Original subtitles

There is no project that is more emotionally charged

than doing a family's vacation home.

These places come with long-held traditions

and big expectations that can be hard to manage,

especially when the family is your own.

TERRY: I'm capturing this for our family video.

So here I am out in the country dealing with the trees...

Let's just make sure it's the right color.

...weather...

That can cause a lot of delays.

DANIELLE: ...my brother-in-law's timelines...

NORMAN: I don't see the windows.

...and my sister's champagne taste.

Working with family's the best.

My name is Danielle Bryk.

I'm a designer and a renovator,

and this is the story of my lakeside build.

¶¶

There's only about six weeks to go

before our family reunion at the lake house.

My sister Terry and her husband Norman

really want it finished by the holidays,

but I have not been up as much lately.

I've been kind of MIA, but there's just a lot going on.

There's a lot of decisions that need to be made.

I just need to know -- this is the color

that I was saying is a little bit warmer.

I think Norman will like it better.

This one goes all the way down and matches this flooring.

We can't make them ourselves, really, you know,

because it's their house, their taste.

There's paint colors, tiles, flooring.

I'd like to see them soon.

This is when I need you.

I don't need you when we're framing the place,

but I need you now.

DANIELLE: I cannot believe how quickly the weather has turned,

and that can cause a lot of delays with deliveries,

with construction.

[ Turn signal clicking ]

Oh! That must be the tiles!

¶¶

It's cold, it's wet, and the poor delivery guy

shows up with a broken wrist.

DANIELLE: Jim saves the day.

Okay, wait, wait.

After all of this, let's just make sure it's the right color.

Is it all right?

Yeah, yeah.

No, that's it.

Good. Okay. [ Laughs ]

These boxes are really wet.

DANIELLE: Who's doing the tiling?

'Cause don't show them all these boxes of mosaics

'cause they'll run away.

JIM: Danielle -- she hopped up in the truck,

and it was all falling apart, but she did a good job.

She's strong. [ Laughs ]

I'm stronger than I look. I told you.

The boxes are breaking

because they're soaking wet on the bottom,

so they're, like, literally falling apart.

Oh, my God.

We've got tile in the woods.

Like, oh, boy. Look at this.

This is what site supervision is,

and this is exactly the [bleep] that would drive my sister nuts.

And of course, here comes another load of drywall

in the sleet. [ Laughs ]

[ Beeping ]

JIM: Tom, where you want 'em?

Have you got someone to do these tiles,

or what's going on with the tiles?

To lay the floor tiles? Yeah.

Uh, no.

I'm really starting to feel the pressure,

both about the budget and the timeline.

And I'm just gonna have to start making decisions by myself.

This is the second delivery,

I think, at least, of drywall for this house.

[ Sighs ] It's unbelievable.

I feel like I have just run a marathon,

and I'm not even the one carrying

the 12-foot drywall boards in.

We have drywalled most of the space,

but there's still some to go, but we're ready for floors.

We're ready for the interior doors.

And we're ready to start tackling those tiny mosaic tiles

that everybody cannot wait to work with.

The idea is that the floor and the walls all are tiled.

The walls, too?

The walls, too -- all of them,

but not the ceiling.

What about the window ledges?

Can we do a thin wood jam or not?

Well, we haven't got much clearance on those windows.

You know what? Let's just paint this black, then.

Yeah, you're gonna have to.

You don't want this window crank hitting it.

Okay, let's --

Ron's got that epoxy paint, too.

Yeah. It's great for those.

It's totally fine.

This is not gonna have any water.

The shower is all over there. Plus, there's a glass panel.

The hardest thing with this tile is gonna be cutting it,

especially these angles.

I do feel you on the angles. I know. I know.

So I'm wondering if we can

maybe go up to that corner and cut a straight line.

Well, even -- yeah, or if we can get an edging.

an edging to fit in there

so these tiles kind of fit up into it.

A little black edging... Yep.

...I think would be perfect.

And it'll save a lot of time. Okay.

It'll hide any imperfections in the cuts.

