Extreme Makeover Home Edition

I got my answer last night just a few miles from my home in Arizona. The program is currently working on a house for a family whose daughter suffers from leukemia and has been hospitalized on and off for over a year. On Sunday, unbeknownst to them, Extreme Makeover tore down their house and hauled away the rubble. Last night at 7 p.m. their new 5,300 square foot home was already framed and 25 workers were putting the finishing touches on the roof. I was amazed.

I talked to one of the contractors who told me the foundation was poured by a 200-man force in less than an hour. The 10,000 psi concrete is four times stronger than that used in conventional homes and is mixed with additives that cause it to harden quickly.

I asked about the timeline and the contractor replied, "It’s going great. We’re 40 minutes ahead of schedule." He explained that a local crew of 300 framers had worked through-out the day in an extremely well coordinated effort to produce the amazing structure that stands in place of a home that one day earlier had been demolished. Approximately 1,000 construction workers will participate in the makeover.

I was wrong about the building but what about the program’s characters? Are they really involved? "Yes," was the answer given to me by the contractor. "Ty [the design leader] is just as funny and involved in person as he is on TV," he said.

Neighbors filled me in on the family and how the program found out about their real needs: their young daughter wrote ABC and asked for renovation of the worn hospital where she receives her treatment. Ty and company are also fulfilling this request and are using the hospital renovation and the entire family’s involvement in it as a diversion to keep the parents and their six children from knowing about their new and desperately needed home. Apparently the program will air in March.

As a general rule, I don't like reality based over hyped and over dramatized TV programs. However, my mind has been changed on this one.

More here from the Arizona Republic.

Update (Thurs., Feb. 10) - I stopped by the house today and found the outside nearly complete. The two story home has a tile roof, stucco walls, and is painted and adorned with rod iron. The landscaping, including mature trees and saguaro cacti, is also close to completion. This is utterly amazing considering a different building stood in this one's place four days ago. It's also a good thing since rumor has it the family returns tomorrow.