Original subtitles

About an hour from right here

is Akron, Ohio, known as

the rubber capital of the world.

Why do I care about that?

A mile down this road

is one of the craziest homesteads ever

because this family built their home

out of 30,000 used car tires.

But now they've got more problems

and these people need help.

[narrator] Five years ago, the Raneys responded to

an urgent plea from the Broadhead family...

Never seen anything like this before.

[narrator] ...whose Central Ohio homestead,

a solar powered Earthship made of 30,000 tires,

was at a breaking point.

[Morgan] That tree and that line

are really what's keeping the house from...

[narrator] The Raneys helped tackle the home's structural issues,

-invasive pest problems... - [wasps buzzing]

[Matt] Have you ever heard of the movie Animal House?

-This is the sequel. -[thunderclap]

[narrator] ...and a bacteria-infested indoor greenhouse...

[Marty] This is pretty crazy.

I mean, your bed's right there.

Your kitchen's right there.

[narrator] ...getting the family back on sanitary ground.

[Marty] All right, here we go.

This place will never, ever look or be the same.

-[all cheering] -[person whistles]

I'm simply overwhelmed.

[narrator] But in the five years since the rescue,

an increase in powerful storms

and record rainfall

has caused their vital berm to erode.

[Morgan] The wall's actually starting to buckle.

I always say in my prayers

that the house isn't gonna come down.

[narrator] Making matters worse,

the storms brought one of the most

violent tornado seasons in the region's history...

[Wendy] We had one hit a few weeks ago

that pretty much leveled our area.

[Morgan] Couldn't even really drive into town.

-Yeah. -There was debris everywhere.

[Wendy] It looked like a war zone.

[narrator] ...forcing the family to second-guess

their off-grid dream.

[Morgan] Some of the work that needs to be done,

so far beyond our ability.

[Wendy] It's gonna take a Marty miracle.

[narrator] On this episode...

[Marty] I know we're going fast.

[narrator] ...Marty returns to the Broadheads.

[Marty] If the concrete isn't strong enough,

it'll break in half.

[narrator] ...to ensure their one of a kind homesteading dream...

Whoo! What's that noise?

-[tree cracks] -[narrator] ...doesn't crumble...

-[Morgan] There it goes. -[narrator] ...and fall.

[Morgan] Oh, no!

Whoa!

[Marty] I can say two things

about this family here in Ohio.

One, they care about the environment.

We spent about a year or so

researching what kinds of homes could we build

that would be self-sufficient,

and we decided on a home like this,

using tire bales and recycled materials.

[Wendy] And the south-facing side of the house

is supposed to be all windows

to act as a passive solar.

[Marty] And two,

they're a very close-knit family.

Kind of reminds me of my own family.

It is a fact

that the weather here in Ohio

has gotten exponentially worse.

I wanna make sure that these hard working,

deserving homesteaders are set up for success.

[narrator] Marty is wheels down in Central Ohio

where recent years have seen increased temperatures

-and heavier rainfall... - [thunderclap]

...with up to 38 inches annually,

causing frequent flooding.

As summer grows hotter,

the impact is largely felt in farming

with decreased yields of corn and soybeans.

But the dramatic change in weather

has brought along a bigger threat.

The average number of tornadoes per year

has nearly doubled since the 1990s,

with 63 already this year alone,

killing three people.

It's in this volatile environment

that Marty revisits the Broadhead family.

[car horn honks]

Anybody home?

[both] Marty!

Hey.

-What's up, man? -[Wendy] Hey, man.

Nice to see you all again.

-[Ashton] How's it going? -[Wendy] Good to see you.

[Marty] Seems like yesterday.

Nice to see you.

Nice to see you, and you.

-How are you? -[Camden] Good.

-[Marty] Good. Nice to see you guys. -[all chuckling]

This is strange because

I was completely shocked

-the first time I pulled in here with the kids... -[Morgan chuckling]

...and stood right here and saw all that garbage.

You've gotta be kidding me.

[Matt laughs] Oh, my goodness.

I've never seen anything like this before.

Ever.

Five years ago in this homestead,

it looked a lot different.

It was unfinished,

and there were tires everywhere, exposed.

-[Matt] How many tires? -[both] 30,000.

[Morgan] It's all recycled materials.

Plastic bottles, glass.

Anything that would normally end up in a landfill,

we stuff in all the cracks and crevices.

-Non-biodegradable. -[Morgan] Yeah.

So nothing that can mold or biodegrade in the walls.

[Morgan] This is our insulation.

[Misty] This is, like,

-the craziest thing I've ever seen. -[all laughing]

[Marty] And I'm equally as shocked

at seeing what you've done since we've been here.

I mean, this place, it's incredible.

It looks like you've really taken

ownership and pride in this homesteading dream.

But looking at how beautiful it is,

I'm wondering why I'm standing here.

-I'm Morgan Broadhead. -Wendy Broadhead.

When the Raneys came the first time, we were struggling

getting to that functional place.

It's kind of been a 24/7 anxiety attack for me

over the last year. [chuckles]

So, working with the Raneys last time was really awesome.

Matt, Misty and Marty,

all three of them were just amazing people.

[Misty] Okay, it didn't move

one hair.

-Whoo! -That is amazing.

-Good job. -Whoo-hoo!

[Wendy] They got done in a short amount of time

what probably would have taken Morgan and I

about five years to accomplish by ourselves.

-[Camden] Oh! -[Tessah] Oh, my gosh.

-This is so pretty. -You guys, this thing's cool.

[Emberley] Oh, yeah, they put my parents

-years above schedule. -Several years ahead.

[narrator] But with 15 major storm events

-since the Raneys' first visit... - [thunderclap]

...new problems have arisen on the homestead.

[Wendy] The berm has been

on the top of our priority.

[Morgan] Structurally, everybody worked really hard

to get the berm in to support the walls

that were holding up the house.

But that berm has settled quite a bit back there.

[Ashton] The berm has gone down a couple of feet,

a variety of reasons.

Some of it, I think, is just

the amount of rainfall that we get every year.

But there are critters starting to burrow back there, too,

which I think is why it's starting to settle as well.

[Morgan] Yeah, it's like a little condominium for them back there.

-So we have chipmunks back there. -Chipmunks.

-We have groundhogs back there. -Groundhogs.

It's the structure to our home,

so if they continue to burrow holes in it, you know,

I'm concerned that it's a structural issue.

[Morgan] The wall's actually started to buckle a little bit

on the back side of the house.

We really need to shore up the berm that was back there.

I always say in my prayers that

the house isn't gonna come down.

[narrator] The abundance of rain

highlights another area in need of a solution.

[Morgan] The original design of the house

was to allow us to capture rainwater.

[Wendy] Because of bad weather, the gutters,

we haven't been able to seal them up

or get them running into the cisterns.

[Morgan] We have this well,

but there's a lot of wasted water

that we would like to be able to take advantage of.

We wanna do something good for the environment

and direct that rainwater back into the cistern

so that we can use that throughout the house.

[narrator] But the threat that the family fears most

is tornadoes.

[Wendy] Ohio has had more tornadoes

so far this year than any other year.

- [electricity sparks] -We get them frequently.

We had one hit a few weeks ago

where we were sheltering in place.

It just never stopped lightening.

-It was almost like daylight. - [thunderclap]

It pretty much leveled our area.

[Morgan] Couldn't even really drive into town.

-Yeah. -There was debris everywhere.

[Wendy] It looked like a war zone

for almost two weeks.

People near us lost their homes and their barns.

We were lucky in that situation.

Our entire south side of our house

-is all glass windows. -[Wendy] Yeah.

[Morgan] So my biggest fear is always

that a tornado or high winds are going to hit...

[glass shatters]

...and the glass from inside,

-shatters and blows everywhere. -Yeah. Yeah.

It's a stressful time when the tornadoes hit.

And we have a room that we had planned as a tornado room.

The best we can do is just

go into the pantry and hope for the best.

-[Morgan] We have... - [Wendy] Seconds.

[Morgan] ...between seconds and minutes

for everybody to get into the shelter.

And Wendy's parents live right across the driveway

and don't move very quickly.

Marty, you helped us out so much before.

We're really hoping you can come out and help us again.

[Marty] On that note,

let's wrap our heads around what we can do in four days.

