Original subtitles

Pretty nice place, but look at the view.

That's why they got the place.

Don't try this at home.

Oh, no, no, no! Grab your hands there, buddy!

First time doing it, so you know I'm going to wing it.

This is the attic. - Oh. Not many people likes

to go in the attic, but I love it. Oh, I know.

That wall pushing out is a disaster.

Randy wasn't the easiest client.

So dramatic. But we all came together.

What's the worst that can happen?

Place looks awesome.

Everybody getting ready to put on the scuff?

We gotta try out the floors.

So when the b'ys starts playing, start dancing.

I'm Randy Spracklin.

Third generation builder,

proud Newfoundlander.

My team and I are building on one giant cliff

in the Atlantic Ocean.

They don't call it "The Rock" for nothing.

We fight the elements year-round to get the job done.

It might be tough for some, but not for us.

Because when this is your view, it's worth it.

Working in construction,

I'm always up early and on the go.

Nothing better than starting the day ocean side

at a custom home we're building.

Checking on the new job site today.

Out in Portugal Cove.

Looks like the outside is done. Looking mint!

The square footage of this house is about 3,000 sq ft.

Got three bedrooms, full walk-out basement.

When you look at the property first and you're trying

to figure out how you're putting the house there,

there's a little bit of top process gotta go into it.

For me, I find it a little bit easy,

I can picture it right away.

So we got it all framed up now.

Windows is in.

When you get to this stage, it's always good

because no matter if it's crappy outside,

you're still good on the inside.

Pretty nice place, but look at the view.

That's why they got the place.

It's all about maximizing the view.

When we do get nice weather,

you'll see the whales coming in

and that bay will be just like full of whale spray.

Be able to sit down there and look at that,

pretty amazing.

So the layout is gonna be a kitchen.

This is gonna be the dining room,

two-sided fireplace, propane,

nice patio doors going out on the deck.

Then, they got a living room right here.

Then, over here's gonna be den office.

Pretty deadly.

The door upstairs going up the three bedrooms.

Second floor is looking good, better view.

So this is the en suite.

Putting in another fireplace right there.

This is gonna be the bath,

tub's gonna be here, lie down looking out

over the water, seagulls watching you.

Next thing is bring on the insulation, drywall,

plaster and paint, flooring and cabinets, and done.

Sounds quite fast, doesn't it?

Makes it seem like we're doing TV.

If you're renovating or a new build

it still takes a lot of creativity,

takes a lot of planning, a lot of work.

New, you know what you're getting into,

everything is brand new.

We might run into a few snags,

but renovations, you never know what you're gonna do,

but probably renovations would be my go-to.

I love solving problems.

And I love saving old buildings

and there's one in the heart of Brigus.

It's been used as a hall and a church,

but it's condemned.

I know I can turn it into something special.

So I've got the old man with me to go over the plans.

Hey, man. Old Academy Hall.

Yeah. Few memories for this now.

What used to be a hall/church for many years, well,

actually ever since it was built.

And now I'm bringing it back to life

with a two-phase plan.

The back of the building will be a café.

It'll take me over a year to finish,

so I'm starting with phase 1: the main hall.

It'll be an event space and a welcome centre

for tourists and the community.

The way they were kind of doing it is

they still own the building. We're gonna do it up

and we're gonna use it for our café and event space.

The plus side about it is we made an agreement

where we're still giving back to them,

giving back to the community.

Yeah, I remember this space.

It's a big space.

It's about 2,600 sq ft.

It's gonna get a major upgrade without major demo.

I'll cover the outdated floor with a rich wood-tone vinyl.

It'll bring in more warmth with a huge wood-burning fireplace.

It'll be a feature of the room with built-ins on either side

and bench seating.

I'll have a ton of space

to display items and books I've been saving

to share with visitors.

I also created other features on the wall

to celebrate music, art and history.

This is a huge space so I'm adding

both casual seating and a more formal setup with dining tables.

It'll be perfect for whatever event you can dream of.

And I'm giving myself four months and 70K

to transform the hall.

Do you remember this was one of our first jobs

painting this ceiling. You remember that?

Yes.

That was a while ago.

Don't look at the flashing job, we didn't do that.

We just painted it.

No, it'll be nice.

Feels pretty good to have another place in Brigus

to be able to be saved.

We want this space to, you know,

you can come in, sit down and have a yarn,

read a book or do whatever.

We're gonna create it for the community.

Doors still work. I installed that, by the way.

- Installed that door? - Yes.

I've done a bit of work here at the hall.

I put the door in, done the roof here.

Done some work on the window.

My little piece of helping Randy up now will be

help to him and help the community.

I had to paint the washrooms stalls.

When I was younger in high school.

Let's see.

Of course it works. I did it.

A lot of the churches today are being sold

and repurposed as houses,

but it's good to preserve 'em and keep 'em

and you know, keep the history alive, keeps it going.

