once outfitted with a large dining area
and barbecue station.
Zero-maintenance turf leads to an easy-access storage shed
on one side of the yard,
and on the other side,
we want to give Maria and Frank
a show-stopping pavilion,
complete with a gas fireplace
and plenty of seating.
Which brings us to where I'm heading today.
I'm checking out a company that does incredible
timber-framed pavilions.
I've seen their work in the real world,
but I've never seen the behind-the-scenes,
so that's the part that excites me.
Wow.
Rob, this is like my dream shop.
It's crazy, eh?
Man, I mean, look at this.
I'm in candy land.
I'm a kid in a candy store right now.
I can't even speak because this is so cool.
So this is where it all happens.
And you build most pavilions
without any screws or nails?
Yes, it is all mortise and tenon connections,
some dovetail joinery.
-So this is our joinery. -[Rob] Yes.
We have a male dovetail,
which is gonna fit into the female side here...
-[Michael] Yeah. -[Rob]...right in the king post.
And then on the other side,
we have some bracing in the structure.
So this is our tenon.
-[Rob] Our tenon. -This is our mortise here.
It's a mortise pocket it's gonna fit into.
[Michael] And then rather than a bolt,
this acts as our fastener.
[Rob] That's our wood dowel that's gonna make the connection
and pull everything tight in the structure.
[Michael] These are incredible.
So this is your CNC machine.
[Rob] It is, yes.
This is by far
the coolest CNC machine I have ever seen.
That is a thick saw blade.
-[Rob] Yes. -[Michael] That is a beast.
[Rob] It's a beast, that's for sure.
-Can we test this out? -[Rob] Certainly.
-Eyes and ears. -[Michael] Eyes and ears.
A CNC machine is basically
a maneuverable platform and tool
that is controlled by a computer.
This is unbelievable.
I'm a licensed carpenter
and I have a passion for woodworking,
but I do it mostly by hand.
We got our dovetail now.
[Rob] It's gonna do the dovetail.
Oh, this is a male joint.
-[Rob] It is, yep. -[Michael] Yep.
This would take so long to do by hand.
Yeah, and it basically takes it down to minutes now.
Yeah.
I could honestly stand here
and watch this machine go all day.
It's changing bits. It's changing bits.
You're taking the old world and now you're mixing it with
a massive CNC machine.
So new world meeting old world,
delivering completely custom timber frame designs.
Whatever you want, they can build it.
Once the timbers are all cut on the CNC machine,
we move to the next station
where it's prepped for stain
with wire brushes,
and then it goes through the spray booth...
There it is.
...where it is perfectly sprayed
all in ten seconds.
This is unbelievable.
From here, we'll just stack it up in the warehouse here
to let it dry for a few days,
and then it's ready to be installed.
I'm so happy that I got to see the behind-the-scenes
of how this is all put together.
This makes me that much more excited
to build something for Maria and Frank.
Back in town, our day starts with laying out
our double duty basement bathroom.
How's the new layout going?
[Michael] I think the new layout is working great.
Having the shower over here...
-[Sherry] Mm-hmm. -...washer, dryer over here.
[Sherry] Cover it so it's not quite obvious...
-Yeah. -...but it's all in the same space.
That's it. So...
Because we already have this beam here,
we've got our point load there,
this is a perfect wall to hide
some of that plumbing in,
-hide our venting in. -Yeah.
Getting to see this bathroom layout on the floor,
I know we made the right choice.
It's more than big enough to accommodate
a washer and dryer in here.
Lookit, I don't say this very often,
but, Sherry, you were right.
Now in order to do all that, we have to break up
this concrete, move the plumbing.
So I've got the wet saw set up.
[Sherry] That's perfect. You know what?
If you could get started on that,
I'm gonna quickly head upstairs.
I'm in this alone, is that it?
I have to go get something really quickly.
Why don't we rock, paper, scissors for it?
Loser.
[Michael] Now that we have a plan,
we're gonna cut open the concrete.
Break it up.
Make room for the new plumbing.
And now we frame.
Come to me a bit, yeah.
That looks good there.
