Original subtitles

Drew: Ben and brooke

moved into their forever home seven years ago.

We saw this house, walked in,

and just knew it was the one.

Jonathan: After living abroad for a while,

they decided to come home and start a family.

Moving eight times in 10 years is probably enough.

Drew: They found an incredible community

to raise their children in,

but they're cramped house isn't working for them anymore.

It's very, very squishy.

I don't know what you're talking about.

It's hard to imagine when they become teenagers

even still fitting in this space.

So they need us...

To help them stay in the home they love.

-[ gasps ] -oh my god.

Oh my gosh.

Just so meaningful, and I'm just so grateful

that we could do this and have everyone here.

♪♪

a house is four walls.

Drew: A home, that's where memories are made.

[ laughter ]

that's what I'm talking about!

Oh! [ laughing ] oh, my...

This is "property brothers"...

"forever home."

♪♪

♪♪

there's just a serenity in this neighborhood.

You can feel it.

It might just be the rain, sort of bringing you down,

chilling you out a little bit.

I love the brick home.

And every house is a little different.

-Hey, guys! -Hello.

-How are you? -Perfect timing.

Wait, hold on a second. Jonathan has the same knee pads.

Ooh, look at that. Do yours change color?

-No. -Oh, you're not wearing them.

This is like that crazy community

that I don't think anybody knows about.

It's like a secret pocket right by the lake.

Yes. It's an amazing neighborhood.

We are so happy to be here. And we were lucky to find it.

And we looked for at least six months.

As soon as we came into this neighborhood,

we just fell in love with the community, the home.

We saw this house, walked in, and just knew it was the one.

We saw the lake, it's so nice.

Saw the park around the corner.

Oh, nice.

Lots of kids playing on the street.

So we knew it was an area we wanted to pursue.

After living overseas and having moved

about 9 times in those 10 years,

it was really time for us just to settle down

and then find that forever home

and really raise our family in one spot.

So what do you think?

I like when we have Friday nights here.

We order pizza.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, pizza parties Friday night?

We rotate throughout the community.

A different neighbor hosts.

When we bought the house, one of the conditions

is that we were okay with shutting down the street

for a street party that we have every year.

Oh, wow.

And a whole new group of kids their age

have started to come out.

Parties on the street, pizza,

I mean, who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

This community is amazing.

You can't just pack up and leave a place like this.

Whatever's going on in that house,

we need to make it work for this growing family.

-Oh, this is cute. -Welcome to our house.

Pretty typical for this style of a home.

And then also because you've got a family,

you got lots of storage needs.

What is it with the front entrance that you find

doesn't really work, or is it really

that you just like to get people into the house?

We just like to get people in.

What we find is it's very, very squishy.

Yeah. I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic in here.

Let's go into the living room.

This is actually pretty spacious.

But the funny thing is you have all your furniture --

whoosh! Pushed to the outside.

We have a lot of people coming over for our Friday night

pizza night, et cetera, a lot of play dates.

So we just kind of started adding chairs

as we got them for free from other people.

Have you always dreamt of being a used furniture salesman?

Exactly. It'll be my second job.

Tell us a bit more about the house.

Well, we have a lot of memories here.

Nev moved in when she was about 1 1/2,

when we came home from overseas.

Connor came along like six months later.

I was lucky enough to stay at home with them for many years.

So I spent so much time in this room,

and it used to be not full of furniture,

but full of baby things, play pens.

If you do breathe new life into this home,

you can keep those memories.

You don't have to move somewhere else,

but you can still enjoy making new memories.

Yes, absolutely.

And then that's one of the reasons

why we're so excited about this, as well.

What do you want to see in here?

A lighter hardwood that was more continuous.

A lot would be improved

by having the same flooring throughout.

The big tv takes all of the focus.

So I would love to have an updated fireplace.

We also, like you see, have a lot of toys.

You could definitely use some cabinets to close things away.

Some open shelves would still be nice.

But looking over here, this is more of a storage room

than a dining room.

-Yes. -Yes.

At some point would you like to have an actual dining room

that doesn't have kids' stuff stored in it?

It would be great. We like to entertain a lot.

So when we have kids playing

with all these toys and the piano

and we're trying to sit at the table, it's super squishy.

But for me, one of my pet peeves is the carpet.

The kids coming in and out of the house, tracking in snow.

[ piano plays ]

that just helps make it more dramatic.

But if we were able to transform this into

a beautiful dining area that you can have family

and friends over, does that sound great?

That sounds amazing! Yeah. [ laughs ]

I should carry a piano with me

at all times to have that dramatic effect.

It would be great to have it just as a nice dining area.

So what is this chair over here with the board?

That is a secret code that they wrote

just for the two of you to see who could crack it first.

[ clears throat ]

all right. The number of letters, right?

-L.O. -"I love our house."

-oh! -That is correct.

Yeah!

Wait, how come -- I didn't even -- what?

So she gave you a hint.

Yeah, I know. I can see it's the number of letters.

