Bonus 1 · Free on YouTube
The Night Before Ground Broke
Premieres Wednesday, November 18 at 9:05pm ET, the minute Episode 1 ends on Destination America. 18 to 25 minutes TV had no room for, most of it never seen.
Unlocks Wed, Nov 18 · 9:05pm ET
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Before the first episode
Six months earlier, it was a tape measure on dirt.
Four friends, one wooded lot on Smith Lake, and a promise to build a house from scratch, on camera, on a budget they swore not to break. Here's where it starts.
01 · The spot
“No need to look for land. We have the spot.”
Derek had been talking about Smith Lake for three years, and he already had the lot: 100 feet of water on a quiet cove, deep enough to swim year round, tucked away from the boats on the main channel.
02 · The experience
“What do you know about building a house?”
Absolutely nothing, as Marko put it. He took AutoCAD in eleventh grade. None of them had ever built a house, and they'd never made a show together. So they set a budget, gave the plans to Brad at Custom Home Designs, and turned Shannon, the only real builder in the group, loose on the lot.
03 · The night before
The last quiet night on the lot.
Bonus 1 goes back to the night before the first shovel went in: the plans, the nerves, the budget conversation nobody wanted to have, and the moment it stopped being an idea. TV picks up months later, with the frame already standing.
“The beginning's the hardest. Getting it out of the ground is so hard.”
Who's in it
Meet the friends →
Derek Miller
The dreamer. Wants it bigger.
Josh Hemingway
Said it out loud first. Narrates.
Shannon Fondren
The builder. The Cullman local.
James “Marko” Markovits
Solves it a different way.
How Wednesday night works
8:00pm ET / 9:00pm PT
Watch the episode on Destination America
Then stream it later on HGTV GO.
9:05pm ET
Come back here for the bonus episode
Free on YouTube, with the cast in the live chat.
Never miss a Wednesday.
A reminder the day before each episode and the bonus episode the minute it's live.