Kids, take a break. Come on, Mom.

-Come on, Dad. Let's go. -[Morgan] All right. Sounds good.

-Holy moly. -Come on in. This is the place.

[Marty] Are you kidding me?

[Morgan] Probably a little different

than the last time you were here, huh?

[Marty] Look at these plants.

What in the world?

I'm getting a flashback.

The first time I

-came into this building... -Right. Stomping through all the mud.

[Marty] ...this thing had water in the bottom. It was gross, too.

[Emberley] Our planter's filling up.

All this rain is coming right up against the house...

-Collects right in front. -[Emberley] ...where this gutter is,

-and it's... -Well, that's not even sanitary.

-No. -No. That's gross.

-That's pretty crazy. -It's gross.

Right now, there's eight inches of water

the full length.

It's crazy.

-It actually smells gross, too, by the way. -[Wendy] It does.

-It's nasty. -[Emberley] I'm sure it does.

This is pretty crazy.

Guys, come on. You're kidding me.

Twenty feet from their kitchen table is a health hazard.

And so this is...

This is aloe vera. All of this is aloe vera.

She's very happy in here.

This is thyme.

This is turmeric.

This back here is ginger.

[Marty] I mean, this is truly incredible.

-May I? -[Wendy] Yep.

This is incredible.

I'm really impressed. I'm proud of you guys.

Who does all the mowing out here?

[Wendy] My dad actually has a rider mower.

He likes to tinker with the yard.

How long ago did the parents move in?

They actually lived here when you were here last time.

Since then, their health has really declined,

so they're needing a lot more help right now.

-But they're here full time. -But... Yeah, they're here full time.

So, originally, when we put those metal sheets here

and we had attached it to the walls,

when it settled, it actually

ripped all those metal pieces right out of the wall.

You can see, like,

-this is the top of the tire wall here. -[Marty] Mmm-hmm.

[narrator] When Marty first arrived...

[Marty] What's going on here?

[narrator] ...the Broadheads' home

was literally hanging on by a thread.

Structurally, our house started to lean.

That tree and that line

are really what's keeping the house from moving forward.

When we rolled onto this homestead years ago,

we put the dirt over those tires,

berming it,

creating an earth battery.

But five years later, the berm has shifted.

That's not good.

[Wendy] Groundhogs really love this overgrowth.

They're living in the berm. [chuckles]

Of course, you know, the more tunnels,

animal tunnels we get in there,

the more of that shifting that we get.

[narrator] Groundhogs create burrows

to not only protect from predators,

but to give them a place

to both breed and hibernate.

Their boroughs typically feature

one main entrance with up to four exits.

Usually located near trees, walls or fences,

other animals, such as raccoons, foxes and skunks

often make dens out of old groundhog holes.

The multiple burrows and tunnels

created by these animals

can result in ground instability,

and quickly undermine the integrity of a berm like the Broadheads'.

Don't you guys have dogs?

-We do have dogs. -[Morgan] They love to get in there,

but even they can't get in through

-all the overgrowth back here. It's too much. -[Wendy] It's, like, solid,

like brambles.

[narrator] This isn't the first time the Broadheads

have struggled with critters burrowing on their homestead.

[Ashton] Right over here is where the minks got into the house.

[narrator] But five years ago,

they were burrowing into something else.

My mom filled it with spray foam.

[Matt] Spray foam, it might be worse than dirt.

-It's easier to get through. -Right.

We've seen raccoons, groundhogs.

I know there's bats that have got into the house,

minks, wasps and different types of bees.

This hole right up here is one of the main problem spots.

I would hope that, somehow,

we can figure out a way to get all the animals out.

When they're active at night, there's no sleep.

-They just crawl right through this rubber. -Yeah.

They're all crawling around right where we're sleeping,

so you can hear them in the wall.

Between the settling, the over-growing

of thorny blackberry bushes,

and gophers and other animals

that have recaptured that land,

we've got our work cut out for us.

So, we have these cisterns buried back here,

but as you can see, it's so overgrown

we can't really get to them

to do anything with them right now,

and it's really hard to just take care of all this up here.

[Wendy] It's steep and dangerous

to get up here and down.

[Marty] Okay. [sighs]

It's one thing to design a system

and say you're gonna catch water

off the 3,000-square-foot roof

and then that captured water

goes into five different 2,000-gallon tanks.

But as of today, not one drop of water

is coming off that roof and going into any tank.

Now what we have to do is think about

-what's really the most important thing. -[Wendy] Sure.

[Morgan] Two weeks ago, we actually had a tornado.

[Wendy] Did a lot of damage near us.

There's been over 30 tornadoes in Ohio just this year.

It feels like, now, it's almost constant,

and if you look at the statistics,

so many more for Ohio.

[Marty] What was your plan for a shelter from tornadoes?

-[Morgan] Wanna see it? -[Marty] Of course.

-[Morgan] Let's take a look. -[Marty] Mmm-hmm.

[Morgan] Let's head down here to the pantry.

It's never really gotten finished

as it was designed to do.

[Morgan] I mean, if we had to stay in here

for any kind of an extended period of time,

we've got water in here,

we've got food in here, we've got blankets in here.

-A critical piece is missing. And what is it? -[Wendy] Yeah. Mmm-hmm.

-A reinforced roof or ceiling in here. -[Marty] Yeah.

On that note, we've got some work to do.

There's a lot of work

that needs to get done on this homestead,

and I'm scheduled at another homestead

in just a few days.

But where do I start?

We have a very rigid schedule of four days,

and I hear rain is coming.

There's a good chance that not everything is going to be addressed

-and that you guys... -Oh, absolutely.

-...you guys might have to talk amongst yourselves... -Yeah.

-...and see which one of these things you really need. -[Wendy] Right.

I've got equipment coming.

I got the tools arriving.

I gotta address that, and I got to get working.

So I need some decisions out of you guys.

-Okay. -I'll meet you at the front.

[narrator] In Central Ohio...

[Marty] All right, folks.

[narrator] Marty begins his re-rescue

of the Broadheads' homestead.

Five years ago,

the family was at risk of losing it all

due to a failing foundation,

lack of a viable garden

and animals that were getting through their tire bales

and into their home.

Today, the family faces new hardship

due to worsening weather

that Marty must address from the ground up.

[Marty] I know it's short notice, you didn't have much time,

but what are you guys thinking about doing while I'm here?

[Morgan] Wendy and I both have our top one priority.

[Wendy] With the close call

we had recently with the tornadoes,

someplace safe for the tornado situations.

The rest of you guys aren't here.

Do you guys worry about these guys

-with all the tornadoes happening? -Yeah.

When was the last tornado?

-Wasn't it? -Like two weeks ago,

they sent us pictures of them all

hunkered down in there.

Mom was just texting, saying, like,

"I really hope everything holds."

-It's kinda scary, though. -[Tessah] Yeah.

And then we talked about this berm settling.

It's gonna be a problem.

-We're gonna have to address that this week. -[both] Okay.

[Morgan] The last important thing for us

is getting those cisterns cleared out

and at least accessible,

and take advantage of the water

like we've planned to do.

We've never been able to.

[narrator] To re-rescue the Broadhead family's homestead,

Marty and his small team

will divide and conquer.

Marty's foreman, Clint,

will add dirt and regrade the shifting berm

to ensure the Broadheads' house

is structurally sound,

while a local animal trapper will be brought in

to rid the berm of burrowing groundhogs.

Next, a member of Marty's build team

will seal the existing gutters

and connect a water line to the unused cisterns.

And finally, Marty will build a storm shelter from scratch

that will provide protection

from Ohio's increased threat of tornadoes.

What if we built a storm shelter

somewhere between your home and your parent's home

somewhere in this area?

I think it's a good idea.

Tell me why.

It's right in the center.

It would take half the time to get everybody together.

[Wendy] We have to be able to fit all of us, plus dogs.

How many dogs, please?

That's five dogs.

-Eight people. -People.

And to wheelchairs.

Are you telling me your parents are wheelchair bound?

To get them to move that fast in a tornado situation?

-I have to put them in wheelchairs, yes. -[Marty] Okay.

Do you have any cats?

Oh, yes. My parents have a cat.

-[Wendy chuckling] -Okay.