I'm all for that. All righty.

Save time and grief.

Time and grief, yeah. [ Laughs ]

[ Danielle laughs ]

My to-do list is huge.

And now I need to find a tile guy.

¶¶

[ Sighs ]

[ Sighs ]

So many decisions.

So, I need to settle on the hardwood floors

because Terry sometimes has trouble making decisions.

TERRY: Is raw concrete gonna -- you know, with patina,

it's gonna be darker, is it not?

Because I'm gonna cry if that's what we're getting.

DANIELLE: No, obviously, we don't want you to get

something that makes you cry.

We need to get on this.

I have tried to shop with Terry, and she -- you know,

she sometimes has trouble making a decision.

Knowing that you're gonna use an engineered floor,

we need to know the width.

Do you prefer -- Oh, my God.

What is an engineered floor, again?

This is -- Oh. Because with a wide plank --

Is it real? So it's real?

It's real wood? Yes, it's real.

Terry probably doesn't understand, or care,

for that matter, [Laughs]

that solid wood can expand and contract.

And because the house is so close to the lake,

I mean, honestly, this is the last thing

they need to worry about, is buckled floors.

Engineered floors are still real hardwood.

They've just been manufactured in a way

that makes them resistant to expansion and contraction.

So there's a lot of different layers,

cross-layers of the wood as a base that are glued together.

And then you've got a nice, thick veneer of solid hardwood

that even if it's thick enough,

you can sand them down again a couple of times.

I know she wants hardwood, but we have to go with

engineered in this situation 'cause there's humidity,

there's gonna be water, and she wants those wide planks.

There are a ton of people that use the lake house,

so summertime, wintertime.

There are sand, sleet, snow, [Laughs] water.

These floors are going to take a beating.

Terry needs to trust me on this.

I'm just gonna make the call and go with engineered,

and I just have to pick the color.

The trouble is, Terry likes that very whitewashed look

and Norman does not want white, so...

Look at all the samples.

And what color do you like?

This one.

That's too -- This is the one --

This is the first one!

Is it? How do you know? You are a crazy woman.

I don't know.

[ Inhales sharply ] Oh, my gosh.

It's a huge decision, too, 'cause it's like everything.

[ Chuckles ] I mean, it's honestly everything.

Hmm...

Actually, I kind of like this one because it's got --

Like, it's light,

but it's got all those rustic saw marks and stuff in it.

[ Exhales ]

You know what? I'm not gonna throw this back to Terry.

I'm picking this one.

I'm making a decision.

I'm gonna let Jim know

because we need to get this ordered ASAP.

¶¶

The floors are one of the most expensive finishes

in the whole house because there's so much of it.

And so we've got one chance to install this properly,

especially with this drywall reveal that we're doing.

It's very finicky.

All right.

Just want to see this for myself [Laughs] 'cause I'm stubborn.

I want to make sure. Yeah, this fits beautifully.

So, this is that drywall reveal that has been such a big pain

in everybody's bum. [ Laughs ]

We didn't want to do baseboard.

We wanted that very modern look to make it look like it

went all the way down, but we need to leave

a little bit of expansion space for this hardwood

in case it expands in the summer or whatever.

And in order to not see a space between the wall

and the hardwood, we've got this trim detail.

So this is gonna fit underneath.

We're probably gonna paint that bottom part,

like, a color to match the floor,

but it's just gonna be that very seamless, modern look.

I will say, I think it was worth -- [ Laughs ]

I think it was worth it.

¶¶

Looks cool.

¶¶

To be honest, I was very nervous

when Terry and Norman asked me to manage this project.

I mean, they are my family.

The stakes are huge. This is their dream.

So it's a lot to manage.

But Terry's been, you know, with me the whole way.

She's been so supportive.

She's, like, getting in there with me,

getting her hands dirty.

But something has happened now, and it could change everything.

Terry's -- she was hospitalized last week

for what we thought was a stroke.

¶¶

DANIELLE: Hey, Jim.

Hi, Danielle. How are you?