-"I love" -- okay, you're right. -Takes him longer.

Definitely takes him longer than me.

He had a notebook out with a pen and paper, so, yeah.

I'm a numbers guy.

The other problem is this wall.

I feel like it just kind of closes everything in.

It just cuts the house in half,

and you'll see when we open the fridge it's --

it blocks that whole doorway.

Okay. Let's check out this kitchen.

Oh I see what you mean. That's a big door.

-Hold on, yeah. -That's it.

Yeah.

Crawl under. I don't want to see your legs either.

-Yeah. -Very

I can see how that could be problematic.

Unless you're one of the kids

that can just run underneath.

I think we have to -- all right, here we go.

Ready?

-There is no way. -No way.

-No way. -It's going to happen.

-It's going to happen. -Oh, my gosh.

Aah! It's just not going to -- all right.

Doesn't even work for limbo.

Even seeing how he started, there was no way

he was going to make that.

But I see what you mean,

especially if you're entertaining the neighborhood

and you're having these big pizza parties,

this kitchen is tiny.

If we're all trying to eat dinner together

in that spot, we don't fit.

We have a word wall over there.

So we basically learned to read in this little corner.

Nev is an avid reader now, and this is where it all began.

Do you need that and the dining table?

No, ideally it would be great if we could

just get rid of one and use the space

in a more functional sense.

My dream is to have an island.

Where the heck is your sink?

Oh, it's a weird location for a sink.

Yeah. I really enjoy doing dishes

looking up into my cabinets

instead of out our beautiful window to the backyard.

In addition to that, we have our oven over there.

So we have the stove top over here,

and it's just taking up more counterspace.

The biggest problem is that wall right there separates everything.

So even if you have half your party out there,

they're isolated.

Wall gone. All of a sudden,

you don't need extra square footage.

You have better sight lines.

So far, I think this is where the majority

of the work would have to happen.

Jonathan: Just standing here, I know

I want to take down this wall.

Then I could remove those windows

to extend your cabinet space and give you an island.

Or maybe even close off this entrance for more storage

and do a peninsula.

It'll just come down to how you want to function in the space.

It's a lot of work, but it's definitely doable.

And I think it's something that you guys need.

You've been in this house for seven years.

The kids are only getting bigger.

Yes. It's hard to imagine when they become teenagers

even still fitting in this space because we already barely fit.

Drew: Ben and brooke really did find a great home

and it has an equally impressive backyard.

They have a finished basement,

which is a great play area for the kids.

The master bedroom.

-Oh wow. Good size. -That's big.

Breaking the rules, it says no one allowed.

Jonathan: There's a total of three bedrooms, which is perfect,

but only one bathroom, which is not.

So keeping our focus on the main floor

is where we're going to get the most impact.

What are you guys thinking of spending on a renovation?

We're hoping to stay in and around $180,000.

-Okay. -Okay.

We need you to pack everything out of here,

so that we can jump in and demo.

Drew is going to show you guys an inspiration home

that will show you some of the stuff that you can do.

I can't wait. Yes.

There's going to be a lot of work, clearing things out.

But once you have that done,

we will be back to get things rolling.

Oh my gosh. Thank you!

♪♪

ben and brooke are so lucky

to live in such a chill community

surrounded by great neighbors.

Keep going, nev. You're being sidetracked

and you're playing now. We've got to pack.

Don't forget my poké ball.

Brooke: I didn't realize how many toys we had

until we had to start packing them up.

I totally get why moving isn't an option for them.

But the way the house is currently laid out,

it just won't work for them much longer.

Hey, if we can make pizza parties bigger and better,

well, sign me up.

Well, at least on the bright side,

we're moving for this place and we're not moving again.

-Yes. -Moving eight times in 10 years

is probably enough.

Brooke: Pack it in.

♪♪

this is probably going to come down pretty quick

and pretty easy.

There's no salvaging these cabinets,

so we can just jump right in.

If you want to grab that one there.

-Yeah, I do. -And then the same thing.

If you want to sort of overextend the doors,

bust them out of there.

Okay. Make it look so easy.

-Oh, my gosh. -Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah!

You got a standing ovation from us over here.

♪♪

-now it's loosened up. -Gosh, ready?

Oh, "mom."

found a secret little letter for mom.

What? Is it not open?

-No. -All right. What is it?

That's a note I lost from nev.

"mom."

open it up.

Oh it's just a little "I love you."

aww.

So mine must be somewhere in here.

Let's see if we can find dad.

Don't hold your breath, dad.

Bye, sink.

There we go. All right.

-Aha! -What? No.

-Did you plant that? -Yes!

-What?! -No way.

-No way! There's no way! -What?!

For sure, I told you there would be one for me.

Says "dad," oh, "here's a pity note.

I love you, jonathan."

-aww. -Thanks.

-Put that next to the -- -I didn't want him to feel bad.

Put that in the sink.

Jonathan: Very good.

Jonathan, what would this hole have been down here?

Hold on one sec.