Maria and Frank are going to love this new layout.
This is perfect.
[Sherry] With the changes to the basement
really just beginning,
Michael heads upstairs...
to bring another task to a close.
On the front porch, we've already changed out the stone.
We've changed out the front door, the soffit.
The last thing to finish this is the pillars.
[Sherry] Can I have it a little bit more my way?
There, I'm happy.
We have pre-measured, pre-cut aluminum pieces
that we're going to clad on top of the post,
screw in, it should be nice and easy.
Might have to...
[Sherry] Walk it in.
[Michael] Just...
Oh, God.
That is so tight.
-Oh, God. Oh, God. -[Sherry] Oh.
-It's scratched. It's scratched. -[Michael] Oh, God.
[Sherry] Do you want to just do the two corners?
[Michael] I just want to see if we assemble it in place,
if that works better.
[Sherry] You're looking a little frustrated,
a little tense, a little uptight.
There was a little scratch...
-[Michael] Careful. -I know.
-I don't want to do it. -I don't like handling this.
Yeah, I don't either.
-I don't want to. -Then, I'm gonna put the top in first.
Just careful moving it.
Holy [bleep]!
-I don't like handling this. -Yeah, I don't either.
-I don't want to. -I'm gonna put the top in first.
Just careful moving it.
Holy [bleep]!
The pieces,
they were pre-measured and pre-cut.
[Sherry] Uh... Uh...
I should have cut them a little bit shorter
so that I don't scratch the soffit.
-Jesus. It's too tight. -I'm not touching that. I'm not touching that.
But it's kind of exciting to get done. It's the last thing
we need on the front porch, so you don't think about it.
You know what's not exciting?
-Yeah? -Scratching the soffit.
[Sherry] Listen, these pillars
might not be the easiest to install,
but Frank and Maria
have zero idea
that we overhauled their front porch.
So I think when they walk up and see it,
it's a complete surprise. It looks amazing, and it adds
so much curb appeal to the property.
-Let's go top in first. -Top first?
[Michael] All right, that looks good.
All we got to do is get the bottom trim and the top trim attached,
and these posts are done.
[Sherry] With work continuing full speed at the house,
Dad and I get ourselves cleaned up
and back to Kim's.
[Kim] So, guys,
we went over this one last time.
You know the floor plan.
Now I'm gonna hit you with the color.
This is our whole color palette.
So we're gonna have three different wallpapers,
the living room area,
office,
bathroom.
This is gonna be our flooring throughout.
-[Sherry] Mm-hmm. -[Kim] All vinyl.
And then our millwork colors
will be these two combined.
So what do you think, Mr. Holmes?
Are you happy
with this color combo?
-I think it works for the teenager... -[Kim] Mm-hmm.
...and it works for Mom and Dad.
Well, can I throw a little bit of a wrench
-in this? -[Kim] Yes.
It's beautiful.
I feel like it's almost a little muted.
-[Kim] Really? -[Sherry] Yeah.
Can we throw a punch of color in there somewhere,
like a hot pink?
Just a little bit of something brighter,
-in your face a little bit? -[Kim] We can try.
I think we can go deeper tones of coral if you like.
Cool. Then it's just like a fun pop.
And then when we get the furniture in,
we can buy accessories
to maybe, like, pump it up a notch.
You can do it with pillows and accessories,
like a pink blanket.
Oh, now I'm excited.
-Not only is it good for Angelica... -[Kim] Yeah.
...it's good for when Angelica gets older,
-[Kim and Sherry] Mm-hmm. -...which means it's good for Mom and Dad.
So it's good for the family.
Exactly. I'm sure they're gonna entertain down there.
-Absolutely. -Yeah. Okay, perfect.
I'm glad you like it.
-[Sherry] It's beautiful. -[Kim] Yay.
-Good job. -Thank you.
[Sherry] With our color palette in place,
I'm heading back to Frank and Maria's
where walls have gone up in the basement...
and fresh sod is going down outside.
Before we can start laying the tile
in the downstairs new bathroom,
we have to self-level the floor.
You know what's great about self-levelling a floor?