We had a meeting of the minds

and we said X marks the spot,

and now it's up to us

to build the structure on X marks the spot

that will be safe for all.

Do we have to cut any trees

or will it be to the left of that tree?

I think, probably, we're gonna have to bring some down.

[Marty] Okay, let's hit it.

It's evident that we have to make room for a storm shelter.

Our first step,

clearing trees.

We're gonna build a storm shelter.

That building is gonna start right here.

So just tear this tree out of there.

No chainsaws. Tear it all out.

Stack it here for now.

Thank you. [whistles]

[narrator] As clearing begins with the excavator,

five years ago,

the Raneys brought in two excavators

to fix the leaning tire bale house.

[Marty] The tires were leaning.

What do you do?

Straighten it back up.

Do what should have been done the day they set these tires.

Put an earth damn on the back of them

and lock it all in with the soil.

All right, we're ready.

-You're gonna hit the cable. -[Misty] Dad!

-[Ashton] He's stuck. He's stuck. -[Matt] Dad!

-Dad! -He's stuck. He's stuck. He's stuck.

-[Matt] Dad, lift it up! -[Wendy] You got stuck.

-[Matt] Dad! -[Wendy] Okay, you gotta stop.

It's gonna snap the cord.

If they break my house,

I mean, that was the last four years of our lives,

and there's no going back for us.

-Straight out? That straight out? -[Misty] Straight.

-[Matt] Straight out. -Okay.

There's no margin for error.

[wood cracking]

[wood creaking]

[Misty on radio] Stop!

-Stop. Stop. -[wood cracks]

Let me go up and check it.

Hopefully, the whole house

doesn't come crashing down on me.

Does it look like it's straight up and down?

[Misty] Man, It's close.

What's it need?

[Misty] It needs about an inch,

and I don't know if you can achieve that

unless you start berming.

Okay. I get it.

-[Misty] Okay. -Matt, stick in your brace.

[Matt on radio] All right. Here I go.

[Marty] I like it. Let's go.

Morgan!

[narrator] Later that day,

before Clint can repair the sinking berm,

Marty introduces Morgan to a local trapper

who can help solve the critter infestation

causing the berm to falter.

[Marty] I found an expert.

Meet Brian Coots.

-How you doing? -Brian, nice to meet you.

-Morgan. -Nice to meet you. I'm nuisance animal control.

They told me you got something going on in your berm.

[chuckles]

Yeah. We got some stuff going on in the berm.

Okay. What do we got?

Back here, it's a lot of groundhogs.

-It's a good idea to try to get him out of here. -Yeah, for sure.

[Marty] All right, so,

I've got work to do, as you know.

-Give me a report later, please. -Okay. Will do.

-[Marty] Thank you. -Thanks, Marty.

We know we have a lot of groundhogs and chipmunks,

in that berm back there,

but it's been very difficult to try and find

where those homes actually are

because the berm is so overgrown.

We're gonna have to cut this out with the machetes

-and find those holes. -Okay.

When we find them, we'll just set a trap next to each one of them

-and we'll go back and we'll bait them. -Okay.

So, right now, we're trying to find

where the groundhog holes are actually at,

and they're burrowing, actually, down underneath our cistern.

So hacking our way through just to find them,

and then we'll set traps in each of the holes,

and hopefully catch the groundhogs.

[narrator] The Broadheads take the first step

to saving the berm from groundhogs...

[Ashton] I got one over here.

[narrator] ...but five years ago,

they faced a smaller nuisance

getting too close for comfort.

-[Ashton] Perfect. -[Matt] Yeah!

All this heavy equipment we're using

is gonna scare all the wild animals away,

but it's not gonna scare away the wasps,

so we're gonna have to remove those by hand.

-You see that? -[Ashton] Yep.

-[wasps buzzing] -[Matt] You can hear them.

Making itself a home in there.

[Matt] I'm going in.

Whoa. Okay.

-All right. -Okay, bigger than what it looks like.

[Matt] A lot bigger than what it looks like.

It's definitely a hive that we have to relocate.

There's gotta be a queen in there.

[Ashton] They're starting to come out.

-[Matt] They're not happy. -[Ashton] Mmm-mmm.

-[Matt] We're getting swarmed. -[wasps buzzing]

I'm gonna try to close that entrance real quick to the bag,

and then we're gonna take the whole bag,

-put it in here. -Okay.

[wasps buzzing]

-All right, you ready? -[Ashton] All right. Yep.

[Matt] Over here.

Ready?

[wasps buzzing]

Well, we lost one.

[both chuckling]

-All right. That went well. -[Ashton chuckling]

[Brian] We'll get this thing baited up,

throw some more cover over it.

[narrator] While Ashton and the trapper

finish setting the groundhog baits...

[Morgan] Wendy, you wanna come take a look at this?

[narrator] ...back at the foundation,

Marty meets with Morgan and Wendy

to discuss his plans for the storm shelter.

Yeah. What's going on?

[Morgan] You think this is gonna be a good spot for him?

Yeah. Kinda right in between the houses,

facing out that way.

[Marty] So, just so you know,

this entire box, foundation,

is going to be solid concrete...

-Oh, wow. -...by this time tomorrow night.

-[Wendy] Really? -In fact,

we're gonna try to get a special mix

where we can pour this,

wait just a little bit,

and then start building on it.

-Wow. -[Marty] Right after it's poured.

[Wendy] That sounds incredible.

[narrator] To provide a safe haven

from the growing tornado threat,

Marty will first lay a concrete foundation for a storm shelter,

complete with reinforced rebar,

as well as a concrete roof

which will be poured into a form in the driveway to set.

Then he'll raise cinder block walls

with rebar inserted in the holes

and filled with grout for stability.

Finally, he will bring the concrete roof into position,

making sure the structure doesn't crumble.

[Marty] What's the weather forecast?

[Wendy] Cloudy tomorrow, rain the next day.

-[Marty] Nothing can stop us from working. -Okay.

So, if it rains, we'll build a tent over this.

-Okay. -[Marty] We'll cut some rebar,

we'll lay it in here, we'll get it ready,

and then we're going to get some mud on us.

-[Wendy] Okay. -You guys afraid of getting mud on you?

I love mud.

[Wendy laughing]

[Marty] So, we're pushing the limits.

I don't think this family knows what I'm doing,

but I'm fully aware what I'm doing.

I'm cutting a very serious corner.

-[metal cracks] -Stop right there.

[narrator] On the re-rescue of the Broadheads' Ohio homestead...

-[Marty] Everybody ready? -[Morgan] Ready.

[narrator] ...Marty puts Morgan and Wendy to work

on the roof of the storm shelter.

-Feel free to build this box, and then square it up... -[Morgan] Okay.

...and then we're gonna put rebar in here.

[narrator] A storm shelter is a bunker

designed to protect against severe weather,

including heavy winds,

-[glass shatters] -...and flying debris.

To achieve this,

structures are often built underground,

utilizing the earth itself for protection,

but in areas where this isn't feasible,

an aboveground storm shelter can be made

by using concrete reinforced with rebar

to withstand wind pressures up to 250 miles per hour.

[Wendy] I think this was the outside one.

[Morgan] Yeah, it goes on the outside.

Measure twice, cut once.

[tool whirrs]

[Marty] Years ago, when I set foot on this homestead,

I learned that it was all clay.

You see that pond behind me?

I dug a hole, and it did fill up with water,

and now they have a heart-shaped pond.

This time around,

that is going to work against me.

I would love to go in the ground

and build a storm shelter in the ground,

the best place I can do it.

Everyone goes in the basement when there's a tornado.

I don't have that luxury.

I dig a hole here, it's full of water

and they have two ponds.

We've got some issues here.

If all that plywood fits perfect,

that roof's gonna be perfect.

Start bringing that rebar over there

and we're gonna lay it out here.

We have tornadoes every single year,

and there's a season,

and the season seems to stretch out longer every year.

So I would rather have

for people to be safe

-and not die. -[Wendy laughs]

We can't replace people.

[Marty] A lot of people will run the rebar right to the edge.

Not good. Over time,

water will get in there,

it'll rust that steel out,

so you always leave a little space, about four inches.

That looks amazing. I like the way you guys work.

That's a piece of art.

We've built a whole house together.

We've learned, kind of, the hard way to work well together.