Is that just --

some sort of large rodent.

Oh, no.

-It does look like a chew hole. -It does.

This is why like, even underneath the cabinets,

everything should be a clean, proper finished surface.

When you have stuff that's like that,

it's like it's a sloppy way of doing it.

And then it just promotes for more pest activity.

Oh, my gosh.

-It does look like a chew hole. -It does.

Jonathan: When you have stuff that's like that,

it just promotes for more pest activity.

Oh, my gosh.

We don't want any pests.

Why don't we go through this wall?

-Okay. Yes! -Yes.

Nice.

-Wow! -Nice.

There we go. One more.

I can't believe it.

We don't need to do anything else.

I love it. And one of my favorite parts

is that I can see out the backdoor.

Flex some muscle, and this is the payoff.

Yeah, I can't believe how fast we did it. We're pros.

♪♪

I want to widen this opening.

So I'd like to see if there's anything obstructing here.

Ben and brooke really want their front hall to feel less cramped.

And the best way to solve that problem

is to widen the living room entry.

But before I decide how I'm going to do that,

I need to open up the walls around it to see

if there are any hidden issues

or surprises that might cost more money.

The more pipes and electrical we have,

the more expensive it'll get.

So we're clear here. All right.

Well, I would say if we want to widen this opening here,

it would be a lot less expensive to go this way

because there's nothing obstructing here.

With a house this old, you expect to find a few problems.

And we got pretty lucky in the kitchen,

but now I think our luck just ran out.

-There's no header here at all. -It's structural wall, yeah.

It should be load bearing. So why don't we go up?

I think we should at this point.

All right, so...

Well, you know what? The framing actually goes all the way.

And it's all -- oh no, never mind.

It's over here.

It does end here? Yep. It does end here.

So this is a load bearing wall.

So it's a load bearing wall... With no header.

...With no header above the opening and...

Notch.

...Notch for the old galvanized pipes.

So there's nothing holding any weight here at all.

So regardless of what we do...

We're gonna have to fix that.

-Let's keep clearing it out. -Okay.

♪♪

ben and brooke live in a great neighborhood.

There's no replacing that, but their house needs a lot of work.

-This is the house. -Oh, I love it.

I can already tell I love this style.

So I brought them here to get a better sense

of how they want their home to function and look.

I really like modern farmhouse,

but I have trouble picking within that.

-Yeah. The different finishes? -Yes.

And I know specific what I want,

but I just don't know an overall style.

♪♪

wow. This is so impressive.

This is amazing. It's so bright.

Beautiful.

What is the big thing you notice

the moment you walk in?

This opening and how big it is.

Yeah. So your entrance, I mean, you walk in,

you kind of feel a little bit tight like this.

We can't make your entrance wider,

but we can definitely open up your space into the living room.

That's a great idea.

Come on through here to the dining room.

I love this live edge table.

Beautiful. At home, we're on a smaller table.

We're all cramped in there eating and doing homework.

Having a table this size would be amazing.

Opening up some of the walls as well,

it's going to make things that were cramped

before feel more open.

Yeah.

Now, this house has a powder room

just in behind the closet over there.

Well, if you could put it in a powder room,

that would be ideal.

With the kids and all their friends

constantly coming in and out, tracking mud

through just to use the bathroom.

So a powder room on our main floor would be perfect.

Through to the kitchen, and a big kitchen.

-Oh, my gosh. -Wow.

Wow! This is amazing.

Oh, yeah. I love this.

Yes. First of all, I love islands.

I can imagine having our friends over for pizza nights,

being able to sit around the island

while we're drinking our wine.

I noticed the size of that window.

Absolutely beautiful, looking in the backyard.

And the functionality of having the sink there

and not in the actual corner.

Let me just test.

Yeah. Which way is better?

Ah, you see out to the yard.

It's so practical.

I really like having white kitchens,

but I'm hoping that you'll help get me out of that comfort zone

and maybe add a little bit of splash of color,

or a little bit of different cabinetry.

Yeah. Well, why don't we do this?

We can do a shaker style.

Something just like what you see here and have a backsplash.

I think for the backsplash, we would prefer

maybe something along the lines of like a shiplap style.

I know brooke really likes that.

But we can give you some of this, that light

fresh kind of a feeling.

Those are my two favorite words -- light and fresh.

Good. Good, good.

The one thing that I absolutely love

is this open sight line to the living space.

Wow. Amazing. I love the built-ins.

I like how they have the cabinetry on the bottom,

so that you can store all your junk in there and not see it.

-Yeah. -Mm-hmm.

Then still have this open space for things like your plants

and pictures that you might want to showcase.

Yeah. Now for style for the fireplace,

they have this gigantic gas fireplace.

I like how it's like a focal centerpiece.

It looks amazing. It feels cozy.

It feels welcoming.

And that's what the kind of feel we're looking for in our house.

And I'm just looking back with the flow

and how everything is open. To me, that's really important.

More eyes on the kids and that sort of thing.

