HGTV's Holmes Family Rescue Premiere: Laundry Nightmares and Permits Gone Wild

In this episode of Designing Bitches, Shari and Rhonda dive into the Season 3 premiere (and part of Episode 2) of Holmes Family Rescue—because we simply had to stick around for the reveal. From a ghosting contractor who left mid-foundation to questionable wallpaper choices (🐸), we're dishing on everything Nicole and Bill endured to finally get a functioning laundry room—and maybe a little rooftop peace.

We’re asking the real questions:
 – Who approves these permits?
 – Where did the farmhouse charm go?
 – And why did that birthday cake say “Mike” instead of “Dad”?

Packed with red flags, rogue electrical wires, and a dog shower that deserves a standing ovation, this episode brings the HGTV chaos we live for.

Catch all of our episodes at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!

Love and Kisses,

Rhonda and Shari

Find us at https://designingbesties.buzzsprout.com, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).

Transcript

011 - FINAL - HOLMES FAMILY RESCUE S3 E1 AND E2

[00:00:00] Shari: What do you get when you mix an 1870s house, a shady contractor and two toddlers?

[00:00:05] Rhonda: A Holmes Family Rescue mission that's basically HGTV's version of 911. 

[00:00:13] Shari: Hi there, I'm Shari, and this is my BFF Rhonda.

[00:00:16] Rhonda: And welcome to Designing Bitches!

This podcast for women

[00:00:19] Shari: and brave men

[00:00:20] Rhonda: who eat, sleep, and breathe interior design and recognize their addiction to HGTV.

[00:00:26] Shari: Whether you're rearranging your living room for the 12th time or here to justify another HomeGoods spree. You're in the right place.

[00:00:32] Rhonda: Let's talk design, disasters, and all the beautiful chaos in between. 

[00:00:36] Shari: This week, besties, we're diving into Holmes Family Rescue Season 3.

[00:00:41] Rhonda: We are, but we're gonna do something a little different besties. We're covering the premiere and part of Episode 2 since HGTV split them. You'll get the full story behind one major rescue project since we can't stand not seeing the reveal. Shari and I enjoy the finish.

[00:00:59] Shari: That's right. First, we meet Nicole and Bill. They've been together for 15 years. They have two young kids and a home built in 1870 that's dripping with charm, electrical wires, and a big pit.

[00:01:12] Rhonda: Because a couple of years ago, they started an addition and their contractor left them mid foundation.

[00:01:18] Shari: Ouch! Cue Mike Holmes, his kids, and a whole lot of demo, drywall and dad energy. Prep yourself for some 

[00:01:26] Rhonda: Yes, we're breaking down what went wrong, how the Holmes crew fixed it. And of course we've got some thoughts, lots of them.

[00:01:34] Shari: Well, Rhonda, it's another hobby farm.

[00:01:37] Rhonda: Pigs and

[00:01:38] Shari: I feel like I hadn't heard hobby farm most of my life and now in the past month I've heard it several times. Like I want a hobby farm.

[00:01:48] Rhonda: It is a thing. I get the wanting to raise your kids on a farm. Like, I get that wholesomeness and maybe a little bit of the farmer is the salt of the earth. You know, we want our kids to be raised away from their electronics, but I wonder what the reality of the donkey and pig hobby farm.

What's that reality like for those people?

[00:02:06] Shari: I don't know. I'd be like, I just wanna spend more time in the pool mom and dad. So as described this is Nicole and Billy's 1870s farmhouse, and they've actually had issues with two different contractors.

[00:02:20] Rhonda: First contractor demo. Got the demo. Nailed it.

[00:02:25] Shari: Yes.

[00:02:26] Rhonda: Walked away. Walked away.

[00:02:28] Shari: It was more than he could take on. And then the second contractor was a friend who said, Hey, I can help you out. He started the foundation, but it wasn't dug deep enough and didn't pass inspection.

[00:02:40] Rhonda: I get the using a friend, right?

Because there are a few times in your life where you're as vulnerable, I think, as giving somebody a whole bunch of money to renovate your home. And so I can see a friend where you're like, okay, I can trust them. I, you know, they'll take care of this, but most of the people I know that have used friends, it's been a mistake.

And I've had, my own personal renovation confusion nightmare,

 Contractor issues. And I totally get using a friend, but I think it's a huge red flag when somebody brags that they don't need permits.

[00:03:14] Shari: Yes.

