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NARRATOR: Engaged couple Jessica and Eric
just moved from Buffalo to Baltimore,
where they're looking for their first place together.
Wow. This color is interesting.
Definitely an interesting color.
NARRATOR: But getting these two on the same page
isn't going to be easy.
Get off the toilet.
I really like that there's a formal dining room.
That would be great for entertaining.
I don't think there's really a big use for a formal dining room.
I'm not gonna get in between the two of them on that.
That's something they can talk about in private.
NARRATOR: Once they choose a place,
renovation moves full speed ahead
until second-guessing slows things down.
I just don't know if we can afford that.
JESSICA: This is our house.
See, that's not at all what I was thinking.
Once it's done, it's done, so we've really got to
come up with a conclusion pretty quickly.
NARRATOR: But through the ups and downs...
You're thinking of, like, hypothetical situations.
It's not hypothetical.
That's the only option we have.
I don't want to talk about this.
...these two end up with a place they can both be happy with.
We couldn't be more ecstatic with the choice that we made.
[ Doorbell rings ]
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Gorgeous city, right?
I can't wait to call this place our home.
And I'm Jessica Mosey.
And we're currently relocating from Buffalo to Baltimore.
'Cause I got a job, and we're relocating our entire life here.
It's a lot warmer weather than it is in Buffalo, so...
Oh, way warmer.
We met in college.
ERIC: I was kind of the -- I think the dorky guy
that would sit behind her in class
and try to get her attention.
I was thinking, "This kid is out of his mind."
At the end of the day, I guess it worked out.
It did.
So, we've been together for about 5 1/2 years,
and we got engaged about six months ago.
NARRATOR: Eric and Jessica are staying in Baltimore corporate housing
as Eric starts his job in retail merchandising
and Jessica searches for a new job,
in addition to planning their wedding
and looking for a new home.
So, it's really crazy time for us,
but we're really excited about it.
So, I think you take a right up here.
ERIC: Let's try to figure this out on our own.
Why are you going this way?
I want to -- Let's explore.
I love that there's a formal dining room.
I think that's great.
ERIC: We owned our house in Buffalo,
so we don't really want to rent anymore.
We want a place to call our own
and really settle down and make a family.
So, I'm kind of looking for a bigger house outside of the city
so that we can really settle down
and have an area for the kids to play once it's time for that.
Having the space outside of the city would be great,
but that's really true to what Buffalo is,
and we're in Baltimore now.
So, that's row-house living right there.
That's what Baltimore's all about.
Baltimore itself is so historic.
You see row houses with brick,
and so I really want a house in the city.
I want to live the row-house life.
I want to be able to be close to work
and really just live the city up for what it's all about.
Row houses have been a major part of Baltimore architecture
since the 1790s,
when they were built as affordable housing for blue-collar workers.
These days, they're a popular choice
for buyers looking to renovate in downtown neighborhoods
such as Canton, Fell's Point, and Federal Hill.
Our budget for this house is $300,000.
That's extremely high
in terms of what we're used to for Buffalo.
I'm okay with knowing that $300,000 buys us a smaller home,
but I'm not really willing to settle
for something that's under 1,000 square feet.
That seems crazy to me.
Jessica and Eric want a home with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.
A deal breaker for me would be no bathroom on the first floor.
I don't want our guests to have to go to the second floor,
so we really need to have a space for them to use the restroom on the first floor.
And I'm really looking for someplace to watch sports --
a rec room,
just a place to be able to kind of hang out
and watch our favorite football team every weekend.
And being that I want to live in the city,
I would love to be able to have a rooftop deck
to really enjoy that view of the inner harbor.
I don't know if we're gonna be able to get that for our price point.
In terms of renovation, I'm ready to gut the walls.
I'm ready to rip up the floors.
I'm ready to really make this place ours.
I'm okay with a renovation, but I don't want to live in it.
While we were renovating our Buffalo house, we were living in it.
It was just a nightmare.
As time went on and we were living without a bathroom and without a kitchen,
it was legitimately like camping.
He was.
As you can tell, there's still some animosity
that's held over the situation.
You know, we are planning a wedding.
And if we want to continue to plan that wedding,
we should probably avoid living through a renovation.
ANDREW: This is downtown Baltimore city.
Federal Hill is the neighborhood.
And we are less than one mile from your new job.
Nice.
Today, they're meeting real-estate agent Andrew Undem
to see a classic Baltimore row house.
I think from the outside of this house, Eric's gonna love it.
The inside is another story.
It better be really amazing
to get me to want to move to the city.
Wow. This color is interesting.
ERIC: Definitely an interesting color.
Yeah. Yeah, let me tell you a little bit about this one.
Built in 1875.
It's got three bedrooms and two baths.
This is a little bit above your price range.
This is listed at $310,000.
Okay. That's a little high for us,
so hopefully, you know, it's got everything we want.
It's 884 square feet and 12 feet wide.