Yeah. I mean, I think any family can agree.

It's good to have that flow, that sight line.

I think I got everything from you guys that I need.

Jonathan's going to come up with options,

and then we'll get you over to the house when he's ready.

-It's so exciting! -All right.

Thank you.

This was a big house, but I loved it

because it was full of ideas

for what we can apply to ben and brooke's home.

And now that they've had a chance to explain

exactly what they envision for their place,

I know exactly what I need to tell jonathan.

A wider opening to the living room

and removing their kitchen wall

will make their home feel larger.

Pizza parties are the cornerstone of their community,

so they need more room to dine.

And with so many kids coming and going,

a powder room would be handy.

An island is always functional

and a great place to sit with a glass of wine.

Some color in the kitchen will help liven things up,

and built-ins will give them more options

to show off the objects they love,

and to hide the ones they don't.

♪♪

♪♪

-hey. -There you go.

I actually like it when you set up out here better,

because then you're not in the midst of everything.

Are you saying I get in the way?

No. I just wouldn't want to get you dusty

or anything like that, like your nice jacket.

It's cold out!

Let me button your pockets up here.

Your pockets are all up.

Hey, leave me alone mr. Fashionista.

Look, it's sticking up on the side here.

-All right. -Focus.

Just looking out for you.

-Focus. -All right.

The house tour was great because they were showing me

a few things they're willing to do.

I like the fact that they want

to clearly add a little bit of interest.

They don't want to go too polished.

They want a modern farmhouse feel.

So something that might be

a little bit more comfortable, cozy.

So let's start in the kitchen.

For the countertops.

Do they want actual stone, like the look of marble or granite?

They're actually open. I mean, they do like the look

of something polished like this.

But they were also saying

that they're okay with something with some color.

Then something like this, you can see,

if they went with a medium tone.

They'd prefer not to be able to see the dirt.

So that's why I was thinking something like this

could be better.

Yeah. And then you can see too,

it's just going to transform everything.

It will look nice and light,

contrast nicely with the kitchen.

And is this for the back of the island?

Not for the entry.

This is for the -- yes, the back of the island.

And they can go really big with it.

So I would say this one because of the color.

Well, especially when you see that repeated in a pattern,

it would look pretty cool.

Yeah. They had one big request.

They'd love to squeeze in a powder room if they can.

Adding a powder room to the main floor

is more convenient for homeowners and guests.

Over the years, we've added several to older homes.

But the trick is finding a place to put them,

under stairs, old closets, or reconfiguring your living space.

All of these are great options,

but less space in an already compact home

might not be for everyone.

So this decision really comes down

to personal preference.

They're willing to have you

make the decisions of how to blend.

We want to be careful we don't go to traditional.

Well, I'm going to jump back in.

I left you some more samples inside to look at.

Oh yeah? Okay. Sounds good.

I'm joking, I didn't.

Oh. [ chuckles ]

see you later.

♪♪

[ indistinct conversations ]

what a difference this is going to make.

I don't think they're even expecting

that we're going to widen this opening,

but I hate it when you walk in a front entrance

and it's so closed off.

Even just opening this up a couple of feet,

as soon as you walk in,

you'll have a better sight line to everything.

Well, and not to mention, there was no header before,

and this is a load bearing wall so look how sagged it is.

It's like this.

Not having a header to support a door

or window frame in a load bearing wall is dangerous

and it compromises the structure of a home.

So we need to fix this.

But first drew and I have to whip up some support walls.

There we go. All right. We should be good.

[ saw buzzing ]

♪♪

all right.

All right. I've already cut the top up.

Might have to do it separately.

Oh, and get that guy so it doesn't bounce back on you.

With the old, poorly built framing out of the way,

we can get our new header in place.

And when we're done, this will be so much safer

for ben, brooke, and the kids.

And these will be tight.

[ hammering ]

♪♪

♪♪

oh, my gosh, what a difference already, right from here.

The second you come in, this is fantastic.

This is perfect.

And it's properly supported.

♪♪

-all right. -Hello?

-Hey. -Oh, my gosh.

-Come on in. -Whose house is this?

Ben: This doesn't even look like our place.

-All right. Hey! -Hello?

-Oh, my gosh. [ gasps ] -come on in.

Look at it, it's huge! We can go in together.

Oh there it is. So romantic.

Yes.

-Wow! This looks amazing! -This is incredible.

-Wow! -Whose house is this?

This doesn't even look like our place.

We figured that no matter what gets done, what option

you choose, that front entryway had to open up a bit.

But this is actually the beam that will be going in.

But we don't want to put it in yet

because depending on which option you choose,

it's going to change a little bit of how we frame things.

You want to hear what we've got for ideas?

-Yes, please. -Yeah, let's hear them.

All right. Option one is going to blow your mind.

Your home is full of great memories,

but now it's time to make some new ones

in a more sophisticated space.

Using furniture that's to scale

will make the living room much more inviting.

You also wanted storage, so adding built-ins

to your feature wall will help keep those toys tucked away.

