Holmes on Homes

A young couple have purchased their first house and have asked a contractor to help with renovations. However, the contractor has left them with an unfinished house and very little money. With only eight weeks left until Christmas, and the family living in the basement, Mike Holmes and his crew race to complete the repairs and give the family a home for the holidays.

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. This episode is notable for employing over 100 companies and 30 months of construction work (the construction having started sometime in season 5) - to date the most extensive work on the show, in terms of materials, manpower, and time.

A couple have spent a lot of money on a kitchen addition and back deck, but the job fails to pass inspection, and the stucco begins to crumble. With their contractor not returning their calls, the couple contacts Mike Holmes.

A sorority house has a leaky roof and many contractors have tried to repair the problem, but they have failed. Mike Holmes and his crew fix the problem by installing a new flat roof, and they even build a new roof-top deck for the sorority sisters.

A couple hired a contractor to lower their basement, but the basement has now developed leaks. With the contractor nowhere to be found, Mike Holmes and his crew fix a bunch of electrical problems and install an interior weeping tile system.

Rainwater from the terrace of a couple's brand new house is leaking into their garage. Despite major damage, and a two year battle with the builder, the problem has not been fixed. Mike Holmes and his crew arrive and they rebuild the terrace with a proper watertight membrane and new decking.

The upstairs of a new town house has bad air flow. Mike Holmes and his crew check out the problem and they discover that there are leaks in the ducting. They reseal all the exposed joints and install a larger main duct line to fix the problem.

A couple hired a contractor to build a new wheel chair ramp, but the ramp that was built is dangerous and not built to code. Mike Holmes is called in and he rebuilds the ramp properly.

After a basement bathroom renovation has gone bad, Mike Holmes and his crew are brought in to gut the entire bathroom and rebuild it properly.

A kitchen renovation has gone wrong after the contractor used poor workmanship. This leads to a legal battle, that even includes Mike Holmes as an expert witness, and eventually repairs to the kitchen that finally fix the job.

A new home has several recognized deficiencies, including a cold floor in the room above the garage. Mike and his crew are brought in to investigate and repair the problem.

After spending many years living in apartments, Tammy and Jason decided to take the plunge and buy a home to raise their son in. It was a new home, and everything seemed in order except for the staircase leading up to the front door; it was very basic and needed and upgrade. Tammy and Jason hired a contractor to build a proper cement staircase, and that's what they thought they had gotten. But as 2 year warranty approached, large chunks of cement were starting to fall off the stairs and it seemed obvious that they had not been done correctly. The previous contractor delayed any repairs until the warranty was up, and Tammy and Jason were left with dangerous, crumbling staircase. Mike Holmes and his crew tore the original stairs apart and started from scratch. Along the way, Mike found that the previous contractor had made many mistakes - the largest of which was that they neglected to install proper footing support under the stairs. The lack of this footing caused the stairs to move when the ground froze in the winter, and crack the concrete finish. As the crew started the new footing, Mike removed a pair of ugly fake dormers that the builder had installed on their roof, and fixed a leak in their front window. After rebuilding the staircase using rebar and concrete reinforced with microfibers, a beautiful Durok coating was applied to the surface. Also, bran new interlocking stone in the driveway was complimented by a fully re-landscaped front garden. Tammy and Jason were thrilled to finally be able to look at their new home with pride. The new front entryway and garden were stunning and definitely the new focal point of the house.

Bill and Marie retired to a bungalow that had originally been a small cottage. Over the years, the bungalow had seen five additions of questionable workmanship, so they decided to completely renovate the home. They hired a contractor who had promised that the job would be completed in three months time, so they moved in with their daughter for the duration of the renovation. As the renovation progressed, issues arose with the historical board, building code standards, and the contractor himself. After many delays and a skyrocketing budget, Bill paid off the contractor and completely severed ties. One full year later, they were left with a half finished job and were still living in their daughter’s home. Having spent a good deal of money, they had no funds to cover hiring a new contractor. Fortunately, Mike Holmes decided to undertake the huge task of finishing this very problematic renovation – and finish it he did. With the help of his hard working crew, Mike battled his way though the age old issues and gave Bill and Marie the beautiful retirement home the should have gotten in the first place.

When a fencing contractor rips off a new housing development by taking a deposit from 52 families and working just long enough to cash the cheques before disappearing, Mike and the crew take on the challenge of not just helping one homeowner, but the entire neighborhood! Ultimately, Mike builds more than a fence; he also brings this new community together with a common purpose- and makes things right.

Living in a construction zone is an unpleasant reality for homeowners undertaking a renovation. The hope is that the mess and discomfort will be as short-lived as possible. For Alex and Marie and their two children, a planned three-month renovation dragged out to a year and a half with no end in sight. Living out of one bedroom with only partial water service, this family was trapped in a never-ending renovation nightmare. They were beginning to feel like prisoners in their own home- until Mike and the team arrive on the scene.

A photographer wants to build a photo studio in his backyard. He does everything by the book - has blueprints drawn up and approved and takes out construction permits and deals with puzzling stop work orders from various city officials. Only after the Mayor intervenes, is the work finally completed. Or so he thinks… Three years later, the studio's flat roof is plagued by constant leaks. Mike Holmes immediately identifies the problem - the waterproof roof membrane was never actually finished. The Holmes On Homes™ team discovers that the water damage to the flat roof is so extensive, they have no choice but to pull it all down!

When Jeff and Lorrie discover that their newly built house has a crumbling concrete foundation with one third of the minimum strength required by code, he calls Mike Holmes to save their home. Mike and the HOH team build a new custom foundation within walls of the existing foundation and devise a plan to protect the weakened exterior from further damage.

Jane and Dan had a tiny quarter sized water stain on the bedroom ceiling of their six-year-old townhouse. They had a roofing contractor come and repair the balcony above the leak. The contractor ended up having to rip up the existing balcony membrane only to discover the engineered joists below were completely rotted through. The homeowners could not find a contractor willing to take on fixing this structural mess and asked Mike if he was up for the challenge.

Kristine and Terry needed more living space for their expanding family. They decided to add a second story addition over the garage in order to add a bedroom and bathroom. When the contractor demanded full payment before the job was completed, the homeowners refused to pay. The contractor placed a Lien on their home stating that the renovation was 99 percent complete. Mike and the team finish the job and demonstrate just how incomplete the job really was.

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.