Wow.
For $310,000, that's shocking.
Coming from Buffalo, moving from...
I understand. You're in Baltimore now.
[ Chuckles ]
The biggest hurdle is gonna be the sticker shock
coming from Buffalo.
They could buy a mansion for $310,000 in Buffalo,
and here, they're dealing with
what they perceive to be as a pretty narrow row home.
I like that there's a wood-burning fireplace,
but it is very outdated
and not something that I really care for.
Easy to change that type of stuff.
Okay.
Now, you'll notice the exposed brick.
Yeah, you can definitely tell that it's been taken care of,
especially when you're talking about an 1875 home.
NARRATOR: They walk through a small dining area into the kitchen.
JESSICA: Wow, yeah, these colors really don't work for me,
with the yellowish-orange walls and the green countertops
and the bluish-green tile on the floor.
It might need a full remodel in order to work.
But it seems like it definitely has that big, open feel.
Like, we like to entertain quite a bit,
so if we did have friends over, it seems like
there'd be a good opportunity to have people come in here
and be able to cook and have a glass of wine
or be able to hang out in this kitchen area.
This house really isn't my style.
I'm really looking more for something
that's, you know, really screams "home."
This, to me, really feels more like an apartment.
I really want to embrace the culture
of this Baltimore city itself.
On the flip side, Jessica is still really stuck
in the view of, "Hey, I want to be out in the suburbs.
I want to have a 3,000-square-foot home."
Now, here you have your front bedroom.
JESSICA: Oh. Wow. They definitely continued this color
Should we call it "sun"?
Whatever you want. Whatever you want, Eric.
Let's call it "sun." Let's try to be positive with it.
NARRATOR: Next to the front bedroom are two bathrooms
on the way to the master.
These are the only two bathrooms in the house, then.
Yes. That is correct.
So, if we had company over,
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so maybe something for the future --
to add a half-bath on the lower level.
Well, there's not a lot of color.
It's, like, white vanity, white toilet, white tub surround.
Everything needs to be redone on this.
There's a ton of renovations that need to be done
in this place to really make it our own,
to make it feel like a home,
and we're planning a wedding,
and we're moving down to a new city,
so we've got a ton of things going on right now in our lives.
And in here is the master bedroom.
Wow. A ton of space in this room.
This could be a good space to work with.
Yeah, I think we could work with this.
This goes up to the rooftop deck.
Nice.
Wow.
Yeah, this is awesome.
This is what living in Baltimore should be,
with a rooftop deck and a view of the harbor.
I mean, it is really beautiful.
This is absolutely what I was looking for
for a rooftop view in the city.
Now, let me take you back down to the basement.
And they're calling this a third bedroom.
It would be awesome opportunity
for a Sunday-watching-sports room.
This is a great hangout place.
I mean, this is definitely us down here.
I mean, I don't love it,
but it's something we could work with.
What was your overall impression?
I personally think this home has everything we want.
It gives us the historic row house
that I'm looking for that's close to work.
It's got a great rooftop deck.
But one bedroom is in the basement,
which isn't really a functional bedroom,
and the two bathrooms are smack-dab right next to each other,
and there's no bathroom on the main floor.
There's so many things that do need to be changed,
and it's at the top of our budget.
I'm looking for Andrew to really show us something
that is more like a home,
somewhere where we can raise our family.
We were just recently engaged,
so I think we're ready for a more traditional house.
NARRATOR: The next day, they drive out to the suburbs
to see a colonial-style home their agent has lined up
that has a lot more of what Jessica is looking for.
I could definitely see us making this our home for a while.
ERIC: It's definitely not the city.
I can't believe how many people are out today, running and...
Just everybody around.
There's so much activity.
NARRATOR: Jessica and her fiancé, Eric,
are relocating from Buffalo to Baltimore.
They've given themselves a budget of $300,000
to purchase a home in their new city.
Wouldn't you love to live down in this area
I just --
I don't know if I could live in such an urban area.
So far, they've seen a city row house
that was over their budget but was close to Eric's work
and had the rooftop deck he was hoping for.
Besides not liking the location,
Jessica thought it needed too much remodeling.
Plus, it had no bathroom on the first floor.
I could definitely see us making this our home for a while.
ERIC: It's definitely not the city.
Today, they're meeting their agent
in the Baltimore suburb of Perry Hall,
about a 30-minute commute from Eric's new job.
Good.
We're gonna see a single-family home --
3 beds, 2 1/2 baths,
with 2,000 square feet for about $280,000.
JESSICA: That's not bad.
Yeah, that's under budget.
Let's check it out.
If you come right this way, you enter your formal living room.
Yeah, this is a nice-size room. I like the hardwoods.
Yeah, are these throughout the house?
It's actually only in this room,
and they continue right into the formal dining room
that's right off the kitchen.
I really like this house.
This is really something that you could find in Buffalo,
and it just makes me feel a lot more like home.