It's about working together. That's how you build a community.

You work together and this is what you come up with.

That's it. That's what makes a good community.

Working together.

Saturday morning and we're here in Brigus

at the Academy Hall getting ready to kick off

the big renovation.

I got two of the boys, two longtime friends,

Brent and Ryan, so free labour to give us a hand.

Up over.

Today, we gotta take the lights out

'cause we gotta paint the ceiling.

These are long rectangular fluorescent lights.

So uh, this row here, you want to click off.

So if we painted around them,

there'd be big white squares left.

So we gotta have them gone first.

Push here. The other thing with

getting the lights down, we know where the electrical boxes are

and we'll still be able to calculate where the beams are

'cause if they're not in the right places,

that's gonna hinder our idea way the beams are gonna be.

The ceiling, it's going black.

It's a bold move, but it'll make the hall feel cozier.

The beam design is simple and adds texture.

The lighting will be a mix of chandeliers

for the seating areas

and then, the rest of the space will be pendants

and track lighting that'll blend in with the new ceiling colour.

I think we put a skim of regular plaster over that,

I think will be good too, boy.

So the lights are down.

Beams are gonna work out perfect 'cause they were

right in the middle of them ole lights.

Who knows how many beams.

We'll figure that out, but all looks good.

It's what we planned.

That hardly ever works out that way.

Around the corner in Brigus,

we're in the middle of a massive renovation.

We extended out the back

to create a bigger dining room and a back porch with laundry.

Plus we added a main-floor bedroom suite.

After a long wait for windows and doors

we could finally move ahead.

Feels pretty good. We're to that stage,

starting to get insulated means it's going to get warm

'cause it's freezing here today.

Which... hey, that's why we needs insulation.

This house has to be more energy efficient,

safe and cozy warm.

By using stone wool insulation in the whole house

is gonna give them a high-performance home.

So I got the building paper on, all the studs marked out,

got it opened up, all I do now is throw some measurements

before we get it installed. - Get it done.

Bring the ole man to give me a hand.

Everybody's gone on the other job sites.

See, he helped me the last time just well to get him this time.

You said you wanted the best.

Throw ya. - Okay.

I was gonna throw one here now then go back the other way.

Alright, you give'r, then.

We're using 2-inch Comfortboard 80,

which comes in different thicknesses

and can work in any climate zone to get the desired R-value.

It's nice and flush, easy to install.

We're splitting the joints because that's the way

we're gonna actually bridge all the studding.

So you get that thermal version.

Nice stuff.

Winter here in Newfoundland,

it's really bad at times.

We's up against some tough conditions.

When you're building a house and with our bad conditions,

it's definitely gotta hold up to Mother Nature.

Cuts like bread.

Stiff. - Only we got no butter.

This property got a whole lot of history,

and we wanna make sure it's gonna last

for years to come and for the whole family to enjoy.

Feels great to save whole houses,

brings a warm feeling to your heart

and that especially when you're saving here in Brigus,

'cause it's home.

We've pretty well got the bottom done.

We just need some more extra fasteners

and just needs a ladder and scaffold now to finish the top.

Let's go get something to eat. That was long enough.

I want some feed.

- You cooking or me? - You're cooking.

Yeah.

The other reason why I like it,

it can resist fire better than other types of insulation.

So spark up the barbeque, we're gonna show you

how much heat this insulation can really take.

So the ole man built a box out of rock wool

and we're really gonna put it to the heat test.

I know that barbeque behind me throws a lot of heat.

Well, let me try out this one.

It's definitely fun to test out the products because

I gotta put it on someone's house

and the product gotta standby what we're building.

Don't try this at home. It's only for demonstration.

We're gonna light 'er up!

We're gonna light 'er up! Watch it go poof!

Just hold on to it while you're doing it.

There you go.

Stand back.

It's a big flame here, but on the sides,

look, it's nothing.

- Okay. - We're good.

Fire inside, but it's cool to the touch.

It's also flame-resistant.

It's what you want.

Let's just check the temperature difference

between the two of it.

- What is it, 300? - Yeah, over 300.

We just gently take it to the outside and...

15.

You're the chef.

Give 'er.

Look at that.

The flavour train!

There you go, look. - That looks good.

How much you want for sausage?

For you, it's half cheap.

50 bucks for sausage.

- I'll take two. - Alright.

Pretty well we got the sausages done.

The one thing about it is, this is still cool on the touch

on the outside. - Yeah. Unbelievable.

But to cook up a real feed,

I know the new kitchen design for Irishtown

would work perfectly.

I never ever thought I'd actually get

into doin' kitchens, but here we are.

When you got two of the b'ys and they good at doing it

you just start buildin'.

If you can think of it, we can build it.