[00:03:16] Rhonda: that

[00:03:17] Shari: Especially when they're doing things like a foundation or they're working with electrical. Even a general contractor here in the United States has to use subcontractors for electrical and plumbing that are licensed to do that, because those two are really, really, really critical.

[00:03:35] Rhonda: yes. And this is filmed in Canada, right?

Okay. So I presume Canada probably has even more checks

[00:03:43] Shari: I

honestly don't know as we go through this episode for both couples, the amount of things where an inspector was on site.

Didn't notice it, even though Mike was like, oh, I could see that just looking at the top of it. I feel like here in the U.S., first of all, your neighbors can call if they don't think you have permits.

Anyone can call and complain if you're making too much noise. Anyone who watches any of Tarek's 

can attest to the fact how often a neighbor will call, and then if you don't have a permit, those inspectors stop the work on you. If they walk on the site, it doesn't matter if the permit scope is one thing, if they notice something else, like live electrical wires.

They can shut you down for any reason. And I am shocked that in both these cases, there were inspectors on those job sites who didn't notice some of the problems.

[00:04:41] Rhonda: that a pun? You were shocked about

[00:04:42] Shari: I was shocked. Oh, I didn't mean to do it, but I'm glad I did. I don't know anything about Canada. I think generally I find Canadians to be nicer than us and maybe even the inspectors are nicer and they just don't shut you down the same way. They're really mean here.

[00:04:58] Rhonda: Well, let me just say, does Mike Holmes seem like a nice guy?

He gives you that glare. I mean, I would, I would be like ne, nevermind. don't know that I would call him mean. I think he's a total mansplainer, which is a big turnoff for me.

[00:05:11] Shari: But I, I'm just gonna say this upfront. If I ever had issues with a contractor and Mike Holmes and his family walked on the site and said, we are going to make this right for you, I would feel immense comfort and know 

[00:05:25] Rhonda: agree. Yeah. I'd fall on my knees and thank him. Yeah, I get it. I feel that way about Israel, Izzy, on the Tarek

[00:05:32] Shari: Yeah. Yes, 

[00:05:34] Rhonda: I would want 

[00:05:34] Shari: walks on the site, you just feel like, ah, I can relax 'cause I know this guy's gonna do it. 

Right 

[00:05:40] Rhonda: saved. Yeah. 

[00:05:41] Shari: now back to the couple, they love the charm of their old 

house 

and it has been through multiple updates in, you know, over a hundred years. But this contractor situation has them now doing their laundry in the kitchen by unhooking the waterline to the dishwasher, which means they can't do dishes or use their kitchen sink every time they do laundry.

And she even points out, it's a lot of laundry with two young kids. And I'm 

just like, and that's what they've been doing for two 

[00:06:12] Rhonda: Can you Imagine living through a winter in Canada like that with your laundry 

[00:06:16] Shari: I also wonder about living through two winters when they have that big pit in their backyard with 

electrical cables running all over, and how

[00:06:26] Rhonda: How nobody got killed. Yes, yes. Also, I really felt for the mom, you know, your life is, you know, you're, you're questioning your life when your dream is a fully functioning laundry room. And I will tell you, I've been there. I've been there.

[00:06:42] Shari: Same.

[00:06:42] Rhonda: But yeah, that to go that long without it, oh lord, poor woman.

That poor lady.

[00:06:48] Shari: I do think it's funny though. They need Mike definitely. But when we meet Mike at the beginning of the episode, he talks about his daughter Sherry's at his house, helping him with projects. And the project turns out to be, she's cleaning his patio furniture I'm like WTF dude.

[00:07:05] Rhonda: Yeah, yeah,

[00:07:07] Shari: You can pay for these people's fixes, but you can't pay for someone to come clean your house.

His daughter has two children of her own. She's 

cleaning her own house. 

[00:07:16] Rhonda: a good point. Maybe it was his birthday present. I'll

[00:07:18] Shari: I don't know, but I just thought that was funny. I assumed when he said projects that it was gonna be ... actual 

[00:07:24] Rhonda: Yes. Yes, yes. 

[00:07:26] Shari: there she is with her Windex or whatever out there cleaning by the pool.

[00:07:30] Rhonda: Yep. I get it. I don't like doing it either, Mike, but I don't know that I would make my daughter do it. They have a special relationship.

Clearly. She loves him.

[00:07:39] Shari: Yeah. Now I will tell you for both of the situations we're gonna talk about,

the first one with Bill and Nicole, honestly, it sort of looks hopeless and she even says, it feels like we can't get ahead. And Mike and Sherry talk about, it's actually a much bigger job than they anticipated, but they're gonna do it anyway.