Personally, I don't want to go down that route anymore,
'cause we're not living in Buffalo anymore.
We're living in Baltimore.
This is the suburbs, not the city.
I'm not gonna get in between the two of them on that.
That's something they can talk about in private.
I really like that there's a formal dining room.
That would be great for entertaining.
I don't think there's really a big use for a formal dining room.
We'd use it probably a couple times --
maybe holidays throughout the year.
I think it could be better used
to possibly extend the entire, like, living space
into this area
and have, like, another sitting room with couches in here, as well.
I mean, you very seldom use a formal dining room.
I bet Jessica will find some fun ways to use it.
Yeah, I'm sure. Absolutely.
Wow.
This is definitely interesting choice of countertop.
Well, it's definitely something that we'd have to change.
We'd have to get rid of the cabinets and the countertop,
but it's a really good space.
I mean, yeah, we are under budget,
so this would probably be where the extra money would go.
ANDREW: If you notice, it flows right into the family room.
Yeah, I don't really like that the flooring continues
with this, like, fake -- What is it? Fake laminate tile?
It's definitely a laminate, so this would probably have to all be ripped up
and probably put new hardwood floors throughout the entire place.
Yeah, something different, 'cause it doesn't really feel right
for it to be a family room with tile on the floor.
NARRATOR: They see a half-bath off the living area
before heading outside.
Wow, this is a nice porch.
JESSICA: Yeah, I really could see us entertaining
right off the kitchen, out on to the patio.
It's a lot more like what you would see in Buffalo.
One of the big things that I want in a Baltimore house
is I want to be able to walk out and see that waterfront.
Baltimore is known for its harbor,
and that's something that this house doesn't have.
ANDREW: So, if you follow me down here,
you'll notice that it's a walk-out basement.
JESSICA: Oh, yeah, this is really great.
ERIC: So, you get one deck upstairs,
and then you get this deck downstairs.
This is great.
Oh, this isn't a bad space.
Wow, a lot more space than I expected.
I mean, I see that Sunday-sports-watching room
we were looking for.
There's a little bit of a [Sniffs] smell to it.
Like, a little musty or something like that, so...
It smells like there might have been an animal down here.
Are you getting -- Are you getting that smell?
I'm picking up what you're putting down, yeah. Yeah.
[ Chuckles ]
Now, right at the top of these stairs, guys,
you'll have your first full bath.
JESSICA: Oh, yeah. That's really not too bad.
You just need a new vanity and new flooring.
Right this way, you have your first bedroom.
It's a little on the small side, but we could use it
for something -- either an office or a nursery.
ERIC: So, in terms of thinking about a nursery,
that's the furthest thing from my mind.
We've got a wedding that has to come first.
We've got to buy a house.
Moving to a new city, starting a new job --
That's a whole other discussion.
I think that Eric's very shortsighted sometimes.
It's not a five-year plan. It's a lot longer than that.
We can have a family, we can settle in,
and we can really make it our home.
NARRATOR: They look at the second bedroom before walking into the master.
Oh, yeah, so, this one's a nice-size room.
This is a good-size room, Andrew.
ANDREW: And it has its own attached full bath.
Oh, great.
It'd be nice if we could figure out a way
to make it a little bit bigger.
I don't know if that would go into the closet or how that could work,
because right now,
all I can see is that this is Jessica's bathroom,
and then mine's gonna be the one down the hall.
I really like this house.
It's really traditional.
It's a lot of space.
It's something you would see in Buffalo.
There's quite a bit of updates that we have to do to it to make it our own,
but because it's at a better price point,
we'd have some room.
And it would just be really good for our future.
I could see us living here for a while.
It's very safe, in my opinion.
I want something that's more Baltimore,
and I, personally, would like to look at something
that's gonna give us a better view when you walk out your back porch
and being able to be closer to work,
something that's just gonna be more true to this city.
NARRATOR: So they head back towards the city
to see something more urban,
but finding the perfect balance is not going to be easy.
Yeah, I mean, this isn't the harbor view
that I was really looking for.
Hi!
NARRATOR: Buffalo natives Jessica and her husband-to-be, Eric,
are house shopping in Baltimore
while simultaneously planning their wedding.
You look beautiful.
MAN: Love you.
You're gonna be a beautiful bride.
[ Chuckles ]
NARRATOR: In between wedding planning, they've seen several places,
including a row home with a great location for Eric,
but he didn't like that it was over their $300,000 budget,
and Jessica thought it needed a new kitchen,
master bathroom, and a half-bath on the first floor.
Next was a traditional colonial in the suburbs,
perfect for Jessica, but it was too far from the city for Eric.
Plus, it needed a total kitchen overhaul.
It's a cute little house.
Today, their agent, Andrew, is showing them a home
about 15 minutes from Eric's new job.
Single-family?
Yep, single-family, all brick, Cape Cod house.
It still has the all-brick Baltimore feel,
but you're just outside the city.