Oh, my gosh.

So, just a couple of things that we're dealing with.

Terry's -- I don't know if you knew she had some health issues,

like off and on.

I heard her mention something about tests one day.

Yeah. So, she was hospitalized last week for almost a week.

Oh, I didn't know. Yeah.

With what we thought was a stroke.

So, I got a call first thing in the morning.

I was literally just getting out of bed, and it was Terry,

and I knew something was wrong

'cause she never calls me that early,

and she could barely speak.

And I knew.

I just hung up the phone, called 911, ran over there.

And by the time I got there, the ambulance was coming,

and we took her into the hospital,

and she stayed for almost a week.

And her son, Noah, is the one who was with her that morning.

And so, you know, it was -- it was terrifying for him.

We don't know what it is.

It turns out, the scans showed it was not a stroke,

but we're still trying to figure out what's going on.

She probably doesn't need the stress of this.

Exactly. I know.

That's why I'm trying to take over everything

and just, like, try to smooth it all over.

We just really want to get this done for them.

She has been having health issues for over 10 years now,

but they're getting worse and worse.

The episodes are happening closer and closer together.

And this has never happened.

How is Norman?

DANIELLE: Well... [ Sighs ]

I think he's stressed beyond belief because he's got to be,

you know, on the other side of the world

and yet, you know, wants to be here.

So it's been really tough.

He called me the other day, but he didn't tell me that.

I didn't know.

Yeah, yeah, he was here. I didn't have a clue.

The entire family is planning to come for the holidays

and, you know, it would be great to just

have it somewhat finished so we could all just be together

'cause, really, that's what it --

it's the only thing that matters.

If there's anything I can do to...

Thank you so much, Jim. You've been amazing. We're all here for you.

Honestly, like, it's good. No. And they feel in good hands.

So just wanted to let you know.

Health is an important thing. It's the most important thing.

It's the only thing, right?

That's right. I know.

Nothing else really matters.

We'll get it done.

It's weird because she's my big sister,

so she takes care of everybody.

So it was really scary, actually.

[ Sniffles ]

¶¶

With everything that's been going on with Terri,

I am a little bit behind in everything that I need to do

to finish this up, but I am more motivated

than ever to finish this exactly as Terri wants,

modern with clean lines and an industrial flair,

and in time for Norman's homecoming

and our family reunion.

Wow! Hello.

This is really good news that this floor is going in.

It looks fantastic.

And how long do you think the job is gonna take?

Well, you're looking at approximately 1,000 square feet,

so three to four days.

Well, I'm gonna leave you to it.

I know there's a lot of work to do.

And now that I know that it's in good hands,

I'm just -- I can't wait to see the finished product.

¶¶

CRAIG: We've scraped the floor to get any plaster or glue

or any debris that's stuck to it.

And then Anthony sunk all the nails down along all the joints,

and we planed all the plywood joints

because due to the floors

getting rained on when the house was building,

sometimes what happens is they will peak.

It's a lot of hours of prep, but once it's done,

then bang, bang, bang, bang, bang --

everything falls into place.

¶¶

My goodness.

So glad we did the wood. It's beautiful.

[ Gasps ] Oh, my gosh.

Dust everywhere. These doors are so beautiful.

I pushed Terry to go for the solid-wood interior doors.

I mean, yes, they're more expensive,

but they are totally in keeping with the ethos of this place

and with passive house.

The whole idea behind passive house

is super energy efficiency

and using materials that do not conduct the cold.

Besides, they're so pretty. [ Laughs ]

And they feel so good!

And they're gonna make Norman happy

because they are gonna warm up this big, white box.

And I haven't even bothered Terry with

all of these decisions like stain color and stuff,

because I just don't want her to --

I don't want her to worry about anything.

I just want to take care of everything.

I think she's gonna find this place so beautiful

and calming and stunning.

So I just want to take care of it.

So, I decided to go with a dark-gray stain.

I know it's still gonna read kind of brown

because mahogany is very, very warm,

but it's important

it doesn't clash with the whitewashed floors.

