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ANTHONY: Mark wants to give his wife a huge surprise,
so he called us in to help.
MARK: They're good-looking guys,
so hopefully she won't get too frisky with them.
JOHN: Marlene grew up in the city,
so she always dreamed of having an amazing backyard.
ANTHONY: She just never dreamed she'd be getting it today.
Mark! Mark!
You knew this?
JOHN: Yeah, he knew this.
ANTHONY: We're going all-out on this one.
A massive deck, outdoor kitchen, and a lounge area.
Pack your long johns, buddy?
I didn't.
JOHN: She has no idea what she's in for.
Oh, no!
[ Laughs ]
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
JOHN: Right now, Anthony and I
are going over to Mark and Marlene's.
Mark is surprising his wife, Marlene,
with a brand-new entertainment space.
We met Mark at the house two days ago.
MARK: The big thing for us right now
that I'm hoping we can surprise her with is,
we like to entertain.
And so, when she's prepping and cooking,
if we have to grill, you know, we got to go down the stairs,
through the basement,
out the sliding door in the back.
ANTHONY: It almost makes you not want to use your backyard.
And she grew up in Hoboken.
She's never had a backyard.
She's never had an entertainment space
for family and friends.
And she's got absolutely no idea that we're coming.
What do you think she's gonna do?
Oh, she's gonna freak. She's gonna freak.
JOHN: We want this surprise to be huge,
so we brought something along to get her attention.
Time for the big surprise.
We have to be a little quiet here.
Marlene is inside right now.
She thinks she's being interviewed for another show.
Mark has been in on this the whole time.
He loves his wife,
and he's trying to do something really nice for her.
Let's get it done for you.
She's gonna flip. She's gonna flip.
I'm gonna roll this down
and just start digging up your patio.
You all right with that?
[ Laughs ] All the pavers?
Yeah.
Okay.
I would love to blow out those windows into french doors
out into a deck.
I could have a barbecue and some seating.
What is going on?
They're ripping up -- Oh, no.
They're ripping up my yard. I'm not even kidding.
Oh, my God!
Mark! Mark!
[ Laughs ]
Oh, my God! [ Squeaks ]
[ John laughs ]
There's John, Anthony, and a bulldozer ripping up my pavers.
You knew this?
JOHN: Yeah, he knew this.
No, you didn't!
Oh, my God!
How you doing?
Hi!
Hi. How are you?
You all right?
Yes!
Okay, the rest of the day is real.
Okay.
Everything. I promise.
Your home is beautiful inside.
We walked through it. We love it.
You're a great designer.
Thank you.
But, you know, what Mark told us
is the connectivity between inside and out is not there.
So, the first thing you might notice
is that your two windows are getting blown out,
and we're doing two sets of french doors.
This is gonna be great.
When you're in your kitchen,
all you need to do is take four steps and you're outside.
The deck's gonna come out a full 14 feet.
So, where this patio ends,
your deck is gonna come out this far.
Wow.
And then beyond that,
we're doing pea gravel intercut with blue-stone pavers.
We're getting a fire pit, Adirondack chairs.
Underneath your deck is gonna be a complete lounge area.
And then over here,
we're thinking about putting a hammock for you.
Oh, my God. I'm so excited.
I always wanted one.
Growing up, it was impossible
to put a hammock on the fire escape,
so this is gonna be really exciting.
And there is an outdoor kitchen here.
JOHN: You won't even have to worry
about going into your kitchen inside.
Everything's done out here.
Unbelievable.
Now, you got to make sure
that this surprise is a surprise when it's all done.
So, no peeking.
I promise.
You can hang for today.
You can see it all get ripped out.
You can even help if you want.
I want the same way you reacted today.
You're gonna see a crazy Cuban woman crying!
Okay.
You did a good job. Look at you.
JOHN: Today is a lot about just preparing the job.
Anthony just got right into it.
[ Laughs ] There was no waiting.
He just started digging those pavers up,
started ripping through it,
and dirt's flying, pavers' flying.
This deck's gonna be a monster.
We're making it 20x14 feet,
so there's gonna be enough room
for a great outdoor kitchen and a sitting area.