They're gonna make it right for them.

[00:08:02] Rhonda: Yeah. I get the hopeless because even if you said, let's get outta here, you couldn't sell that house like that.

[00:08:06] Shari: You couldn't 

[00:08:07] Rhonda: So, I get the hopelessness and the

[00:08:10] Shari: And those things are gonna deteriorate even more. So the problem eventually could become even a much bigger problem. But also in the episode when Sherry said she came over on her bike, in my head I was picturing Sherry on a 10 speed biking over, later on you see that her bike is like a four wheeler

[00:08:29] Rhonda: I thought it was a three wheeler.

[00:08:30] Shari: maybe it's a like a trike three wheeler.

It's one of the two, but it's a motorized. it wasn't what I pictured in my head at all.

[00:08:39] Rhonda: No, as soon as I saw it, I was glad my husband wasn't home when I was watching this 'cause that's exactly what he wants. He wants a three wheeler now, which is, I

[00:08:46] Shari: Oh.

[00:08:47] Rhonda: so strange to me. But I guess they're popular 

[00:08:51] Shari: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:51] Rhonda: has one.

Why not?

[00:08:53] Shari: Well, Mike calls in the electrical authority and I think he gives the official name. In the U.S. they're called the authority having jurisdiction, and they, I mean, it already looks bad. When they start looking over it and Mike pulls the plywood off to see the electrical panel, it goes from bad to worse to worse and worse. 

[00:09:19] Rhonda: you know, Superman's here, Mike Holmes.

[00:09:22] Shari: right. So he's gonna fix it. And then Mike's son, Michael arrives

[00:09:26] Rhonda: Yes.

[00:09:26] Shari: and they actually bring their newborn baby.

[00:09:29] Rhonda: That was cute.

[00:09:30] Shari: And I thought, but is it strange that they're meeting

grandpa for the first time out here on this farm? Also, we've already established this farm is very unsafe,

[00:09:40] Rhonda: Yeah, 

I didn't even think about that. huh,

I did not even think about that, but I wrote my notes. At the site, he's meeting his granddaughter for the first time at the site 

[00:09:50] Shari: Yeah. I just thought I just thought that was kind of strange. 

[00:09:53] Rhonda: Yes. 

[00:09:54] Shari: So what are they gonna do to rescue this couple?

[00:09:57] Rhonda: they're going to basically start from scratch, I presume. Right? 

[00:10:01] Shari: feels like it. They bring out the backhoe.

[00:10:05] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:10:06] Shari: Sherry tries her hand at using the machine 

[00:10:09] Rhonda: Yes. Yeah. That's, 

[00:10:11] Shari: They're gonna pull all the right permits. They're gonna make sure they get that foundation up to code 'cause it's way above the frost line. I feel like we just talked about frost 

lines in an 

[00:10:20] Rhonda: did in the South Dakota. Yeah, South Dakota frost

[00:10:24] Shari: you know how much I really wanna know about frost lines.

It's about zero. It's about 

zero and I. 

[00:10:30] Rhonda: quite

[00:10:30] Shari: I feel like now I'm practically an expert on frost lines.

[00:10:34] Rhonda: If you ever talk to anyone about foundation in a party, that's the first thing you can say to them.

[00:10:39] Shari: I'm never being invited

[00:10:40] Rhonda: What What are you doing about frost line? Oh, they'll be so impressed. They'll

be so impressed. 

This 

chick knows what she's talking about. 

[00:10:48] Shari: They'll be walking away. They're gonna redo the 

electrical and bring it up to code, and they're gonna create the mud room and laundry room that gives this family lots of storage. And just functionality to have a washer and dryer that can work independently 

[00:11:02] Rhonda: Yes. Functionality at its most basic definition, like, can I do my laundry?

[00:11:08] Shari: Mm-hmm. And they're gonna create a little powder room and as an added bonus. On top of the addition, they're creating a rooftop deck that will be accessible from the primary bedroom.

[00:11:18] Rhonda: I thought that was actually the best part of the whole renovation. I mean, other than, 

yes, you do need your laundry to work, but I thought, oh, that's really nice. I really like that that balcony off the bedroom and that you could see the whole hobby farm.

Uh, you could look out at your donkeys and pigs.

[00:11:33] Shari: And I was relieved when I heard, because I know this is always a concern for you, that the homeowners were moving out of the house for the 

[00:11:41] Rhonda: I, well, I would think with safety in mind, like you could step on a live electrical wire at any moment. It feels like they've been living in a war zone probably until Mike showed up, so, yeah.