And I just thought if we painted these,

it would just be too cold in here.

We want to start warming this lake house up.

This particular stain has no VOC.

It's all-natural.

That looks nice.

I actually prefer to put stain on with a brush,

but this stain is so thick that it almost needs

to soak into this applicator.

The thing is, I -- I did --

I am dripping more than I like to.

[ Laughs ]

¶¶

Grays really tone down the reds in wood.

It's like hair. I know this from hair.

They use, like, a green kind of toner

to get rid of that red, brassy color.

I decided to stain the doors myself.

I'm gonna start doing a few things

just to help speed up the process.

Everybody's been so busy.

You know, it's one of the things I'm lucky I am able to do

some of these things myself because I am a contractor.

Now I'm gonna be tall enough.

Barely.

[ Laughs ]

Barely.

Sometimes, when things are a bit stressful or out-of-control,

I honestly find that doing something like this

or something like painting or any kind of carpentry

is just, like, something you can control.

And it just [Exhales] makes me calm right down.

¶¶

Ah! Hi. How are you feeling?

Mm, a little tired, but I'm good.

I'm glad to be home.

You have to see this place!

¶¶

[ Saw whirring ]

¶¶

DANIELLE: Terry is going to love these floors.

They are so cool.

They still have that light feel,

but they've got so much character.

You can still see the saw marks.

They are perfect for a house full of kids and dogs and boots.

They're just perfect.

[ Saw whirring ]

¶¶

¶¶

This is so much work!

[ Laughs ]

It's a lot of work -- ugh --

to wipe this stuff off.

¶¶

You know what?

When everything's finished and they are all done

beautifully and everything's clean,

I think it's actually gonna look really good.

One down, seven to go. [ Laughs ]

I just want to get this place finished so that

when the whole family comes together,

there's this awesome place for everyone to stay

and to be together.

And I just want it to be even more beautiful

and more special than we were planning, and --

[ Clears throat ]

Yeah.

[ Chuckles ]

That's all.

[ Cellphone rings ]

Ah!

It's Terry.

Hi. TERRY: Hi.

How are you feeling?

A little tired, but I'm good.

I'm glad to be home.

You look good.

[ Chuckles ]

You have to see this place!

I'm gonna turn it around.

The floors look incredible.

TERRY: Oh, I can't thank you enough for do--

Oh, my God! They're gorgeous!

And look, the reveal is perfect.

It worked out beautifully.

So we've got that super clean kind of line.

It looks so modern and, yeah, simple and clean.

I'm so excited! That is so beautiful.

[ Laughs ] I know. It's insane.

It's like the water -- I don't know.

Every time I walk in here, my my jaw just drops.

And look at this. Look at these doors.

Oh, my gosh. It is so beautiful.

It really reminds me of when we were in Africa

and they had these beautiful places we stayed at.

These doors were grand.

They looked beautiful and simple and organic.

And I love that it's in my lake house.

Yeah!

The amazing thing is, I cannot tell you

how much it's blowing out there, and it is balmy in here.

Aren't you glad I made you go with passive-house standards?

[ Laughs ]

I didn't even know what that meant.

I thought I was doing it all the time. [ Laughs ]

There's nothing passive about you, girl.

Don't even worry at all about this.

We won't. I love you.

I can't believe that you're doing this

and that I wasn't there to help you.

Oh, don't worry about it.

It's a lot easier without you here! [ Laughs ]

Are you just saying that?

Yeah, that's what I say, too, sometimes.

Oh, great. Oh, my God.

Don't worry about it.

I'm not.

Now my dog's here 'cause he thinks I'm, like --

Aww! Chewy!

Oh.

But thank you so much. I just...

No, don't worry about it.

I'm not. I'm not now. It looks great.

All right.

Just drive home carefully.

I will. Bye, guys.

Norman, have a safe trip back to Budapest,

and don't worry about anything, okay?

I won't. I will and I won't, okay?

[ Laughs ] Okay. All right.

Bye. Bye.

