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ANTHONY: Cheryl and Mike were redoing their patio,
and they discovered a huge problem.
That ledger was buried underground.
As soon as they realized the foundation of their house
had serious issues, they called us.
They could have been actually in their house...
...going down.
JOHN: But the job won't stop there.
We're ripping their house apart
and making bigger changes than they ever imagined.
ANTHONY: We're gonna take this house to a whole nother level.
If they didn't peek, I don't think they're gonna recognize the house.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
So, we're heading over to Mike and Cheryl's.
John and I have been working with them for a little while
in just trying to design a new kitchen
and get it installed for them.
They just called us,
and they're pretty, pretty frantic right now.
Apparently, they've got some foundation issue.
They were digging in the backyard,
getting ready to pour a new patio,
and they said they've got some structural issues.
So John and I are gonna head over right now and check it out.
We have to get in there, assess it, and see.
I mean, this could totally change
the whole scope of the job right now.
Until we get eyes on it, we're just not gonna know.
Hey, guys.
All right. What do we got here?
Let's head in.
So, out here, we have the pool.
Built it this summer. They put in a brand-new stone patio.
The goal was -- There was a bluestone patio here.
The thought was to replace that and tie in the new patio.
So, when they excavated the old bluestone patio,
they realized that they had built it
above the foundation line.
The dirt is sitting there, and moisture's sitting on the wood.
[ Laughing ] Okay.
We initially saw the painting on the siding here,
and the original patio came here.
So, this is where it came. It came right to this line here.
So this was dirt or, you know, concrete buried up to here,
which meant the floor beams above the foundation
were underground for 15, 20, 25 years.
ANTHONY: You know that's your basement, right?
[ Laughing ] Yeah.
Yeah, that's --
That's not good.
ANTHONY: The problem with the foundation is a simple one.
Basically, the ground is above
where the concrete foundation ends.
This means that the earth
is in direct contact with the wood beam.
When rainwater hits the earth and the water collects,
it is obviously seeping directly into the wood,
and that's what was causing all that rot.
You know what? While we're here,
we may as well just walk the perimeter.
See, here, this is what you want to see.
You see, you've got your grade
and you got foundation wall and then you got siding.
JOHN: Mike and Cheryl are really relieved
that we're gonna take care of the issues with the foundation.
Now we're gonna take a look at their kitchen 'cause they said
they want to move forward on that project, as well.
All right.
Right away, you see the first problem
is that the kids come in
and they sit down and they take their shoes off.
So the problem is -- if you're the first kid in
and you close the door,
the second kid comes through and hits you with the door.
Very tight in here.
Then, of course, the bench --
The door doesn't open all the way.
And the closet of shoes.
That, you know, becomes a problem, so...
Now the kitchen.
Okay, so, as you can see, this is very 1970s.
You got the old soffits.
Really, really tight in here.
And one of the main things that I always felt with the house --
Okay.
It could be a beautiful, beautiful day,
and all the lights have to be on, so...
JOHN: Normally, we do
at least 40 inches of walking distance around
if you're gonna have an island.
I'm looking over there. I don't know how tight that is.
It's, uh... 24 1/2".
When you guys open up the dishwasher --
Just a millimeter to get over, but it does open.
When we're making dinner,
people like to hang out around the island.
You know, you're trying to take trays out of the oven,
things are hot, and there's no space to put anything.
We've even joked at times that we've contemplated
putting up police tape around the kitchen, essentially,
you know -- "Stay away. Give me room to do this."
So, the overall goal is to expand the kitchen,
light, storage, better flow,
more space to -- Yeah, right.
All right, so, what do we have this way?
Home office in here?
Yeah. Nice space, too.
So, we want to keep the open floor plan.
What do you guys -- This is obviously a main thoroughfare.
One of the other issues we had is that
there's always been kind of a crisscross.
You have a living-room space where the kids watch TV,
yet you have an entertaining space
where you're crossing over to the dining room.
One of the ideas we had
was to really better define the living-room space.
Kind of reposition the TV
and, you know, go more that way with the living space.
It's exciting to think of what they can come up with
to make the flow better here
from the kitchen through here to the dining room.
All right, so, with all that said,
I think we've got enough to start putting a design together.
JOHN: We have a real good sense of what Mike and Cheryl want.
They're taking their kids,
and they're moving out of the house for a little while,
and we're gonna have to get started on demo right away.
First thing to go are the appliances.
ANTHONY: There really isn't anything worth saving
in this old kitchen, so we're taking it
all the way down to the studs.
Right outside.
Yep.
Yep.
Demolition's always the best day, man.
Get all the frustrations out,
blank canvas, ready for all the new.
