Karen Schroeder of Mayberry Homes in front of the house being built by ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Holt, Michigan

Viewers of the TV show ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition see Ty Pennington and the design team seem to do the impossible: put together a state-of-the-art house in 5 days, completely furnish it, professionally design the interiors, and present it to the family.

To accomplish this, magic happens behind the scenes. For every show, hundreds of volunteers donate their time, resources and skills to give a special family their dream home.

For the Nickless family in Holt, almost 1,500 volunteers signed in. It could have been utter chaos organizing such a huge crowd. But thanks to a dedicated group of seven people from Lansing-based Mayberry Homes, things run smoothly from the get-go.

Mayberry Homes is known for the quality of their homes and communities. They have also been recognized nationally for their commitment to customer satisfaction. As a company with a track record for volunteering in the local community, they are a perfect fit for the Extreme Makeover project.

At the site of the build this week, I had a chance to talk with Karen Schroeder, who co-owns Mayberry Homes with her husband Robert. We stood across the street from the house. The site was buzzing with activity, and Karen was happy to share with me the role of Mayberry Homes in the entire process.

Our chat started with the very beginning of the story. The Nickless family only learned that they had been chosen for the show last Friday, September 26, 2008. It turns out that even Mayberry Homes didn’t get a big headstart to prepare for the project. The producers of Extreme Makeover contacted them just under a month ago.

“We didn’t have a lot of notice”, said Karen. “We hadn’t applied for it. They just called out of the blue and asked us if we would do it.”

The weeks leading up to the build couldn’t have been busier for the Schroeder family. Robert (right, in red shirt) and Karen’s daughter got married on Friday, the day of the wake-up call. I think you’ll all agree with me that preparing for a wedding and a marathon home-building project at the same time is no small feat!

As the builder, Mayberry Homes drew up the custom plan for the house, incorporating input from the show’s design team. Though they didn’t know the location immediately, they were given enough information to be able to plan the lay-out of the site. The Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s design team gave them certain parameters to follow, such as a particular look from the front door.

Alongside designing the house, it was also Mayberry’s job as the lead company to coordinate everything that happens on the Lansing side of the endeavor:

“We had to secure all of the vendors and the contractors, and get them to do it, for free. All of our team is on. Then we had to get the volunteers. Then we had to organize and get food vendors to come and provide food for a thousand people a day.”

Though most of the materials for the house are donated by local groups, the appliances and some of the fixtures are not. The designers from the show choose what goes into the house as far as amenities are concerned. Electronics like refrigerators and TVs and fixtures like cabinets are brought in from the show’s national suppliers. Skilled volunteers then go in to install them.

The interior design is also provided by the show. For this home, the design team is comprised of Ty Pennington, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders and Rib Hillis. Mayberry Homes works with the team and helps implement their concepts.

For Robert and Karen Schroeder and the rest of the Mayberry Homes team, this whirlwind week is not something that will be easily forgotten. When I asked Karen to describe how the process has been for her and Robert, it seemed that there is no single word that can describe the experience:

“Awesome. Awesome. Overwhelming. An incredible journey.

“There’s been a lot of things happening in our lives. And, all good, all positive. This has been an amazing journey that I couldn’t be happier with. You know, this has been overwhelming…. It touches my soul.”

Thanks to Karen Schroeder for this interview and to Robert Kolt of Kolt Communications for facilitating access to the site.

images from personal collection, 2008

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Volunteers, coordinated by Mayberry Homes, arrived to help with packing up the family’s belongings. Boxes and boxes were taken out of the house. Part of being on this show is that the entire house is emptied. Some of the items may be retained and integrated with the new things that the crew will bring in. They are even having all the family’s clothes taken out and professionally cleaned!

It was a pretty quiet day at the site today. As you’ll see from these photos, not all volunteers for this show need to be skilled at carpentry or other house-building jobs. A few of the volunteers started out by simply bringing in boxes to be filled up:

I saw a couple of volunteers tossing pillows into the giant dumpster out on the street:

Professional moving teams were on hand to load filled boxes onto trucks:

Off on another area (across the street, to be precise), the show’s production crew had their own jobs. This is one presumably the tent where custom furniture and fixtures for the house are going to be put together.

Tomorrow is demolition day!

(10-01-08 Update) Schedules: Spectators are welcome to visit the site. Shuttles will be available on Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from the K-Mart parking lot on South Cedar St. On Friday, the shuttles will run from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. ‘Move the Bus’ is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Spectators are urged to get to the site hours before the 2 p.m. reveal. “Up to 6,000 people are expected” according to this LSJ article.

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No makeover is complete without before and after photos, right?

Take a good look at how the Nickless family stood today. These would all be gone tomorrow as work begins on the new house.

