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Over the past year,
we've had three major storms that have devastated our home.
First there was Hurricane Irene...
Flooding and widespread power outages kept crews busy.
ANDREW: ...then there was Tropical Storm Lee,
and then Hurricane Sandy was relentless.
METEOROLOGIST: We may go through the rest of our lifetime
without seeing a situation like this.
During all of these storms,
we lost power for seven to eight days.
MICHELLE: When the power goes out, the sump pump then does not work,
so then the family room floods.
Unbelievable!
There's no worse feeling than not knowing what to do
to protect your family from the next catastrophe.
ED: Yeah!
ED: Catastrophes can happen to anyone.
This thing got trashed.
It's our job to come in and fix the problem...
ED: All right. Let's roll.
Whoa!
We clean up.
Give me a hug!
We rebuild.
We need the empty buckets out!
I want to see dimension up there.
Whoa!
...and to be able to help someone
and get their lives back together...
It's so gorgeous.
...it's the best part of our business.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
KARI: Look how pretty this is!
Beautiful countryside.
Oh, it is. Look at all the old barns.
We're on our way to Andrew and Michelle's house,
and we're in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
Yeah.
This whole area has a lot of character.
What's crazy is when they're getting whacked
with hurricane after hurricane
and this isn't exactly close to the coast.
So...
Well, hurricanes are 500 miles thick sometimes.
Michelle and Andrew have been hit by two hurricanes
and a tropical storm in the past year.
So, they keep getting water infiltration
every time there's a storm...
on top of losing power.
Look where they live.
They live in the middle of nowhere.
[ Chuckles ]
When their power goes down,
it's probably down for days or weeks.
That's the trade-off, though.
Views like this, living out here in the country,
great place to raise a family.
You're gonna have some trade-offs like that.
She looks like she's pregnant or been eating a lot.
[ Laughing ] Yeah.
How you doing?
Hello.
Michelle, how you doing?
Good to see you.
Andrew, Michelle, Congratulations.
Thank you.
Now, how far along?
We're 6 1/2 months.
It's a boy.
All right!
[ Laughs ]
Tell us about what you guys got going on inside.
These big storms came over
and gave us more rain than we've ever had here.
The power got knocked out,
and the water just kept rising and it kept rising.
And we couldn't get rid of the water.
It just came in so fast.
We just finished the basement about maybe a week before.
Of course.
Of course. That's how it works.
Yes.
And we had to tear everything up.
Michelle and Andrew spent a ton of time on their house.
Just as they finished, they get hit with the hurricane.
Bam. It's flooded. It's underwater.
ANDREW: So, this is ground zero.
This is where it all went down.
We're standing where there used to be
about 6 inches of water right here.
We didn't have power for the sump pump.
We were bailing out with buckets.
We had no way of getting rid of the water.
You can see over here water just sitting and the damage.
How long did the water sit in here?
The water sat in here for about a week, nine days,
before we could take care of it.
We had to rip the drywall off,
rip the insulation out just to prevent the mold.
You guys were gonna use this space as your family room.
That's right.
We were gonna use it.
It's very obvious how bad the damage is.
Then I look up and see that it's equally damaged above.
MICHELLE: Because of all the water,
the weakening of that wall has made the ceiling sag,
and I don't think you can really see it unless you look.
No. You can see it. You can see it.
[ Chuckles ]
I mean, look at all the cracks. Look at it sag.
I'm so glad we're here.
A baby on the way -- very dangerous situation
to bring the baby down on this family room.
So, what's above this?
That's our kitchen directly above us.
KARI: Oh! Look at this!
We walk upstairs to the kitchen, and I'm blown away.
The floor is sagging significantly.
You can actually see the drop
from one side of the kitchen to the other.
Look at that.
ANDREW: Watch out. You might get soaked.
ED: Who needs a level when you got a glass of water?
This leg is, what,
a good 3, 4 inches higher than this leg?
Well, it was very hard to measure pancakes in the morning
when the batter was spilling over the top.
This floor is not safe.
It's dipping down.
It's all out of whack here.
We just want to make it safe for when the baby comes.
As a husband, as a soon-to-be dad,
I expect to be able to take care of my house.
And we're noticing that there is --
It's getting softer on this side.
We can hear the creaks and the moans a little bit more.
And I can't fix it on my own.
You guys relax.
Get it out of your mind.
We're gonna take care of this.
ED: Andrew and Michelle really deserve this.
Not only have they lived through three major storms,
but they're starting a new family.