[00:11:52] Shari: Yeah. Now this show kind of reminds me of This Old House when they give you details about the technology 

[00:11:59] Rhonda: Mm-hmm. 

[00:12:00] Shari: like my brain trailed off when they started talking about 

electrical panels quite honestly. Like the helica piles for the foundation, I've never used that word before in my life, but now I know what it is.

Um, or explaining what a scupper is, and I just thought, this is probably not a show that Rhonda and I would normally watch.

So besties, I'm the type of person when I take my car in to have something done and

the mechanic brings out the old part and explains to me in hellacious detail 

what's been happening. 

[00:12:36] Rhonda: is how a spark plug works. Yes. 

[00:12:39] Shari: I just wanna push the button, start my car, and drive off. I don't really need to know how any of that works. 

[00:12:45] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:12:46] Shari: So there were two things that made this a little grindy for me, and I started regretting a little bit our decision because, well, 

[00:12:55] Rhonda: Will you say our decision? I would like to say you decided, but

[00:12:58] Shari: I did decide, Mike, you owe me one here because I decided we were gonna cover your premiere.

And then not only did we have to watch episode one, but we also

had to watch episode two.

Because we're into completion and we wanted to see something finished. Secondly, it was the This Old House mode of, give me all the details about how every little thing works. And 

[00:13:21] Rhonda: Yeah. 

[00:13:21] Shari: much more interested in the design.

[00:13:23] Rhonda: It felt like an YouTube video where they're actually telling you how to fix the foundation and how to avoid water on your rooftop deck with your scuppers

installed properly. the special stuff they put on

yeah, I just felt like you would play that back and stop it as you were making your progress through your actual project.

Right. Which you and I are never doing, 

[00:13:45] Shari: No. And then the third thing is that you gotta love Mike and what he does for these families, and I absolutely appreciate it, but I always feel like he's mansplaining a bunch of stuff

[00:13:57] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:13:58] Shari: and immediately I just wanna go click 

and I don't wanna watch that. So. 

[00:14:02] Rhonda: me that way.

[00:14:03] Shari: Besties, we're getting through it. We know that a lot of you love this show and we're trying to find the love.

[00:14:10] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:14:11] Shari: But yeah, this was honestly a little bit challenging. A

[00:14:14] Rhonda: I do love any brother and sister relationship where they're actually supportive

and I did like that about the show that seemed genuine and at least with me and my friends, that seems to be the exception more than the rule nowadays. So I did appreciate that love 

between those 

two. 

[00:14:30] Shari: he does make beautiful 

[00:14:31] Rhonda: Oh, he does. Yes, absolutely. And grandchildren. That baby was adorable.

[00:14:34] Shari: Now, honestly, at this point, I was wondering why this episode was called "Double 

Addition," I'm like, they're not doing more than one addition here. Like this is 

it for this well. I was totally clueless as to the structure of how these episodes go,

[00:14:50] Rhonda: Yes. 

[00:14:51] Shari: And it's a challenge to do this addition because, I think it's Mike who points out, they have to tie their perfectly square addition into an un-square and unlevel existing structure,

[00:15:01] Rhonda: It's a classic problem with old houses. 

But I will tell you, it's also a problem with houses built in Las Vegas because if there's a straight wall in this house, it 

[00:15:10] Shari: It's

a mistake. 

[00:15:11] Rhonda: Yeah, it's by accident. So I can relate to the hundred year old farmhouse issue. We have the same one with our brand new buildings, 

[00:15:18] Shari: Now, eventually they bring in a designer Billha. And I'm confused again because I thought Sherry did the designs. In the intro to the show, it talks about she's got an eye for design so I thought we were gonna see Sherry do this design, but it's Billha who creates 

this lovely design 

[00:15:35] Rhonda: Yes. 

[00:15:35] Shari: laundry room area.

[00:15:37] Rhonda: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:38] Shari: But I will say design-wise, it didn't seem to really fit the vibe of the existing structure.

[00:15:45] Rhonda: I don't know where frog wallpaper fits in with 

[00:15:48] Shari: Maybe they're fans of Wind in the Willows. knows? Who knows?

[00:15:53] Rhonda: When the designer met with them, you think they said, now I don't care what you do, but please,

I really need some frog wallpaper.

[00:16:02] Shari: I

don't know. super busy, please.

I also thought it was strange, and maybe they just don't show it on the episode, but do you think that they actually include the homeowners in any of these design decisions?

