‘Holmes Family Rescue’ Star Reveals the 1 Thing Homeowners Should Never Try to DIY [Interview]
Mike Holmes is here to make it right. The contractor and renovation expert is stepping in to save desperate homeowners from botched home upgrades in the new season of Holmes Family Rescue, premiering Wednesday, June 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.
Together with his kids, Michael Holmes Jr. and Sherry Holmes, Mike helps people who’ve been let down by careless or sketchy contractors, allowing them to put their reno stress behind them and enjoy the home of their dreams. It’s something the trio has been doing has been doing for years. But while the problem of home upgrades gone wrong doesn’t change, that doesn’t mean that fixing them ever gets old, they told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in an interview.
New season of ‘Holmes Family Rescue’ features challenges ‘we’ve never seen before’
“Every job is different,” Michael Jr. said. “As much as we’re like, ‘Oh, we’ve tackled botched renovations, we’ve tackled botched additions before,’ this season we’ve tackled jobs we’ve never seen before. We’ve tackled things that we’ve never addressed before. And so I think what keeps it refreshing is new problems.”
“Every house is different,” Mike added. “I don’t care what anyone says, no house is built the same, so that tells its own story. Every homeowner, they’re different. And we have run into, in this season, some very different homeowners.” (In the premiere, the trio must navigate around a barnyard full of animals – including pigs – as they work to give a family a functional mudroom.)
While each project is unique, one thing the Holmes family can rely on is a healthy working relationship, even if they’re not on the same page on every issue.
“There’s always going to be ups and downs. You’re always, always, always going to have disagreements,” Sherry said. “I don’t care how well you get along, it’s unnatural not to disagree on something. But I think what’s wonderful about working with family is it’s easy to address those issues. So if I disagree with how my dad or Michael is doing anything, I can say, ‘I don’t like that.’ … So I think you work really well together because the honesty is on another level.”
Michale Holmes Jr.’s advice for DIYers: ‘Don’t touch plumbing’
It’s been more than 20 years since Mike made his TV debut. Over the years, he’s seen trends come and go. Where people once clamored for open-concept layouts now they’ve “gone back to rooms,” he said, partly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He’s also seeing more clients interested in multi-generational housing “due to unaffordability.”
“The kids want to take care of [their parents]. They don’t want to go to an old age home as they get older,” he said.
Those new pressures on housing should inspire builders to rethink how they work, Mike said.
“I want to see more that we think about building technology, of not just the envelope, how to make it better, how to make it safer, insulated … healthy,” he said. “We need to slow down and figure out where we want to be, how we want to do it.”
And what of people who might try to save a buck by DIYing their home upgrades? Proceed with caution, Michael Jr. advises, and don’t touch anything that could put you or your family’s safety at risk.
“People have always been interested in DIYing things. I don’t think that has changed. And I think there’s more education around what to do and what not to do. But what I would advise is don’t touch plumbing, electrical, gas, or structure,” he said. “If you’re going to mess with anything, mess with aesthetics. Because at the end of the day, if you mess it up, it’s not going to light your house on fire. It’s not going to blow your house up. It is not going to cause a flood and mold issues.”
“I think DIYing stuff can be great. It’s a fun learning curve. You’re doing something different. It’s trying something new. Awesome,” Sherry said. “However, like Michael said, make sure you know when to hire a professional. Do not touch something you have no experience with. Do not touch something that could potentially harm you and your family.”
Aside from safety concerns, there’s the reality of having to live with your own shoddy workmanship if your DIY doesn’t go as planned.
“You will have to look at it,” Michael pointed out. “So if you don’t do a good job then you’ll have a constant reminder of that. But then you’ll also have an appreciation, a healthy appreciation for the work that contractors do.”
Holmes Family Rescue airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.
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