This is a great little neighborhood, too.
Yeah, it's called HarborView,
'cause we're just within visual distance of the harbor.
Okay?
Well, this is cute.
This house is listed at $187,000,
so about 100k under your budget.
Wow, that's a lot under our budget.
So, 3 beds, 1 1/2 baths, about 1,800 square feet.
Okay. I love the bay window.
It does add a lot of natural light.
So, if you were to make a right out of the front door,
you'd come right into the dining room off the kitchen.
JESSICA: Another bay window. I like that.
ERIC: So, this house definitely doesn't have
the real Baltimore feel that I'm looking for.
This house actually feels like a cottage
probably back at home in Buffalo.
I'm not really a big fan of the drop-down ceilings.
I really don't like those at all.
We'd definitely have to fix that, 'cause those would have to go, for sure.
JESSICA: I like that it's a gas range.
We could do a lot with that,
but we'd need to get all new appliances, though.
There's not a dishwasher.
Refrigerator.
But, I mean, it's something we could work with.
It has an open-concept. A lot of light's coming in here.
I mean, I could see possibly putting an island in here,
so there's -- It's a good space to work with.
ANDREW: One of the cool features about the kitchen is,
right through this door, you have a little patio
where it overlooks the Baltimore inner harbor.
That's probably why they call it HarborView.
Yeah, I mean, this isn't the harbor view
that I was really looking for.
Well, I can appreciate it's not the most flattering view,
but this is the best view you're gonna get of the harbor
not being downtown in the city.
It's still a nice entertaining space, though.
I could see us having a little patio furniture out here
and entertaining our guests.
Go ahead and head straight on back.
Check out the bathroom.
This is definitely interesting for a bathroom.
Really outdated in here.
I like that there's this linen closet.
It adds storage to the space.
But I was really looking for two full bathrooms
so that when our guests came,
they could have another space to themselves.
This bathroom is right next to one of the bedrooms here.
All right. It's a good-size bedroom.
Yeah, nice-size bedroom.
So, here's the upper level of the home.
Oh, nice. It's obviously an odd space.
What's going on with this right here, with the ceiling height?
That's a dormered ceiling.
Not uncommon in these older Cape Cods.
I mean, yeah, there is a ton of natural light up here.
Yeah, and it keeps going.
This goes the whole width of the house.
If we were to take this off
and level everything out and make it flat,
you could possibly put two or three bedrooms up here,
and then if you were able to run plumbing,
you could put a bathroom up here, as well,
so it'd be a nice opportunity for a family, possibly,
in the future.
JESSICA: Yeah, but that would be a lot of work
to try to renovate the whole floor.
It would be.
And here is your finished basement.
Oh, wow. Wood paneling everywhere.
Wood paneling -- That was actually on my wish list
of one of the things that I really wanted in a home.
You being facetious?
[ Chuckles ] Oh, my Gosh.
I think there's potential down here.
I mean, I think this could be a great Sunday-sports-watching room, for sure, down here.
It would be a lot of work to do.
There's so much to be done in this place.
With the wedding and with the new city
and house hunting and Eric starting a new job,
there's just so much going on.
ERIC: Jessica and I have probably four of the most important things
you're ever gonna have in your life going on.
With that put aside, I personally would love
to be able to take on a task like this,
but I don't know if we'd make it through it together.
The other half-bath is down here.
Let me show it to you.
Now, it's not the most finished bathroom of them all.
JESSICA: [ Chuckling ] Oh, my God.
And talk about an elevated throne for a man.
Eric, get off the toilet.
This could definitely work in here.
Get off the toilet.
But you've got to think, though,
like, in all seriousness, though,
we already have plumbing that's down here.
It is under budget, so, with a little bit of a work,
this could definitely be a nice additional living area.
Well, I think we've seen enough.
[ Chuckling ] Should we go upstairs and talk about this?
Let's go.
There's a lot of nice space. There's a lot of natural light.
I don't really know where the third bedroom comes in.
It really would take a lot of work
to make it actually pretty functional.
But I think we could make it three or four bedrooms
if we remodeled the upstairs.
We're $100,000 below budget.
We could pretty much make this whatever we would want.
I'm just concerned with the scope of the project,
you know, because it is so many details that we have to get done.
Because we're trying to move to a new city
and do all the things that we're doing right now,
it just --
I don't know if we can take on a renovation of a full rehab.
Definitely something we got to think about.
Great.
NARRATOR: The stress of planning a wedding
on top of picking a house that suits them both
is beginning to take a toll.
I hope that we're on the same page,
because this is a huge decision to make down here.
Once they decide, they jump into a renovation
that tests their relationship and their bank account.
So, it's like camping all over again. I'm not happy.
We can't physically afford to pay our lease,
and we also have to pay our house.
This sucks.
We got to make a decision on this.
I mean, I think there's so many pros and cons
to every single house we've looked at.