[00:16:13] Rhonda: I would hope so. I. But I'm gonna say no because of what 

they ended up selecting. 

[00:16:18] Shari: what Michael, does say is that when the homeowners do renovate the rest of the house, they can just pull from the design that the Holmes rescue team has used for the laundry mudroom, which seemed really backwards to me unless the homeowners were consulted and are completely on board with this new design because it definitely looks different from what they already have, and the homeowners kept talking about how much they love the character of their farmhouse.

[00:16:46] Rhonda: Yeah. but the colors that she selected felt like the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. It felt like red and yellow,

[00:16:55] Shari: It felt a little bit like that to me, and I'll talk about it when they do the install. there were some other things that just felt a little off to me, but I also thought, oh, Rhonda's gonna love two things in here. One, they added a 

[00:17:06] Rhonda: yes, 

[00:17:07] Shari: and they elevated it

[00:17:08] Rhonda: they did. 

They and They did a checkerboard floor.

love the floor.

Yes. gonna have Rhonda's little heart with those two things.

Yeah. But then they started putting in red, in mustard, yellow, and I, what are you doing?

[00:17:21] Shari: Mm-hmm. I think it looked better in person when they installed it, it looked not quite. So ...

[00:17:27] Rhonda: Weird garish.

[00:17:28] Shari: yeah, as it did in the drawing, at least that was my experience 

[00:17:32] Rhonda: All right. Well, anyway the wallpaper in the bathroom, I think illustrates your point perfectly when you talk about your fears with wallpaper and color in your rooms because you're gonna get tired of it. And anyone who's installed wallpaper knows the only thing harder than installing wallpaper.

[00:17:48] Shari: is taking it down. 

[00:17:50] Rhonda: is uninstalling wallpaper. So you need to be thoughtful on those choices. And so this super busy frog wallpaper in your little tiny powder room. 

And don't get me wrong, I do love a David Bromstad busy peacock. You know, black wallpaper, I could have that for many years and be happy, but I promise you that frog wallpaper, I have a feeling it wouldn't last very long in my

[00:18:13] Shari: I don't know now. Surprise. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. They're out at 

the farm and Mike gets a call from Estrella and Tom, who are also having an issue with an addition. So I'm like, oh, ding, ding. This is where the second addition comes in.

[00:18:27] Rhonda: Yes.

[00:18:28] Shari: Now these two have been together for 16 years. They have a couple of teenagers in the house, and they not only had construction problems, they had some drama with it, 

which of course I'm all ears.

The minute they say drama. I'm like, Ooh, what happened?

[00:18:46] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:18:46] Shari: So they hire a local company to do an addition that includes a kitchen, seating area, mudroom and laundry.

[00:18:52] Rhonda: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:52] Shari: So they're gonna expand their kitchen and initially they don't cut into the original house so they still can live their normal lives while all this stuff is going on.

[00:19:01] Rhonda: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:02] Shari: And they ended up going through three contractors under kind of the same umbrella company.

[00:19:07] Rhonda: Three. I think the universe is sending me a message if I have Yeah. 

[00:19:12] Shari: Well, the first carpenter walks off the job because he started a relationship with the designer and they're 

[00:19:17] Rhonda: Yes. That's so strange. Like professionally, why wouldn't you? Nevermind. It would just 

[00:19:24] Shari: I know. 

[00:19:24] Rhonda: to finish the job. Yeah.

[00:19:26] Shari: And then it actually got bad. So they bring in another crew and things just aren't moving along at all.

[00:19:34] Rhonda: I don't think they did anything.

[00:19:35] Shari: And then the contractor declares bankruptcy and one of the guys says, I think I can just keep helping you anyway. And he just continues making it worse. As they keep going through all of the things that are wrong, and there are a bunch of foundation issues that besties, we won't bore you with the details. If you wanna hear 'em, just listen to the show Mike will mansplain it to you. but that all of that new material that they put on top of it

is all coming down.

And at this point, guy number three has actually torn into the original kitchen.

[00:20:11] Rhonda: Yes, he has.

[00:20:12] Shari: And they even said are you with us? Like, are you with us? And he's like, oh, I'm with you. And then he realizes, like he just says, I can't finish that. I, I can't finish this. But it's after he's removed the wall between the existing house.

So now they're left with no functioning kitchen.

[00:20:29] Rhonda: Yeah, it's, a night. It's a nightmare for

sure. 