It's awesome.
So, I'm just thinking, man --
You know, even seeing that kitchen demoed,
Yep.
...I think we should blow out the back of the house.
We've got to do all this foundation work anyway.
Yeah, yeah.
The incremental cost of doing it now as opposed to later...
I think we should at least ask them about it.
Listen, I really think they're gonna go for it.
You know, with this extra space,
we could add more cabinets, more counter space,
and even put in new appliances for them.
And you know what? That would give us plenty of space
to put in an absolutely huge island.
And by extending the back of the house,
it's gonna line up
exactly where the living room bumps out, as well.
You know, what would probably look really good
is picking a stone for the outside of the chimney
and then using it on the inside for the fireplace, as well.
You know what?
And since the kitchen flows into the living room,
let's define the space by putting a low knee wall.
Yeah, that's awesome. That's a great idea.
'Cause that way, it won't break the line of sight,
and the room will still feel real open and bright.
We have to do something about that mudroom.
That's the first space they come into their home.
So we'll give them more space
and organize storage for their coats and shoes.
So, I got one more big idea.
Since the extension's gonna be
right under Mike and Cheryl's bedroom,
why don't we do a private deck off the master?
I think it's a great idea. I would love to do it.
We got to run it by them.
If they're okay with it, we get plans drawn up,
and we can definitely do that.
And space-wise...
...ton more space for them.
Yeah.
So, I'll give them a call and see how it goes.
Yeah, I think so.
JOHN: Mike and Cheryl approved our designs,
so we're starting right away.
First, we're pulling off the siding
so we can see the extent of the water damage.
We started removing all of the wood that was rotted.
That ledger was buried underground.
Mm-hmm.
Not pressure-treated at all.
So your foundation is fine.
There's no problem at all with the foundation,
but that wood totally rotted out.
You can even see -- I want to get up a little closer.
Right.
Look how rotted it is along the whole bottom.
This is worse than what I even thought.
It's luckily that we're doing this,
'cause this could have really settled and did some bad damage.
I mean, I'm thinking right now --
you give it a couple more years,
they could have been actually in their house...
...going down.
This is a lot worse than what we thought.
This is gonna put a ton of time on the project.
JOHN: Back at Mike and Cheryl's. We're dealing with the water damage.
Got that rotted ledger out.
You can see that rot that we saw the other day -- totally gone.
What we've uncovered beyond that rot
is all of the 2X8 sill plate
that's sitting on their foundation is also rotted.
So next thing we have to do is get all those 2x8s out.
We're gonna have some supports in place
so we don't have any deflection in the house,
it doesn't sag at all.
Once that comes out, the new 2x8s go back in, new ledger,
and then we can start framing out the new addition.
ANTHONY: We're heading over to the stone yard to meet Cheryl.
We want to look at some stone veneer options,
both for the indoor fireplace and the outside chimney.
Hello there. How are you?
Good, good. Good to see you.
How you doing? Good to see you.
Let's get in there and see some stone.
[ Laughs ]
MAN: I think you found the place.
All right, so, basically what we need is --
We need a stone to clad fireplace,
both inside and out.
We have new siding that's going on that's in a light yellow,
so we want to complement that, as well.
There's a lot of different materials we have to make sure
that we're gonna be working with on this.
Something a lot more textured, something a lot more unfinished.
Sure.
Oh, you got some great stuff here.
Okay, so, one of the first ones I was considering
is a stone called Noble Hill.
This may not have enough of the rust.
This seems a little bit more gray.
Okay. All right. Well, that's good.
With that in mind, there's another one, actually, here.
The Juniper Ridge is another option that I was considering.
That's nice.
I think that's perfect. I love it.
Yeah, yeah.
Is that it? Stamped?
Stamped. I'm good. I love it.
Let's do it. All right.
JOHN: Today, we're framing out the extension
at Mike and Cheryl's house.
The added space is gonna really open up the kitchen
and transform the living space.
This looks good, huh?
Yep.
Got a lot done in the past day.
You can see they've left the opening there
in the rafters for the new balcony.
It's gonna be an awesome vantage point.
The backyard was something that Mike just loved.
He did this first.
I mean, before this was even a thought --
he wasn't even getting involved in this --
he wanted to get this done.
Yeah, it's awesome.
I mean, the way this spans --
I mean, this is just amazing back here.
So I think, for him,
little deck, morning coffee, standing out there.
That's cool. That's gonna look great.
ANTHONY: Couldn't be happier
with the stone that we picked out with Cheryl.
We were going for a little bit darker tone
to offset it from the patio, and I think we really nailed it.
There's a lot of visual interest there.
