A house in 106 hours for an Austin family

By Claudia Grisales
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It took one hour to get the building permit and less than 40 minutes to tear down the house. The newly poured foundation should dry in 30 minutes this morning.

Welcome to ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," whose crews are building a house in a few days for the O'Donnells, an Austin family of eight, including five childen with autism. It normally takes six months to tear down a house and build a new one. With an around-the-clock schedule, an army of workers and volunteers, and lots of equipment, the new home for the O'Donnells will be ready, with paint and furnishings, by Sunday. Total time elapsed: 106 hours.

"Hence the name of the show," said Steve McClain, an executive with Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes, the Georgetown company building the house. "Everything about this is extreme."

On Tuesday morning, the show's 70-member crew, cast and host Ty Pennington joined hundreds of volunteers and workers who descended on the Milwood neighborhood in Northwest Austin for the first full day of filming and demolition work.

Two smaller Bobcats crashed through the garage door to start the tear-down. Soon after, two giant excavators made short work of the two-story house, crunching through the roof as if it were cardboard.

Nearby, Absolute Demolition had a dozen dump trucks ready to be filled.

"We were glad to do it," said owner Larry Gabel, who works with Jacobs regularly. Gabel lined up more help from River City Rolloffs, Texas Disposal Systems, ESI Trucking and BFI to help cart away the debris.

Gabel also brought the day's comedy relief: His Welsh Corgi, Stubbs, wore a makeshift safety helmet and charmed the crowd and the crew.

After 86 shows, the producers have figured out the logistics of building a house under a timetable that would be taxing under any circumstances. But turning it all into a TV show adds a level of complexity and occasional chaos.

"The only way to build a house in a week is to work every day and every night," said Diane Korman, the show's lead producer, who called the effort "the Super Bowl of home building."

Crew vehicles crammed streets and driveways for several blocks surrounding the house. Cameras were perched on neighbors' roofs and hung from giant cranes.

Neighbors also climbed on their roofs to watch, and dozens of gawkers gathered at a nearby corner.

What will look spontaneous in the final show sometimes took several takes. Dozens of volunteers and workers marched down Hawkshead Drive three times before producers were happy with the scene, a staple of the program.

Many onlookers were there just to see Pennington. When he walked past spectators at one point, they began yelling "Ty!" and clicking away with their cameras.

"He's a hunk," said Lori Urias, a neighbor who had set up a patio table and lawn chairs in her driveway.

Most of the O'Donnells' neighbors were glad to offer up their driveways or lawns for equipment, workers or reporters.

Neighbors said it was for a good cause and came with great perks: They were able to meet cast members, tour their trailers and attend a Monday night benefit concert.

Korman said none of it would be possible without enormous volunteer efforts. More than 300 companies are donating everything from food to furniture. The O'Donnells will come back to a new house filled with RoomStore furniture and Dell Inc. technology.

Tuesday night, workers laid the forms for the foundation and plumbing. Today, the slab will be poured, the preassembled walls will go up and premade roof trusses will be added.

Electricians and plumbers will also join in, working "on top of each other," Korman said.

The project will operate according to a precise schedule. For example, workers from Seamless Gutters are slated to start work at midnight Friday, finishing in about a quarter of the time the work usually takes.

For the O'Donnells, the show is a long-awaited answer to their prayers. Their old house had a leaky roof, rotted wood, mold and foundation and structural problems.

While their new house is being built, the O'Donnells — parents Jeanette and Patrick and kids Caitlin, Deirdre, Erin, Meaghan, Patrick and Kiernan — are at a camp for autistic children in Crested Butte, Colo. Meaghan is the only child who does not have form of autism, a developmental disorder.

The show's producers contacted City of Austin officials months ago to let them know that the O'Donnells were candidates to get a new house. About three weeks ago, they began meeting with officials to go over the building plans.

By the time a permit was issued, it was considered a formality, city officials said.

A city inspector who lives nearby is volunteering his time, making himself available at any hour to sign off on parts of the construction.

"It's a remarkable concept . . . and with the holiday season and a family in need, shame on us if we can't figure out how to make this happen," Mayor Will Wynn said. "Austin is going to be front and center on millions of televisions, and that's never a bad thing."

Jimmy Jacobs, the builder, got word three weeks ago that he had been selected to build the O'Donnell home. That gave him little time to line up workers and contractors. Most of those involved in the project received blueprints but didn't know the location until Sunday, when the O'Donnells themselves got the news.

Jacobs is building the home for free. His company has had a record year, he said, and he was looking for a way to "give back." He said he prayed about how to do that on Thanksgiving weekend and got the phone call the following Monday.

"It's a great honor," Jacobs said. "And we're going to do what's right for this family."

cgrisales@statesman.com; 912-5933

To donate, volunteer or watch

Access to the construction site is restricted. Go to 11400 Burnet Road, about a mile away, to volunteer or take a shuttle to an area where you can watch the project and cheer on the workers.

Organizers are raising money to pay off the O'Donnells' mortgage. Make a donation at the Burnet Road site or send checks to Celebration Church, Box 249, Georgetown, TX 78626. The check should include the notation 'Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes – Project 415.'