You just make your mix,
you have your laser line, you know
where you're going, and you pour buckets out.
It's pretty easy and it levels itself.
And then once this is all dry,
it's time for Michael to come in and do some work.
[Michael] That's what brothers are for.
I'll take it from here
and get the bench and shower pan in.
Troy's mixing right now, but while Troy's mixing,
I'm gonna sponge down this concrete,
so adding a little moisture
so that it doesn't suck it quickly
out of the mortar.
All righty, Michael, here's your first mix.
That's a lot of mix.
Okay, we'll start with the bench.
We'll trowel it up the walls and on the floor here.
[Troy] You ready for the bench?
-Ready for the bench. -[Troy] Perfect.
[Michael] I love this product.
It's made out of a waterproofing material
and it comes pre-assembled,
so you just have to cut it to width.
And we're good to go.
Now, the pan.
Oh, yeah.
[Michael] Our shower pan is pre-sloped,
making sure that when water hits it,
it goes directly into the drain.
So since we've self-levelled the bathroom floor,
all we have to do is add thinset,
stick it to the concrete,
and we're good to go.
Okay. I'll grab my trowel and we'll smooth that out.
And then we can put in the curb,
drop the drain in.
-Good to go. Perfect. -Yeah.
[Michael] The action around here never stops.
Now, the timber frame pavilion has landed.
This weighs about 150 pounds.
-You okay? -[Sherry] Yeah, I'm good.
Just don't go running.
You have longer legs than I do.
Just keep up with my pace.
[Sherry] I'm working on it.
-Oh. -[Michael] Ready?
[Sherry] Yeah.
It's a really big day today.
We've got Stewart and his team here to help us
build the pavilion.
[Stewart] Beautiful.
We're gonna install some braces now in the post
for that back beam to rest on.
[Michael] Now, one thing I love about this
is it's a timber frame.
There are no fasteners,
only joinery to hold this together.
You guys want to put one in?
Let's get another ladder over there.
[Sherry] Oh, goodness.
What's the over-under of me
falling or dropping something?
[Michael] Uh, let's hope zero.
I would rather fall than drop one of these, though.
-Okay. -[Michael] Ready?
[Sherry] Yes.
[shrieks, chuckles]
Oh, gosh.
Okay. Okay. It's up here.
-Okay. Just keep it stable, Sher. -[Sherry] Yeah.
-[Michael] Okay. -[Sherry] Okay.
-Okay. -[Stewart] So if you lift...
[Sherry] Okay. Okay.
It's really heavy.
-[Stewart] So if you lift... -[Sherry] Okay. Okay.
-It's really heavy. -[Michael] Sorry.
[Sherry] Just don't go fast.
-We're gonna have to do it at the same time. -[Sherry] Okay.
-Is that right? -[Stewart] That's it.
-[Sherry] Lift up? -[Michael] Here we go.
[gasps] That scared me.
[Stewart] Beautiful.
That was easy.
I'm just profusely sweating from nerves.
[Stewart chuckles]
[Michael] All right, where are those dowels?
This is Michael's thing.
[Michael] Am I through?
Nice and slow.
[Sherry grunts]
-Okay. -You want me to finish it?
-[Sherry] Yeah. -Yeah.
I love this.
Good for you.
[Michael] It's like
a woodworking project on steroids.
There we go.
All these large joints, locking them together,
it's just a lot of fun.
Okay, let's come to you.
[Sherry] Okay. Okay.
[Michael] Just hold it steady.
It's really heavy. It's really hot out.
But once I got comfortable,
really fascinating and really fun
to have all of this come together
without using screws or nails or adhesives.
-I'm good, are you? -[Michael] Yep.
-[Sherry] You okay? -We're golden.
Clear.
[Sherry] It's like building blocks.
-Reminds me of being a kid. -It's true.
Okay. One more, and we've got a structure.
-Ready, Sher? -[Sherry] Yeah.
-Yay! -[Michael] We're in.
[Sherry] This looks so good.
This is a focal point in the backyard.
So now I guess it's just
our roof choice.
I'm actually pretty excited about it.