We've closed up one of the doorways

for the stove and more cabinets.

We moved the sink underneath the window and added an island.

They'll have lots of drawers for easy access,

have extra storage with a custom pantry,

and a display cabinet for special items.

The advantage of doin' a custom kitchen is

it don't matter the size of the room or the space,

we'll build it to fit.

We got the mixer, we got the flower in here,

we got the toaster. We already got the design done.

All the fluffies.

While we build in the shop,

Sam and Sasha can shop for counters

at their favourite spot.

Well, you guys have been here a lot.

So you can help yourself, have a look out back.

If you need me, I'm right here.

- Perfect! - Okay, let's go!

- First off, I feel like a kid in a candy store. - I know.

It's so exciting. When you're choosing

countertops for a client, you really want to make sure

it's something they love. Because it is

an expensive piece.

It's not something you're gonna change out

every couple of years. - No. That's why we wanted

to give a few options to this client,

because although maybe we love that bold pop,

maybe this doesn't suit who they are.

So that's the most important thing

is designing for the client. - Yeah, exactly.

Looks like Newfoundland beach rock.

Yeah, exactly. I'll take a picture of this one?

Take a picture of this one. Yeah.

I think it's gonna be a little bit of pop

if they go with it. - Exactly.

- Yeah. - Which we need... we need

one of those options, right? - Yeah, for sure.

Super cool. So cool. - Oh, my god, right?

Ooh! - Way too green.

- Way too green, but super cool. - I know.

- I think this is labradorite. - I think you're right.

No. No, no, no. - Too beigey.

No.

No.

Possible? - Possible.

- Oh, I love that one. - Yeah. Some white, some cream.

But the green will pick up in the veining.

I love that. It suits their style, it's a little something.

- This is the medium option. - This is our medium.

It's not the bold, it's not the safe,

it's the medium option. - Yeah. Okay.

Let me take a picture. - And we'll send that to them.

- Sold. Okay. - Alright.

Now we need a safe option.

Here we go. This is it.

Right there. So if we choose something like this,

it's gonna give them that little bit of calm, serene look

that they're going for.

It's safe in that it's white,

it does have some veining. - Yeah, there's a little bit

of movement, I'm gonna totally get a picture of this one.

Take a picture of it. Alright.

So we've got like the safe option,

the medium option and then, like the more bold option.

- Yes. I feel good about it. - Yeah, I feel great about it.

Okay. Let's go find C.J. - Alright, let's go tell her.

Perfect.

We're so in love! - You're in love?

We're so in love.

You sell puppies here too, right?

Sunshine is very expensive.

I don't think he'll be in the budget.

- Okay, we'll share him. - We'll share custody.

Yeah, that's fine!

We found a little token of fluff.

A little ray of "Sunshine."

The slabs were gorgeous, but none of them as gorgeous as...

- Oh, yeah. - I can't agree more.

Sunshine is gorgeous. So, we do have some options.

Okay. Yes. Thank you

for all your help. - Thanks, guys!

We'll bring him back. - Absolutely!

Don't worry. Thanks, C.J.!

Bye, guys! Bye!

With winter rolling in,

it's the perfect time to get the fireplace installed

at Academy Hall. We got Ryan and Brent here today,

and Aaron coming with the forklift,

or the loader, I should say.

We had to take the window out because that's right

where the fireplace is going. So it's not sense

in havin' glass when there's a big fireplace in the way.

So we took it out and we're gonna reuse it.

With the wall closed up...

That's step one.

Time for some heavy lifting.

Step two is gonna be the hardest.

We need to get the fireplace in through this door.

It's huge and we only got an inch to spare.

Pretty heavy.

Probably about 1,000 pounds.

I think it should be stable.

He's nervous!

There's no time for laughing.

It's all serious here now.

Game face.

She's down on there now! - Jeez...

What's the worst that can happen?

$10,000 go down the drain?

Alright. Just come up there now

and shove 'er in another bit. Come up.

Come on up!

Come on, ya bloody.

Ah, she's sliding this way.

No, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no! What?

She's sliding this way. - Alright,

so what's the plan now? At Academy Hall,

it's a tight squeeze getting the 1,000-pound fireplace

through the front door.

Grab your hands there, buddy.

It's there now.

Hang on, hold on now.

Alright. There you go.

Ow, me finger!

There we go! Woo-hoo!

And there she is.

Oh, my...

Yeah, it looks pretty good.

We had to go this big.

If we went any smaller, it would...

basically wouldn't fit in the space.

So when we get it all framed in,

we gotta figure out if we're going with stone

or tile or...

what is gonna tie in with the rest of the space.

So that's the next hurdle that we gotta do.

We're well on our way.

While it's stormin' outside,

inside, things are looking up.

The weather isn't slowing my painter down

and the black is exactly what I hoped for.

And I'm gonna continue the black for the cabinets.