[both laughing]

[narrator] While Marty, Morgan and Wendy

continue laying rebar for the storm shelter,

Emberley, Tessah and a member of Marty's Build crew

do their part by re-sealing

and cleaning out the rain gutters,

ensuring captured water

doesn't go to waste on the homestead.

When we were up there on the roof,

there were piles of leaves in there

that were growing their own vegetation...

-[laughing] -...they had been up there so long.

So we were scooping all that out,

tossing it over the edge,

and then clearing all that standing water

that was sitting in there,

so that we could go in and fix the gutter

so that we quit leaking all of that water

just down onto the ground.

All right, so, I think we set six traps yesterday with Brian, so...

[narrator] Before the regrading begins on the berm,

Ashton checks on the groundhog traps

that were baited the day before.

[Ashton] There is nothing in this one,

not even a little nibble on some of the closer fruit it looks like so...

I guess we'll go check some of the other five traps

and see if there's anything else.

[narrator] The Broadheads are all too familiar

with the struggle to capture their homestead's wildlife.

[Matt] Follow me, kids.

Look at all these tracks.

There's so many.

But, unfortunately, we didn't catch anything.

Okay, so here's the trail cam.

There's definitely got to be something on here.

-[man] Oh! -[woman] Oh, there's a raccoon.

Ooh, that's cool.

-That's a big raccoon. -That is a well-fed raccoon.

-Yeah, that's like Daddy raccoon. -Wow.

[Matt] Now we really know what we're dealing with,

I think we should build a new trap,

something that's bigger and better.

[narrator] Another lesson Matt gave Ashton,

trapping requires patience.

[Ashton] These ones are empty, too. [sighs]

I don't know. Maybe it was just too noisy yesterday and we scared 'em off.

But we will see how it goes.

[chickens clucking]

[narrator] Back by the front of the homestead...

[Marty] Make sure it's facing the same way as the other one.

[narrator] ...Marty teaches the Broadheads

how to prep their foundation for concrete.

[Marty] Why did we put the plastic under that rebar?

So the concrete wouldn't stick to the board.

Right. 'Cause we're thinking we're gonna lift this thing up, right?

-Right. -And when we do,

we don't want to bring the plywood.

We've decided to build this family

the best storm shelter in Ohio.

It's quite a statement.

Can you sense that when I go into concrete mode, I'm a different person?

[laughs]

When you pour concrete,

it takes 28 days before it's cured.

I've got four days.

And the forecast is calling for rain.

So we're pushing the limits.

I don't think this family knows what I'm doing,

but I'm fully aware of what I'm doing.

I'm cutting a very serious corner.

By not letting the concrete cure completely,

it could break in half.

Stand on that, please.

Stop right there. Look at this.

So, rebar does break.

We have to be really careful how we place it

and how we set these in there.

Because look it.

Don't ever forget that.

-[both] Okay. -[Marty] Present.

-Thank you. -I have a lot of faith in concrete.

I have a lot of faith in rebar.

So we're doing everything in our power

to place every piece of rebar

in the perfect mix of concrete.

Hopefully it actually works.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] In Central Ohio,

on the re-rescue of the Broadhead family's 10-acre homestead...

[Marty whistles] Let's have some mud!

[narrator] The concrete has arrived

that will fortify the family's new storm shelter.

[truck backing alarm beeping]

And five years ago,

the Raneys brought another life-changing rig onto the homestead.

-No way! -Oh, my gosh.

-[woman 1] Oh, my God! -[woman 2] Oh, my gosh.

-Oh, wow! -I'm simply overwhelmed.

[Marty] Meet Kenneth. This is your neighbor.

This guy donated this whole thing.

Can I hug you now, too?

To see that great big truck and realize what that was for,

I have no words for it.

[Marty] How deep have you drilled wells before?

Six-hundred-and-fifty feet.

-Wow. -[all exclaim in awe]

Most of the wells I've drilled around here is 50 feet.

Okay. That's not bad.

Hey! How deep are ya?

That's more than twice what you guys expected.

I'm gonna start worrying.

[Marty] A hundred-and-seven feet.

That's twice the distance you thought.

I said 50-foot, it's a 50-foot plot.

[Marty] Ever drilled a well at night?

[Marty] This might be another time.

[drill whirring]

-[Kenneth] We got water! -[all cheering]

-[man] Thank you. -Yee-haw!

That's the mother lode!

[woman] Nice.

What do you think? How many gallons a minute?

[man] Probably 50 gallons a minute.

Fifty gallons an hour?

-Fifty gallons a minute! -A minute?

[woman whoops]

[Marty] Get over here! It's your water.

Come on!

Feels great! [laughs]

Yes! We got water!

That's amazing!

[water gushing]

[laughter]

-Oh, my gosh, that's cold. -I know.

Fifty-plus gallons per minute.

I could not even fathom what that means for us.

It's just a ton of water.

Getting water... That, a life-changer.

Yeah! Whoo!

[narrator] Today, the well supplies drinking water

to the Broadheads' home,

but they've yet to utilize their catchment

for additional gray water.

[metal clangs]

You guys ever pour concrete before?

-We've seen it done. -[Marty] Did you help?

We hired the concrete-- No. We did not.

Okay, but I appreciate your honesty.

Clint and I will be screeding this back.

You'll see where there's divots and low spots.

And you're gonna be in the mud, moving it with a shovel,

a rake, whatever.

-So we're moving ahead of you as you come in. -Yeah.

-[Morgan] Okay. -Thank you.

On day one, we made a decision.

We will build this family a storm shelter.

Why? Tornado Alley is spreading its wings.

But the whole time I'm thinking,

"How do I make, in four days, a concrete structure?"

I'm going with a little less water

because I don't have a lot of time to cure before we pick it.

Everything we're doing is not conventional.

We'll pour the bottom and then we'll poor the roof on the same day,

and hopefully let that concrete cure in just a couple of days.

But I'm hoping it will hold together

once we lift it and put it on the walls.

They're gonna pull it this way.

Pull it out to the board. Keep pulling. Clint, me and you on the board.

[whooping]

Whoa! Too much mud.

[whistles]

Over to the corner. Here we go.

[Morgan] The concrete was new to us,

to pour concrete, to float it,

to level it out, to set the rebar.

[Marty] Thank you. Not too much, now come back.

It's too much. It's too much!

Come back come back. Come back.

Yeah, it's a learning curve, right?

When you're doing any kind of a project like that.

All the way to Clint. All the way to Clint, all the way!

We get better at it as we go.

[Marty] We're actually doing really good for time.

I'm impressed.

I'm a little concerned about the weather, actually.

The last two days have been fantastic.

We've had beautiful weather,

but it is supposed to rain tomorrow.

Which makes everything muddy and messy and...

Not only that, but that concrete has to cure.

And it's not gonna dry if it's got water pouring on top of it.

[narrator] Five years ago, before the Raney's reset

the Broadheads' house foundation

and established their berm...

-[thunder rumbling] -[man] There's thunder.

[narrator] ...a sudden storm threatened the entire rescue.

That's not what I wanted today.

-[man] Oh. There it is. -[Wendy chuckles]

-[Marty] Love it. -[all chuckle]

I'm worried, with this amount of rain

and the hole that Marty dug

with the excavator near the tree

that's keeping this house up,

that the dirt

is going to wear away and weaken that tree and it's gonna fall over.

[thunder rumbling]

Well, we've got thunder, we've got lightning,

we've got a lot of rain, we've got a lot of wind,

so let's hold off on the tree falling.

[Matt] I can barely move in here.

I guess I got to get out. [shrieks]

I'm hoping it'll stop.

I'm really afraid that the excavators aren't gonna be able

-to do their work with this kind of rain. -In the mud.

I mean, you can see already, this whole part is flooded

-right here from what it was earlier. -Yeah, it's flooding.

You guys did a perfect job. I mean, perfect.

Probably the best homesteader concrete people

we've ever worked with.

It looks really good.

There are steps here, each one of them critical.

Even though this was built out of bricks,

the big, bad tornado could blow this down.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. [yells] -[man] Come on across.

-Walk it. -[yells]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] On the re-rescue of the Broadhead family's homestead,

with the concrete for both the floor and the roof of the shelter ready to cure,

Ashton temporarily removes

the critter traps

so Clint can begin restoring the berm,

a critical component to their house foundation

that Marty built five years ago.

