Edmonton Journal

Mike Holmes helps High River family

Mike Holmes special gives helpful advice to victims of summer flooding

- RUTH MYLES

Holmes Makes It Right Tuesday, 10 p.m., HGTV This week’s instalment of Holmes Makes It Right strays from the usual formula of Mike Holmes and crew meeting unhappy homeowners, surveying an improperly built/ renovated home and then making it right. In the end, there are smiles all around.

Tuesday’s episode is set in High River, the Alberta community hit hardest by June’s flooding. While Holmes & Co. helped the Rotheisler family, there are more than 2,000 people still out of their homes in Alberta due to the natural disaster.

“It truly wasn’t a happy ending because it was just one family that has a smile on their face, with everyone else still stuck in the middle. So it goes from a happy ending to a not-so-much happy ending,” Holmes says over the phone from Toronto. “It was hard for me. I can only help one family at a time. I can’t help an entire city.”

But he can help flood victims make informed decisions on the road to rebuilding, another reason for the special. The 60-minute episode on HGTV Canada will also remind the rest of the country about the scope of the flooding that continues to affect thousands.

“I was overwhelme­d at the size of the area that was flooded. I had no idea it was that big,” Holmes recalls of his visit to southern Alberta in July. “As far as I was concerned that day, it was bigger than (Hurricane) Katrina.”

The Rotheisler­s’ bungalow was one of the more than 14,500 homes damaged in the disaster. On June 20, Gillian Rotheisler came home from work early due to the flood warning. Husband John, an RCMP officer, was in Edmonton on a course. Daughters Jordyn, 15, and Cassidy, 12, were with their mom in their 1,533-square-foot home that backs onto a 16-acre water feature that serves as a storm pond.

Water a metre high surged against the basement windows, blowing out the sliding glass door. The flood waters filled the lower level, reaching approximat­ely 2.25 metres high. “The noise was so horrendous. It sounded like the house was collapsing,” Gillian says.

She and the girls laboured through thigh-high water on their street to a dry patch up the road. They waited there with 40 neighbours to be evacuated via helicopter. The family was out of their home for six weeks.

Thankfully, the water didn’t breach the main floor of the Rotheisler home. It destroyed the lower level, though, which housed the girls’ bedrooms, a family room/ office, a bathroom and the mechanical room.

The family had help in the clean up. Volunteers included members of Lifestyle Homes, which crafted the house. In 2012, the home was the first built in High River under the Holmes Approved Homes program.

As they needed the living space for the girls, the family decided to finance an immediate rebuild of the basement, rather than wait for any insurance money or provincial assistance to come through. Because of the home’s provenance, Holmes signed on for the project alongside Lifestyle Homes.

The Rotheisler­s’ experience “is a great example of what needs to be done that relates to almost everyone there,” Holmes says. “I know for a fact that a lot of families there have already closed their basements up. If the moisture content was above 15 per cent, they are going to have such a problem in the future.”

He’s talking about mould, and he refers to it as “the storm after the storm.” Gillian says it took four to five weeks for their home to dry out, aided by air cleaners and systems to help remove the moisture. The Sept. 22 reveal was almost pushed back because of moisture issues.

The family is grateful they had the opportunit­y to “make it right” in their home, but feel for those in the community still struggling with the aftermath of the flood. “Even though we got hit so hard, we know there are people who have it worse.”

To those who are rebuilding, Holmes has a message: “Slow down.” While he knows those trying to re-establish their homes don’t want to hear that, Holmes says it pays to do things right the first time. And the most critical issue is getting the moisture content of a flooded structure to that 15-per-cent level.

“Remember, insurance and government are going to help you once. They’re not going to help again, so if it’s done wrong, the next time is going to cost you big time.”

 ?? LORRAINE HJALTE/POSTMEDIA NEWS ?? John and Gillian Rothesisle­r and their daughters, Jordyn and Cassidy, show off the lower level of their home, which television host Mike Holmes rebuilt for them following June’s flooding in High River.
LORRAINE HJALTE/POSTMEDIA NEWS John and Gillian Rothesisle­r and their daughters, Jordyn and Cassidy, show off the lower level of their home, which television host Mike Holmes rebuilt for them following June’s flooding in High River.
 ?? GILLIAN ROTHEISLER ?? After June’s flooding, the Rotheisler­s had to remove everything from their walkout basement. Jordyn, 15, stands beside the pile of detritus.
GILLIAN ROTHEISLER After June’s flooding, the Rotheisler­s had to remove everything from their walkout basement. Jordyn, 15, stands beside the pile of detritus.

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