They're going on either side of the fireplace

and will be 12 feet high.

A tall order, but Matt and PJ can get it done.

Me as the homeowner client,

I'm not really being that picky.

The b'ys are being more picky and more hard on me

than I am on them.

Hey, b'y!

Randy as a client.

We tells him what he needs to know.

And they know what I wanted.

And the cabinets are looking great.

So while the b'ys in the shop finish building the rest,

Harv and Paul can move to higher ground

and install the ceiling beams.

Things are looking pretty good there now.

I'm actually kinda impressed.

Wasn't quite feeling it at the beginning,

but suiting to the space.

It's pretty dark here right now

with the black ceiling. Beams are black

and lighting's not that great.

But I don't know, we get new lighting here

and everything, and I think it'll look pretty sharp.

On the other side of Brigus at Irishtown Road...

The outside is done.

The inside we're making good progress.

We got the drywall installed,

plaster, prime...

Next step is put on the trim,

install the interior doors,

get the kitchen done,

get the flooring down...

All sounds easy, then it should be done.

I'm never gonna say we're on the other side of the hill

until we're done.

At Academy Hall today,

yesterday we put the concrete mantel in place.

We had to have that because it's a wood-burning fireplace.

Now I'm here on this Saturday

to try to purge over the fireplace.

Kind of give it like a textured look.

First time doing it, so you know I'm gonna wing it.

This is a lot colder in here than outside.

I'm gonna get that fire going.

Just having the cracklin' fireplace.

I can't have it too hot 'cause I'm working above it.

Heat rises.

For the technique, really, we put plywood in behind it

and then, we put concrete board where it had to be fire-rated.

And basically, I mix up little bit of the cement/mortar

kind of compound, and I'm just trowelling it on

and trying to go back and forth

giving it a textured look,

kind of like an old school like plaster wall kind of thing.

Hides any mistakes.

Might be a bigger mistake 'cause

maybe it don't look any good.

We will see.

But I can only complain at myself.

The other thing about being the client and the owner,

if it don't look good, there's no one else to blame but me.

Once I get this done, I gotta break out the paint.

I didn't want to leave it just like a concrete look,

so I'm gonna paint it over.

Again, I'm just winging it.

So far, it's looking good.

When I get it all done and I stand back,

who knows, I might have to scrap the idea.

Or it'll be awesome.

It's been a tough winter

and getting materials has been tougher.

But the warmer weather is on the horizon.

We'll keep moving ahead.

Academy Hall is taking shape,

and at Irishtown, the new stairs are in,

the stain glass windows,

and the kitchen counters are installed.

The clean white was the winner.

I thought I'd bring the old man along to show him the progress.

It's always good to check in

when it gets close to the end, you know.

Do a walk through, two sets of eyes better than one.

What do you mean? I've got two eyes.

Alright, four eyes.

Lots of changes. - Yeah, a little bit.

Since the last time I was here.

- Big open concept now. - It is. Looks good.

If you remember, it was a wall there.

Yeah, I remember here was ledge, taken that out.

Still got a little bit of work to do.

- Yeah. - It's got the new stairs in, though.

Flooring's down. - It's coming along nice.

So we did the wainscotting all around.

Looks good. Got that old feel to it.

Yeah, yeah. Keep the little bit of the old charm

in the old house. - Uh-huh.

This one here is an old reno,

and takes a little bit of work.

Basically, you're doing a new house,

but you gotta love your old home to be wanting to save it,

'cause the cost comparison,

sometimes it almost equals out

to be the same thing as a new,

but you can't get the meaning and the history.

It's all about saving the history.

Always save an old home.

Anyone can build a new home.

Hey, the b'ys did an awesome job on the kitchen.

Custom design, the b'ys built it all from scratch.

Nice and level and straight.

When you're dealing with an old house,

you gotta expect everything not to be perfectly level,

straight square. - No, well, that's the charm

of the old house, you know what I mean?

None of these walls really had any levels,

had any squares.

But hey, that's part of it.

You gotta work with it. - At the end of the day,

you walk in this place, you can't tell. - No.

Little bit of difference over there in that corner

since we broke the hole and all the beer stoppers fell out.

Holy jumpin' had a find!

Yes, little bit of a difference.

So everything went custom, even out here in the mudroom

or the porch. So we built this new porch.

Little bit more space.

Well, we bumped it out I think an extra few feet.

Put in new custom coat racks, bench...

We designed and the b'ys did it all.

Nice. Custom closets.

It is. Gonna be a laundry room here

which it didn't have before. - Oh, okay.

So it's coming along. Still a little bit to go,

but uh, look, we did the addition too.

See the nice stained glass we put in?

- Nice. Turned out great. - It did.

Stained glass in there looks good.

The new addition was kind of inspired

by the old shop that used to be attached to the house.