Now that we have the majority of the exterior
of the home done, our focus has shifted
to finishing off the basement.
The shower is almost finished.
Our walls have gone from white to pink.
The vinyl floor looks amazing,
and our millwork has arrived.
We have the washroom in the basement,
the mudroom,
the living area,
and we have cabinetry going to the kitchenette.
What do you think of the pink, Troy?
It's growing on me.
Once we're getting these, the greys in
-and the other colors... -[Sherry] Uh-huh.
...it's starting to come together.
It's gonna look great with the couches.
Once the furniture comes in,
-it always comes together. -[Sherry] Yeah.
This basement is really for Angelica.
This is a place where she can have some privacy,
bring her friends in, watch movies,
make snacks. It's about her.
It's not really anybody else's design perspective.
I think Angelica's gonna love this space.
I'm a little jealous. I didn't have anything like this
when I was her age.
[Michael] While the details are coming together downstairs,
we're also finishing off our utilities,
starting with the electrical.
-Frankie. -Hey, Mike.
We're installing the EV charger I see.
Final touches, buddy. Final touches.
Frank and Maria plan on
passing this home down to Angelica,
so we want to make sure that we future-proof this home.
We might as well incorporate an EV charger
in their garage, just in case Angelica
one day wants to have an electric vehicle.
We did the service upgrade to 200 amps,
and now we put in a brand-new 50-amp breaker
for our new EV.
[Michael] Since the EV charger requires a lot of power,
we've upgraded the panel to make sure
that it can handle the required load.
Lookit. You can buy an EV charger kit.
However, it should always be
a licensed electrical contractor
that installs your EV charger.
You don't know there's a problem until there's a problem.
-Correct. -[Michael] Whether that's a fire,
whether something happens to your car.
So it's important to hire a professional,
-get a permit, cover your butt. -[Frankie] Always.
Let's turn that on.
[Mike] As Frank upgrades the electrical,
we've also upgraded the HVAC
by way of an ERV.
An Energy Recovery Ventilation unit.
Which brings fresh air into the house
and helps manage moisture.
It will cycle the air in your home,
all fresh air inside, all stale air outside.
Maria was telling us
that she's having trouble breathing in the home.
She was worried about the air quality.
We already know that 80% of the houses out there,
indoor air quality does not match
-outdoor air quality. -No.
When we first came in here,
they had a big 10-inch line
that tapped into the air return.
It was totally wrong.
All it was doing was pulling way too much moisture
and never mind bugs, etc.
Where an Energy Recovery Ventilation unit,
it's got this paper inside,
and it helps
keep the moisture in
to a level that is necessary.
And energy efficient.
She's gonna come in here and love this.
She's gonna breathe well.
Are you gonna be
the instruction person today, Sher?
We're almost done in the backyard.
All we have to do is put up one little shed.
Should be easy.
Put that on the back, though. It has...
-Put it on the back? Why? -...a little flex in the plastic.
We don't need to see that.
[Mike] So, just out of curiosity...
[Sherry] No, like,
-I just said put it in the back. -The back, Dad.
I'm just looking.
-[Sherry] Yeah, this is right. -No, it's the other way, Sher.
Because that's like that. Thank you.
No, this is wrong.
Look, you're missing holes.
Today I'm working with oil and water.
There's only one, so we'll put the window over here.
No, that's gonna be the door, isn't it?
I would put the door here.
The two of you, hug it out right now.
-She's not in a hugging mood. -[Sherry] No.
Nobody hug me.
I think you're upset because I took
the instructions from you just to look at them.
Everything clicks in and then you screw it.
Yes.
Like, all I'm reading is click.
Click, click, click.
Did it click?
It did make
a very clicking-like sound.
What happened with the clicking...
-Is we are not clicking. -...was we didn't click today.
Yeah, yeah.
You can put that in last.
But you'd like to do it now, right?
I might.
Why don't we...
I have this crazy idea.
We follow the instructions and do this wall.
[Sherry] Here, do you want to do that?
[Michael] No, I'm just bringing this over.
Yeah, the window's definitely last.