NARRATOR: Eric and Jessica are relocating from Buffalo to Baltimore,
and with a budget of $300,000,
they're ready to settle on a place to call home.
I hope that we're on the same page,
because this is a huge decision to make down here.
They saw a Baltimore row house in the Federal Hill neighborhood
priced over their budget at $310,000.
I really like the row house downtown.
I think it's got so much character, so much history.
Yes, the kitchen's outdated and would need to be redone.
Same with the bathrooms upstairs.
But I think it had everything we could possibly want in a row house,
including an amazing view of the harbor.
JESSICA: It did have a really amazing view,
but it doesn't have a half-bath on the first floor,
and it's only 884 square feet.
Next was a 2,000-square-foot colonial home
in the Baltimore suburb of Perry Hall
priced at $280,000.
I really did like that house in the suburbs.
It was exactly what you could find in Buffalo, and it was big.
It already had the 2 1/2 baths.
The half-bath is on the first floor.
And it has that massive basement
that we can utilize as a rec room.
But the commute would be a lot longer for work.
I'm just not sold on if that's the really type of house
we want to experience down here in Baltimore.
They also saw a Cape Cod just outside of Baltimore
in the HarborView neighborhood
well below their budget at $187,000.
So, let's talk about the...
The complete fixer-upper?
Yeah, I mean, that was $100,000 under budget.
We could make that house whatever we wanted.
But I don't think that we can take on
that large of a renovation.
But it isn't too far from your work.
But it only had one bath on the first floor.
Right, and that half-bath in the basement
was really not a half-bath.
I don't think there was anything wrong with that half-bath in the basement.
I think that half-bath in the basement was perfect.
On the count of three, we're each gonna say which house we want.
Two...
...three.
Baltimore row house.
Ahh! Okay.
But wait, wait. In all honesty --
In all honesty, though, are you comfortable with that?
Because I know that's something I was pushing you towards, so...
You know what?
Yeah, I was a little bit apprehensive.
You know, I wanted a bigger house outside of the city,
but I'm really excited about living in the city of Baltimore.
So, if we're gonna do Baltimore, let's do it right.
I couldn't be more excited to hear you say those words,
so let's get on the phone right now, and let's call Andrew,
'cause I do not want to miss out on that house.
Okay. Great. Let's give him a call.
Whoa!
[ Chuckles ] Help!
JESSICA: So, we've had the house for a couple of weeks.
So, basically, we went up,
and we gutted out the entire master bathroom.
We ended up buying the house for $300,000.
We're looking at spending around $40,000
for the total renovation.
We're looking to stay under $25,000,
specifically just for the kitchen.
And then we can take the other $15,000
and redo the master bathroom upstairs.
The other biggest thing that we want to do with this remodel
is get a powder room on the first floor of this house.
We're gonna do a lot of the work ourselves
so that we can maximize that budget.
Whoo! All right.
Working in a space this narrow is really challenging.
So, we're not really comfortable with redoing a kitchen
and making sure that it could flow properly in a row home.
And it's like you got to try to build a bathroom
on the first floor of this house.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: To help them with their kitchen renovation
and first-floor half-bath addition,
Jessica and Eric have hired designer Jamie Merida.
It's now officially your house, so we can really talk about
all the things that we want to do in here
to kind of open up the space.
I think what we want to do is get you this big, loungy
kind of cool, open space for the whole first floor.
So, I think the big thing we were gonna do is take out this wall
so that this is all one big, open space now,
and when that happens, the kitchen changes around.
This whole part of your kitchen is gonna flip over here,
but the really good thing --
and I think the really exciting kind of design thing --
that's gonna happen here for you
is we're gonna put this island in.
There's gonna be an overhang all the way around.
What it's gonna do is allow you
to at least pull up four chairs, maybe six.
It's gonna be about 30 inches wide,
and it's gonna be about [Chuckles] 60 inches long.
That's a really big island.
I just -- It's something, I guess, I haven't seen before,
so I'm a little uncomfortable with that.
Jamie's saying the island's supposed to fit four to six people,
but we only have 12 feet to work with.
I want to be sure we have enough room to be able to walk around in the kitchen
and hang out when we're having parties.
That's how I see the kitchen.
I think the other trick,
because you all really wanted to get a powder room in here --
We can tuck in a little bathroom for you.
It's gonna be 30 inches wide,
and then it's gonna be 60 inches long.
30x60 -- That seems really tiny.
I mean, that's almost the same size as the kitchen island.
The trade-off is you "lose" your formal dining room.
But you get an island that's gonna work like a dining table.
JESSICA: So, I was a little hesitant
when Jamie said we'd be losing the dining room,
but I really want that half-bath,
and I think the island in the kitchen
will function nicely as a dining-room table.
NARRATOR: For the finishes, Jamie suggests
light travertine countertops and chocolate-brown cabinets,
keeping Eric's cool city style
while adding a touch of Jessica's traditional feel.