It adds to it, gives it some more space,

makes a nice en suite. It's nice.

- I'll finish up. - Everything in good shape.

It is. We only get the electrical situation

figured out, and we'll be on our way.

The big delay right now is the metre socket

and that's the little round circle

on the outside of the house that tells you all the numbers,

how much juice that you're burning.

We don't have a dimmer right across the hall,

and you can't get it from another province 'cause

they don't actually match our electrical code,

so we're kinda stuck in Newfoundland and Labrador

and we just gotta wait.

So, off to the next one. Let's go see the other sites.

Delays are always out of your control

and it's all about patience, which Randy don't have any

and uh... so that's why I'm along for the ride.

Not when it comes to delays.

I wanna move ahead!

Yes.

But thankfully,

no delays on the other side of Brigus.

At the Academy Hall today,

and we got the full crew.

Paul, Harvey, Al and Jamie.

We gotta lay some nice luxury vinyl floor.

We wanted something to be very durable.

It's gonna be a lot of people in this space,

probably a lot of kids too,

so we want to make sure it's gonna wear good.

If it can put up with the kids, it can put up with the customers.

If it puts up with the b'ys, it can put up

with customers.

A lot of floor. Over 2,600 sq ft in this space.

So the process to lay this floor

is a whole lot of glue.

The glue's what takes the time.

The biggest challenge is trying to get the glue

to actually set up where it's sticky enough to lay the floor.

So we had to go get some fans, push that around.

Other than that, we're going good.

Once that part is done, this floor is easy

as anything to go down.

We laid half of this floor

without the gluing part in about three hours.

Now we're done.

It's looking deadly.

I'm happy with it.

Onto the next item so we can get this place done.

Bring on the people.

I got a call for advice

regarding a landmark in Ferryland.

It's on a cliff 2 kilometres out in the Atlantic

and a popular spot for visitors.

But it got hit by Hurricane Larry,

forcing the owner Jill to shut down her picnic lunch business

until the building is safe again.

Come on in, Randy, this is Ferryland Lighthouse.

It was built in 1870

and you'll see there's two staircases.

It was a duplex. The only duplex in Ferryland,

still the only duplex in Ferryland. - Oh, really?

Always had two families,

the assistant keeper and head keeper.

- Oh, okay. - Yeah.

And the porch led right out,

so the lighthouse keepers could just go

right through to the tower.

So, my family were lighthouse keepers

for 100 years here at Ferryland Lighthouse.

So from 1870 'til it was automated in 1970,

there was a member of the Costello family here.

Do you still maintain the lighthouse?

The light is actually an active light station.

So the coast guard still maintain the light.

They were actually going to tear down this house in 1970

when they automated the light.

But thankfully, our historical society stepped in,

lobbied and had the house turned over to them.

Then, it was empty for 20-some odd years

before I opened this business 20 years ago.

- Oh, nice. - Yeah.

I love this building so much because... the history.

And I feel such a sense of responsibility

to restore and make sure these buildings are here

for future generations.

So what's this room?

So, when my family lived here,

there was three rooms downstairs,

three rooms upstairs.

When we renovated, we just kinda kept it open concept.

With beautiful fireplace, think about it back in the day.

This was the only source of heat.

So you know, it was definitely

a necessity to have one of those.

Well, this is the room that sustained

a lot of damage in the storm.

Basically, this building is like a building within a building.

The wall cavities are filled with beach rocks and sand

and cement, and of course,

during Hurricane Larry, the building shook that much

that what was in those walls collapsed and popped out.

So you can see that it pushed out the walls

from the door frames, from the windows

and as a result, we've had a lot of water damage and leaks.

It feels really sad 'cause that's why

the building isn't open to the public.

So the way this lighthouse is done,

there's almost like two walls.

So there's an outside wall and then there's an inside wall.

The problem is that wall was filled with stone,

filled with some kind of concrete.

Probably used it to keep it so it doesn't blow out

in the North Atlantic. But there now,

it's actually falling down and pushing out the wall.

So you gotta take all that outside wall apart,

and then put it back together.

And that's only me lookin' at it through the little crack.

You don't really know until you actually start rippin' it open.

You'll see where the wall is kind of bowed out.

More than likely, it's the outside wall,

not the inside wall that's pushing out.

There's a lotta planning gotta to go into this.

But it's worth doing it to save it.

Thanks so much for comin' out, Randy.

- Alright. See ya later. - Take care.

We're hoping, you know, with Randy's advice,

we can figure it out and get the building

back in tip-top shape to be able

to open our doors again to the public.

Someone like Jill, she's kind of like my self.

People built this back in the day for a reason.

And then, her family looked after this building

for many, many a year. So her kinda paying tribute

to that of keeping it going,

something I love and something I love back

in my hometown of Brigus. So to be able to come here

and give her advice, it's a good day.