Peace.
[Sherry] Who cares what order the window goes in?
-[Mike] It's okay, Sher. -[Sherry] Go get coffee!
[Mike] It's okay, Sher.
Yeah, the window's definitely last.
Peace.
Who cares what order the window goes in?
-[Mike] It's okay, Sher. -[Sherry] Go get coffee!
[Mike] It's okay, Sher.
I felt, to be honest,
that it was time for me to walk away
and let you guys do it.
Because I felt a little bit of tension
-with the clicking. -[softly] No.
-[in normal voice] No. -I didn't hear any clicking.
-Did you? -I don't know where you picked that up from.
Yeah, that's so strange.
Sometimes the coach just has to take a seat.
Let the players play!
[Mike] That's right.
-Get. -That's right.
Okay, I think I'm in on my side.
Oh, and then you need those same little screw things.
-These guys. -[Michael] Oh.
I'm not saying that Dad
isn't the problem.
But with Dad not here...
There isn't a problem.
Huh.
More this side.
Oh, it's going in well.
Yay! You did it.
[Mike] We're at the Holmes stretch
for Maria and Frank's house here,
and I got to say,
I think it looks amazing.
Do you remember where this job started?
-[Mike] From a leak. -[Sherry] From a leak
into the basement.
[Michael] Lookit, this wasn't just about
fixing Maria and Frank's problem.
This was about restoring their trust in the trades.
They had such a bad experience
with the previous contractor
that they were just too afraid to hire anyone else.
Twenty years cleaning up water, cleaning up water.
We call it renovation paralysis.
So it takes a contractor good enough to come in,
restore that faith in the homeowners,
and also do the job right.
[Sherry] We have had so many different trades of professionals
taking care of them
in their laundry room,
the exterior,
the backyard,
the basement,
that I really feel when they see this house,
they are going to fall over.
They think they're coming back
to a finished basement
and new grass out back.
That's what they think.
They have no idea what they're getting.
-Okay. -[Kim] Go, go, go.
-We got so much to do today. -[woman] All right.
[Sherry] Today is the day.
We have to unload the truck, set up the backyard,
rejig the basement.
Okay, so we're just gonna
throw everything into the middle
and then we'll figure it out from there.
This is the day we put the entire house back together.
So let's go set up the seating area.
Did you deal with Kim on how this is gonna be?
Uh, I did. We've done some talking.
We've planned some things out.
So I'm gonna boss you guys around.
-Oh. -[Sherry] You're gonna work for me.
I don't know how we keep getting back
into this position where you're in charge.
Get.
I've got to get used to this.
We're going to move these sofas
and they're actually going to come across
with the pieces of the turf.
-Oh. A V. -Yeah, we're gonna create
a V with the coffee table in the middle
on the turf. There you go.
[Michael] I mean, it looks nice.
-[Sherry] So these two are gonna come here. -These two, okay.
Here I can...
Let's try this way.
-So we are gonna do outdoor dining table. -[Michael] Okay.
[Sherry] This is gonna line up here in the center.
Dining chair cushions.
Yeah, you pass me that.
Good pass.
I'll do the heavy lifting over here.
Someone's got to do the heavy lifting.
[Sherry] Oh, yeah. This is actually really cozy.
It's a good slumber party sofa.
[Michael] You guys take it easy, okay?
I'll get the ottomans. Don't worry.
[Sherry] Listen, it's a hot day.
Not every basement leak means you need to dig up
the whole outside of the house.
But it is something
you need to pay attention to.
If you see a leak in your basement,
start paying attention to these three things.
Grade.
In other words, does the grade run to your house?
Number two. Where are the downspouts?
Are they directing water towards your foundation?
If so, that's not good.
Number three. Windows.
Is it coming from that area?
Now, for this house,
we pretty much have all three problems.
Add on top of it,
a minimum coat.
Waterproofing around the house.
You got a recipe for disaster.
For Frank and Maria,
this gave us an opportunity
to expand on what we were doing. Why?
We had to dig on the outside of the house
to waterproof the foundation.
We had to redirect the water.