¶¶

The irony is we did a bunch of things

in the design of this place,

like putting the master bedroom on the main floor,

having double doors there,

not doing a curb in the shower so that it was accessible.

We did these with the idea that, for my parents who are aging,

you know, that this would make it possible for them to visit

and to be here comfortably.

And the irony is, you know, now this is good for Terry.

And I think, frankly, we should all be considering

these things when we're building because you never know.

¶¶

We have been waiting four months for this door,

and here it is.

I love it!

¶¶

DANIELLE: This lake house rebuild is finally nearing the end.

It's finally transitioning from that empty shell

to a really homey space.

My sister is feeling better.

She's back on her feet a bit and really full of opinions.

Remember, Norman wanted a wood stove like the one

that was in the old lake house.

Remember? No.

That little -- the wood stove.

He was the one that said,

"I want a gas fireplace because I'm getting too old

for coming up and chopping wood and putting in there."

He just wants to press a button and poof, it's there.

I was the one that said I wanted a wood fireplace.

Typical Terry.

¶¶

The biggest thing is that I'm balancing

Terry and Norman's different aesthetics.

Norman wants the feel of his old cabin,

that rustic, dark, character kind of space.

And Terry loves that wide-open, modern,

clean-lined, uncluttered space.

So that is like a constant back-and-forth,

a constant dance.

And I want this space to have character, to have presence

as soon as you pull up in the driveway.

We're taking this old door out,

getting ready for the new one to come.

[ Beeping ]

I hope the guy makes it.

DANIELLE: I'm really making a statement with the architecture here.

This is a tall building. It's black. It's monolithic.

The front door has to be dynamic.

We have been waiting four months for this door, and here it is.

¶¶

The warmth of that wood is the only thing in this entire

exterior color scheme that is, like, different.

So it's all impact. I love it!

¶¶

The door is not just about style.

It is part of the passive-house system.

So, passive house, meaning you want to be

as energy-efficient as possible.

You want to lose as little heat as possible.

This door is the perfect seal.

So we've already added tons of that insulation.

Now we're gonna keep all that heat in.

¶¶

I am looking forward to closing this door.

It's getting very cold inside.

This looks amazing.

It's absolutely stunning.

[ Hammering ]

Oh, my God.

It is --

Oh! Ah, it was so worth it!

[ Sighs ]

I really like this door.

¶¶

[ Drill rattling ]

All right.

With everything starting to come together,

I am really excited to put some finishing touches on.

And this is Venetian plaster,

and I'm gonna put it behind the bed in the master bedroom

to give this room a very sort of cocoon-like feel.

I saw this done in a place in Mexico that we went to,

and Terry loved it.

It just adds that kind of texture.

I am learning as I go with this.

It's not like paint.

[ Scraping ]

I already love this. This is so cool.

The amazing thing is, like the old sort of lake house,

which was just this tiny cabin --

it was really not pretty.

It was not even that functional, and we had such an amazing time

because of the environment, because of the lake.

So all of these pretty things that I'm doing in here

are just, like, a bonus to me, because we're still gonna

have that amazing time with everybody.

But then we get to walk back into this.

On my next lake-house project, I will be a pro.

¶¶

[ Cellphone rings ]

I want to show you the wall that I'm getting blisters from.

You need to -- You owe me a manicure.

TERRY: Okay.

I'll do a mani-pedi if it's good. [ Laughs ]

Doesn't it look so cool?

Oh, my God.

Yeah. It's drying. That is awesome!

That is so beautiful!

I know!

Listen, I'm gonna let you go because I think that I'm ruining

your cement treatment on your wall by letting it dry.

I'll text you soon. Love it. Okay. Bye.

[ Clicks tongue ]

[ Saw whirring ]

¶¶

DANIELLE: One of the ideas behind passive house is

that you don't necessarily need that traditional heating system.

And instead, you have a heat-recovery ventilator,

so an HRV, and that helps heat the air, even in the wintertime.

¶¶

I don't even need to duck down here.

Look at this. We've got an HRV here.