So now that the wall has been bermed with tons of earth,

we'll take the cable off

and see if this thing will stand on its own.

I'm confident it will, and it needs to

because six lives depend on it.

[Misty] Okay.

It's perfect.

So go for it.

[Marty] All right. Here we go.

-[cranking] -[Marty] Oh.

Any movement?

It didn't move one hair, not one.

-[whoops] -That is amazing! Good job!

I'm trying to put my faith in the Raneys.

They obviously have a lot more experience.

So they took that tree brace off and we cut that rope.

Nothing moved.

Nothing. Not even a hair.

So, it was good.

[narrator] Since then, the shifting climate

has dumped enough rainwater to cause the berm to slide.

To address this,

Clint will use the excavator to re-stack dirt,

adding over five feet of height to the berm.

He will then regrade the hillside

to ensure the foundation of the house is stable.

And uncover the cistern tanks so they can be reconnected

to the gutters.

[Morgan] Getting that berm cleaned up, moving earth again,

building some walls, it's great.

Epic, totally epic, just eternally grateful.

[country music playing]

You guys recognize the guy running that skidsteer?

Who is it?

-Dad. -It's my dad.

Your dad. So, we came up with a little surprise.

We ordered extra concrete

to do a couple of little special things.

Could you guys use a sidewalk at the back porch?

-Ooh. -[all agree]

Could you guys place this concrete by yourselves,

-and do it yourself? -I think so.

-Yeah. -[Marty] Okay.

Make no mistake about it, this family, they have building skills.

Good job, Cam!

So we just took it to the next level, and we added

placing concrete to that list of skills.

The question is, can they do it on their own?

[Wendy] Good. Good. Right there.

The kids are hard workers,

and there's no way we could have ever

completed anything like this homestead,

-just the two of us. - [Wendy] Yeah.

The kids have helped out a ton.

[Wendy] And it's important to us because it's something

we will be leaving for them when we're gone.

And so, I think it's nice that they are able to say,

"Hey, we helped to build this place."

[woman] Guys, we are immortalized.

[narrator] It's day three on Marty's return

to the Broadheads' Ohio homestead.

[Marty] Here come the bricks.

[narrator] And while the concrete for the storm shelter's

floor and roof still hasn't set...

[Marty] I think we're pretty flat.

[narrator] ...it's time for Marty and the family

to start building its walls brick by brick...

[Marty] I need to walk a lot closer, get in here.

-[Wendy] Too wet? -[Marty] No, perfect.

[narrator] ...as they race against forecasted rainfall

that threatens their progress.

[Marty] All right, guys, if we're gonna run out of mortar mix,

we probably should get after it.

Every second counts.

When you're building your own homestead, kind of from the ground up,

there's always a revolving list of priorities.

All right, Wendy.

[Wendy] We live in tornado country,

so the Tornado shelter has been at the top of our priority list.

Gets a little scary sometimes.

We are trying to protect the family.

-Hey, I'm impressed. -Great job.

[Marty] We've got more to do.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] At the back of the house,

Clint makes big strides

on rebuilding and regrading the berm,

finally uncovering the unused cisterns

that had been swallowed up by the overgrowth.

But this isn't the first time

the Raneys have encountered issues with buried infrastructure

while excavating on the Broadhead property.

It happened five years ago...

[sighs] Yeah, we got to talk.

[narrator] ...when Misty was grading the front yard

to keep rainwater from seeping into the house.

[Misty] As long as there's nothing underground...

Am I gonna hit anything?

[Wendy] Hmm, yeah, the ventilation tubes.

Where are they?

They come out at those sticks.

-[Misty] Okay. -There's five altogether,

but there might be one or two stakes missing.

Okay, that's not fun.

Morgan and Wendy have installed

these underground cooling pipes

that run into their house.

The problem is, we don't know exactly where they're at.

As soon as I start digging around with an excavator,

the probability of damaging one of these pipes is pretty high.

This house has trees and brush pushed right up against it.

I'm gonna use the excavator as this giant rake,

strip it all back,

and then get this ground to grade,

and hopefully not damaging

any of those underground cooling pipes.

We're trying to find a random pipe five feet down.

The chances of us finding it,

buried two years ago, are slim.

[dramatic music playing]

[Wendy] I think that it's already getting super soggy.

-[Misty] It's getting super soggy? -Yeah.

[Misty] Oh, my gosh.

At two-and-a-half feet down, we have struck water.

So that means all of these cooling pipes

that they've put in are full of water,

and not cold air.

-What's wrong? -[laughs, sniffles]

-What's wrong? -[sobbing]

I don't know how I'm gonna cool the house.

It was almost 89 degrees when we went to bed last night.

-[laughs] -I'm sorry.

This was our air conditioning system.

[inhales deeply]

[sighs]

This is probably as bad as it gets.

[Marty] I'm standing in a foot of water, and that tells me one thing.

These ventilation tubes are never gonna work.

The Broadheads have a great plan,

but it's not implemented correctly.

They built a house out of 30,000 tires.

They're black and black absorbs heat.

But the more of that black we cover,

the cooler the house will become.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Over at the front of the homestead,

Marty takes the storm shelter build to the next level.

[Marty] There are steps here, each one of them critical.

The first step was a very solid, thick

chunk of concrete slab foundation, anchor.

But as you well know,

those 38-pound block are all hollow .

Right now, a tornado could tear this down, I'm not kidding.

Until we put that grout in there,

this is a weak building.

[narrator] Grouting is a specialized construction process

that involves injecting a fluid-like material

made of water, cement and sand

into voids within buildings

to improve structural integrity,

enhanced load-bearing capacity,

and repair cracks.

With proper grouting, a building can be

solidified enough to withstand winds

of up to 250 miles per hour.

[Marty] These guys are all pros.

They know exactly what's going on.

How you doing, sir?

Jason. Marty Raney.

This is the family right here.

Anything you need from us?

No. I'm ready to rock and roll.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] Five years ago,

Marty didn't have the benefit

of working with modern concrete.

This came from a quarry a little ways from here,

and it's a perfect mix of sand and clay.

-Just add water? -Just add water.

[narrator] So back then, he used a more ancient technique

to insulate the Broadheads' home from the heat.

So we reached out to a local supplier

with bales of straw

and piles of the perfect mixture

of soil and dirt.

Just add water, mix it all together,

and you have a product called "cob."

Don't confuse that with adobe.

Adobe has been around a few hundred years.

Cob's been around... forever.

[narrator] Cob is a natural building material

made of a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water.

It's been used for centuries

to build walls, benches, ovens and entire homes.

Though it's a labor-intensive building method,

its low cost and environmentally-friendly components

make it a popular building material around the world.

Get your people. Where are they?

-[man] We got it. -We're wasting time.

-We got to make cob. -[man] All right.

-Check that out. -[Marty] Come on. Come on.

-What am I doing? -[laughter]

Am I doing it right?

-[man 1] You're mixing mine. -[man 2] You're doing it right.

The only problem with cob, it's labor intensive.

Hey, let's give it a test right now.

-[man] You got it. -Will it stick to rubber?

Here we go.

-[woman] Yeah! -[claps]

-[Marty] Oh, see-- -[man] You gotta smear it.

[Marty] I can see it's fun, but I can also see it's a tremendous amount of work.

[narrator] To this day,

the cob still remains on the Broadheads' tire home.

[Marty] Do you mind if I walk the wall?

No. Listen, man, I'll fly you up there

if you want me to.

[all laugh]

[Marty] I really needed a qualified block layer.

I found one by the name of Jason.

[whirring]

We have a very square, level block structure

that we're about to grout,

making it stronger and stronger and stronger.

Whoa!

[Jason] Got it. Come on across.

[Marty] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

I love concrete.

-[yells] -[Jason] Come on across!

-Walk it. -There you go.

I've done the masonry

on thousands of homes.

-[yells] -[Jason] Left foot in, there you go.

[Marty] No!

What the--

But I'm pretty sure Jason has laid twice as many block as me,

and I was doing all I could to keep up.

-Slow down! -I keep pulling it over.

-Come on! God! -[Marty] I warned you.

But what am I, a Flying fricking Wallenda?

[Jason laughs]

-[Marty] Hey. -[Jason] Hold on. You're trying to shut me off.