We created a whole outside scape.
Right to the new lawn at the front curb.
And on the inside of the house,
it looks pretty good.
Yes, this job got a little bit big.
But anytime someone tells me
that this is their forever home
and they're gonna pass it on to the child,
I'm gonna add just a little bit more.
That's called love.
I'm really excited that my family can help rescue
such a wonderful family in this neighborhood.
And I feel good about what we do.
What a beautiful day it is
-to come back home. -[Maria and Angelica] It is.
-Beautiful day, right? -Yes. Very beautiful.
So glad to see you again.
-Angelica. -[Sherry] Hi. How are you?
Nice to meet you.
[Sherry] How are we feeling?
Are we anxious, just excited, happy?
-Anxious, happy, overwhelmed. -[Angelica] Excited, yes.
-Excited? -[Maria] Um,
I think Frank is more excited than all of us
-'cause he won't have to do any more of the mopping. -[laughs] Yeah.
This has been an ongoing issue.
For five years
-you've had this problem. -Mopping.
-[Frank] Yeah, mopping. -Yeah.
Five years of mopping and 20 years
-of stress with this house. So... -Yeah.
...it probably feels a little bit overwhelming
-that it's hopefully... -[Frank] Yeah.
-...come to an end today. -When you say hopefully, I trust.
All right, should we go check it out?
-I think so. -You ready?
[Maria and Angelica] Yes.
Okay.
[Mike] Take a look at your front porch.
-Oh, my gosh. -Oh. Pretty.
[Angelica] Wow.
[Mike] We did a lot of digging.
Oh, my God, did we dig?
[Michael] We did a lot
-of digging. Yeah. -[Sherry] There was some digging.
[Mike] We made a hell of a mess of your property.
We got to fix that.
So you got a whole new front porch,
new pillars,
new soffit,
new everything.
It looks so modern and elegant.
It does, yes.
We wanted to add in some curb appeal for you guys.
So as you approach your front door,
you really get to see what your house
is really about.
It looks beautiful.
This is a very fine interlocking stone.
-[Maria] Oh, wow. -[Angelica] Wow.
And we've also added lights underneath your step.
-[Maria] Oh, wow. -[Angelica] So cool.
They even changed the door.
[Michael] Your old front door...
-[Maria] Yes. -[Michael]...it was not energy efficient.
Now with that one single door,
it's much more energy efficient.
And I think it looks a lot better too.
-Very nice. -Very pretty.
[Mike] All new grass with,
Frank's gonna like this,
in-ground sprinkler system.
Oh. I don't have to water the grass anymore.
He's always complaining
-how all the grass looks dry. -[Angelica] Yeah.
-[Maria] Look how green it is. It's beautiful. -[Michael] Oh, it's green.
The plants, everything's just beautiful. Very nice.
We're glad that you like the outside so far.
-Yeah. -[Michael] This is just the beginning.
So why don't we work our way inside,
see what else we did.
[Mike] And before we actually go into the basement,
Sherry didn't like your laundry room.
I'm sorry.
-Okay. -[Sherry] We used it as an entry point
a lot in your house.
And coming in and out of the garage, I just thought it was a little cramped.
Didn't make sense.
-Okay. -[Michael] So,
we had to do a few updates.
So go ahead, open the door and take a look
-at your old laundry room. -Okay.
[Maria and Angelica] Oh, my gosh.
[both] Oh, my gosh.
-[Maria] Oh, it's beautiful. -[Angelica] It is pretty.
[Frank] Beautiful.
[Maria] So spacious in here. So much room.
-Every time we would bump into each other all the time. -I know.
Sherry, good call.
And you guys use the garage
as your main entrance a lot of the time.
[Maria] We do.
-Thank you guys so much. -Thank you so much.
You're very welcome.
I promise you still have a washer and dryer.
You're gonna be able to do laundry
-somewhere in the house. You have to find it. -Darn.
-I still have to do laundry? -[Mike] Come on out.
And we're gonna go downstairs if you're ready for this one.
[Maria gasps]
-[Angelica] Oh, my goodness! -[Maria] Oh!
