Mines over Minefields - Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 40

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 1 - January 23, 2026

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 39 - April 20, 2026

Rather than writing about mining for precious metals or minerals versus walking through some landscape laced with explosives, I’m sharing a take on blunders, something most can understand. But more than just making mistakes, I’m writing on the value of mine.

Early on, when someone asked me how I ended up rehabbing my houses on television, I said something that may be the easiest and most accurate answer in a nutshell: I’ve screwed up a lot. And those missteps are like breadcrumbs leading me from Darke County, Ohio to Berchador, South Carolina and yapping away on American Rehab Charleston and Restoring Charleston. In committing to this series responding to TV show viewers, their questions and requests for advice, I’ve been overwhelmed by the additions to my list of foul-ups.

Although I think it may be entertaining to share my mistakes in frank detail, what people may benefit from more is knowing what to do. But this is not a one-way street, where I’m just thinking this all out, and writing and posting for others. There’s something in it for me too and I think that’s one of the revelations, one of many waking me in the middle of the night. I don’t actually need people to tell me that I made a lot of errors. In the posts up to this point, I’ve tried to make it clear that I understand that. But these observers have only skimmed the surface. The depths of my minefield trapsing are vast, more than anyone but me can ever know, far beyond what I’m able to write about. And there is value in the deep worth tapping into.

Rather than what not to do, it’ll be more helpful to think in the positive. And the big first lesson is, no matter how busy you may be, and regardless of how enamored you are with the people you are working with, write out the specifics in detail. Get concurrence in the form of signatures from authorized decision makers.

I’m including a music video. This song, it’s lyrics and message, are fitting at this stage of my story. After a quick recap, please take a few minutes to listen.

After being paired up with the Minnesota production company behind the hit show Rehab Addict starring blonde dynamo Nicole Curtis, I learned that my next project house and I would be the subjects of a four-episode home renovation series to be on either HGTV, DIY, or both channels. The expected wait over the holidays turned into three humbling months when preparations and communication with producers was minimal. My wife and I had been doing our part to get ready, and within this had told those who needed to know about my future working with the film crew. Then, like a phoenix rising up out of Arizona, things began to happen at the beginning of March after I received a second unsolicited email from a completely different production company. Suddenly, instead of four episodes, we were looking down the barrel of a six-episode opportunity.

Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 41 - Coming Soon