Renovation Realities

Renovation Realities Best Freakin' Moments takes a look at some of the most compelling moments of the show. From big mistakes and injuries to major fights and meltdowns we examine what really happens when renovations get ugly!

Steven and Shelley Stockton want to add a hallway to their home. Currently they have to go through a bathroom, a bedroom and a closet to get to their daughter's bedroom. They plan to add an exterior hallway in seven days on a budget of $2,500.

Jason Cruze loves renovation projects, but he has a tendency to start them and leave them incomplete. As a Christmas present for his wife Allison, Jason wants to completely redo their bathroom in the short amount of time before the holiday. Will he be able to complete this construction project in only few days during the holiday season?

Tom Gerlach wants to replace his old, rotten deck for a fresh new one to open up the possibilities in his back yard. Tom has three days off of work to demolish his old deck and build a new one with the help of his friend Dave. With little knowledge of construction or deck architecture, Tom has $2000 to build himself a new backyard.

Jamie and Kim Biddle decide to completely renovate their family room in the dead of winter. The 60 year old colonial home they bought from the original owners needs a lot more work than anticipated; they've basically had to gut most of it to the studs. The family room has holes in the wall and floor, and was previously only heated by a wall space heater. They're camping out at his mother's house, with 2 small children and mom is looking forward to getting her life back. An extended renovation finally becomes urgent, when the first winter heating bill arrives. over $300. They plan to pull out a large window, reframe it, run HVAC to the room, and hang dry wall in four days. Jamie is a painter and a carpenter and he's in uncharted waters on this project but he's not worried. On the other hand, Kim has some anxiety about this unknown expedition, especially when it requires going down into a creepy crawl space. Watch how bad weather, wrong measurements and extremely tired homeowners collide to form the perfect storm of renovation.

Geff and Tiina Vitale have a home just down the road from the Jersey Shore. They have an old deck attached to their house and they want to try to salvage as much as possible. Also, the Vitales would like to rework the deck in the dead of winter, so they can enjoy the renovated deck in the spring and summer. Geff's idea is to detach the deck from the house, knock out every other plank, save the remaining ones but add new wood to create a sturdier, bigger deck. Geff and Tiina have a newborn, and Tiina's limited with the amount of work she can contribute, so Geff recruits his best friend, Jay. Jay, however, is the last one to know that he's in it for the long run. Aside from the deck being a bit of a bear to restructure, below-freezing temperatures only add to the difficulty of the job. This is one show that truly tests friendship during the renovation process.

Tyler and Amy Stanton are a young couple about to have their first child. Tyler has procrastinated on renovating their master bathroom until now, a month before the baby's due. With timing already an issue, everything goes wrong for this couple who wants a more spacious bathroom. Tyler thinks that he can handle everything including soldering the plumbing until the fixtures catch on fire. There are drywall mishaps, a mix-up on tile quantity, plus two broken vanities. But, things turn serious when Amy gets sick and winds up in the hospital, causing jeopardy in finishing the renovation.

Stephen and Pomai Futral are not happy with their kitchen. With their second child arriving any day, pregnant Pomai refuses to raise another child in their non-functional, mid 80's kitchen. Although Pomai considers herself a handywoman, Stephen is an accountant and is not used to the exhausting physical labor. They plan to gut their entire kitchen and install new cabinets, flooring, ceiling panels, and move the ceiling fan. But their renovation has to happen fast since Pomai is due to go into labor soon. Stephen works very hard for his "queen" Pomai who has taken on the role of project manager. They hit a few snags in the process but eventually they complete Pomai's dream kitchen.

Charlene Brown is trying to renovate her fixer-upper home in Pasadena, California. However, she has run out of money and has had to put the renovations on hold. Her plan is to move some roommates in so that Charlene can make some cash. But there is a problem: only one roommate would have access to the bathroom. To fix this, Charlene has decided to create a hallway allowing both roommates access to the bathroom. But it's a rocky ride when Charlene is completely unprepared and her friend Stephanie is over dealing with all the nonsense. The rocky ride takes a nosedive when a fed up Stephanie calls it quits ending not only the renovation, but their friendship too.