The dining room was lost in clutter,

but because it's the epicenter of your pizza nights,

you need it to function properly.

So a larger table and more room to sit

will make hosting a bunch of kids or family dinner

feel much less crowded.

And with that kitchen wall gone,

you can finally entertain without feeling separated.

I'll remove one window to make room for more cabinets,

and drew also mentioned that you wanted some color

so I'll add two-tone countertops

and a feature tile to your island,

giving the space a one of a kind look.

-An island? -That's perfect.

Yes! I love the thought of having all new floors.

The island is my dream come true.

I did tell jonathan after our inspiration tour

all of those little details.

And the one thing that I said you want to make sure you have

is a seating area for the kids.

With the island, we can work with them

while we're making dinner.

They can do homework, all those sorts of things.

Option one would take six weeks.

-Six weeks. -It would cost $160,000.

So well under your max budget.

-That sounds really good. -That sounds perfect.

I don't even know if I need to hear option two.

I'm already sold.

But we were wondering if we could get a powder room

or not worked in here. Not sure if that's possible?

And that's where option two comes in.

You'd still have the same beautiful living room,

dining room, kitchen with island.

You'd have all of that the same.

The difference is, we take a bit of space

from the corner of your living room to add a powder room.

Not only will this make life more convenient for you,

but even better, you can stop the neighborhood kids

from continually parading all over your house,

every time mother nature calls.

Well that's going to be incredible.

That sounds amazing.

So option two would take seven weeks

and it would come in at $180,000.

I do think it's important to have the powder room.

On the weekend, all the kids run through the house,

just a nonstop rush upstairs.

A powder room would eliminate all that.

I see what you're saying, ben, but I'm not sure

that I want the powder room.

I really like having that space,

where we're going to be sitting and spending our time.

But keep in mind with option one, you're saving $20,000.

Yeah. We definitely want to do some stuff in the front.

And so actually option one would enable us

to do those little things to help our outside

look as good as the inside is going to look.

So that's something else to think about.

Right. But counterpoint,

option two would give us everything that we want

on this floor.

And then it would just take

a little bit longer for us

to get those other things

we want to do outside.

They would just be pushed back a little bit.

And it is our forever home.

That's true.

So what would you say? Option one, six weeks, $160,000.

Beautiful space, but no powder room.

Or option two, where you do get the powder room

and the full open concept.

And that would be $180,000 in seven weeks.

What do you think, ben? I say option one.

Option one?

The kids are getting older.

It's not such a big deal for them to go upstairs anymore.

Well, yeah, I would agree.

Option one is obviously going to be beautiful.

It's going to be a perfect option for us,

and it is good so that we can do

those other little projects around the house as well.

-So you both agree? -Yes, I'm excited.

It's going to be option one.

I know.

You will love it.

For now, you guys are going to have to stay away

and don't peek, don't come back.

When it's done, you can move in.

That's going to be hard.

-See you guys later. -Thank you. Bye.

To be honest, I thought they were going to go for the powder room.

Yeah. Well this saves us a little extra work,

and we get it done a week earlier.

♪♪

the biggest change to ben and brooke's main floor

was removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room.

Now that the temp walls are up

and the ceiling joists have been cut,

we can replace the old support wall with a timber

and steel hybrid beam.

All right, that's good.

Up and over and back this way.

What I love most about this beam is that we can tuck it up flush

with the ceiling joist for a nice continuous,

smooth look, avoiding any bulkhead.

Once it's in place, one end will rest on the exterior block wall

and the other end will have to sit on a post

that will tuck into a rebuilt portion of the kitchen wall.

Here we go.

Notice that drew always wants to do the stuff

that shows he's flexing muscle.

We built this beam out by bolting two 2x8s

on either side of a steel I-beam.

This allows us to attach

the upstairs floor joists using hangers.

All right. We're getting close.

Up. Up. Up. That's good.

All right. Knocking it your way.

[ grunting ]

I don't think it's moving. It's not moving.

Go again, jonathan.

Yeah. Now it's bouncing on something.

It is just not sliding in.

♪♪

♪♪

drew: Yeah. Now it's bouncing on something.

It is just not sliding in.

Let's check all our bolts.

Are we catching a bolt on anything?

There's a bolt on it right here.

Take that one bolt out. We can put it back in after.

-On this side. -Go right now.

♪♪

[ indistinct conversations ]

there we go. All right, here we go.

Shoving it back the whole way.

All right.

Yes!

All right. And we are good.

Let's build the post.

Let's see.

Why don't we leave you guys to get the rest of this in

now that we've got the beam up

because we need to get these windows out.

-Sounds good. All right. -Sure.

Ben and brooke have such a great house,

but that kitchen was hopeless.

So opening up this wall was the first big step

towards something more functional.

The next step is removing the window

where they had the breakfast nook,

so we can revamp this layout.

Oh, hello.

Do you have a pie you want me to put on the windowsill?

No, but if you can take the window out, that would be great.