This is capturing all of the heat

and thermal energy from the stale air.

And then it's expelling the stale air

and bringing in fresh air.

But it's capturing that heat first

so that that new fresh air

is already preheated when it comes in.

So it's like an incredibly efficient system.

¶¶

I've explained to Terry and Norman

that with a passive house,

the idea is that you are not supposed to pierce the envelope,

and that means you don't poke holes in the building

for things like a dryer vent or a chimney.

But that being said,

a fireplace is so important to Terry and Norman.

They're not willing to compromise on it.

The house has not been designed

to house a wood-burning fireplace of this size.

You would need a chimney

outside the exterior that we don't have.

It's been designed to use... I know. Okay.

...the wood stove. I know it's too late now.

If I were to say your lake house has a brand,

this would be the brand.

Right?

When you look at -- you you drive up

and it's very stark, straight, severe lines,

and that's what this is, but to me,

the fact that you've got all the natural wood under here...

Yeah, I know. It's like the perfect balance.

I love this, actually. You need somewhere to store the wood.

Oh, I know. You and Norman.

¶¶

So, we have finally settled on a wood-burning stove.

And I found this incredible piece of stone

that happens to be the exact shade of the floors.

It has a little bit of that rough edge.

So it's just, like, perfect for this.

I'm hoping it kind of just blends in with the floor

and isn't, like, a feature, you know?

It's kind of the same tone.

And it is. It's very similar. Yeah.

We can make the corner back here.

So you do want to shoot for that 8 inches in front?

At least.

Yeah. Okay, so we'll do that.

[ Engine starts ]

[ Saw whirring ]

¶¶

¶¶

If we can just get in that corner.

¶¶

I think it's perfect. I like seeing that rough edge.

And then the fireplace just goes on the top, and boom.

What is not to like about this situation?

So, Terry doesn't like it.

[ Chuckles ] Geez.

Okay, I've got to call her.

Are you serious? 'Cause you paid for it.

Yesterday, he said he wanted it because the floor --

because of the embers and stuff.

TERRY: I know, but --

It doesn't look stupid at all.

It's like you don't even see it.

It's the same color as the floor.

It's really hard with Terry not being here

because I'm sending her pictures

and she's not getting the whole sense of the room.

And she's just like, "No, I think that looks stupid,"

is what she said, so I don't know what to do.

Fireplace is coming in,

and we're just gonna have to make a choice.

I don't know.

¶¶

All right.

So, with this fireplace,

we need 18 inches in front of it.

You want 18?

Yeah, that's code.

And right now you have 9 on the high sides.

So we need to bring that stone there to there.

And how how wide this way does it have to be?

The width is good, actually, of the stone.

52 is okay?

So you need 6 inches on each side.

6 inches on each side plus 18 in the front?

That's right. Yeah, that's gonna be a problem.

And then 7 on the back, which you do have.

We're gonna rough everything in, and we'll put the pipe up.

We'll clean everything up to make sure

we have all the proper parts, and then we can come back

when you have the proper stone, and we install it.

Okay. Thanks. Okay. You're welcome.

¶¶

We need to bring this stone

about 18 inches out from the unit.

And that's just in case any embers

were to fall in front

as you open the door and move your new logs in.

It's just a safety thing, has to be noncombustible.

And, you know, it's all roughed in. It's ready to go.

The only thing they have to do

is drill through with their fresh-air intake.

So we're able to bring our new stone in,

set it down, fix everything,

and then they're gonna come back and hook it all up.

I think I'm definitely gonna stick with

the original wood, though.

¶¶

Jim is gonna be here any minute with another stone. All right.

¶¶

So you've got an option of having this edge

facing out from the stove... Mm-hmm.

...or this one.

This one's a little chewy.

DANIELLE: Yeah, I think the other one.

I think we'll have to go with the other one, eh?

-Yeah. -Okay.

Okay, sounds good. Thanks, Jim.

[ Saw whirring ]

¶¶

¶¶

So beautiful! That's perfect!

JIM: That's not bad.