For the floors, he proposes putting down oak in the kitchen
to match the rest of the first floor.
I'm not really, like, the biggest fan of the oak as it is,
so to put more money into making more of it in the house,
I'm not so sure.
So, what would it cost to add on the rest of the floor
so we're redoing the entire first floor?
Well, personally, I think that's a great idea.
I would replace this with a wider plank
and definitely a darker color.
It's probably another $2,500 to $3,000 --
somewhere in that range -- to do it.
ERIC: I don't know. I mean, that's --
That's not in our budget, really.
But it just seems like if we're pulling it all up now,
now would be the time to really kind of make it something that we'd like,
as opposed to matching something that we don't like.
So, Jessica wants to redo all the floors, and that's fine.
We'll do that.
But we haven't even started renovation,
and that's already a hit to our budget.
So, you get no grief from me on that.
I think it'd be a great choice. Perfect.
Consider it done. Perfect.
Wow! Whoa!
[ Grunts ]
NARRATOR: In order to save some money,
Jessica and Eric rip up the old hardwood themselves,
and they also help with the kitchen demo...
Whoa!
Get through?
Whoa!
...while upstairs, in their master bath,
the plumber installs piping for their new rain shower.
JESSICA: We've gotten so much done in the last two days.
So, I'm really hoping that the next couple days
we're able to keep up the same pace.
NARRATOR: The kitchen reno moves ahead quickly
as workers install the new floors
so appliances can be delivered.
[ Chuckling ] That's awesome.
But once they try to install the new stove,
they discover that the gas line needs to be relocated
three feet to the left before work can move forward.
The gas line needs to be moved three feet,
so we have to stop everything and wait for a plumber.
Of course, Eric has his own intentions
and wants to take it into his own hands.
I can do it. I've got the pipe tape down below.
[ Chuckles ]
Our corporate-housing lease is up in less than four weeks.
We don't have time to wait to get a plumber in here.
I just need to find out where the gas-line shutoff is
and turn it off and move the line myself.
I've got this.
Yeah, this is electric, I believe.
So, Eric wants to move the gas line himself,
and I'm supporting him.
I want to really be there to help him,
but I kind of feel like this one we should leave to the pros.
That's the gas line. The bottom ***.
Oh, that big thing?
Yeah, that's the gas line.
NARRATOR: But contractor Barc Upchurch arrives on-site
before Eric gets started.
BARC: I'm not sure that this is a good idea.
It could injure somebody. It could burn your house down.
NARRATOR: Jessica and Eric just moved from Buffalo to Baltimore,
and they've purchased a classic Baltimore row home.
With a budget of $40,000, they're taking on major projects
on both the first and second floor,
but the kitchen is on hold.
BARC: Moving a gas line is a big deal.
I appreciate Eric being proactive and wanting to take this on
just to get it knocked out, but he really needs to
just back away and let the pros take care of it.
I'm not sure that this is a good idea.
Gas is a dangerous thing,
and if it's done wrong, it could injure somebody.
It could burn your house down. That wouldn't be a good idea.
What would you recommend right now?
Having the plumber come back here?
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Two days later,
the plumber returns to move the gas line in the kitchen,
and they begin cabinet installation.
JESSICA: I would like
like two or four jets coming out of the wall
and then a handheld thing so you can move it around the shower.
So, I've been rethinking the shower a little bit,
and I think that besides the rain showerhead,
I would really like to add some spa jets to it,
which means that we'll have to add multiple pipes.
ERIC: Yeah, we're gonna have to definitely talk to a plumber about that,
'cause that's not what this setup is,
This is our house.
You know, we're coming down to Baltimore.
We're trying to make this house our home.
Like, let's make it something
that's really cool and different.
ERIC: It seems great in theory,
and it would be awesome to have that luxurious shower.
I mean, I would enjoy it myself, too, but at the end of the day,
there's only so much money we have to spend on this project.
This is really important to me,
so I think we should try to find it in the budget
to be able to make this shower really awesome.
So, for Jessica to get her dream shower,
we're gonna have to get the plumber back out here,
and it's gonna cost additional money.
After this, no more changes.
We just can't afford it.
NARRATOR: With the new powder-room framing complete,
the first floor is beginning to take shape,
but Jamie needs Eric and Jessica
to decide on the size of their kitchen island.
All right, guys, so we've got two options here.
We either do it with a 13-inch overhang
so it functions as a dining-room table,
or we're gonna cut the slab much tighter
so it really works as a work station in your kitchen,
and that's a decision you guys have to make.
Well, I think it's gonna be an easy answer.
We obviously need to have a table, so...
We're losing the dining room by adding the half-bath,
so I think we need to have something that's around all four sides.
See, that's not at all what I was thinking.
My thoughts were, from the beginning,
like, this entire first floor was to make it be an entertainment space,
so it feels like -- 13 inches --
That's over a foot on each side of wasted space.