Yeah.

There you go.

It's the flashing that's really holding it right now.

If you can get your reciprocating saw...

We want to keep this frame, right?

Because we can donate it.

Yeah. The window's in good shape, it's a good quality, too.

Okay.

It does feel weird to get rid of a window,

but the good news is with that wall gone

and once I install the bigger window above the sink,

this kitchen will be bright enough.

And it also means they'll have enough room for more storage

and that island they've always been dreaming about.

That's it.

Whoo!

Got it?

All right. Great.

So we'll close this off.

No, this is good.

All right.

♪♪

my team and I are making some great progress

at ben and brooke's home.

With all the framing complete,

I'm just impressed at how much bigger this house feels.

But before we drywall, our electricians are here

to start running new lines for our fixtures

and recessed lights.

The plumber is relocating the pipes in the kitchen

from that corner sink, which was a terrible idea,

and putting them below the window,

so they'll have a sink with a view.

The entry stairs are showing their age

and they need to be refurbished.

I want this area to match the rest of the house.

So I need to come up with a plan to restore them

that won't break the bank.

-All right. -Yo.

So, yeah, we don't have to go too deep on it

because it's just to rough it up

so we can get a little bit of paint on there.

Yeah. Hey, I have a question for the treads, though.

I know we talked about possibly replacing them,

but they actually don't look too bad.

No, I think we'll be able to sand those down

and stain them, match the flooring.

Give me whatever you want for the grit,

and then I'll continue.

Okay.

[ sander whirring ]

♪♪

now that the plumbing and electrical are done,

it's time to insulate these walls.

This is an old home, so it wasn't a surprise

that there wasn't any insulation,

but I'm fixing that.

We're using spray foam, which is much more efficient.

And so once this is all done and drywalled,

they'll save on their heating bills.

And of course, everyone will be warm and cozy.

♪♪

what a difference this makes,

I mean, having the same flooring throughout.

Yeah, I agree. Especially with this flooring, though,

I mean, this hardwood is gorgeous.

So when this goes down, it's going to be awesome.

Brooke has said over and over

she loves a modern farmhouse kind of a feel.

And these hardwood floors, they have a nice matte finish.

You can see the grain.

Everything about this is going to scream modern farmhouse.

♪♪

[ drill whirring ]

all right. Got it?

Yep.

Drew said that ben and brooke saw a nice big window

over the sink of the inspiration home.

And so I want to give them that here in their home,

we're widening the opening.

We're going to let in more light.

It just means there's a little bit more brick work

and framing that has to happen.

Even though we're going to extend this

another 15 inches over,

we don't have the new lintel in yet.

So let's leave the side for now.

But knock this bottom out.

All right.

You can grab as they pop up?

Yeah.

[ coughs ]

all right.

Toys.

Should we have a competition? See who can throw it further?

Yeah, let's go.

Actually, I was pretty good back in the day.

I'm always accusing drew of making everything a competition.

Well, what can I say? We're twins.

So I definitely have that competitive edge.

Let's see if you can hit that little sapling

in the middle of the yard.

Oh, yeah.

See if you can touch that. Don't hit me.

I'm trying to think how I'm not going to hit this window.

-Oh. [ laughs ] -not even close.

Try the shed.

You want me to show you how to throw the ball?

Yes, please. Yes.

This could go badly.

Growing up, both drew and I were into a bunch of sports --

karate, basketball, baseball. We've done everything.

So I guess you could say competition is in our blood.

So throwing a little ball through a big window,

pfft, piece of cake.

♪♪

all right. I'm going to throw it right in the opening

without hitting any other windows.

Okay.

All right, I'm going to throw it right in the opening

without hitting any other windows.

Okay.

What are you nuts? I don't want to take that chance.

[ laughs ]

♪♪

jonathan: Now that the lintel

and stone windowsill have been delivered,

we can finish prepping for the new kitchen window.

Inside we're working on the new fireplace surround,

installing shiplap.

It was something ben and brooke said they love,

and I plan on mirroring that look in the kitchen.

And of course there's nothing more exciting

than cabinet install.

I've made sure that we're filling

every usable inch of space in here with storage.

By the way, the shiplap looks awesome.

It's that right subtle pop.

And I liked that it does blend into the color of the walls.

Why don't we throw the mantel on

and make sure it fits, and then we can stain it.

I love this mantel because it's super sleek and hollow,

which makes it easy to work with.

And the wood is perfectly mitered on the seams,

so they're basically invisible.

Nice.

And that gives it the look of a solid piece of wood,

but it's a fraction of the cost.

From the inspiration tour that I did,

the way that brooke really loved the shiplap,

the idea of some of the raw wood --

why do you do it like...

Like when I put gloves on, I just put them --

there. The gloves are on, but you go like this.

I just -- I do what I know.

It's like when you put on your tool belt

and you always do this.

Sometimes you got to make sure to shake the tools into place.

All right, let's do this.

All right.

I like it.

