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Private Notes
Mike travels to Saint John, New Brunswick, to meet Marlene after her second story deck falls, seriously injuring herself and three friends. He discovers that this tragic accident was caused by incompetent workmanship. A year later, the ladies are still traumatized, both physically and emotionally. But they get a boost on their road to recovery as Mike rebuilds a rock solid deck and gives the historic home a fresh look.
In the shadow the Rocky Mountains is the home of Yvonne and Tadashi. They had an addition added that included a covered front porch and entranceway. During construction, they began to get worried when the renovation in progress didn’t exactly match the building plans. When the contractor began asking for the substantial completion payment before the job was finished, they refused and offered to have a lawyer hold the payment in trust until the work was done. The contractor walked off the job, and they called Mike Holmes to come to Canmore Alberta, and ‘Make it Right™’.
Holmes On Homes heads to the back woods to fix a cottage on an island! Mike and the team find the water obstacle a challenge as they renovate a bathroom and repair deck railings for the retired cottage owner, Anne. She had difficulty trying to finding contractors that would venture to her cottage, and the one that finally did had spent more time fishing than working, or so it seemed. Mike and the team encounter renovation challenges unique to three-season cottages and working in remote locations.
Christine and her husband bought a brand new townhome in an upscale suburb. Their dream home had virtually everything a homeowner could ever wish for - except enough heat. After six years and countless band-aid repairs by the builder, they called Mike Holmes and his team to get to the bottom of things. Preliminary evidence suggested that the improper installation of the flexible ductwork inside the walls and ceilings might be the culprit. Mike discovers the only way to make this situation right is to painstakingly remove the existing drywall, design and build new bulkheads, create new ducts and vents, and install an entire HVAC system that performs correctly.
When Mike arrives at the home of Val and Dave, he thought it was an exterior renovation repair only- until he went inside.
Originally, the scope of the project involved repairing a home that suffered from defective brick- the face of the brick was falling off, causing it to quickly erode. This weakened masonry was causing the chimney to lean dangerously and the bottom rows of brick were so compromised that replacement was needed to prevent the brick walls from collapsing.
When Mike went inside the home, he discovered that the homeowners were literally drowning in their own possessions. There were mounds of stuff piled to the ceiling in almost every room in the house. There was so much junk crammed in the basement that it wasn’t even possible for Mike and the team to do a basic electrical and HVAC inspection. Mike decides that a clean-up intervention is needed, to save the homeowners from themselves.
Al and Jennifer attended a charity auction to raise money for their church. One of the prizes being offered was $15,000 value towards a bathroom renovation. Al and Jennifer won the prize - it seemed like a win-win situation. And because the contractor was affiliated with their church, they simply trusted that everything would go well. It didn't. After spending a total of $30,000, all they had to show for it was a roughed in the bathroom- and a big hole in their family room ceiling, where the contractor put his foot through. They had finally had enough with this unholy terror. Mike and his team arrive to make things right- and restore a little faith in contractors.
In this special episode, the Holmes crew (both construction and production) reveal the behind the scenes work during the filming from the seventh season, including the process from viewer submission to filming, how three or four episodes are produced at the same time, and the logistical issues with having a camera crew and a construction crew trying to work over each other. The episode includes behind-the-scenes footage from Additional Grief, Country Kitchen, Paradise Island, Lien on Me, and an upcoming episode titled Blind Faith, as well as a Maxwell House commercial and Mike's interview on 20/20. It also explores the origins of the series and how the Holmes Foundation was founded, as well as providing some insight into the Holmes family (all three of Mike's children work on the show in some capacity).
The story itself was all too familiar- a botched kitchen renovation. The big difference here was the person who wrote the letter - former heavyweight boxing champion, George ''Boom Boom'' Chuvalo. The three-week kitchen renovation had gone into its third month. George and his wife Joanne had lost their patience, and the contractor finally made a hasty departure, leaving behind a badly laid out kitchen - featuring dangling pot lights, no working electrical, and no countertops. During George's boxing career, he went the distance with Muhammad Ali, twice. Ali stated that ''George was the toughest guy he had ever fought.'' And now, ''Boom Boom'' Chuvalo's kitchen disaster goes toe-to-toe with the heavyweight contractor, Mike ''Make It Right'' Holmes!
Jon and Candice seemed to be having problems with their window installation contractor. Proof that things were going badly came to the homeowners in the form of a DVD. A neighbor across the street documented the entire contracting mess from a home security camera. For the first time ever Mike Holmes and his team get to witness a bad renovation as it happens. If a picture speaks a thousands words, this footage says, ''It's all coming down!''
Jeremy had a total kitchen renovation- or so he thought. There were new cabinets, new counters, new appliances, new paint and a new tile floor- all the cosmetic items were brand new. Unfortunately, his renovation company only dealt with the finishing items. Everything below the surface was still the same old kitchen. Mike and the crew have to completely gut this kitchen to deal with all the problems that are bubbling under the brand-new, finished surface.
Lee and Bailey bought a brand new townhouse two years ago. It came with many modern conveniences like a fridge that made ice cubes. One item they didn't ask for was an attic that made snow cones- enough snow that they had to shovel it into plastic bags to prevent it from melting into their house. After the builder showed up to do several band-aid fixes, they called in Mike Holmes to get to the bottom of things, on the top of their house.
Walter and Adele spent a year planning their dream house- a custom home. Unfortunately, what they ended up getting was a custom headache! At the top of their list was a cultured stone skirt around the base of the house, and one year after the install, the skirt was falling down. In this episode, we look at the pitfalls of building a custom home, and what can happen when no one will take responsibility for the work they do.
Gwyn and Andrew, self-confessed ''Holmes On Homes Junkies'', had seen every episode and read Mike's book. They took all of Mike's advice and thought they did everything to make sure their bathroom renovation went smoothly, yet things turned out very wrong. Mike uses this example to show how far we have come in preventing renovation disasters and to also show how far we still need to go to avoid being ripped off by unscrupulous contractors.
In this two-hour special episode, Mike deals with a couple who had a "friend" do an addition. Although the work was originally estimated to cost just over $200,000, the "friend" later put a lien on the house for more than $500,000 and took the owners of the house to court. Mike and the crew take the house down brick by brick and stud by stud to save the family from shoddy work done under the previous contract, then design an eco-friendly home and construct it on the site. This episode is notable for employing over 100 companies and 30 months of construction work (demolition having started sometime in Season 5, and construction during Season 6) - to date the most extensive work on the show, in terms of materials, manpower, and time.
The Lien on Me episodes are the ones that are shown the least on TV and are very hard to find anywhere. Almost any other Holmes on Homes Episode is aired on a regular basis