It's gonna be incredible.
By putting this deck off the back of your house
plus having the two french doors,
the rest of your home is gonna look even bigger
'cause it's an extension of the home.
Yeah, it's gonna be great.
ANTHONY: So, we're over building this deck.
It's got to support the weight of an entire kitchen on it.
It is definitely the biggest deck we've ever built.
JOHN: This is a massive deck.
Today we're getting all the supports and framing done.
Tomorrow we'll be adding the stairs
and pouring the concrete patio.
Now we're gonna grab Mark and go look at appliances
for the outdoor kitchen.
If you're gonna do an outdoor kitchen, Mark,
the first thing you're looking for is a great grill.
He's got a grill that's pretty similar in size to this.
Okay.
So, it's nothing he hasn't seen before.
He can fit three hot dogs on it.
That's being generous -- three.
[ Laughter ]
MAN: This grill --
Oh, my.
A few more than three hot dogs in there.
Holy God Almighty.
Today in grilling, what they have is a new technology,
which is infrared cooking.
So, that is a really high searing heat
that cooks it at like 800 degrees.
Sorry. You don't want to burn anything.
No.
[ Laughter ]
ANTHONY: I mean, this grill is awesome.
JOHN: Too bad we live in apartments,
and we don't have the outdoor space
that we can build that for ourselves.
The one big thing they need is an ice machine.
Okay.
That's what the wife chomps on every day.
She actually eats it, all the ice.
She's an ice chewer.
Throughout the day, she chews ice.
This is gonna produce 35 pounds of ice per day.
That might suffice. I don't know.
She goes through a lot.
JOHN: Since we're giving Marlene an ice machine,
we've got to throw something in there for Mark.
Last time I came here, this is what I was doing.
We couldn't get rid of John. He stayed around for a while.
[ Laughing ] I wanted to stay here all afternoon.
I'm like, "Why am I leaving here?"
MARK: The things that they showed us here today
are unbelievable, you know, and just really exciting to think
that I might actually get that.
It's good.
Mmm.
ANTHONY: Mark and Marlene's megadeck is really coming along.
We got the whole pergola built up on the second level.
Next thing to do is pour the concrete below.
JOHN: We've already prepped the site for the pour.
Now we're just waiting for this concrete truck to arrive.
So, now I'm making my own makeshift concrete boots
so I don't ruin my work boots.
[ Sighs ] Why am I doing this?
Because somebody bought size-10 boots.
You need a hand?
No. Watch this. This is very technical.
I know. I'm --
Just, you know, take notes.
How does that look now?
That's sweet.
My new boots. Sweet, right?
Ready to go. You know what we're missing?
What are we missing?
The concrete truck.
You know, that could help.
That could help in this situation.
Concrete truck's absolutely notorious for being late.
[ Laughs ]
I'm getting delirious waiting for this guy.
[ Sighs ]
I mean, where is this guy?
It's gonna be nighttime soon.
It's gonna freeze.
If it freezes, then we're chipping the concrete out, so...
Time is just not on our side right now, buddy.
ANTHONY: So, basically concrete truck shows up two hours late,
which is not good in this weather.
It's starting to cool down.
You can see there's no sun left in the backyard.
JOHN: This is not a good scenario.
We need to pour, texture, and stain this concrete
before it freezes
or we're gonna have to rip it out
and start from scratch tomorrow.
ANTHONY: Temperature is dropping quickly.
I don't know if we're getting this one done in time.
This truck really put us in a bad spot.
ANTHONY: We're racing against the clock
to finish this concrete patio.
Cement truck arrived two hours late.
Now it's getting dark.
The temperature's dropping fast, and we are running out of time.
JOHN: If the concrete freezes and cracks before it sets,
we're gonna be ripping this whole thing out
and starting all over tomorrow.
The fun stuff hasn't even started yet.
I know, dude.
Oh, yeah. Got to stamp it.
I'm just taking a breather.
Lots of fun. You just wait.
JOHN: Now that we floated the entire concrete pad
and it's level, we're casting on color
to give it a beautiful blue-stone finish.
Then we're gonna stamp in a texture
to make it look and feel like natural stone.