[00:20:32] Shari: And Mike keeps going through. All of the problems that are obvious. And then he starts talking about the foam insulation in the ceiling. And even though he hasn't even looked at it, so he doesn't know if it doesn't completely fill the cavity and he explains why it's an issue. If it doesn't, he's already basically saying he's pretty sure it's wrong.

And I felt like he just kept talking until he could make Estrella cry. And she does. I feel like I 

[00:21:01] Rhonda: it's the 

[00:21:01] Shari: cried way before this.

[00:21:02] Rhonda: yes, but the producer's in his ear. Keep going, Mike. 

[00:21:06] Shari: Keep 

going.

Just keep talking

about all of this stuff. That's 

right. That's right. And they ultimately even have to take the windows out because they don't fit. And I know I've sat here and talked about how, I don't love all this detail. It was a little interesting to hear Michael talk about the issues with the windows and when they don't fit and the point load and how that's ultimately gonna create some other problems.

And once again, 

[00:21:32] Rhonda: quite honestly. 

[00:21:32] Shari: Mike says it's gonna be bigger than what they wanna do, 

but they assure Estrella and Tom that they're gonna be their last contractor.

[00:21:41] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:21:41] Shari: And then the sign and the notes that Estrella and Tom leave for the Holmes team are so cute.

[00:21:46] Rhonda: Yeah. Well, again, I think they're just so grateful to have a sign of competence. I can kind of relate to this with our project manager we hired,

he had actually been on Property Brothers, you know, like this is a guy that's established and we just got super bad luck. At the same time. He got super bad luck

and so.

Yes, just every week it would be oh yeah, Friday. Oh yeah, Friday. He never said which Friday. So maybe he wasn't technically lying to us. He said you'll be in your pool by the 4th of July. He didn't say which, 4th of July. So maybe, maybe I should have asked

for which year.

Yeah, I made some assumptions. and his house was almost burned down, up in the mountains and all the fire came right up to it, but it didn't burn it down. And so that, that had him in a tailspin, emotional tailspin. He couldn't work. And then eventually his wife divorced him and bankruptcy and, you know, don't pay me, pay the contractor or pay the the stucco guy directly because I don't want this in my divorce.

You know, that kind of craziness. If you could imagine. And you're holding your breath the whole time because you've given this guy so much money, right? This

gigantic chunk of money. So I really, my heart went out to this couple with the three contractors and the bankruptcy and the guy leaving with a woman to go start, like, I can get that.

The whole time they're telling it to you, you're thinking, I don't care. I don't care. Finish my house.

[00:23:10] Shari: With the second couple, the same questions pop up in my head. Number one, where are the inspectors? Because Mike's just looking at the foundation and saying like, that's not up to code.

[00:23:21] Rhonda: No, not even 

[00:23:22] Shari: And even though it wasn't included in the permit, or it was the other inspector, again, here in the United States, these inspectors are gods when they walk on your job site, they can look at anything.

And the second thing is, who pays for this? 'cause there's still no discussion.

[00:23:38] Rhonda: A lot of money is being spent here,

[00:23:41] Shari: According to the internet, Holmes group does sometimes cover the cost of the fixes for homeowners in need.

[00:23:47] Rhonda: As a donation?

[00:23:48] Shari: I would assume so. And also the trades and production company help offset costs. But sometimes the homeowners pay for materials, and this is from the internet, so quite frankly, besties. 

I don't know exactly what gets paid for, but in both cases these are no small fixes in terms of what it's gonna cost to do it. They have to destroy a lot before they can even start.

[00:24:10] Rhonda: Yes.

[00:24:11] Shari: Is there anything else you wanted to talk about on homeowners number two?

[00:24:16] Rhonda: The wasp nest.

[00:24:17] Shari: Yeah, 

[00:24:18] Rhonda: Sherry's running around. I don't wanna get stuck. Stung.

[00:24:21] Shari: she's the only one who gets stung.

[00:24:22] Rhonda: And, and then she hangs around. It just reminds me of the Barbie girl who's, I don't wanna get dirty, but she stays right? I don't wanna get wet, but she stays. It's like, you don't wanna get stung, leave, go get in your car.

Like what? 

[00:24:37] Shari: Exactly, 

[00:24:38] Rhonda: Oh, 

[00:24:38] Shari: would've been far, far away.

[00:24:40] Rhonda: too. Me too.

[00:24:41] Shari: Well, now we get to go back to couple number one, Nicole and Bill

Mm-hmm.

and their new addition is done.

[00:24:49] Rhonda: Mm-hmm.