ENZO: You take care of the baby. We'll take care of the house.
Yeah, yeah. Exactly.
He's a high-school teacher, does a ton for the community.
These folks deserve this.
We'll see you in a little bit.
Thank you.
See you guys.
Let's get some gloves on and a mask,
and let's try to get the insulation out of here first.
ENZO: Yes?
This is wet right now.
We're gonna fix the water damage in the family room
and make it beautiful.
Also, we're gonna level the kitchen floors
and remodel that space, too.
ENZO: You know, that insulation just acted as a barrier.
That's probably been wet for weeks.
It's wet back here behind the stove, too.
I don't think we're gonna be able to salvage this.
Well, that's their only heat source down here right now.
Well, it was their only heat source.
Ah!
That's pretty heavy.
Uh-oh!
We lost a lot of wood!
Did you guys not think that maybe it was full of pellets?
Now we've got a lot of housekeeping to do.
Wow. That looks like that new kitty litter they use.
[ Laughs ]
The walls are what worry me.
If we can get this Sheetrock down,
we can get a close look behind there,
see what the situation is.
Something's causing this to sag.
Hey, hold it. We got a problem.
This beam's over-spanned.
ED: Yeah, the beam is over-spanned,
which means we've got too long of an area with no support.
These beams are gonna need to be replaced
so we've got better support,
and then this sagging ceiling is not gonna be an issue anymore.
We came in for some water damage.
It's a good thing that we did come in when we did,
because Andrew and Michelle
could have had an even bigger catastrophe on their hands.
That kitchen floor was about to collapse into the family room.
What it's gonna take is a couple of beams here and here
and one heck of a construction crew.
Mm-hmm.
ED: Yeah, the beam is over-spanned,
which means that we've got too long of an area with no support.
Well, what it's gonna take is a couple of beams...
KARI: Here it comes!
Yeah!
...and one heck of a construction crew.
Welcome.
Reinforcements.
ED: We got a great group of young Amish guys
who are master carpenters.
See up in the kitchen? What are we having for dinner?
[ Laughs ]
Perfect.
Do we have the water disconnected on this thing, too?
You got it. All right.
Look at that.
Wow!
We would have had a cooked kitchen.
KARI: We're pulling apart the kitchen,
and we move the refrigerator, and what do we see?
These big burn marks in the vinyl.
It melted all the way through.
These motors, they run hot, anyway, to begin with,
and then when you get dust and dirt all around it,
it gets them even hotter.
Not only that, if it was sitting right up against this wall,
it had no way for air to get up into it
and create any sort of return.
KARI: You need to keep the refrigerator
about three inches off the back wall.
It encourages air flow so the motor does not overheat,
and, also, you won't crimp your waterline.
Oh, my goodness. This could have been a fire.
Could have a been a fire, for sure.
Yep! There it goes!
Swing, swing.
Go!
The steel beam we're gonna get put in place next,
which is going to give us the platform that we need
to jack the floors to make it level.
What do you think, Chip?
I think I'd rather be down there working the jack.
I'm glad I brushed my teeth today, Chip.
Trying to get the temp beam in place so that way we can hold it
so the new LVL beams are gonna go up.
Right now, we've essentially got a good part of the house
being held up by a couple of jacks.
Oh, my god!
Get that 2'x6' in one.
We're putting in a new LVL beam,
which is laminated veneer lumber.
It's much stronger than what was there before,
and we can properly support the weight of the kitchen.
All right!
Now the ceiling is much stronger,
and Andrew and Michelle's kitchen
will actually stay on the second floor.
New beams up!
New beams up!
Come on!
Give me some love, 'cause the new beam is up!
Yeah!
Subfloor, we don't have to do anything to, 'cause it's --
Are we level yet?
I don't know. Hey, let's check.
Where's the level at?
I think we're pretty close to level.
That means that whatever they're doing downstairs --
It's working.
Hey, you guys down there!
Enzo!
Hey. Can you see me?
All right, so, how close --
How close are we?
It looks great up here. It's real level.
Gratifying to know that all the work that we did down here
corrected that problem up there in the kitchen, so...
It wasn't glamorous, but it was worth it.
Today's the beginning of the second day.
We've got a huge list.
We've to to finish framing,
start to hang sheet rock, get wiring roughed in.
The kitchen is a continuous process.
We've got so much on our plates today.
The list -- It's huge.
MAN: We're ready.
I don't think this house is going anywhere.
ED: The new LVL is up. Framing's finished.
Would you like fries with that order?