Luckily we got it all done before it got too cold,
and it looks amazing.
All right, so just thinking about the pergola
that we're doing up top.
Yep.
What do you think?
Like a, you know, sunshade fabric.
I mean, the sunshade fabric will be really nice.
Guys, I got you breakfast.
Hey, Mom.
Who's hungry?
Who gets what?
Sandwich.
Egg sandwich.
Thank you.
Tell me what's going on.
We're building these guys an outdoor kitchen and deck.
Kind of like the megadeck.
Yeah, seriously.
A megadeck.
So, we're doing a full outdoor kitchen up top,
and then we're doing, like, a full lounge area underneath.
They're gonna love that.
And then a fire pit out in the yard.
Oh, nice, nice, nice.
Any thoughts?
So, this you can really get
vibrant, something exciting going on.
Unlike green and gray.
We're doing this up top.
What?
[ Laughs ] I think -- no.
Now, calm down, boys. Eat your food.
Beneath here, below, you've got to go brighter.
I think you should do some oranges, reds.
Well, I think --
Like a Middle-Eastern concept.
You know what?
Marlene, when we went inside her house,
she has a lot of ornate fixtures.
She had a lot of candles. So, that's her style.
She likes that --
So, she likes that kind of romantic Middle-Eastern.
Yes. Yes.
You know, I know a good spot in Jersey City.
This guy's got a lot of unique stuff,
a lot of the Moroccan theme stuff that you're talking about.
So, we'll just go -- I mean, it's a quick drive.
We'll just go down and check it out.
See what he has.
If he's got what we're looking for,
we'll just pick up a couple pieces there.
Excellent.
Okay.
JOHN: How do you have all these, like, little secret locations?
I never even knew of this place.
The cobblestone road here.
ANTHONY: I know all the best spots.
Let's check it out.
MAN: Hey, good morning, guys.
How are you?
Hey, how you doing?
John.
I'm Mohammad.
Anthony. How are you?
We love the build process, but going on trips like this,
these are the little design elements
that really bring the project to life.
It's kind of like an outdoor living room.
Okay.
So, you know, either lighting -- See, like, stuff like this.
Like, if we put candles or something in there.
MOHAMMAD: This is all filigree work.
This is all hand-cut?
All hand-cut. Yes.
So, everything here is imported in?
Absolutely. Absolutely.
From Morocco? So, it's original.
So, you go every couple months?
I go almost every six weeks.
You should have seen when I was here last time.
All this is rugs.
These are all Moroccan rugs.
We do mosaic tables, trays, like tea trays, side tables.
That's an idea.
Why don't we scrap the coffee table we already got
and do a mosaic table?
I mean, I'm just looking at some of these tables here
that have the mosaic pattern.
They're gorgeous.
Yeah, we have quite a bit. We have multiple of those.
We have more intricates.
Oh, that's a beautiful table.
Here's another option.
Oh, wow.
With more color.
That's really nice.
Colors all work.
Colors work.
I mean, the yellow and blue works great.
You can put it on a base like this.
ANTHONY: I don't think we expected
to be walking out of here with a coffee table,
but this one's too good to pass up.
All right, so, let's go with that.
We'll put -- This will be on the table.
We've got the four filigree light fixtures.
JOHN: Perfect.
And that's it.
JOHN: Back at Mark and Marlene's, the deck is done,
but there is a lot of furniture
and there's a lot of accents to put together.
We're gonna have a lot of work ahead of us.
Upstairs, the french doors are in place.
They are gonna bring a ton of light into the house.
ANTHONY: That grill is going in.
I can't wait to fire up that grill.
And the cultured stone
that's wrapping around the cabinet base looks amazing.
It took him a long time -- a couple days --
to put it together, but it was well worth it.
Oh, absolutely.
Down on the patio,
we were planning on doing an outdoor living room
with couches and a hammock.
But I'm really having second thoughts on this one.
Thinking about this hammock idea.
You know, the issue that I'm kind of dealing with
is the space here.
I mean, even with this table --
I know we're moving it out into the yard,
look how much space it takes up.
