Fix It & Finish It with Ben Tyler Building & Remodeling

In the fall of 2014, we proudly joined host Antonio Sabato, Jr. and designer Nicki Huggins to provide a surprise room make-over for a local family in the episode "Shotgun Shack Wedding."

We'd never done a one-day TV make-over show, but our great project managers volunteered to help and it was a tremendous experience.

We met Antonio and Nicki at a local home in Crescent Hill in the wee morning hours. The air was cool and clear and as the sun rose cheerfully behind the house, we have to admit that none of us knew just how much fun we were about to have.

We're professional builders and remodelers -- not professional TV people -- and we might just have been a little tiny bit nervous. Fortunately for us, the incredible folks at Fix It & Finish It knew just what they were doing, and they did it so well, we almost forgot they were there.

It was a long day for us but we were so busy and having such fun that none of us realized how fast the hours were slipping away.

We restored an old transom window that had been boarded over. With the help of our friends from Bob Gary Electric and Automatic Air, we moved a thermostat and installed new lights in a transformed closet, complete with bookcase-style storage built by us on site. Charlie Gahafer Painting stepped in to help us do an incredible paint job and we installed a faux-leather-tile accent wall.

We found, stripped, refnished and installed a period-accurate new door to give the room privacy and enable it to be used as a guest room. We added some weather-proofing to an existing outside door. And we cleaned up the place (because we never forget that we are guests in other folks' homes we always do excellent dust protection before we begin a project and we always clean up after ourselves).

And in between all this good work? Why, we enjoyed the day! It was pretty cool being treated like stars, working with sound engineers, camera men, lighting experts and support crew. We took time to share jokes and laughter and a few stories. At the end of the day as the sun bathed the front of the house in rose and gold glory, the family returned to their home and saw what we'd done, and their joy was worth every minute of our effort. Thank you, Fix It & Finish It, for allowing us to be part of this transformative experience.

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