I think we really made the right choice.
JOHN: Mike and Cheryl wanted a lot of natural light,
so we're adding French doors
and a lot of windows to the extension.
ANTHONY: Also, we're replacing all the siding on the house,
which will really brighten up the exterior.
Since we added on to the house,
now we need to measure the perimeter
so we can order materials for the new patio.
And now that the extension is finished,
you can see just how much bigger their living area is gonna feel.
We need a little bit of extra space,
so we're down in Mike and Cheryl's basement,
and we're gonna start building the cabinetry.
JOHN: We're using the shelves
to create a half wall, or knee wall,
to separate the kitchen from the living room.
I think we finally figured out a space to put the TV.
TV -- we build out a custom area
where we can fit a 50-inch panel right in the middle.
You leave out a couple of shelves,
you build it for the TV, and then you do the shelf.
Exactly.
You could fit a TV right in,
and it would be right there at the bottom.
Open shelves on either end.
Ton of storage, solves their TV problem.
Line of sight.
That's a great solution.
Hey, An, come in here for a quick second.
Cheryl and Mike have a major storage issue
inside of their mudroom,
so I have an idea for the coatrack.
I just got to run it by Anthony.
Came up with an idea for the mudroom area.
You walk in from the garage area.
Mm-hmm.
On this wall is where I want to put the cubbies and coatrack
in the shape of a tree.
What I can do is -- I can get a finished piece of mahogany.
Mahogany ply? Yeah?
Yep. We're gonna cut it out.
What I'm thinking is --
at the top, we put, in cursive, "Betsy family."
And then we make --
Great.
And we put their name above the branch.
We put a little hook on each branch.
And that'll be for where they come in, put their coat.
Do you really think we have time to get this done?
[ Sighs ]
You're gonna give me a heart attack.
JOHN: In just a few days, Mike and Cheryl are gonna come home
to a huge transformation.
If they didn't peek, I don't think they're gonna recognize the house.
ANTHONY: We only have a couple days
to finish Mike and Cheryl's renovations,
so right now, we're scrambling to get the custom coatrack done.
It's not gonna be flat against the wall.
We'll have it floating off the wall.
To have the illusion of --
Of an actual branch.
We varnished the coatrack, so it's gonna dry overnight,
but, man, it is getting late.
Back at Mike and Cheryl's,
we've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time.
Today, the appliances arrive.
We've decided to go with an oversized refrigerator
because they have such a large family.
JOHN: We ordered the cabinet doors in an antique-white finish.
It's got a dark glaze that wraps around all the detail,
and it gives it a little bit of that old-world look.
We went with a low wall
in order to separate the kitchen from the living room,
but we also want to open up the space
and have that light really come through.
ANTHONY: We're cutting molding to fit around the knee wall and the columns.
JOHN: The rest of the house is traditional in style,
so we really want the new elements to complement it.
Basically, we're building their TV into the living-room side.
We've got a whole bunch of open shelving.
And then on top, they're really gaining
some extra serving space.
So it's a design element, a functional element,
and it's also very usable.
This living room, for not adding any square footage to it,
Mm-hmm.
Well, this is one project
where we did add a lot of square footage overall.
JOHN: The balcony off the master bedroom is done,
so it's time to test it out.
Whoo!
This is sick!
This is sweet.
They have a really beautiful piece of property.
Beautiful piece of property here.
You know, they can watch the kids in the pool,
chill out up here, just relax.
It's a nice, little private area.
Okay.
It's the final build day,
and all the elements are coming together.
The countertops are being installed.
Instead of giving them a kitchen table,
we gave them a huge island that has enough seating for six.
For the backsplash, we went with travertine in a diamond pattern,
and then inlaid in, we had some small mosaic glass pieces.
There it is.
Let's get this tree up. I can't wait to see it.
Ahh. Like a glove.
That looks awesome.
Betsy family tree.
I just got in here -- Ordered this last night, An.
Overnighted.
Oh, I was just asking what that package was.
I'll show you.
I know we don't have the best handwriting...
...in the world.
All right. We got them up. Perfect.
Finish the hooks, and that's it.
Cool.
If they didn't peek, I don't think they're gonna recognize the house.
You know, the dimensions are so different.
Totally different.
The space has really been redefined.
We'll finish up these last couple things here.
ANTHONY: We have a few pieces left,
but this place is completely transformed.
JOHN: I can't wait for Mike and Cheryl
to come in now and see it all together.
Oh, my God!
Let's walk in to the new mudroom.
[ Gasps ]
Oh, my God!
We made this custom cubby area.
And we kind of did this special custom piece for you guys.
It's on a stand-off.