Yeah, it's one piece of furniture.
It's one piece.
We're adding chairs, couches, rugs, coffee table.
I can't see how a hammock's gonna fit down here.
Let's talk to Marlene. I mean --
You want to see what she says?
Yeah, yeah.
If she's super, super upset about it,
then we'll figure something out.
But -- Cool.
[ Sighs ] All right.
Hey, Marlene. What's going on?
Hi.
No peeking yet?
No. Not at all.
It's been really, really, really hard,
but I have not looked yet.
Want to run something by you real quick.
Okay.
How attached to the hammock are you?
Very. Why? You guys have a surprise?
No, we're just --
[ Both laugh ]
Yes, we do have a surprise.
We're just worried that it may not fit well spatially.
[ Sighs ]
Hey, Marlene.
Hey, Marlene. How you doing?
Want to run something by you real quick.
Okay.
How attached to the hammock are you?
Very. Why? You guys have a surprise?
We're just worried that it may not fit well spatially.
[ Sighs ]
We're not settled on anything.
We know you want it,
so let us work on that and we'll see what we come up with.
I'll leave it to you.
Appreciate it.
All right. We'll get it worked out for you.
All right. Leave it up to you.
Well, I mean, what are we gonna do?
She wants this hammock.
I don't know how to make this work.
I got an idea.
Who you calling?
My dad.
Dad.
Yeah, that beanbag thing that you use down the shore,
can we get one of those quickly?
Like "today" quickly?
I got a project I absolutely need it for.
Okay. Cool. Thank you.
Beanbag?
Don't worry about it.
All right, let's get the cauldron in.
JOHN: So, we got them a very unique fire pit.
It's called the cowboy cauldron.
This is pretty cool, man.
Yeah.
This is the old cowboy days.
"This is destined to become a prized heirloom."
Wow.
Grab the cauldron. Yeah, you got it.
Cauldron.
[ Laughs ]
It's unbelievable.
It's actually elevated off the ground.
You can put a grill on it, roast some dogs.
ANTHONY: It's awesome, man.
It's kind of a structural element, too.
You know, it adds a level of visual interest,
which, you know, you don't normally get
with a regular fire pit.
This is perfect. It's perfect, right?
Perfect.
JOHN: Around the fire pit,
we have these bright-orange Adirondack chairs.
We really wanted them to sit apart
from the rest of the structure.
There's a lot of gray,
so that orange, that bright orange coming off
really stands out.
Yeah.
Pretty sweet.
That's nice.
MAN: Yo!
Oh.
We're in back!
In the back.
Oh, you got it.
Here you go.
All right. Great.
Thanks for getting it here so quick.
All right. No problem.
Good luck putting it together.
What do you mean, put it together?
There's instructions in there. You'll figure it out.
It's a beanbag. What do you have to put together?
What do you have to put together on this?
It turns out there is a lot to put together.
This is called the beanock.
Yeah, I know. I know what it's called.
I'm just worried about the amount of wind
and the contraption that you've got taped up here.
ANTHONY: It's actually a giant beanbag chair,
and we've got to fill it
with a ton of these Styrofoam beads.
Don't even worry it, buddy. Got this one under control.
I actually went to a beanock school.
Little shake technique.
That was second semester.
I passed. [ Laughs ]
How much did you wind up putting in?
I put all of it.
Both bags?
Both.
Wow. Looks good.
Hold it.
JOHN: Since the beanock hangs from the ceiling like a swing,
it doesn't take up as much floor space
as a traditional hammock would.
Don't even -- Don't. There's way too much to do.
It's nice.
You'll go out in two seconds.
Come on, man!
Up we go.
It forms to you.
ANTHONY: The fabric for the sunshades
and the curtains arrive, and there's an issue.
None of these are good.
JOHN: What do you mean, none of them are good?
You tell me what's wrong with this.
Look. I laid it out. Tell me what's wrong with that.
There's only grommets on one side?
I mean, just cut a hole in it.
Dude, one day of wind, gone.
It's ripped.
Gone.
You know, it's always something
when you're working on these time frames,
but we'll make it work.
ANTHONY: This is definitely gonna be a tight one.