♪♪

brooke really wanted to push her comfort level

in the kitchen with a little color.

Well, these two tone counters will keep this kitchen

from being a simple white on white

and add a layer sophistication.

And even though gray is a little darker,

with the new window, finally in place,

letting it even more natural light than before,

I'm confident this kitchen will feel bright and airy.

And with finishes all in place,

we can begin the process of staining the refurbished steps

that drew sanded and put our last coat of paint on the walls.

Give me a sec here.

I'll grab that side there.

This is the one thing they said they wanted in the kitchen,

a shiplap backsplash.

Yeah. That's great.

It's starting to look modern farmhouse.

Farmhouse sink. Lots of storage.

Look at the size of the sink.

-♪ ahh ♪ -oh, wow.

And then the window of course is brand new.

So they've got this full view.

I think everything in here is awesome.

Why don't you work on the tile,

the back of the island, and I'll work on this.

Do you mean this beautiful tile?

Exactly.

Do you know what my inspiration was for this?

-One of my shirts? -Yes. Yes it was.

Because anytime there's anything that remotely

looks like plaid, you always say it was inspired by my shirt.

But you made for a great house design.

Let me inspire you more often.

[ humming ]

♪♪

wouldn't this be the ultimate kitchen for a pizza party?

If you and I have this kind of a setup back when we used

to do our pizza parties, our first year of university,

trying to be the cool kids in res,

this would have made it more fun.

All right. I need to cut some more.

Do you want to keep going there, and I'll do the next one?

Oh, I got a long way to go.

Taking the time to make this house perfect for ben,

brooke. And the kids has really paid off.

It's beautiful.

And now it has room for growing family.

One of the last things we install in the kitchen

is always the appliances, and now that they're here,

that means we need to complete some finishing touches.

Like the lighting above the built-ins, which I love

because it punctuates the feature wall

and makes it feel architectural.

I also picked out a great faucet for the large apron sink.

It's stylish, but still powerful enough

to clean anything that you put in that sink.

♪♪

I still can't believe that ben made these.

I know. He's pretty talented.

You know, I think we're pretty talented, too.

This place looks pretty good.

It does look good. I think they'll be really happy.

Oh, my gosh. They're going to absolutely flip.

Yeah. I'm happy for them.

I see modern. I see farmhouse.

Perfect blend.

Ben and brooke had a budget of $180,000,

but chose a design that excluded a powder room and saved $20,000.

We were able to redesign their main floor,

including opening up their kitchen

so they can have neighbors over and see them, too.

All the problems this house had have been worked out.

And we did it on budget.

They're going to love this.

I mean, it gives them so much more seating space.

Let's go get them.

This is what it's all about.

Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited, guys.

My friends have been driving down the street really slowly

the entire process.

-That's who it was. -Yeah.

We told them we don't want to hear it.

That's exactly what I do.

We've told them not to tell us anything.

This is all for you.

Oh, my gosh.

[ gasps ]

-oh, my god. -Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my god. Oh, my gosh. [ gasps ]

oh, my god.

-Beautiful. -Yeah.

It's amazing.

Ben. [ laughs ]

as brooke likes to say, it's crazy amazing.

-Crazy amazing. -Oh, my gosh.

This is phenomenal. Like this is beyond anything

I could ever have imagined.

We had these ideas in our mind,

and this has blown all my expectations.

Yes, it definitely looks completely different.

I am just so excited and so happy right now.

The fireplace, it's perfect.

Shiplap. I noticed the shiplap.

I love that mantel piece.

Got to have somewhere for stockings.

-Yeah. -We made that from scratch.

The color too is different than what you typically see.

The flooring, the color is perfect.

It's not really dark. I love it.

This is so nice.

This is incredible.

We can envision being here with the kids,

you know, spending time with them.

Curling up and reading together on the couch,

sitting in front of the fire.

I love how I can open and close these cabinets

and throw their toys in there.

-Hide things away. -Yeah.

Well this is the room where connor and nev first met.

I was sitting here with connor

and when nev walked in and gave him a kiss.

So it's just crazy to think of that happening

and how far we've come since then and all the new memories

we're going to make in this house.

We loved our home before, but this is just taking it

to that level that we were hoping for.

And I just cannot wait to get all the kids in

and get everyone in here and start to enjoy it.

You'll be cuddled up here. Actually try it out.

-Have a seat. -Oh, yeah.

-Let's try this. -You have style.

-Oh, my gosh. -Yeah.

And with the rug, it looks amazing.

Even like opening that doorway.

I cannot believe the difference it makes.

Yeah, it opens it up incredibly well.

And the height, because I never even thought

about opening it up that way.

And you'll notice we changed a few things in your entry, too.

My main criteria was that I needed to have hooks on the wall

because it's snow suits.

It's like the bags, and these hooks are so unique.

I love them. Just looking at the photos on the wall,

seeing our family and all the things we've done together.

Just looking at this railing. The paint had all been chipped

and it was just falling apart, now new life in it.

It's beautiful.