-It's like working with me. -My God!

[Marty] This is all about having fun.

You got to be this tall to ride this ride.

Nice job, Marty.

[thunder rumbling]

[Marty] That rainy day is here.

I don't have time. I don't have time.

And it's gonna be pretty rough.

Walk in, walk in!

[upbeat music playing]

[Marty] What's going on over here, please?

[narrator] On the return to the Broadheads' Ohio homestead...

Clint nears completion

of the critical berm restoration.

While across from the main house...

-I'm concerned about this tree above my parents' place. -You should be.

[narrator] ...Wendy spotlights another potential problem

growing in her parent's front yard.

[Wendy] You can see at the top, it's starting to die off.

Uh, they're starting to get some holes in the bottom of the trunk and stuff.

I'm concerned, with the really high winds

that we get here and the tornado-type winds,

that it's gonna come down on my parents' house.

So, I would like to see it go.

It is gonna come down on your parents' house.

I would guarantee it.

We've got a lot to do here,

but I think this is important.

-[Wendy] Okay. -This is a liability,

and this definitely is threatening

life and property, in that order.

Let me see if I can fit it in.

-[Wendy] All right. -Thank you. Thank you.

[narrator] But before Marty tackles

another project on the homestead...

Looks like you've done that before.

[Camden] Yes, I have.

[narrator] ...he joins the family

at the successfully-grouted storm shelter...

[Marty] Look what I'm doing now, Cam.

I'm hiding from your mom and dad

-so they can't see me working. -Oh, perfect.

[laughs] Can they see me?

Nope. You're good.

Good. I'm safe over here. I'm gonna take a break.

[Camden] All right, cool.

[Marty] All right.

[narrator] ...where he may have a new surprise up his sleeve.

Now, can you feel how strong it is now full of concrete?

[Wendy] Yeah.

This is a bomb shelter.

You were involved in every step.

Concrete and steel here,

concrete and steel here, all the way around.

Now, let's talk about this.

It takes about a half a yard

of this,

-what is called grout, that concrete slurry... -[Wendy] Mm-hmm.

When you bring that big of a boom truck in,

you order a little bit more.

So, how do you guys feel about this?

We'll see if we can scoop it up,

right this second, while it's still wet.

You guys screw chicken wire to those tires over there.

Dump it on the top.

It might not want to stay, but we don't know till we try.

-[Wendy] Yeah. -[Marty] Yes or no?

[all agree]

On day one, we walked around the property.

And the Broadheads showed me a part of the berm

that needs some help.

It is pretty ugly.

Yeah, and you can see, we get those heavy Ohio rains.

It just, you can see most of the cob's sitting on the ground right here

where it's just sort of come off.

[Marty] Today, we are going to fix it.

[narrator] This isn't the first time Marty has used concrete

to surprise the Broadheads on their homestead.

How can I make it easy on the homestead?

Obvious. An indoor toilet.

Come on.

[woman laughs]

-Oh, my gosh. -Yeah, I see.

[Wendy] Where's Morgan?

-Oh, my God! [shrieks] -[laughter]

[woman] Oh, my gosh!

That's a septic tank, okay?

The best septic tank that we can provide

for this homestead is one made out of concrete.

The Broadheads deserve it. Why?

Five people are using an outhouse every day.

They need it.

It was overwhelming to see that tank

and realize what that was for.

[muffled] Thank you!

We don't have flushing toilets,

so we're using an outhouse.

It's not great when you have to get up in the middle of the night.

And it's definitely not fun

when it was negative 40 degrees in the wintertime.

-[Marty whistles] -[Morgan] I'm beyond words right now.

Now we can get a toilet in.

We can get all of our indoor plumbing in, our showers,

everything, to go out there and drain into that septic tank.

It's just such a relief.

Let's get back to work.

Where's your shovels? Where's your shovels?

-[Ashton] You want me to clean the bucket out? -Yeah, just a little bit.

[Ashton] Marty's a great guy. He's a hard worker.

He's very straightforward with what he wants, and I like that.

It's good for a team leader.

So It's nice to know

that at least he knows what he's doing.

It's been fun working with him.

Okay. We're gonna go down this face first, right over here.

Pull it to the bottom.

Tight. Spread it out.

There you go.

[drill whirring]

Okay, let's double it up. Why not?

[drill whirring]

I'm fine with it. Bring me more, please.

So, Clint and his crew have done an amazing job.

We can see the tanks, they're accessible.

The dirt has been sloped away from the house,

put on the chicken wire,

slather it with some concrete,

we'll never be back again.

Cob father, good.

Concrete father, better.

That's a wrap.

[thunder crashes]

[Marty] The rain is here.

[narrator] It's the final day on the re-rescue

of the Broadhead family's Ohio homestead.

And with the storm shelter covered

and work stalled for now,

the wet weather makes the final push more urgent.

So we cleaned the gutter out of all the...

-[others] Gunk. -[Dan] Gunk, right?

And I found some parts and pieces

that we're gonna use and put together

and make a way to divert the water back to the cisterns.

-Great. -Sounds good.

Our only problem now,

it's wet.

We shove it on and we give it a little turn.

And then within a few short minutes,

it's gonna be bonded to there.

Stick it and twist. Good.

[narrator] The repair to the Broadheads' cisterns is long overdue.

Five years ago, Marty and Morgan installed

the gutter system on the homestead,

not knowing that drastic weather changes

would soon cause it to falter.

What do you think this is?

Uh, this is a piece of PVC.

Today, it's gonna be a gutter to catch all this water

coming off that 3,000-square-foot roof.

The Broadheads have been in this

rubber-tire home for one year,

but not one drop of water

has been captured from the roof

and transferred to the property.

We've got to catch a lot of water,

and we've got to go a long ways.

The idea is to cut this out

and it'll go from being a pipe to a trough.

[saw whirring]

[Morgan] We don't have the gutters up.

We don't have any kind of a reclamation system.

-[Marty] Got it? -[Morgan] Got it.

Thank you.

All right.

Water weighs eight pounds per gallon.

Broadheads have a 3,000-square-foot roof.

Put just one inch of water on it,

and you have over 1,800 gallons.

1,800 gallons times eight pounds per gallon,

14,000 pounds,

if it just rains an inch.

That's a lot of water.

-Good job. -[Morgan] Look at that.

[drill whirrs]

Where's that water going?

It's all going off the edge of the roof,

down and inside the house.

Seven tons of water

every time it rains one inch.

Tired of losing all that rainfall.

I'm excited to get this up.

Okay. Pin that in, and then I'll move this one up.

-[Morgan] Okay, Here we go. -Make it go.

[drill whirring]

-[Dan] See how there's this little line? -[woman] Uh-huh.

[Dan] There's a little line there.

You line those up

when you're gluing it. Go for it.

[country music playing]

[Tessah] All right.

-That's it. -Okay.

[drill whirring]

-[Emberley grunts] -[Tessah] Beautiful.

We got the pipe ran from the gutter

down into this tank.

We got this filter here.

We should have water filling up that pipe

and coming down this pipe and going into this tank.

Do you think we got it?

I think we do.

If we did it right, I think so.

[Dan] All right, let's see.

-[Tessah] Look at that! -[Emberley] Nice!

[Tessah] All that water is actually going to use.

[Emberley laughs]

[Tessah] The cisterns we put up,

we connected it with the gutter that we fixed

and we're again several years ahead,

...ahead, of where we would have been

without everyone here.

[narrator] Four days ago, rainwater leaked from the Broadheads' gutters

and wasn't captured in their buried cisterns.

Today, their gutters are repaired

and now connected to their dugout cisterns,

which are capable of catching thousands of gallons of water

and can be recycled for gray water

and bathing purposes.

[Dan] Are your parents gonna be stoked?

-[Emberley] Yeah. -They've been waiting the last five years to get this done.

-[Dan] Are you serious? -[both] Yeah.

[Dan] How easy was this?

It was so easy.

What are we gonna do with all this water?

[Emberley] We're gonna go swimming.

[Tessah] I'm gonna jump in the pond.

[Dan] Let's go!

[Tessah laughs]

[narrator] With rain coming down...

[Marty] All right, we need all the tools to build this fricking thing.

[narrator] ...and time dwindling on the final day of the rescue...