Plus, I can take in the views.

At Academy Hall, the work on phase 1 is almost done.

But phase 2 has just started,

and will take about a year to finish.

It's gonna be a café called the "Vindicator Press."

It's in honour of a Brigus newspaper published

at the Vindicator building in the late 1800s.

That place is gone, but there's still

a lot of historic places around, like the Bartlett House.

It's for sale and the owners wanted me

to see it before it sold.

Oh, my god, look at the place. - It's amazing, isn't it?

Yeah, oh, it is. Them boards.

I invited Randy because this house needs to be shown.

Randy loves history

and I just thought he would really enjoy this.

There's nothing better than the old wood, though, right?

Oh, isn't it gorgeous?

This house was built in 1825,

so it's almost 200 years old.

The old homes in Brigus mean a lot to us,

but it means a lot to the community, and you know,

this house is extra special

because Bob Bartlett, he was an Arctic explorer

and he was a skipper.

Hey, skipper!

Pretty amazing up here too. Yeah.

Look at this old board, though.

Let me show you the sixth room.

Oh, look at the amazing wood working.

- I know. - When I'm walking around this old place,

you're looking at all the old furniture,

you're looking at the old wood, you know.

If them boards could talk, if the doors could talk,

imagine the history. Like Bob Bartlett,

he was inside that house.

What was going on? What was the conversation?

So that's what's cool about it.

- This is the attic. - Oh, not many people

likes to go in the attic, but I love it.

Oh, I know! This is my little storage room.

- Cool. - We have this bear-skin coat.

- I know, what? - This coat belonged to my dad.

- Oh, really? - He wore it on the Morrisey

with Captain Bob, but I'd like for you to have it.

'Cause I know you'd take care of it.

It's pretty generous too.

It's a win-win. You know, I get a piece of the history,

I get a piece of their family,

a piece of Brigus that I'm able to keep in Brigus.

So I'm gonna take it, put it in a nice shadow box,

and show it off like it should be.

The hall's almost ready for all the treasures I want to display.

The heating and cooling is updated

and the new lighting is making a huge difference.

Now for my biggest challenge.

I'm putting up wallpaper or I'm going to try to.

I don't really have any idea. What a mess.

Never put up wallpaper before.

It's like putting on carpet, I suppose.

Put on some glue, you stick it on there.

What's the worst that can happen?

Here goes nothing.

So painting the wall would be a lot easier.

I don't think I'll do that again. But I did it

and the finish line is in sight.

Big day today. Everything is getting put in place,

final little touches, everybody's on deck.

It's always the way is it when it's on the end,

everybody's just going all over the place.

It's a big space, so it takes a whole lot of people.

We even got a music wall.

I had to test every instrument just to make sure they're so.

Anyone that come in who can play better than me, have at it.

All the big construction is done,

it's just the little details, the fluffies,

and we're good to go!

This was really fun, wasn't it?

Yeah, and it's fun having Randy as a client

rather than someone that we don't really know, right?

- Yeah, tough client. - He wasn't the easiest client.

So dramatic.

Here we are. - It's kind of really special.

The outside of this building

is just black and white.

And we knew that we couldn't do that in here.

We needed to add some depth, add some moodiness.

With this space, the main thing is the dark ceiling.

- Yeah. - Because it's so huge,

if you just had a light ceiling,

it wouldn't really kinda ground it.

It's kinda cool, it's different.

I love that Randy wanted to do it a little bit more dramatic,

bring in a darker palette with some greens and some blues.

It has a little bit of a country vintage feel to it.

And the pews are great 'cause this was a church.

- Oh, yeah. - It's using everything

that this was, the history, and bringing it back in.

There's a lot of windows in this space.

So it's important that those were addressed.

And dressed!

We needed to layer those up, make them warm

so it didn't just look like a row of windows.

- Yeah. - So it was important that we brought in textures,

with window coverings, but also with wallpaper.

And Randy was good to take on that job

and install it himself. - Did a good job.

- Mm-hmm. - It's a small amount,

but to me, it's really one of the main features in the room.

- Exactly. - Really stands out.

- It does. - And the colouring in the mallards

tie into the burgundy,

all the little details. - Yeah. Perfectly.

- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.

The overall feeling of this space is warm and cozy.

It's inviting. It's one of those spaces that

everyone will feel comfortable in.

Oh, absolutely.

I'm excited for the community to have it.

So today's a big day.

Finally got it done.

I'm going to bring the whole team in,

but first, I'm gonna stoke the fire because

I'm gonna bring the old man in.

Show him phase 1 and phase 2.

- How are ya? - What do you think?

Holy Lord!

How are ya? - What do you think?

Holy Lord!

Big difference. Big difference.

Definitely.

Last time, this ceiling was white.

Ceiling was white, no beams, new lighting.