From the street, the view of 1860s house is partly hidden by a couple of trees:

Though the house initially looks solidly built, its age and state of disrepair become clear, on closer inspection. A couple of the windows are missing glass panes. The window on the lower right is covered with a plastic film. I can’t imagine the horrible heating bills these cause during Michigan’s winters.

The back of the house is no better. There’s a narrow set of stairs going down from just inside the door. When I was looking around the house, I can’t even tell which is the front door and which is the back. There is no clear front door that could welcome the family and their visitors.

Off to the side is the chimney and several small windows. You can see a part of a swing set there but there isn’t a proper deck or patio.

Near the back of the 1-acre property, is this very charming play structure that Tim built for his children. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish it before he died. I took a good look around this area, and chatted with Arlene’s grandchildren. It was obvious that they have been here often and quite enjoyed playing with their young uncles in the playhouse. They told me about the door that wouldn’t close, and the windows without panes. It was also a bit wobbly and needed more work to be 100% safe for kids to play in. These are part of the jobs that Tim would have taken care.

Here’s the interior of the playhouse. I’m guessing that the playhouse will be something really special once Ty is done with it.

The property that the house is located contains several trees, including some fruit-bearing ones. There’s also a huge tree in the middle of the back yard. In addition to the play structure, there’s also a trampoline near the back.

The designer’s work is clearly cut out for them. With the combined record of local builder and project coordinator Mayberry Homes and the crew of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, all the problems of this home will soon be a memory. I am so excited to see how it will turn out!

(10-01-08 Update) Schedules: Spectators are welcome to visit the site. Shuttles will be available on Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from the K-Mart parking lot on South Cedar St. On Friday, the shuttles will run from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. ‘Move the Bus’ is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Spectators are urged to get to the site hours before the 2 p.m. reveal. “Up to 6,000 people are expected” according to this LSJ article.

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Extreme

Imagine opening the door and seeing Ty Pennington there with a camera crew, a design team and the promise of giving you the home of your dreams! That was what happened to a family in mid-Michigan this week.

On Friday, September 26, 2008, Arlene Nickless, of Holt, Michigan, and her family got the wake-up call to become the next family to be on ABC’s hit show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition!

The house, which was built around the 1860s, was supposed to be the dream home that the family would fix up slowly but surely. However, the dream was cut short by the death of Arlene’s husband Tim last January. Tim was the craftsman in the family, and his passing meant that there was only Arlene to keep the dilapidated house from falling apart around her and the couple’s three young sons. With the arrival of Ty and his crew, the family could now have a fresh new start without having to worry about the pipes or the wiring inside the house.

I am a fan of this show, and I’m so excited that I can now see for myself just how they can build a house in just 5 days, or exactly 106 hours! That’s right, it’s just an easy drive from my house to Arlene’s neighborhood. So I scooted off today to take a look for myself, and be able to bring you, for this week, a glimpse of how the show’s crew is able to do the impossible.

Friday was when the family started to pack for their vacation to Disney World, which is paid for by the show. If you’ve seen previous episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you know that the family is sent away for the entire week of construction. They also went through their belongings with the crew to let them know which they wanted to keep.

The schedule of jobs for the rest of week is roughly:

• Saturday (September 27): Move-out family’s belongings. The family leaves for Disney World.
• Sunday (September 28): “Braveheart” march of volunteers to the site. Demolition. Foundation is put in.
• Monday (September 29): Utilities; basement; house framing, plumbing and electrical jobs; second-floor deck; windows; roof trusses and shingles.
• Tuesday (September 30): Drywall; siding; ceilings; cabinets; exterior trim; painting.
• Wednesday (October 1): HVAC; more plumbing and electrical work; doors; appliances; hardwood floors; garage doors; closets; more painting.
• Thursday (October 2): Sprinklers and landscaping; furniture move-in; interior decor; final cleaning.
• Friday (October 3): “Move the bus” to welcome the family to their brand new home!

Now, how is all this going to be done in only a week? The secret is in the volunteers. Or rather, the hundreds of volunteers. For this project, 1,500 volunteers signed up to help. They will be working in shifts 24 hours a day to finish the job. The volunteer efforts are being organized by local builder Mayberry Homes. Local companies have also pitched in by donating materials, time and skills.

Next up, photos of the house and Saturday’s progress.

(10-01-08 Update) Schedules: Spectators are welcome to visit the site. Shuttles will be available on Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from the K-Mart parking lot on South Cedar St. On Friday, the shuttles will run from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. ‘Move the Bus’ is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Spectators are urged to get to the site hours before the 2 p.m. reveal. “Up to 6,000 people are expected” according to this LSJ article.

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