I need tape measure, pencil. I'm ready.

[narrator] ...Marty stations himself in the garage

to build a door for the storm shelter.

[Marty] Listen, I know we're going fast.

This is going to be the craziest of all the days

-'cause we've got to finish stuff, right? -Yeah.

-That said, sandwich this together. -[Morgan] Okay.

This is the first phase of your tornado-proof door.

[Morgan] Okay.

-So it's three quarters of an inch plywood. -Go down there.

Sandwiched together, it's an inch and a half.

That's the first step. You ready?

-[Morgan] Sandwich it and screw it? -[Marty] Yeah, please.

A strong door to match the strong concrete

gives them a safe, protected refuge.

You build a concrete structure with a weak door,

it's the weak link.

And the concrete structure is moot.

-What is this door for? -Tornado.

Yeah. I wouldn't minimize the screws.

We're gonna leave 'em with something that can withstand

hundreds of miles an hour of dangerous debris.

At any point of this door construction,

you don't think it's strong enough, speak up.

Will do.

I'm never going in there.

Pound it. Done. Pin it, folks.

And thank you. That's the fastest door I've ever built.

Okay. Everybody gets a corner.

How does it feel?

Feel like a hurr...

Does this feel like a tornado door?

I think it's solid.

Feels like a tornado door to me.

Okay. On that note, if you approve of it,

-let's head for the storm shelter. -Let's do it.

You're not gonna believe this, but it's gonna get a little muddy.

[chuckles]

You guys got it?

[Morgan] Yep. We got it.

You sure?

Okay, here we go.

-[Wendy] It's not gonna go in. -Wait, wait, wait, wait.

When I get it done, it'll go in.

I love that bunker door that we've got over there.

Uh, we've toured a couple of different castles.

As soon as I looked at that door, I thought,

"That is a dungeon door. There is nothing getting through that door."

Get some tools and some more two by eights,

and we're gonna do a wrap on this,

-and then, young lady, we will make it fit. -Okay.

-Get me some material. Thanks. -Okay.

[narrator] While Marty finishes installing the storm door,

over by the newly completed berm,

Ashton talks with Brian the trapper

about the critters who live on the property.

[Brian] Groundhogs are pretty solitary animals.

Honestly, when you started this berm work and fixed this whole berm,

I don't think you're going to have an issue.

They're still on the property, I'm sure, but...

[Ashton] Just not right next to our house,

which is what we wanted originally, anyway. So...

Exactly. You've quite literally eliminated the problem.

They're probably off in the woods making other holes.

[Ashton] So Brian said as long as we're able to keep that berm kind of cleared

of all of the undergrowth, that we really shouldn't have

any more problems with the groundhogs

'cause they do like that ground cover.

And then you have your two live traps.

You know how to use them now. And also if you need my help,

just give me a call and we'll come over

-and I'll walk you through anything you need. -Perfect.

Raccoons, groundhogs, anything.

[narrator] Five years ago,

the trapping on the property yielded very different results.

[Matt] Hey, guys, we caught ourselves a possum.

-[Camden] No. Not another possum. -There it is.

I don't see anything else.

[Camden] Hey, buddy.

Now that I've actually caught something, I'm super stoked.

Okay. There's a possum in here.

This one, I don't think anything tried to go on this one.

How are we doing?

[Camden speaking]

-[Emberley] Oh, yeah? -[Matt] You're picking out a name for him, huh?

-[Camden] Yes. -[Emberley] We're not keeping it.

This is something that these kids can actually do, like a chore.

I do respect the wild animals at a distance.

They need to stay on their side

so that we can be safe on our side.

I got a name for him.

-[Matt] What's it? -Keith.

-Keith. -Yes.

-Really? -You like Keith?

Yeah, I like it.

The thing that I'm bringing to the table is expanding their horizon

to, you know, going from the suburbs

now living in the wilderness of Ohio.

And, you know, acting accordingly.

Well, we've got one possum to deal with.

Let's get it out of here.

Come on, guys.

Thank you so much for your help.

Yeah, not a problem.

[Marty] Here we go.

[narrator] With a break in the rain, Marty and the Broadheads

prepare to do the most precarious step in the storm shelter build.

We're going to try and set the roof

of this a storm shelter on top with an excavator.

Let's work together and make this one the same length.

Pull on it. Pull on it.

The roof weighs 8,000 pounds.

If the concrete isn't cured or strong enough, the thing will crumble.

It'll break in half. And then I leave.

So it's make it or break it.

So the question is, will the concrete stay together?

Because normally, in the real world,

somebody might wait as long as 28 days,

for something like this that's critical, to cure.

We're doing it in two days.

So I think we've done, all of us have done everything we can

to hedge our bet that this stays together.

You guys just have to know

crazy things could happen.

Here we go. Good.

If it picks without breaking, we've got to get the plywood off of it.

Why did you guys pour this on plastic?

-So it won't stick. -So the whole thing would come off.

Is it coming off?

-[Wendy] Yeah. -[Ashton] It's coming off.

Good job.

Don't get all excited 'cause it could break at any time.

I'm not joking.

Get over here, raise it up.

I'll try to get the plastic off clean.

How's it doing on the back?

Looks good.

Boom out!

Boom out!

[cracking]

Whoo! What's that noise?

-[cracking] -[Wendy] There it goes again.

[Marty] Boom out!

Boom out!

[cracking]

Whoo! What's that noise?

-[cracking] -[Wendy] There it goes again.

-My gosh. -What was the noise?

Okay. I didn't know you were walking.

I thought you were booming out, so I freaked out. Sorry.

Walk in, walk in.

Let it down!

There it goes.

He's lowering it on.

I had 100% confidence in Marty and the group.

What I didn't have a high degree of confidence in

was the materials that we used.

Given all the concrete and mortar that we used in there,

and we only let it cure two days before we lifted that thing up,

I thought for sure it was going to crack at least.

I fully expected it to just break apart.

So I'm really glad that it didn't.

All right. What do you think?

-It's pretty solid. -Pretty amazing.

-Feels solid? -Yeah.

You guys have a little more confidence in concrete?

-Yeah. -Do have a little more confidence in rebar?

-Yes. -There's one last step.

We're literally going to epoxy and bolt...

-All right. -...this 8,000-pound lid onto the block building.

"X" marks the spot.

Who wants it?

-[Morgan] I'll do it. -I like your attitude.

Break out that epoxy. That's gonna go in the hole when he's done.

-You got it? -[Wendy] We got it.

[Marty] Good woman.

[narrator] Five years ago, Marty and the Broadheads

also struggled to finish in time with the original concrete cob.

Every square inch of these tires has to be covered.

It's a lot of work.

-So this is a thermal imaging camera. -[Morgan] Mm-hmm.

[Marty] And right now, if I just shoot the bare tire...

Yeah, the ones that have not been covered yet.

It's about 91 or 92 degrees.

And then look, purple.

Cool, comparatively. That translates to about 75 degrees.

[Morgan] That's a huge swing in temperature.

[phone ringing]

[narrator] Later that day in the house,

Wendy and Camden receive a phone call from an old friend.

-[Wendy] Oh, there she is. -[Camden] Hey!

How's it going?

-[Camden] Oh, good. -How's the tire home?

Awesome. Really, truly, it's doing great.

-Really? -Yeah. You wanna see? Here, look.

-I wanna see the indoor garden... Oh, look at that. -Look.

Oh, my gosh.

I wish I was there so much.

-Oh, me too. -How did it all work out?

Good. I mean, we're not done by any means,

but it has changed so much since the last time you were here.

[narrator] Five years ago...

[Misty] Whoo!

[narrator] ...Misty tackled the repair of the Broadheads' flooded indoor garden.

So you want to rake all this real quick, just this way.

I just need a place to dump this first load.

Right now, Wendy has this trench full of mud, freestanding water and mold.

We need to actually turn this into a garden,

what it was designed for.

She can plant herbs for her apothecary business,

and also enough food to feed her family.

[Wendy] Oh, we got a salamander in here.

[Misty] Where?

-Creatures? -Yep.

[Misty] Oh, my gosh.

Why is he so big?

[Wendy] He's apparently been very happy for a while.

I'm not sure what he's eating.

[Misty] Oh, my... Could I see him?

[gasps] What?