I mean, we're not gonna be happy
by the time we're done here tonight.
Pack your long johns, buddy?
I didn't. I don't have my long johns on.
I need a pair of long johns.
I wish I did.
Basically we just got a ton of work to do
to be ready for our reveal tomorrow.
What?! Oh, no.
[ Laughter ]
Light her up, baby.
It is freezing. It is cold.
Marlene's getting her fire pit just in time, right?
Oh, my God.
I think that's it.
Kick the boots off, bourbon, sitting back.
Bourbon and a dog on a stick.
And dog on a stick.
Let's go get changed. She's gonna lose it.
All right. Let's get out of here.
One, two, three.
[ Marlene gasps ]
Oh, my God!
[ Gasps ]
Oh, my gosh!
Shut the cameras
'cause I'm gonna make a fool of myself right now!
Oh, my God!
This is beautiful! Oh, my God.
MARK: Look at all the...
I can't believe this is my backyard.
JOHN: This is your backyard.
This is the beginning of your backyard.
This is your outdoor kitchen.
Refrigerator.
Do you know what that is?
Ice maker.
No, it's not!
Yes, it is.
No, it's not.
Yes, it is. Ice maker.
They put an ice maker in for me!
And, of course, your 36-inch grill,
which is beautiful.
I mean, it is absolutely gorgeous.
I'm speechless.
They took my vision, and they enhanced like 1,000%.
The one thing you told us
was that you wanted to have the access
from inside your house.
Yes, yes, yes.
So, now you have the two french doors on both sides.
And I only wanted one.
You only wanted one.
I only wanted one!
We gave you two!
All right, so, you remember what it took
to get downstairs to the floor, right?
Yeah, down the stairs,
open the door like this with a tray in your hand.
You want to go the new way?
The new way.
Okay.
All right. Let's go the new way.
All right, you ready?
Hold on to the rail.
I'm not gonna look.
All right. Come on. All the way down.
Okay. Do I look?
Sure. Look.
Tell us what you think.
[ Gasps ]
Oh, my God! I can't --
MARK: Pretty grass, sweetie. Look.
I smelled that upstairs!
I thought it was my neighbor's fireplace!
What?! Oh, no.
[ Laughter ]
Can I look?
Yes. Anywhere you want to go.
This is your backyard.
Oh, my goodness.
JOHN: I mean, for us, we really wanted this
to be a multi-level functioning outdoor space.
The family could be down here, everyone hanging out.
It's a whole different space. It's a whole different feel.
I think you achieved that.
I think we got that a little bit.
Think you got it.
ANTHONY: We found this Moroccan table.
That's beautiful.
Yeah, we just thought it was great color,
and then, you know, we built the furniture around it.
We got a great outdoor carpet.
We did a stamped concrete
so it looks like all-natural stone.
Is that why you had those shoes on?
That is why I had those shoes on.
You can wear those shoes anytime.
I think one of the things that you wanted was a hammock.
Well, we decided to give you a beanbag hammock.
I think you need to get in there.
MARLENE: Let me see.
Growing up in Hoboken on a third-floor walkup,
there really is no room to put a hammock
unless you put it on the fire escape,
which I tried to do that when I was young,
and it didn't work.
That's one of my favorite accents
in the downstairs outdoor living space that they gave us.
MARK: That is pretty good.
Like, I recognize the wall as the back of my house.
I just don't recognize anything else.
It's like a little paradise back there.
Nice, little, relaxing area.
MARK: Take a book out there.
Take a book.
I can't wait for the weather to -- I don't even care.
I'm gonna just throw some logs in
and read a book with a sweater and a blanket.
That's it. I'm gonna enjoy it now.
Stand back here and look at this.
This does not look like your home.
This does not look like your home.
MARLENE: Just the whole plan, the layout,
the workmanship, the materials.
It looks like a completely different space
than my old backyard.
Anthony and I have to leave. You bring everyone out here.
Stay. You can stay.
We can't be happier than we are
with, you know, the new space we got,
and we feel like we got a brand-new house,
and just really looking forward to enjoying it
for years to come.
Absolutely.
Very fortunate.