Everything is still super cozy and comfortable.

Jonathan: This is only the first room.

You still have this beautiful dining room.

Yes.

I'm speechless. I am speechless.

-Wow! -This is beautiful.

Ben.

-This is beautiful. -Wow!

Here's so much to take in. I have goose bumps.

Ben: I'm loving like the natural wood look.

Would you like to sit at your dining table?

-Oh, I'd love to. -Thank you.

I love the carpet. I love the table.

I love the way that the table's closer to the wall.

I love the thing that ben is sitting on.

The artwork, this is incredible.

I want to get you guys up and into this kitchen.

My gosh. This is my dream kitchen.

Yeah. This is a dream kitchen. This is perfect.

First of all, I love the island. I love the size of the island.

And I'm already envisioning, the kids sitting here

doing their homework. Yeah.

I can be sitting here making them something to eat

while I watch the football game.

It makes the space feel like a home that you can function in.

-Yeah. -Everything just looks so much

bigger than I thought it would.

I love the contrast between this and this countertop.

It's perfect.

I would have never thought to do that.

-Yeah. -These are quartz.

Jonathan: So it's no sealing. They'll stay looking like this.

You'll never have to worry about staining.

Everything, we want it to be as family ready as possible.

Thank you. Look at the window!

-[ chuckles ] -this window is gone.

[ laughter ]

that's crazy! Everywhere I look, it's stunning.

And the farmhouse sink.

-No corner sink. -Yes.

I was devastated. I don't have a corner sink.

Beautiful farmhouse.

Oh, it's everything that we wanted.

Easy to clean, very durable, massive.

And I liked the fact that we undermounted it.

So you can clean up easy by just wiping off the counters.

I love the colors.

There's shiplap!

I love it. You guys did it!

You've got shiplap in my kitchen.

You have so many little details, too,

that you might not even notice.

Tile on the backside of the island where the chairs are.

-Oh, yeah. -Look at the designer detail.

-Yeah. -"designer detail,"

words I never thought I would say in my own home.

[ laughter ]

now with the kids sitting in the breakfast bar stools

or family and friends sitting here

and you can talk and be a part of the action.

I just got a glance again of all of this,

and I wasn't sure how open we could make it.

It just looks stunning everywhere I look

and I can't wait to get the kids in.

I just feel like the space is going to make us

be able to spend so much more time together.

There'll be able to sit on the island

while I'm in here, and also thinking into the future even.

Now I think for forever, we're all just going to be here.

This'll be the place where we gather,

even when they're older and they've moved out.

Why don't you bring the kids in and see what they think?

-Oh, yes. Got to bring them in. -Let's go grab them.

I don't think I've ever smiled this much in my life.

Yes. You walk in.

You just feel like welcomed, it's bright, it's comfortable.

It's got function, and it looks amazing.

We'll be able to expand our Friday night pizza nights

to include more kids now.

Everything is happening at our house from now on --

every holiday, every meeting, every pizza night.

So it's going to be amazing.

-Welcome home. -Wow!

-What?! -Aah!

Jonathan: Do you like it? Do you even recognize it?

What do you think of your new home?

What do you think of the house, guys?

Um, yeah.

I think it doesn't even look like my home.

Uh-huh.

Drew: What do you think, connor?

That kitchen is pretty cool, isn't it?

This is where we're going to spend most of my time now.

Jonathan: You get up there. There you go. All right.

What do you think? Should we throw a party?

-Yeah. -Yeah?

Wait, should we throw a pizza party?

Yeah.

We could invite everyone to come over here.

All right. Pizza party it is.

When you find a community that's this incredible,

you do everything you can to stay put.

This house needed better flow and more room

to keep up with all the parties,

and of course, growing kids.

Well, in reality, what they needed

is exactly what I need --

a comfortable place to sit while you eat pizza.

Yeah.

Come on in, guys.

Oh, my gosh! What?!

Whole neighborhood's here. How are you?

How are you doing? Oh, you're wearing

one of my brother's shirts.

-Look at those guys. -How are you doing?

Drew: Do you guys remember before?

It almost felt like a waiting room

because all the furniture was pushed to the outside and...

[ laughter ]

it's their dream come true.

Now I'm tearing up. It's just like --

just so meaningful. And so I'm just so grateful...

[ voice breaking ] that we could do this and have everyone here.

This is where we're meeting. Right?

Anything you guys want to come over for regularly?

-Pizza. -Pizza?

Well, I brought some pizza, so let's get started.

-All right. -Oh, I know.

Oh, my gosh, the first island use,

making our own pizza. It's perfect.

Cheese, too.

[ indistinct conversations ]

pass 'em along. Brooke. Pass this over.

I've already sampled it. It's pretty good.

Is that good? All right.

You sure you don't want to have more cheese?

What if I just started going like this?

-No! No, no. -No!

[ indistinct conversations ]

is that yours? Can I share with you?

[ laughter ]

hey, what's the best part of a renovation?

All: Pizza! [ laughter ]