It means we can have a fireplace.

I think it's perfect.

I know how important this fireplace is

to Terry and Norman, and I've had to make some

design decisions about it without them.

And I just hope they like it.

DANIELLE: You got it? That's just loose.

So that's good.

This is my son. Hey, Dempsey.

¶¶

Hey! Hey, what's up?

How was the drive?

It was fine. It was fine?

Yeah, it's pretty long. It's long?

Thank you. I'm really sore.

You're sore? You're welcome. Yeah.

All right. How big is this thing?

What do you think of the house?

Oh. Yeah.

It's great, right? Yeah, it's really cool.

[ Laughs ] Yeah. It looks like a face.

Okay, so, this is for all their firewood.

Okay. But how is the firewood gonna stay --

Oh, they're just gonna stack it?

It's gonna be stacked.

That's not how I thought it was gonna go.

I thought it was gonna be, like,

for underneath the TV or something,

and then you put a slab of wood or something

and then put books on it.

You were wrong. It's a firewood holder.

And let's just lift it high for a second

till the top of it lines up approximately with this.

No, we're fine. How the hell are we gonna mount this?

You're gonna hold it.

Are you kidding me? And I'm gonna screw it in.

I'm not kidding you! Look, I can hold it myself...

That's impossible. ...on my calf muscle.

Let go and you'll see.

See?

Okay. Okay, so you don't have it.

Okay, we'll prop it up, for goodness sake.

I just wanted to see. Let's center it.

I'm getting stuff all over my fingers here.

Well, that's what happens when you make an honest living.

You get dirty. Move that way.

Okay. Okay.

What do you think?

Do you think you can hold it here while I stand back

and have a look at it?

This constant back-and-forth and juggling between like,

"Will they like it?

Does Terry like it? Does Norman like it?"

It really has me second-guessing myself.

DANIELLE: So...

Don't take too much time.

You're also looking at me, not the things.

Okay, it's good.

I don't know. Hang on one second. Don't --

Just a sec. I got to see from over here.

It's incrementally falling, just very slowly but surely.

Oh, it's just that I love that door so much.

I don't know if I want to put anything in front of it.

Okay, let's just leave it down for now.

Can you help me put it down? I'm just gonna drop it.

Okay, let's...

put it down.

Inside.

Frickin' weird to have it in front of a door.

Well, it's because you want to stack all your firewood

so that it stays dry.

Yeah, but... You know what I mean?

Yeah. It just feels weird.

I don't know.

It messes with the chi.

Pardon me?

It messes with the chi. It messes with the feng shui.

What the heck, is your mother a designer or something?

Well, I think it does.

I know. I think it does, too. I'm torn. I'm torn.

Because this is a nice, open space.

But that then cuts it.

I know. And the door is so beautiful.

But we designed the door to be asymmetrical like that

so that we could put the firewood there.

It's not asymmetrical 'cause you have this on this side --

It's asymmetrical.

That's wider than it is over there.

Okay, let me just --

Let me just think about it for a second.

JIM: I've just come out to check the well.

We were getting some grit.

Until we get this problem looked at,

there won't be any water.

DANIELLE: This whole fireplace thing has been a bit of a process,

but I really feel like Terry and Norman

are just gonna love this.

And besides, once the drills come out,

[Laughs] past the point of no return.

¶¶

¶¶

We're gonna put a hole in here so the fresh air can be drawn

into the wood stove from outside

so we're not drawing warm, heated air and waste in it.

¶¶

[ Drill whirring ]

¶¶

¶¶

[ Whirring ]

¶¶

¶¶

The insulated hose just fits on this, okay,

and then up into the stove.

That does a nice haul.

You're tired already? I'm tired.

You need to get energized.

I lifted this ladder.

I'm gonna bring the bottom of it this way, so you're gonna --

No. Dempsey? What?

It's gonna be centered between here and the door.

Are you kidding me? What?

Are you a diva?

Hang on, hang on, hang on. Let me just have a look.

Why do you always have to go get a look?