It's great what a bit of paint does and a few lights.

- I know. - And a bit of knowledge.

And a little bit of knowledge. Yes.

It was a blue floor. So we did all brand-new floor.

And we even used these old pews.

This was the original Academy Hall one.

Dandy job, dandy job. Last time I sat on them

was in church here.

Big difference, big change.

Looks good, though.

For Randy, when he started talking about this

and knew he was going to do it,

I didn't know really where he was going with it.

But to see the transformation in what he did to what it was,

good on him.

But we did add a new feature wall.

Got a lotta history on it.

That old coat came from the Bartlett's house,

so it's actually a bear fur coat that was on the Morrissey.

I figured you'd be using it the winter.

That's where I'm hanging it for summer.

Yes, that's right.

I will use it in the wintertime.

And then, the Vindicator. That's the old newspaper.

That's where I got the name at the Vindicator Press

'cause of those two things, newspaper and coffee, but...

- Okay. - ...that's in phase 2 when

I get the café up and running. - Yep.

I can't remember a lot about it, but I heard a lot about it.

We're definitely saving the space for the community.

We didn't want it to be turned into something

that really ain't gonna benefit the community.

Everybody got something in their house

that got a little memory to 'em, wanna put it in here

to feature it, so everybody else can see it.

- How about the old box? - That was the box

that we found... Remember the fishing stage that we did?

- Yes. - They had that over there

and they knew that I collect the old stuff.

That's well over 100 years old.

Randy Spracklin can make use of everything.

Every piece tells a story, see?

- Yes. - We could stay here for hours,

but we got more stuff. Like the music wall.

I wanted to showcase all the music instruments

that you would play when you're in a kitchen party

or having a time.

You come in, you can pick up a guitar, a mandolin.

So anyone is able to take it off and play a tune.

That's right. I'm sure you can remember,

over to Pop's, every Christmas, every get-together,

someone will be in with accordion, guitar.

- Oh, definitely. - Right?

And that's what I wanted, someone be able

to come in and grab it. And even if you can't play,

you'll try to make up something. - Little jig.

See if we can put some nice scuffs on this new floor.

Well, we'll see.

We did this custom fireplace.

If you remember, that was a window behind there.

- It was. - So we took out the window,

real wood burning.

And there's nothing better to be able to sit down here,

enjoy a warm cup of coffee, cold drink.

Definitely. Definitely.

And you done a beautiful job on it.

The bookcases that the b'ys built in the shop.

And all them old books-- - All your old books.

Yeah. Well, they came from the Bartlett's house too.

I noticed you put 'em all behind glass and put 'em up

nice and high, what's the thought behind that?

I want 'em behind glass 'cause they're really rare.

Some of them are datin' back to 1830.

And I know they're up high, but I'm gonna put

a ladder to it later on. So the idea is,

you just can't come and grab one and read it.

You need to go to the front counter

and actually ask for one. We'll take it out,

we'll give it to ya.

It's a lot of history and that's the idea.

You come, you pick out a book,

you sit down there next to the fire.

You put a lot of thought into this. Nice job.

I've been thinking about this place for three years,

so... - Uh-huh.

Randy, when he gets something in his head,

I have two feelings about it.

Sometimes, "What's gonna happen?"

and also being very proud,

because when he gets something in his head,

he just runs with it. And then, at the end of the day,

it turns out to be like this:

beautiful space and something

where the community can come together.

When you first started talking about this, b'y,

I didn't believe and I couldn't see what you were lookin' for.

But now that I see it, saving the hall

and bringing it back to this... perfect job.

And that's what I love doing, saving old buildings.

Especially this one. Building it for the community,

I wanted to save it for the community and bring in

everybody else, not only here in Brigus,

but all over the country. And I can't wait to show it off.

Look at the ceiling.

That place looks awesome.

Oh, the old church pews. Nice!

Man, this is crazy changes.

Do you remember the old hall?

My kids got baptized here

so it's a big difference from this. This is beautiful!

Oh, wow.

Holy, look at this place.

What a transformation.

- Looks good, guys! - Thanks! What do you think?

It is amazing. Look at the fireplace!

Oh, real flames, real fire, keeping you warm.

Wow! That is beautiful.

- Holy ! - Fantastic job.

What a difference!

There's some difference from the first day we started here.

Holy .

This could be a place for a party.

The windows... - I know.

We put a good many hours into these custom features.

But seeing them all laid out together, looks really good.

Those built-ins look amazing.

Yeah. Self-praise is better than no praise, I suppose.

The structure of the place never changed.

The paint makes some change, don't it?

Oh, it's wicked.

Interested in reading a book?

No.

B'ys did a good job on the tables. Turned out really nice.

- How's it going? - We're cozy.

We're enjoying

the wood-burning fireplace.

I love how you kept the old keys hanging from the doors.