It gives it a little more 3-D element.
Oh, this is great.
You spelled my name wrong. I'm just kidding.
One of the other things we wanted to mention, too, is --
Although it looks like wood, this is a tile floor.
It's beautiful.
And beyond that, underneath is a heat mat for the winter.
So we can melt the boots, and we should be able
to keep the rest of the house nice and clean.
Oh, I love it.
You guys ready to get into your kitchen?
[ Shudders ] Yes!
ANTHONY: All right, let's do it.
[ Cheryl gasps ]
Brand-new kitchen.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God!
I don't recognize it. I don't feel like I'm in my own house.
It is unbelievable.
And I think going with the larger island --
it works so much better in the space.
I love the fact that we can all sit for dinner.
You can entertain and have a huge spread out here.
And it's nice 'cause everyone can be together.
And, again, it fits the space perfectly.
Like, we used to have to sideways through it.
ANTHONY: Oh, yeah.
You have a ton of space, and beyond the space, you have a ton of light.
Because we pushed this wall back 8 feet,
taking off the upper cabinets over there
and adding the sliding windows and the sliding doors,
I mean, you guys just are flooded with light.
Let's get into the kitchen a little bit.
I mean, of course, first thing --
I don't know if we could have got a bigger fridge here,
but this thing is massive.
You can do Fred Flintstone portions with that thing.
And if you can't fit all the food in there,
we've got a full pantry over here for all dry-good storage.
Yes. So it's endless here. You have so much storage.
Custom ice maker.
MIKE: Man likes a cold beverage!
Got to have plenty of ice.
John doesn't like to waste any space.
So on the side, spice racks.
Ohh, I love that!
Spice racks on both sides.
That's wild.
Would've had a dead corner here, but we wanted to give you,
again, as much storage as possible.
So instead of putting in a lazy Susan,
we now have your cabinet that comes out.
Oh, look at that!
And it also slides out to you, as well.
How great is that?
We literally used every piece of space
Wow.
We wanted to brighten up the space
but keep with, you know, the theme of the dark floors,
so we just had that dark glazing
put on all the antique-white cabinets.
So everything really ties together
from the floors up to the cabinets
to the countertops, backsplash,
and then all the way up to the ceiling.
It's really amazing.
ANTHONY: I think the perfect way to get perspective is,
this decorative column that's right here in front of us --
that was the old end of your home.
So right here is where the house ended.
So this is all brand-new.
And, then, obviously, the living room did continue.
Yes.
All right, guys, so, let's get into your living-room area.
Doesn't look like the TV goes here anymore.
It's funny how quickly you forget what was where.
This was all the dark mahogany wood all built up.
We had the paneling all the way around the room.
No longer, obviously.
The idea being that this is on the way to your dining room,
so we wanted to get a nice buffet,
whether it's, you know, for a bar area
or for serving food during the holidays or big parties.
It looks like it's part of the kitchen thematically.
That's great.
Now, with the new knee wall, plenty of storage, new TV area,
and now you have a nice space for your couch.
The living room feels more of a living room to me.
ANTHONY: I think the other thing --
paneling made the room feel so heavy.
Now, you know, it really feels opened up.
Obviously, all the stone on the fireplace.
CHERYL: The brick.
Great pick on the stone.
Yeah, the stone was a beautiful choice.
For me, the light is phenomenal.
The windows that go on either side of the fireplace
with the arch is just -- It's stunning.
Just panoramic -- I mean, it starts there,
and it just wraps the whole back of the house.
I mean, on a sunny day, it's gonna be incredible.
You want to go out there and check it out
Sure.
All right, guys, so, where we started --
the back of your house, with the rot that we had back here --
So we figured that we'd finish on it.
[ Gasps ]
...added off of your bedroom.
ANTHONY: That's the no-kid zone.
But parents can still have full watch.
There you go!
JOHN: The rot issue that you guys had --
Now brand-new foundation, all new siding.
You have the new deck, all new windows,
brand-new back of the fireplace.
Replaced all that brick to match the stone inside.
Really, now with the work that you did
on the backyard and the pool...
Yeah, it's all coming together.
...now the house totally complements it.
I cannot thank you guys enough.
Great working with you.
Oh, it's insane.
I love it, love it.
JOHN: Thank you.
That's so cool!
CHERYL: I really have no words.
I'm so touched by it, and it's just -- It's beautiful.
Can you believe this is our kitchen now?
You get your own stool. What do you think?
MIKE: This is our home now. I can't wait till --
[ Laughs ] Yeah, exactly.
I can't wait till the kids can run around in it
and get used to the new spaces
that got created that John and Anthony gave us.