I'll have a number 2, double cheese, please.
We're ready to take the temp steel frame out of here
and actually continue construction.
And the house is still standing.
Stronger than ever.
Is that part of the culprit?
Well, yes and no.
The family room is in the lower level of the house,
the same level as where the sump pump is.
So, when the power goes out, so does the sump pump,
leaving the water to come in.
Good idea to have a sump pit here
to pick up any of the ground water.
However, it's not working. It's too high.
It's the wrong kind of pump.
The hole's too small.
The sad thing is, even with the electricity being on,
the pump did not work.
It's not taking on any water.
I don't even know what it's even doing down there.
We have to lower the hole and make the hole bigger.
Okay.
We should be, from ground level,
about another 27 inches deeper here.
Okay.
You see a way for these things to pop off, Kari?
Uh...
They should just pop right off.
Enzo!
[ Both laugh ]
Um...
Tell us about what you guys got going on inside.
These big storms came over
and gave us more rain than we've ever had here.
We didn't have power for the sump pump.
We were bailing out with buckets.
ENZO: It's not working. It's too high.
It's the wrong kind of pump.
Do you see a way for these things to pop off, Kari?
Uh...
Enzo!
[ Both laugh ]
Um...
There we go.
So, is the water off?
Water's off now.
You mean that little red branch?
This little red was not working.
We got to shut it off over there.
This is not working, either.
I didn't mean that one.
I hope you were.
I think we should probably replace
this shut-off valve, too.
I don't think it worked.
JOE: I feel great. This is a huge day.
This is hump day for us.
I mean, this is one of the toughest days we've faced.
There's nothing left.
This is when we get a lot done,
we pull together as a team,
and we really do our best work.
Some of the tools will quit, but we won't.
Got to do what you got to do to get it done.
Yeah.
Yep.
We'll insert the crack in a minute.
To do this right, we're gonna get Michelle and Andrew
a new sump pump with a battery backup pump to go along with it.
With these battery backup systems,
we have to put our own battery acid in the batteries
because that's the way they sell them.
All right.
This is very explosive.
Uh-huh.
I mean, you would never want to plug this in the wall,
then fill it up with battery acid.
Our team -- This is not about coming in and cleaning up.
It's about prevention, and that's what we're doing today.
So, we're gonna set this down in here.
Okay.
There it is.
All we have to do now is connect the outlet to the inlet.
Great.
ED: I'm at the high school where Andrew teaches.
I'm pretty excited.
He teaches astronomy and meteorology.
I'm taking a special little trip
to do something nice for Andrew and his students.
Hi! How's it going?
How are you?
Michelle's meeting me, too.
She's in on the surprise for Andrew.
ANDREW: ...12 layers of -- Oh, my goodness.
[ Laughter ]
What are you guys doing here?
A little surprise for you.
Oh, my goodness. Get out of here.
Hey, we know you have a lot of storms here
and you guys go through a lot.
You just had, what, three big ones?
Brought you a little something.
It's a NOAA radio so you can tell when a storm's coming now.
It will hook up to your computer, runs on batteries
or it's solar-driven.
AM, FM, has a police band.
You can charge your cellphone on it.
But not in class.
Yeah, not in class.
I think the radios are fantastic.
I think that this is a tool that people can use,
you know, when the power goes out.
They don't have a connection to the outside world.
It's very important to know, you know, what is happening.
This will keep people connected.
Can we say thank you, everybody, for doing this?
[ Cheers and applause ]
Okay, kids.
Lunchtime!
[ Laughter ]
Lunchtime. Let's go.
This blew me away, and I cannot wait to see,
you know, what is happening right now at our house.
I want to take this hill down up here.
Clearly, the water is coming down the hill
and cascading towards the house.
One of the main reasons
that Andrew and Michelle's house keeps flooding
is all the water from the valley and the hills
are pitched right towards their house.
We got to redirect this water,
head towards the valley here, into the low points.
Your first line of defense against any kind of water damage
is grading.
This is a natural swale here.
The water can just go right out to where it needs to be.
All right.
[ Beeping ]
We're 3 inches high here already.
[ Beeping ]
This is an inch high, believe it or not.
There's a 2-inch hill here we have to cut down.
So, actually, most of the work's gonna be on this side.
Like your new toy?
ENZO: I love my new toys.
So, we're gonna get a backhoe in here.
We're gonna take off some of the high spots.
You're fine. You're not hitting pipe.
Grade looks good. Follow it back.