Oh, God, look how beautiful.
[Angelica] Oh, my gosh.
[Maria] Beautiful.
-Doesn't look like our basement, that's for sure. -No.
[Frank] Doesn't look like our basement at all.
-[Maria] Does not look like our basement. -[Angelica] No, it doesn't.
[Maria] I love it.
I see what you're wearing.
Sort of color-coordinated with the basement, don't you think?
[Sherry] Well, Angelica, this space is for you.
[Maria] Isn't it beautiful?
[Angelica] It's... Oh, my God, it's so pretty.
[Sherry] You needed a space to bring your friends home to
or a place where you can feel a little bit more comfortable,
you guys can separate a little bit.
So we wanted to make sure that
this is where a teenage girl wanted to hang out.
-[Maria] Are you happy? -I'm very happy.
-I'm just shocked. Thank you. -[Maria] I'm happy for you, too.
You're very welcome.
We've now waterproofed the outside,
so there's gonna be no more
mopping up water in the basement.
-Very nice. -[Mike] Maria, for you,
because you had trouble breathing,
so in your furnace room, we have put in an ERV,
so that's Energy Recovery Ventilation unit.
Remember that old pipe that...
-[Maria] Yeah. -[Mike]...should not have been there?
-[Maria] Mm-hmm. -[Mike] That was taken out.
Putting in the new ERV is gonna bring in
the fresh air and take out the stale air,
keep you nice and healthy.
-Wow. -Yeah.
It'll always be clean air in the basement.
That's, like, peace of mind right there.
-Yeah. -For sure.
I just wanted to mention, we do have a little
office space in this nook here.
[Angelica] Oh, my gosh.
[Sherry] So if you have schoolwork you need to get done,
you have a desk in the corner here.
[Angelica] Oh, my gosh. Look.
-[Maria] "Being kind is beautiful." -[Angelica] Oh, my gosh.
[Maria] So her.
Everything is just so beautiful.
You took care of the leaky basement,
but this is way beyond what we expected.
It's just elegant, beautiful.
I'm just so happy for Angelica to have
a space where she can hang out with
her friends and her cousins.
-And you deserve it. -Thank you.
You deserve it, sweetie.
-Would you like to see the bathroom? -[Maria] Yes.
-[Frank and Angelica] Yes. -Come on.
[Maria gasps]
-[Angelica] Oh, my goodness. -[Maria] Oh.
Oh, God. Look how beautiful.
[Angelica] I'm speechless.
[Maria] I'm telling you, this is amazing.
-Oh, look at this. -Wow.
[Maria] Look at... Oh!
We got new machines.
Amazing.
[Sherry] So now you actually have the space you needed
-to do laundry. -[Maria and Angelica] Yes.
[Angelica] Wow.
I didn't think the washer and dryer
-would be here as well... -Yeah.
-[Maria]...but this is beautiful. It works. -[Angelica] It's amazing. Wow.
And you got the counter space up here.
You can fold your clothes up here.
[Sherry] Yeah. You have an area
-to hang your clothes, put away the silks. -[Maria] Yes.
-[Angelica] Yeah. -[Sherry] A laundry room sink.
Yeah. Want to get in there?
-Can we both fit in here? -[Mike] Go in there.
[Maria] Can all three of us fit in here?
Yeah. Give it a shot.
[Maria] Let's see.
[Angelica] Wow!
[Maria] There's a bench here, too.
I think I'm just gonna have to just,
-you know, live here for a little bit. I don't know. -[Angelica chuckles]
I'm moving into the basement, everyone.
[all laughing]
-I don't blame you. -[Maria] It's beautiful.
[Frank] It looks like a five-star resort bathroom.
-[Maria] It does. -[Frank] And it's got a laundry room.
I'm not gonna want to leave.
You know that the scope of this place
wasn't just the basement.
It's like we had wrecked
the entire outside of your property.
-Yes. -Yes.
So why don't I go show you the outside of your property?
-[Maria] Okay. -Follow me.
Okay. Let's go see.
So all you're seeing here doesn't just look good.
This serves the purpose of controlling
storm water management.