Well, I mean, where are you gonna sit
when the family's in town
if we don't have something to function as a table?
We need as much open space in this kitchen as possible.
It's only 12 feet wide.
A big overhang on the island will leave us no room to move.
All right. I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to put you in the middle of this.
No worries.
You guys just figure it out.
That said, with all of the different options and everything,
once it's done, it's done, so we've really got to
come up with a conclusion pretty quickly.
I mean, I don't know, Eric.
This is just not something that I'm willing to compromise on.
JESSICA: This I love.
Jessica's very traditional.
NARRATOR: In addition to planning their wedding,
Jessica and Eric just purchased a Baltimore row home,
and they're renovating the kitchen and master bathroom
with $40,000 to spend on upgrades.
Plus, they're trying to stay within a five-week time limit,
when their corporate-housing lease comes to an end.
There's just so many things going on right now.
You know, we don't have the countertops right now as it is,
so the kitchen doesn't function.
I got to say that I've realized I got more anxiety
than I ever thought I would ever have in my life.
NARRATOR: Even though they're still in the thick of it,
Eric and Jessica have put their reno skills to work
in the basement
installing new flooring
and adding a dry bar for entertaining.
But upstairs, they're at an impasse
about the size of their kitchen-island countertop.
JESSICA: I mean, I don't know, Eric.
This is just not something that I'm willing to compromise on.
I'm not used to row-house living,
and to not have a dining room
and not have any sort of what we're used to,
lifestyle-wise --
I need to have something to function as a table.
ERIC: That would be over two feet of space
that would already be taken away
from a 12-foot narrow row house.
Yeah, but what about when we have kids?
Are you gonna put a kid sitting in front of the couch
and watching TV at the age of 1?
Like, come on.
ERIC: You're thinking of, like, hypothetical situations.
It's not hypothetical. We're getting married this year.
Maybe there's some way that we could cut that down in half.
Maybe do, like, a foot -- six inches on each side.
You'll still have your overhang,
but it won't take up too much space.
That would be better than having no table at all.
I'm very, very glad that Jessica and Eric
came to a decision on the countertop
so I can have the travertine fabricator get to work.
We're already really behind with this project
due to last-minute changes,
and we just can't keep going on like this.
NARRATOR: While waiting for the travertine island to be cut and delivered,
Jessica and Eric take on another project themselves
to keep the renovation moving forward.
They want to remove every square inch of orange paint
from the walls of their row house,
replacing it with a more neutral gray-beige
that they hope will add volume to the narrow space.
Looking good. It's gonna save a lot of work
to not have to prime this color away.
Unreal. It's gonna be our home.
JESSICA: So, today, the plumber's coming back
to install the multiple spa jets,
and we're only redoing the bathroom once,
so I want it to be absolutely perfect.
I've been out to the house currently five times
making changes,
and now, hopefully, we're at the final stage of all the changes,
'cause I know they want to get in their house,
and we want to get them in there.
It's just when these changes happen, it's not easy.
You know, I'm just ready for the whole process to be over.
I'm ready to be in our home.
At this point, it's looking like
we're gonna have to extend our current lease
so that we don't have to move into
all the dust and debris in the house.
With everything that's been going on,
all of the things that have put us back,
we can't physically afford to pay our lease,
and we also have to pay our house.
I mean, we have bedrooms that are livable.
We've done it before.
We should be able to figure it out again this time.
I'm just not prepared to live in the house until it's complete.
We just -- We can't extend.
We just can't do it. That's the only option we have.
ERIC: We're at this point now
because there's been a lot of last-minute changes,
and at this point, we're just gonna have to smile and make the best of it.
All right.
Watch your step.
Got to love moving, huh?
JESSICA: Always fun.
So, today, we're doing exactly
what Eric promised me we weren't gonna have to do,
so it's like camping all over again. I'm not happy.
ERIC: I wish there was something else we could do.
I've got Jessica, I think, pretty upset right now.
I don't want to talk about this.
But we'll get there.
So, the countertops are coming today.
Super excited about it, because it gives us kind of
that light at the end of the tunnel that we haven't quite seen yet,
and we can finally start to wrap up one part of our project
and have something completely done.
Looks really nice.
It's the perfect color.
JAMIE: Okay, here comes the infamous island.
You got yourself your dining-room table.
Table! There it is.
I'm really happy with the compromise on the island countertop.
It allows for us to pull up chairs for Jessica and have a family dinner,
but it also allows for us to have space to walk around
and be able to entertain in our kitchen.
Couldn't be happier.
It looks really good.
JAMIE: Yes, it does.
I think we got it.
Wow, this is exciting, right?
I think this looks really great.
NARRATOR: With the new plumbing complete for Jessica's spa jets,
shower tiling moves ahead.
And downstairs, workers have finished
hanging drywall in the new half-bath.
In the living room, Jessica and Eric get started
on giving the fireplace a more contemporary look.
JESSICA: So, we are putting up the stacked stone ourself.