Gonna pitch this water towards a natural ravine,
where it's out here
where water will find its way back to the sewers.
The worst of it is definitely right around the wall.
We have a ton of stuff to do today,
not a lot of daylight left, so we've got to get moving.
We've got to get this all done fast.
Wow!
Man, we still got a lot of work to do today.
Oh, man.
Wow, I'm a little overwhelmed here.
We were just gonna address a small area,
but, as you can see, it hasn't happened.
You know, the scope kind of took a mind of its own and grew.
The grade on this was so bad, so uneven,
that the small job turned into a medium job
turned into a large job.
Like anything else in this house,
we were gonna just do a little bit of grading,
but as we uncovered things,
one thing led to another led to another,
and now we have to replace the whole driveway.
One thing led to another led to another,
and now we have to replace the whole driveway.
The most important thing is
water's gonna be running away from the house, not in it.
Start digging.
[ Laughs ]
I feel great about what we did in that driveway.
We went way above and beyond.
There's not gonna be any water issues by that house anymore.
Thanks, Joe.
You want to put a couple pieces down, see how it looks?
I do.
One thing -- You're not gonna have any water in here.
They won't have any problems with this whatsoever.
Wow, that is cool.
So, it just peels and sticks?
Peels and sticks.
Really, you won't even be able to tell that it's vinyl.
Hey, Kari, countertops are here!
Oh, yeah!
Oh!
This is soapstone.
It is so pretty.
I mean, it's a really different look.
We've taken care of all the structural issues,
and now we're finishing up the final touches.
Yeah. Go ahead.
Straight.
JOE: I'm really excited. We're installing a generator.
When their power kicks off
and there are days and days without electricity,
that means they have their refrigerator, their TV,
their washer and dryer, all the comforts of home...
We have a generator.
Let's check what's under this hood.
...but more importantly, we have a child coming to this house.
You can't play with your baby in the dark.
You're gonna throw him up and try to catch him in the dark?
Boom. It's not gonna work.
Power forever.
Pretty state-of-the-art.
There will not be any more dark nights.
Unless you want them to be.
[ Laughing ] Unless you want them to be.
There they are.
Love it.
Andrew and Michelle are coming home today.
This is what we all waited for.
This is the big moment.
We're psyched.
Oh, my goodness. What could we possibly see?
Are you ready for this?
We have been in a hotel room.
I'm like a caged animal in there.
I just want to get home.
I'm very excited.
Hi, everyone. Oh, my goodness.
Okay.
Welcome home.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Hey, Joe.
I'm so excited.
I know.
You want to go check out the inside?
Yes. Very, very bad.
Look.
Oh, my goodness!
What?!
Wow! Is this the same house?
This is not the same room.
Oh!
Oh, my gosh!
This looks amazing. This is fantastic.
Oh, wow!
This is quite a family room right here.
This is awesome.
We put in a brand-new beam here.
Oh, wow.
Put in another brand-new beam up here.
Structurally, this place is as sound as it's ever been.
Actually, probably more.
Yeah, it feels that way.
This whole setup is going to create a safe, comfortable area
where our family can live.
[ Gasps ]
And the fireplace -- Backup heating for you both.
That's amazing.
Go ahead and hit that button.
Let there be light.
MICHELLE: Unbelievable.
[ Laughter ]
Why don't we go check out
the new floors that we've done upstairs?
'Cause we've had to do a little repair up on those floors.
Okay.
There's more!
There's more.
[ Laughing ] Oh, my God!
ANDREW: Oh! [ Laughs ]
Oh, my goodness!
This is amazing.
Is this the same kitchen?
Wow.
My heart is, like, pounding.
And the floor is level.
[ Laughter ]
ED: If the storm ever were to come back
and then all of a sudden
there was a lot of unwanted lightning
and the lights went out...
Oh, no.
[ Whirring ]
What was that? Something just started up.
A second.
All right.
[ Laughing ] No way!
So, you've got a backup generator to run the house,
so you guys are never gonna be left in the dark again.
Yeah.
So, you guys are never gonna be without power again.
Okay?
To see Michelle happy, glowing with -- with our baby,
is very emotional.
I don't know what to say. [ Laughs ]
[ Voice breaking ] Thank you so much.
[ Sniffles ]
It just is, like -- It's just amazing.
[ Both laugh ]
It's really beautiful. It's amazing.
It's far surpassed
any expectation I would have ever had.
With a baby coming very soon,
it's even more important for us to have a safe house.
We feel very lucky and very fortunate.
It's just been the most amazing experience.