Because I can't get a sense of it if I'm right up against it.

I know, but you always try to get a sense of it while I'm holding it.

Dempsey. What am I supposed to do?

Visualize.

I'm cold. I'm hungry.

Are you kidding me? And I'm tired.

Are you kidding me right now? You're complaining?

And my arms hurt.

[ Drill whirring ]

You're drilling at an angle.

I know. I'm doing it on purpose.

If you go for a look one more time...

[ Laughs ] ...I'm just gonna drop it.

Are we gonna keep it here, or is this all for naught?

Pardon me?

Are we gonna keep it here, or is this all for naught?

I don't know yet. Do we need to know the answer?

Are you literally just drilling these in so you can go get a look?

Without me holding it?

A little bit. Oh, my God.

Okay, don't move.

I -- Okay.

You know what? They say never work with family.

I wonder why. Wonder why.

[ Drill whirring ]

Yeah. I would do more on that side.

No, it's fine to get a look. Can I let go?

Yeah. Yeah, that's good.

It wants to be the same height as the door.

It just looks high.

I think it looks a little -- even though it's centered,

I feel like it looks a little too tight to the door.

What do you think?

I think we should leave it where it is.

I can't trust your opinions now on anything.

So, you have to envision it all stacked with this cool wood.

That might look awesome, right?

[ Chuckling ] With cool wood?

Yeah.

You don't get it, do you? No.

You don't think wood looks cool?

This, like, amazing stack of wood.

It's like this idea of abundance.

You know, like...

[ Clicks tongue ]

Good Lord.

Oh, I do like the wood in there.

Yeah. You know what? It's good right where it is.

Yeah. No.

I think we pull it out,

like, this way just to give it a tiny bit more breathing room.

And I think it's good. What do you think?

Yeah. Let's do it.

Are you on your cellphone?

[ Louder ] Are you on your cellphone?

Now I can see all the people texting you.

Okay, I'm not on my cellphone anymore. Okay.

[ Drill whirs ]

Okay.

Let's take a picture and send it to Terry.

I really like this, 'cause you know why? Why?

That's, like, all one kind of wood,

and the door is a different kind of wood.

The ceiling is a different kind of wood.

The ceiling's gonna be a different color?

Yeah, so all of these different wood tones

are, like, welcoming you to this house,

which is otherwise so austere.

Very.

-Right? -Yeah.

All right. Let's see what she says.

All right.

[ Exhales ]

[ Laughing ] It's not stupid. It's not stupid.

I think it's perfect. It blends in with the floor.

It's got that rough edge. It's all-natural.

This is like the gravitational pull for our family,

is a fireplace, a wood-burning fireplace.

I'm so happy about this.

So worth piercing the envelope for it.

I know that's, like, a passive-house no-no.

But it's a calculated risk. What can I say?

All we have to do is get the bathrooms and the kitchen,

and...

I'm so done.

My vision for the master bathroom

was based on a Mediterranean wet room.

So a very minimalist, monochromatic space.

There will be a glass panel for the shower.

So very, very low-key.

I needed to get everything in place

because I've got this craftsperson

coming from very far away

to do the waterproofing treatment on the walls.

And it's this really cool mixture of plaster,

lime, wax, and water.

And I just got a phone call from Jim saying there is no water.

JIM: I've just come out to check the well.

We were getting some grit, sand, in the pump --

in the water pump.

So we think that there's grit, or sand, in the well, possibly.

And we've had this problem

with a couple other wells on the beach road here.

Getting this bathroom finished is incredibly important

because we have the entire family coming here.

And I know that Terry and Norman

are gonna want to spend the night.

So I need to give them a toilet at the very least.

I mean, that's hard to do without running water.

JIM: Until we get this problem looked at,

then there won't be any water.

Only a couple of weeks to go before the big family reunion.

Oh, my goodness! This looks amazing!

Love this!

It has been a long haul and really hands-on.

I am pushing as hard as possible

to make sure everything gets finished.

I just heard them pull up.

Aah!

[ Howling ]