[00:24:50] Shari: I think overall the transformation looks great. I do think there's no way it looks anything like it's original to that house,

[00:25:00] Rhonda: No,

[00:25:01] Shari: not in the interior 

[00:25:03] Rhonda: no, exterior. 

no. Definitely modern looking, huh?

[00:25:06] Shari: And seeing the design installed, it does look country. Which I really couldn't see so much in the design plan, but those cabinets that are the duo colors

 with the grain running vertically on the bottom and horizontally on the top, you know what they reminded me of rhonda? You know the black rubber boots that you get, like rain boots and 

then they have a cuff on them.

That's another color.

[00:25:30] Rhonda: Yes.

[00:25:31] Shari: I love the storage. Don't get me wrong, but they remind me of those boots, and once I saw that, I couldn't unsee it.

[00:25:37] Rhonda: Yeah, it did remind me a little bit of a Ralph Lauren riding boot,

[00:25:42] Shari: it does. But they do like a ton of storage in there, like storage lockers. She gets the washer dryer. There's plenty of folding space, lots of countertop. There's 

[00:25:53] Rhonda: Mm-hmm. Um, 

[00:25:53] Shari: in the middle that creates a little craft area

[00:25:56] Rhonda: yeah. For the kids. Nice.

[00:25:58] Shari: mudroom laundry room. This is a big room,

[00:26:00] Rhonda: I agree. Agree. And I'm with you about the cabinets. I was listening to a designer on one of my feeds and she was talking about mixing woods, you know, 'cause I have more than one color wood in my house, so a little self-doubt

about how, how it's looking and. She said, think of your wood as a color, like you've introduced another color into the room, and I just felt that orange with the black was introducing another very loud color into that room where you already had the floor and everything else that was sort of

fighting with it. Yeah. Yeah. It felt like it was fighting it, but it was a huge room, and maybe the designer said, well, this is the chance you have to use color and go crazy because it's such a big room. I don't

[00:26:38] Shari: And I am a fan of mixing woods. I don't 

think your floor and your cabinets and all your furniture need to be Garanimals 

for sure, but I do think it has to feel natural. 

[00:26:50] Rhonda: Mm-hmm. 

[00:26:51] Shari: for whatever reason, to me, felt a little forced. 

[00:26:53] Rhonda: That's exactly what I 

wrote down. 

[00:26:55] Shari: Once I saw it as like these little rubber boots, 

that's all I could see. And then they do the little powder 

room, which is nice to have. I don't think they had that before. You've already talked about 

the wallpaper. 

[00:27:09] Rhonda: The interesting wallpaper. Yes.

[00:27:11] Shari: I feel like the wallpaper to me was just so not what I would do.

[00:27:16] Rhonda: Yeah.

[00:27:16] Shari: It did feel a little country, so I guess I 

could get behind that. I felt like it did. Where else are you gonna see frogs, 

[00:27:23] Rhonda: But the, the frogs were part of the, the designer world did not feel country to me, but I, I didn't really look at it that closely. I just went, oh, I don't like it, and walked away, so.

[00:27:31] Shari: But that upstairs patio,

[00:27:33] Rhonda: Love, love. 

love. Yes. Mm-hmm. Perfect.

And it won't leak water, Shari, no way 

[00:27:40] Shari: Nope. Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:41] Rhonda: Mm-hmm. Yeah. They took care of that.

[00:27:43] Shari: And again, I know the Holmes were thinking that the homeowners would change the rest of the house to match the addition. We're talking about some very expensive changes. And I just think, I'm hoping they talk to the homeowners about that just because the homeowners, maybe they didn't have to contribute anything. And I know initially she's gonna be, oh my God, I can just do laundry.

[00:28:04] Rhonda: Well, what about like the outside of the house? Right?

[00:28:06] Shari: Yeah, it totally looks like 

they added that on. 

[00:28:10] Rhonda: Yes. does it look like the rest of the

And would you wanna change the rest of the house to match that? I wouldn't. I think the rest of the house looks nicer with the old shingles.

[00:28:18] Shari: Now, in the midst of all of this, Mike celebrates his 60th birthday, and I use the term celebrate loosely because he does not seem happy about turning 60.

[00:28:28] Rhonda: Ah.

[00:28:30] Shari: And then I noticed his birthday cake says Happy Birthday Mike, instead of Happy Birthday Dad.

[00:28:35] Rhonda: maybe they call him Mike. 

I

don't know. 

[00:28:38] Shari: I mean, it'd be easier to call him dad, I think. But I just thought okay, between not seeing the grandchild.