[Maria] Very nice.
[Mike] This was nothing but sopping wet.
[Sherry] There was a river back here between the houses.
[Mike] You're not gonna have that problem again.
We've diverted it down this path.
-Thank you so much. -If your neighbor's happy,
you're gonna be happy.
I'm more than happy with everything.
You told me at the beginning,
"This is our forever home."
Yes.
"And we are going to make sure Angelica gets it."
-Yeah. -Yes.
And I said to you
that I'm gonna do something very special.
-[Maria] Yeah. -Do you want to see what I did?
Yes, I do.
-Oh, my God. -Oh, my God.
-[Maria] This is amazing. -[Angelica] Wow.
It's amazing.
[Maria] This is beautiful.
Looks a lot different. Way different.
-[Maria] I would say. -[Angelica] Yeah.
[Sherry] Definitely. We pulled apart that deck
with our hands for the most part.
[Maria] That deck was falling apart.
-[Sherry] It was, yes. -[Maria] It was. Yeah.
-[Mike] What do I have now? -[Maria] Everything.
And you know what?
We can make things look good but we do things for a reason.
-Yeah. -Yes.
[Mike] Here's what we did.
We dug down about two feet.
-[Maria] Yep. -[Angelica] Wow.
[Mike] Took everything out.
I mean everything.
To create a drainage bed
that will now wash
-underneath this surface. -[Maria] Mm-hmm.
[Mike] It will control the flow no matter what.
And never
stay on top of here.
Oh, wow.
And there's no maintenance back here.
All the grass back here is just turf.
-[Mike] Turf. -[Angelica] Wow.
[Mike] Astro turf.
[Sherry] You can come back here and just enjoy.
[Maria] We never used it outside. Like we...
-[Angelica] No. -[Maria]...never sat down
-and actually literally... -Enjoyed it.
...enjoyed it as a family.
We were talking about
giving you different zones back here.
And now you have a spot outside.
This is a zone that you can hang out when it's raining,
when it's snowing, when it's sunny.
-All year round. -Wow.
This is a place you can relax and breathe easy.
I'm just feeling so, like, relaxed.
It's so welcoming.
It's beautiful out here.
[Sherry] The backyard
went from being a spot that they
couldn't really enjoy
to now being something I think
they're gonna spend the most time in.
Kim custom did all of those cushion covers.
You have a great shed to put them in
so that they're taken care of all year round.
[Frank] Beautiful. Thank you.
[Maria] I love the colors. Everything works so nicely.
The backyard was a huge surprise.
I didn't expect it.
It is so beautiful.
To have this for generations to come
means everything to me.
I'm never gonna forget
what you guys have done for our family.
We're all parents.
We know how much our kids mean to us.
-Yeah. -[Michael] Family's everything.
And we wanted to future-proof this for you.
We wanted to make sure that
you don't have to worry about hiring a contractor again.
You don't have to worry about
Angelica dealing with
-any issues in the home. -No.
[Michael] It's waterproof.
It's safe.
You have a space to hang out.
And you have a space to go enjoy the outdoors.
-Give me a hug. -Thank you so much, Mike.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
It's got to feel good
to be able to let go of 20 years of anxiety.
I think that's all gone as of today.
[Maria] It's a load off my shoulders for sure
knowing that everything's been done right and properly.
And I feel like I can breathe better now.
[Sherry] This job didn't have to be this big.
It was a leak in the basement.
We could have left it at something much smaller than what it was.
But it feels good
to give back that much to someone else.
It's way beyond what we expected.
Frank, Maria and Angelica love it.
They can close the chapter of stress.
They can close that chapter of heartache.
And they can live their lives again.
It's a new beginning.
Maria, Frank, from my family to your family,
I believe we made it right.
Cheers.
[all] Cheers!
[Maria] Mike and his family, they've treated us so well.
I consider them my extended family now too.
And you can see that they really love what they do.
And it shows.
It shows in the work that they've done in our home.
And we're never gonna forget this. Never.
[Michael] This is why we do what we do.
And I think we just may have to keep doing it
for a little more.