We figured it was really the only way for us to get it done.
I think it's gonna make the room look taller, too,
by running something all the way to the ceiling.
Okay, so, this should be 10 1/2 'cause that one was 10 1/2.
ERIC: Let's see.
That's not 10 1/2.
Oh, my God.
So, the fireplace just must be in on an angle.
Yeah. Look at that.
Wow. That's really off.
I mean, you think your existing fireplace would have been level.
How do we fix it?
ERIC: I couldn't be more frustrated right now than I am.
It doesn't seem like anything's really coming together.
We're in a house right now
that doesn't have a kitchen that's functional.
Don't have our bathroom that's functional.
And we're living a lifestyle that I told Jessica
we wouldn't have to live, first of all,
so I feel a lot of responsibility on myself.
This sucks.
NARRATOR: Looking for more dramatic makeovers
from "House Hunters Renovation"?
Head over to hgtv.com/househuntersrenovation
and tell us what you think.
NARRATOR: With a $40,000 budget,
experienced renovators Eric and Jessica
have been overseeing their Baltimore-row-house renovation
for six weeks,
and to Jessica's dismay,
they've been living there for the past seven days.
I don't want to talk about this.
They've run into a snag
while putting up the stacked-stone tile
around their living-room fireplace.
ERIC: I couldn't be more frustrated right now than I am.
This sucks.
From that side of the fireplace to this side of the fireplace,
it's a 1/2-inch different.
So, it turns out that the fireplace isn't level,
and so we have to manipulate all of the pieces
surrounding the fireplace so that we can end up having
a level structure as it raises up to the ceiling.
This one-inch piece is eventually going to
just sit right on top of the fireplace.
There's gonna be no gap by the time we run it across,
and we get smaller and smaller and smaller.
It goes from having a half an inch
to absolutely nothing right over the fireplace.
That'll mean that the rest of the wall goes up straight.
I wouldn't have even thought of doing it that way,
so that's -- That's why you're here.
Just logic.
Dun-da-da!
Did it all work out?
Yeah, it's level.
Putting the last piece up?
For this one, yeah.
It looks so good. Come back here and look at it.
Wow.
NARRATOR: As the master bathroom nears completion,
Jessica and Eric take on the kitchen backsplash.
How much easier is this, huh?
[ Chuckles ] Yeah, we already got three tiles down.
This is gonna look really good.
It's going up really easy, too.
About time something's easy, huh?
Wow.
It looks really good.
[ Doorbell rings ]
We've been in the house for a little over seven weeks,
and it's been an unreal experience
to really transition the space
into something that's so modern and sleek
while staying so traditional.
And we couldn't be more ecstatic with the choice that we made.
So, we've lived here for about two weeks during the renovation.
I do feel a little guilt about that.
It was definitely stressful,
but now we know we could take on the world.
We paid $300,000 for the house,
which left us with $40,000 for the renovation.
With that said, we ended up going $10,000 over budget,
so we finished our renovation budget around $50,000.
Jessica and Eric now have a calm, cool master bathroom
with a relaxing spa shower.
It's basically like a car wash when you stand in there.
Water comes from every direction.
It's unreal.
And the shower is something we're gonna use every day,
so the investment was completely worth it.
We made the decision to add the hardwood floors
throughout the entire first floor.
The transformation makes the space
look like a totally different place.
We ended up going with a travertine fireplace,
and I think it was a really great decision
because it is the first thing you see when you walk in the door.
That's something that, I think, really is gonna bring the whole house together.
We added a half-bath to the first floor.
Now, people, when they come over to hang out,
they don't have to walk upstairs and go into one of our bathrooms
on the second floor of the house.
Just trying to put together a little bit of chicken-wing dip.
You see all the space we have, though?
We can walk around inside the kitchen and everything.
Yeah, I'm so excited to use all this space.
Now they have a roomy, open-concept kitchen
with modern yet traditional touches.
Custom cabinets, travertine backsplash, all new appliances,
so we couldn't be more excited that we got an amazing kitchen.
Hi, guys. Come on in.
The island in our kitchen
ended up being a really great compromise.
We're able to sit around the island
and use it as the table but also entertain standing up,
having a cocktail with our friends.
MAN: So, what is that?
Chicken-wing dip.
Oh, my.
Buffalo's finest.
So, we had this beautiful historical print
of a building in Buffalo that is on the wall in our kitchen,
and as it turns out, it's actually where
we're going to have our reception for our wedding,
and it's just a really great way to bring Buffalo to Baltimore.
I just can't believe the difference
between the first day I walked in here and now.
Just like... It's remarkable.
I'm so glad that we can finally check this house renovation
off of our list of things that are going on.
You know, now we can really start to focus on the wedding,
and to be in such a beautiful home
while we're doing all the wedding planning is really ideal.
Well, dig in. [ Chuckles ]
You have to always bring hints of Buffalo to Baltimore.