ABOUT
About the special
Tuesday April 7 and Wednesday April 8 at 9pm ET/PT on Global
There was nothing easy about the Big Easy when hero contractor Mike Holmes and his dedicated crew spent three months in intense rainstorms and sweltering heat in the heart of New Orleans' lower 9th ward, rebuilding a home for Gloria Guy – a grandmother who lost everything when the levees broke as Hurricane Katrina struck nearly three years ago. Mike and his crew worked with the Make It Right Foundation, a charity organization set up to raise funds and awareness of the Lower 9th Ward's devastation. An agreement was made for Mike to come down and build the first LEED™-certified, prototype home and supervise construction of other homes going up – just five homes to start, with the goal to eventually build 145 more. Mike and his crew (including his three kids Amanda, Sherry and Mike Jr.) have just 10 weeks to complete the build – when it would usually require 20 weeks. They have promised to handover the keys to Gloria on August 29 – exactly three years since Hurricane Katrina. There's so much to do, so much to learn and there's nothing quite as hot as a Louisianan summer.
About the series
Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning April 9 on HGTV
An expanded version of the Global special, HGTV's six-hour, six-week Holmes in New Orleans series offers additional interviews, added footage and a more in-depth look at the build and its dramatic challenges – focusing on the structural elements that make the house impermeable to the elements, as well as the materials used that adhere to the strict LEED™-platinum certification. Committed to hand over the keys to Gloria by August 29, 2008, exactly three years after Katrina struck, Mike and his crew have just 10 weeks to build the home from the foundation up. Each of the six hour-long episodes follows the crew as they struggle to overcome personal challenges, conflicts between the trades people, staff turnover, as well as the stifling heat and blinding rainstorms of a Louisianan summer. Yet with the help of the community, and their unwavering dedication to re-build the Lower 9th Ward, Mike and his crew persevere in their unshaken commitment to Make It Right™. Witness how the toil of the heat, long hours, frustration and physical exhaustion has on the crew – and watch as despite all odds, as Mike leads his team to build a safe and sustainable home that will withstand future hurricanes or flooding.