Mauricio De Lama recently bought a house with his girlfriend, Janette. She's decorated the entire house, leaving Mauricio living amongst a sea of pretty pillows and flowers. Needless to say, he's desperate to have his own 'man space' free of all the girlie decorations. Mauricio has enlisted his buddy Han Lee, to transform his boring, old garage into a 'Man Only Zone.' However, neither Mauricio nor Han Lee have ever lifted a hammer, let alone used a power tool. In fact, they have to call their friend Mike to borrow some tools, and his truck to haul the supplies needed. From the start, these guys don't have a clue about home renovation, and it shows. From insulation and drywall goofs to assistance on window framing over the phone, these guys prove that it's sometimes worthwhile to know a little about home renovation.

Josh Hissong is an accomplished kitchen designer living in Spokane, Washington. So naturally when he bought his dream fixer-upper home, he decided to start his renovations in the kitchen. With help from interior design student and friend, Genevieve, this project was just destined for greatness...right? Setbacks ranging from broken windows to using the only kitchen floor-plan to start a fire after the power goes out plague this project from the very beginning, bringing Josh to the early realization that this renovation is going to be anything but easy.

Vincent Schilling shares a small home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with his wife, Delores, and their always stylishly dressed miniature Chihuahua, Sophia. Delores is out of town for a few days, so Vincent has concocted a plan to renovate their unsightly kitchen as surprise for her when she returns. He's solicited the help of his mother-in-law, Sharon, for his culinary facelift. Working with a budget of $8000, Vincent and Sharon plan to gut the kitchen entirely and start from scratch. The only problem is, neither Vince nor Sharon have one iota of experience with home renovations. Thanks to some pesky plumbing, uncooperative tools, and lots of heavy lifting, Vince and Sharon are constantly under the gun to finish before Delores arrives home. To make matters worse, minutes before Delores is due to walk through the door, the duo suffers a setback that leaves Vincent fearing that, if he doesn't finish the project before she walks in, he'll be spending the rest of his life in Sophia's tiny little dog house.

Kevin and Rachel Rich live in a home they purchased six years ago from his parents. In fact, Kevin grew up in the house, and together, he and Rachel share it with their three young boys - all of which are under the age of 10. But for all the home's great memories, the space is entirely unsuited for the needs of the Rich family. The couple's plan to make their home more livable: tear down a wall separating the kitchen and dining room, build a faux beam, and install a new front entryway. The overall effect, Kevin and Rachel hope, will not only increase the value of their home, but greatly improve its flow. As the renovation begins, the Rich's battle a broken trailer, job interruptions, their kids, and eventually, each other. As they near the end of their renovation, the Rich's finally succeed in installing their new front entryway just as the weather dips below freezing and nightfall sets in.

Tom and Charise Wenzl are the proud new owners of a split-level fixer-upper in Mount Vernon, Wash. Unfortunately, much of the interior of the house is in too poor condition to save. Before they can officially move in, Tom and Charise are tearing most everything out and starting all over. The renovation is wrought with mishaps from the beginning and small victories are far and few between. For every step Tom and Charise take forward, the house seems determined to push them 12 steps back. With every job turning into more work, more time and more money than expected, the couple feels more inclined to hold an exorcism for all the house's demons rather than continue on with the renovation.

Jennifer and Shawnt Batmanian are about to take on their biggest renovation ever. Shawnt is a pharmacist and Jennifer is a stay-at-home mom to their adorable 3-year-old son, Adam. The couple has successfully renovated their bathroom in the past, so taking on a kitchen doesn't scare them at all. Shawnt's extremely organized. Going into the project, he created a binder laying out the right tools and the right plans to succeed. The demolition of the existing out-of-date kitchen begins with ease, but as the couple progresses, things go horribly wrong. Shawnt makes a critical move that forces the project to quickly spiral out of control, leaving the family without a kitchen and a father deeply disappointed and embarrassed in front of his 3-year-old son.