[00:28:44] Rhonda: Ah,

[00:28:44] Shari: So two months after it's born and you're seeing it out on an unsafe job site, I 

[00:28:48] Rhonda: yeah. 

[00:28:49] Shari: to think, is this happy family dynamic 

everything we really see 

[00:28:54] Rhonda: not.

[00:28:55] Shari: behind the 

scenes, 

what's 

going on?

Yeah. I'll tell you what, if my kid gave me a cake and it had 

my name on it, 

[00:29:06] Rhonda: Shari.

[00:29:07] Shari: I would, I would feel a certain kind of way 

[00:29:11] Rhonda: Yes. There are some parents that are okay with their kids calling by the first

name, but I, I, yeah. And my parents certainly were not, I remember calling up from my mom once in a church like a, a town hall kind of thing, you know, 

[00:29:22] Shari: Uhhuh. 

[00:29:23] Rhonda: there were so many people and I went, Donna and my dad flipped out.

Don't ever call your mother Donna. Like, that is not cool.

[00:29:31] Shari: Well, anything else you wanna add before we wrap this up?

[00:29:34] Rhonda: no, I've learned more about

rain gutters and how to drain water off of, yeah, I'm, I'm

done. Use scuppers, Rhonda Scup. Scup. Mm-hmm. 

dimple board. We gotta make sure we

[00:29:45] Shari: That's right. That's right.

Well, that wraps up this episode, besties, and I'll say it again. If I ever get ghosted by a contractor, mid foundation poor, I'm calling the Holmes family.

[00:29:57] Rhonda: Same, same. Yes. They saved the day. Mike, Sherry, Michael Pack your tool belts and your emotional support drywall, because we've got some trust issues with contractors.

[00:30:07] Shari: I do love their family vibe. But I've also gotta say I'm not sold on the This Old House pacing.

[00:30:14] Rhonda: Dragging one reno over multiple episodes, plus deep dives into things like authority, having jurisdiction a what even is that?

[00:30:24] Shari: What is that? What is that? Honestly, I'm still stuck on how these major issues keep slipping past inspectors

[00:30:31] Rhonda: Nicole and Bill clearly adored their remodel, 

but we couldn't, yeah, we couldn't help noticing how different it looked by the end and, and where did all that farmhouse charm go?

[00:30:41] Shari: well, it's not in that addition, that's Yeah. And we're still left wondering who's footing the bill for these rescues. I. We wanna know inquiring minds. Wanna know

[00:30:51] Rhonda: Hot take. Mike Holmes making final design decisions. That's 

that's a hard no. 

[00:30:55] Shari: Well, I heard what they meant is not a substitute for I delivered what they asked for.

[00:31:03] Rhonda: And, and I certainly, at a certain point you wonder he's doing this gigantic favor for them. Are you ever gonna say no

[00:31:09] Shari: I, you know what?

[00:31:10] Rhonda: to any of

[00:31:11] Shari: If I get a working laundry room, Yes, okay. I'll 

[00:31:16] Rhonda: it's beautiful. Love it. Perfect.

But, credit where it's due, the mud room, the rooftop deck, the dog shower, which, you know, I'm a fan of, 

[00:31:25] Shari: Yes. 

[00:31:26] Rhonda: ovation and a half.

[00:31:27] Shari: Agreed. And speaking of applause, can we get a moment for anyone who's ever had to do laundry and dishes on a shared water hookup? You 

[00:31:35] Rhonda: Bananas Bananas 

For our special post this week. We wanna see your laundry chaos.

[00:31:41] Shari: Give it to us besties,

[00:31:43] Rhonda: Tag us in your most unhinged laundry setup Bonus points for buckets, basements and unplugged dishwashers.

[00:31:50] Shari: and as always, we have a few apologies to make. I'm sorry to fans of two-tone cabinetry, anyone triggered by the phrase helical piles and Mike Holmes if that birthday cake really said, Happy Birthday Mike, instead of

Dad. I know

[00:32:07] Rhonda: Until next time, besties. Stay safe, stay sarcastic, and maybe your permits.

[00:32:12] Shari: that's for sure.

If you are vibing with us and your brain is basically made of HGTV at this point, you need to catch up on all of our episodes at designingbitches.com. We're literally everywhere you listen to podcasts, so hit that follow, like, star or whatever button your app throws at you. We're not picky. We're just needy.

Well, until next time, besties. Bye.

[00:32:34] Rhonda: Bye. See you soon.