[Wendy] Yellow-spotted salamander.

My gosh, you guys, you have, like, amphibians living in your kitchen?

-[Wendy] Yes. -[Misty] That can't be good.

Kind of makes my skin crawl that this is in your home.

[Misty] They have, like, amphibians living in their kitchen.

Reality of that is not good because it's gross, and it's not right.

I'm bummed that I'm not there, but I'm really happy my dad is.

Yeah, we're happy too.

We've had a good time.

It's good he's revisiting homesteads and just checking up on people.

That makes me really happy.

Yeah. Your turn.

-You go. Okay. Okay. -Bye.

See ya. Bye, Misty.

Bye. [laughs]

-Hey, Cam, how are you doing? -Hey, again.

You're one of my most favorite homesteaders I've ever met.

-Thanks. -Because not only how special you are

and how much fun I had when I was on your homestead,

but it was because of what you said.

And those kind words have stuck with me.

I hold them so close to my heart.

[all] Aww.

[Wendy] Okay, now everybody's crying.

Got Misty, too.

They've inspired me to do what I do,

and I'll do it forever just because of what you said.

It's just why I keep on going.

My, I wanna cry.

[laughs]

I'm so happy that we get to talk.

Cam and Misty really bonded last time they were here.

And Cam was really looking forward

to that phone call from her today,

and I think they had a good conversation.

I miss you so much.

We miss you too.

I'm so proud of you.

You're just like... You're turning out to be such a good man.

All right. Miss you, Misty.

We'll talk soon.

[Wendy] All right.

[Marty] We gotta have a little chat.

[narrator] With work finished on the storm shelter,

Marty has one more looming task

before he can leave the homestead.

I don't know if you guys all know this,

but your mom dragged me over here a while back

and said, " I'm concerned about those two trees."

And I know everyone's tired. [chuckles]

But I can't drive away and have a clean conscience

knowing your parents live there,

'cause those trees are coming down,

probably in one of the next few storms.

And if it comes down on its own,

it's totally going right over the top of the middle of the house.

-Right through the middle. -Yeah.

So we just, you know, we've talked about it too long.

So we're going to bring 'em down.

I recommend the garage. It's hopefully a safe zone.

[Wendy] Okay.

It seems like every homestead that I come to,

the homesteaders drag me over to a tree and say,

" Would you please cut this down?"

And these trees have to come down because those danger trees

are six feet away from her aging parents' front door.

[chainsaw starting]

There it goes.

Oh, no!

[Wendy] Oh, no!

This is amazing. Who plays?

Cam Broadhead.

He's full of surprises.

One day he's showing me he can play guitar and sing,

and the next day, he's showing me that he can play harmonica.

I'll tell you right now, it can be kind of hard at the beginning,

trying to learn how to play these crazy things.

[playing tune]

Try to just blow on number 5.

[plays tune]

[laughs]

Oh, showing off a little bit.

[plays tune]

Not bad. You don't even have to know any songs.

I do. I know one.

Let me hear it , please.

[playing tune]

You're playing, you're playing, you're playing.

That's the hardest part is to get your first song.

And once you get the first song,

you can play any song you want.

Oh, no.

[Wendy] Oh, no!

[gasps]

The building is still standing.

Come on over.

[Emberley] Ooh.

Sorry about that.

Not every time do I fall the tree that goes where I want.

But see what happened inside.

How does it look?

[Morgan] From in here, it looks like nothing happened.

Yeah, No dust or anything.

Make sure.

-[Emberley] No, it looks fine. -[Marty] Make sure.

[Emberley] What's this?

[laughs, reads out]

-Oh, my God. -You scared the crap out of me on purpose?

[Emberley laughs] That's pretty good.

I had to know. And now I can leave.

There's no tree bigger than this that can reach this bunker

except that.

Okay? So the biggest tree that could hit this bunker just did it.

It was really stressful to watch.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to stress anybody.

Yes, you did.

You wrote it down.

You knew it was going to happen.

We just got punked is what just happened.

So Marty wanted to test that structure,

which I 100% agree was

-a good thing to do. -Insane.

[both gasp]

[Wendy] But now we have a bunker we know that works.

I wasn't trying to stress.

I was just like, " Hey, we can talk all day long

"about how strong it is, or we can just put it to the test."

I was a little skeptical when I started counting in my head.

"Oh, my gosh, all these people, all these animals,

"is this is going to be big enough space?"

But when we actually stood inside of it, it is a good sized space.

-[Wendy] Yeah. -[Morgan] Plenty for us. Plenty for the animals,

plenty for some emergency supplies if we need to bring them in there.

[Marty] Do you need firewood?

-[all laugh] -[Tessah] Yes.

[narrator] Four days ago, the Broadheads had no refuge

from the ever expanding Tornado Alley.

With only the unfortified pantry to take cover in,

today, they have a solid concrete storm shelter

reinforced with rebar and grout.

And a bolstered entry door to protect against the extreme Ohio weather.

[Marty] Let's go.

[narrator] With work complete,

Marty, Morgan, and Wendy take a final assessment of the homestead re-rescue.

[Marty] When we rolled in here, what, four days ago,

there was a direct line off the gutter,

straight into the pond,

which is great, unless you got five 2,000-gallon tanks back there.

I didn't make it happen.

We made it happen.

You think this would have got done without your two girls?

-Nope. -Okay.

I've waited years to get those stupid cisterns hooked up,

and I have not been able to find a good solution for it.

[Wendy] A big part of how the house was supposed to work was the cisterns.

So we were more than happy to have the help with it this week.

[Marty] Okay. This looks a little different, right?

[Wendy] Yes. Yes, it does.

[Marty] Clint built up the berm. Pretty much fixed that problem.

All right. So how many tanks do you have?

-[Morgan and Wendy] Five. -[Marty] Exactly.

-Your gutter system is hooked into this, right? -[Wendy] Mm-hmm.

[Marty] And next time it storms, you could be in that house

knowing that you're collecting water, right?

-Absolutely. -Do you see any groundhogs right now?

Not only do I not see any groundhogs,

I don't even see any groundhog holes.

This berm,

it's secure, it's stronger,

and now I don't think anything's coming back.

[narrator] Four days ago, the Broadheads' shifting berm was overgrown,

riddled with groundhog holes...

[Morgan] Got one over here.

[narrator] ...and causing structural issues to their home.

Today, they have a rebuilt and re-grated berm

with repaired gutters that now connect to the cisterns.

Where's that family?

Sun's going down.

Why do you guys look so tired?

[all laugh]

[neighs]

Yeah.

How was it? Too crazy.

Nope, just crazy enough.

Just crazy enough. I appreciate your help.

-Absolutely. -You're a good son.

I'm so happy that you guys did in the gutters.

Because on day one, I could tell this is something your dad wanted done.

It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't, you know,

divided from the family and conquered the water.

We're glad we got it done.

[narrator] Five years ago,

the final day with the Broadheads

was filled with the emotion of a new lease on life.

I have my vision back now.

You guys have helped me be able to start to see

what this house is supposed to look like.

-[Wendy] Okay, now everybody's crying. -Oh, my God.

Got Misty too.

My parents have gone through so much over the last couple of years [sniffles]

just with the house.

And, I mean, I've seen how stressed out they are.

It's nice to be able to see them.

work so hard together.

They haven't been so happy in such a long time.

[narrator] Today, the family has another chance

to recapture their dream.

Yeah, it was a pleasure and an honor to come here again.

And it is pretty impressive what we all did.

[Morgan] We appreciate everything that you do.

We could have never done it without you.

[sniffles] From the second I pulled in this driveway and saw this family,

I was fighting back emotions,

because this is an impressive family,

it's a beautiful family, and it's a testament to the very word family.

So, it was a privilege to get to work with you all again.

And just thank you for being the Broadheads.

[sobbing]

I think that calls for a group hug.

[Marty] Working on these homesteads year round isn't easy.

People often ask me,

"Are you gonna keep on traveling across North America?"

"Working that hard, helping complete strangers

"live this homesteading lifestyle?"

I gotta go.

-I gotta go. I'm sorry. -Thanks, Marty.

And that's a good question.

But after working with this hard-working family here in Ohio,

I got to say, "You better believe it."

Bye, Marty.

[Morgan] Till next time.