Oh, that's to lock up them books.

They're vintage. - Are they the books

that were in your garage? - Yes.

Are you kidding me?!

I save everything, man!

You has to freaking keep everything.

You know, I can't thank everybody enough

for actually chipping in and doing everything.

Everybody had something to do with every single little piece,

from the books to the rugs, tables, the built-ins,

you name it. Someone touched something

and that's the way this building was built.

Built for the community. A place to come and sit down,

talk to old friends, meet new friends

and reminisce about old times.

That's so good. You should be so proud.

We all should be.

This season was amazing, we had a lot of unique builds,

we had a lot of builds that we actually built on site,

and then we shipped them to site.

Like the chicken coop, you know. That was an amazing project.

But also, my chainsaw got a lot

of abuse by some person.

Hey! Hey!

Ah, jeez!

Break the chain, !

Really?

So we got to give her

a metal detector next time. - Yeah.

Aw! Can't win them all, Nikki.

Can't win them all. You gotta keep them on their toes.

We even actually worked in the water.

We had the fishing stage that we had to build a wharf,

and then put the fishing stage on top of it.

That was another building that we built on site,

shipped it over, it all fit.

That was good.

And then, we actually had to fix up the house 'cause

their house was on logs. - Got it?

Had to fix underneath that.

Well, the challenge was we had to work

around the tides and everything. - Yeah, at that time,

we had the highest tides in a long time.

Could be a couple of feet in difference.

I think my favourite was

when I worked on the gazebo

and the kitchen in North River. For me, that was

a really special kind of family moment.

Yeah, it was a fun project. That gazebo turned out amazing.

And them views looking out over the river.

What do you remember most, Harv, about North River?

Oh, my god. There was roosters everywhere.

All shapes and sizes.

It's a big cock that one, isn't it?

The Artist Pod. Nikki loved that one. - View was amazing.

And how to get Nikki up to do the roof was another story.

What was the point of getting Nikki up to do the roof,

it would blow the head off ya.

Al, I need ya! - Uh-oh. What else is new?

It was the windiest spot we had ever done anywhere.

But you're a shingle queen,

so why wouldn't we have you up to put shingles on?

I don't mind the shingle part.

Can't forget about the b'ys in the wood shop

pulling out all the custom wood shopping skills there.

Like Harbour Pond. That was all custom.

Even your mother and father chipped in.

Yeah. Had to call them in and get them to do a little install.

PJ likes to be boss here.

If they don't have it installed by the end of the day,

they're gonna hear from me.

Lots of custom stuff we've been doing all the past season for sure.

Well, hey, you definitely got mad skills with the woodworking.

Look in here. The tables, the built-ins.

I gotta say was great

when I took Randy to Battle Harbour.

It ended up to be a great trip.

Definitely in the history of

Battle Harbour was amazing.

Oldest building on the waterfront.

They put the knowledge of shipbuilding

into the construction of actual buildings.

Using the knees actually for support.

Everyone should go and experience it.

Definitely an amazing year.

So many neat projects and we got a lot more unique ones.

People are just reaching out all over the country, really,

so we're just trying to figure out how we can

go on our next adventure.

Who knows where we're gonna end up?!

There's always

an adventure with Randy. Always.

Hey, Harv, I think we're getting cold.

I think we need some more logs before the guests comes up.

I'll get a log! You get the guests.

Wow! Look at the ceiling!

Great job.

I'm gonna bring people in

to kind of show off the space.

I would love their feedback.

I love their criticism if there's anything that

they might wanna see change or what they may like,

and then I can kind of take that

and apply it to phase 2.

One's who don't like it, I'll charge them to get out.

My favourite is the memory wall.

Yeah. It's gorgeous.

Embracing like the modern and the old altogether.

Everybody getting ready to put on the scuffle?

We're gonna try the floor, see if it's gonna be durable.

So when the b'ys starts playing, start dancing.

Oh, this is beautiful.

What a boom for the village here. It's amazing.

It's definitely a place that I would love to come

and sit and have a coffee.

I'm feeling great and it was amazing to finally get

to see my chicken coop done.

It's absolutely fantastic.

So I'm looking forward to my new babies coming

and living in their new home.

This is absolutely beautiful.

It's really injecting life back into the community.

It all works. I mean, the tables are gorgeous.

Love the tables.

Yeah, fabulous. It's awesome!

I'd like to have a party in here.

- Oh, yeah. - We should get married again

and we should have it here. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!

No, no! First time was...

First time was enough.

Yeah, yeah.

I wanna thank everybody for coming.

It's been a special day to be able to show you this space.

And you know, everyone to see old friends, meet new friends

and I want to give a big shout out to my team.

You know, I wouldn't be able to make this happen without them

and we've been through a lot of adventures.

And here's to many more adventures

in the Vindicator Press.

difuze