An eager couple is well on their way to making their dream kitchen, but reality soon hits home. Fighting off sleep deprivation, unforeseen building issues and a looming deadline, the kitchen of their dreams soon becomes a living nightmare.

Amanda Laird and her boyfriend TJ Sybilrud are renovating their nasty, outdated kitchen to create a more modern space. They've done several other projects together in their new house, but they quickly learn that the kitchen isn't so easy. When they recruit Amanda's dad for help, Amanda and TJ learn the hard way about the dangers of electricity!

Terry Bullman and Blair Ramsey are renovating their backyard living space. The couple wants to expand their existing patio and update their screened porch, all while sticking to an extremely tight budget. But as the problems quickly mount, so do the dollar figures. Terry and Blair realize their bare hands are no match for Mother Nature and are forced to call in some heavy-and expensive-reinforcements.

Kevin and Tiffani Searer just bought the house of their dreams. Unfortunately, the backyard isn't so perfect. So they decide to turn their boring backyard into a beautiful outdoor patio, but they soon discover that this isn't as easy as they think. Kevin quickly learns why plumbing should be left to the professionals!

Shawnie and Zach Colohan just bought a new house and have spent weeks renovating everything. Now they plan to tackle their final and biggest project yet - the kitchen! But between plumbing leaks, broken cabinets and wet concrete countertops, Shawnie and Zach start to wonder if they'll ever be able to move into their new home.

Firefighter Charles Kuniyoshi and his girlfriend, Ana Rivera, just bought a house and are taking on one huge project: the kitchen. With only a few days to complete this monster of a renovation, Charles and Ana give it all they've got to hold it together. But it only takes a few surprises -- and one big surprise for Ana -- to slow this project down to a grinding halt.

Ron and Pam Wylie are renovating their cramped, dysfunctional and outdated kitchen, and these two DIY pros don't foresee any problems with the task at hand. Their fragmented house, however, has other plans. Each wall hides new surprises, and the sheer size of the renovation starts to wear on these DIYers. By the end of this project, the Wylies' mental and physical boundaries are pushed to the brink.

A couple convert a screened-in-porch into their new master bedroom.

Updating a beach bungalow's cramped kitchen. Obstacles include cockroaches and a giant support beam.

A couple try to open up their tiny kitchen to create a space for entertaining friends, but run into electrical and structural problems when they demolish the walls and ceilings. Then, a building inspector throws them a curveball.

Nicole Scheman just bought the perfect old house on Main Street. The only thing it's missing is a screened in front porch. Nicole recruits her dad, Gus, to help her convert the front room of her house into the porch of her dreams. Watch as this father-daughter team overcomes the frustration of an old home in order to make Nicole's front porch fantasy come true.

Mike Harris and his girlfriend, Beth, want to update the dingy, old kitchen in their condo. Neither of them have very much renovation experience but they are determined to create a modern, hip space. These two quickly find out that home renovation is the best way to test a relationship's strength.

Joe and Krystina Dickman just bought the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood ... only problem is the house's ugly, yellow kitchen is far from perfect. It's taken months to find the time and courage, but they're finally ready to gut and remodel this outdated space. Things start off great, but it's not long before Joe and Krystina uncover some "nutty" problems caused by an unwanted houseguest.

Michael and Courtney Louwers just bought the perfect house. It's in a neighborhood they love and it's right across the street from their kids' school. Everything's perfect about their new place - except the kitchen. The kitchen is nasty and outdated. They want to renovate it to make their new house truly feel like a home. While Michael and Courtney have done several renovations in their home, they've never done anything this large! Plus, the couple must balance being parents while doing the renovation.