HGTV’s “Build It Forward” is back for Season 2—this time with a new co-host, New York City–based contractor Shane Duffy.

On the show (premiering on Saturday on HGTV and streaming on discovery+), Duffy joins network veteran Taniya Nayak to give deserving community members and their charitable organizations renovations that change their lives for the better.

Duffy calls this new gig a “dream job,” and, eager to hear more, we caught up with the new father of one son (with another on the way) to hear his thoughts about joining the HGTV clan.

Here’s more about the “hazing” process he had to endure, plus details about how he’s remodeling his own home to fit his growing family.

How does it feel to be HGTV’s newest renovation expert?

It’s great! Taniya took me under her wing, which was awesome. There was some hazing involved—I would say the biggest prank that was pulled on me is that we were in [Washington, DC] and we were supposed to have a high-profile person there. Everybody was in on it, including the directors, the producers, the cameramen.

There’s helicopters flying over, and everybody’s like, “Ooh, it might be the president!” They’re asking about background checks and seeing if you were vetted beforehand. This whole storyline kept snowballing until the very end, I’m like, “Hey, nobody showed up!” and they couldn’t believe that I actually believed them.

Which renovation from the season stands out?

The final episode was the most challenging because we had to lift the house off the ground about 7 feet, out of a flood plain to save the house. So it wasn’t just doing a renovation to change the person’s life; it was literally to save the house in order for it to be compliant with the flood plain. It’s not every day you get to do that.

How did you first get into home renovation work?

In high school I was doing carpentry, side summer jobs painting and landscaping, building decks, terraces with stone and wood trellises, and so I really got some knowledge on the back end of carpentry and outdoor work, like facades of homes. All that translated into my handyman company, and from there I evolved that into a full-scale renovation company, and it’s been 15 years.

What do you consider your renovation specialty?

Maximizing space. Living in New York City, every apartment is a tiny house, so maximizing space, using horizontal and vertical space, being creative with lighting and use of windows, is super important.

I’m a new father. I have a 19-month-old, and everybody gets crazy on where to put the kid, so I gutted out one of our closets and converted that into a nursery.

That was probably one of the most creative [uses] of space that I’ve done for myself. I got the idea from one of my studio apartments where I did the same thing and created a Zen lounge and foldout bed [for] guests.

You’re known for your DIY work. What’s an easy project you recommend for all levels of ability?

Painting is easy, and anybody can do it. The barriers to entry to painting are just getting a paintbrush and a roller and doing it.

When it comes to more skilled crafts, for example, doing a slat wall, like a wood feature wall, you’re going to have to invest in some tools. If you don’t have the tools, you can do that feature wall with wallpaper or paint. What I tell people is they’re only one tool set away from being a DIY-er because everybody has the capability, they just don’t have the practice and tools to do it.

Thinking back to your first home renovation, what lessons did you learn?

The first house that I bought, I did a renovation on it, and I would say the biggest takeaways [were] underestimating the time and budget to do the job.

I tell people all the time, if you’re going to say your budget is $100,000 and your time is six months, add 15% to both of those. Because on a renovation, you’re not in control of when materials are going to arrive, you’re not in control of permitting, getting things inspected. And so in your mind, you have this perfect plan, but there’s always something that’s going to happen.

I didn’t know what I was doing, so it definitely went over budget, went over time. I used cheap material. I kept carpet in there; carpet in a rental property to me is a big no-no because you can’t clean it the way you want to clean it, and the wear and tear on it, you end up having to replace it. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

What are some of the things people should keep in mind with renovations?

If you’re doing a new build, knocking down walls, or pulling off drywall and you have access to framing, [put] in blocking.

Blocking is putting blocks of wood in so you can hang heavy things—for mounting TVs, floating shelves, floating toilets, floating vanities. Adding that in when you’re framing the house will save you so much time and hassle in the future. That’s something that people don’t think of.

[With] lighting and placement of lighting, a lot of people overlook that and they put the lights in a little bit of a wrong position. With your dining room table, knowing if you’re going to have a hanging light versus recessed or a ceiling-mount light—you want to have that map.

Also, don’t go cheap on the material. You don’t have to get the best of the best, but at the end of the day, if it’s your home and you’re living in it, I always say renovate your home to be the best home it can be for you.

Should homeowners be thinking about renovations differently given the current housing market, higher interest rates, and inflation?

I’m doing a renovation right now, and I’m looking for local contractors at my cabin in New Jersey, and it’s just hard to find someone who is reasonably priced and who has availability. So I would say if you’re looking to do a renovation, make sure you’re not just putting money into something that you don’t necessarily need at the moment.

Maximizing the space you already have or adding square footage would be the biggest thing I would say to do, because that is the biggest value adder of a home. A lot of people focus on redoing a kitchen—and yes, that does add value—but nothing’s going to add more value than square footage.

A basement that needs to get finished and it’s already within your home—finish that out before you start doing other things in the home because that’s going to have more value.

I’m doing a basement renovation, and it’s easier to get the permitting because you’re not adding certain features. We have our baby No. 2 on the way, and so we need more space; there’s not enough closet space. It’s going to be a multiuse space: a playroom, a movie room.

What’s your favorite upgrade you’ve done to your own property?

My favorite project at the cabin is this honeycomb arbor that I built. It’s really five pentagons in a row, so it kind of looks like a honeycomb, and it’s encased in a bunch of ivy and flowers, and it’s my walkway to the house. I have lights interwoven throughout it, and so it’s a special moment. Being able to do the carpentry work on it was a really fun project and pushed my skill set to another level.

“Build It Forward” airs Saturdays at 6 p.m. on HGTV and streams on discovery+.

The post Exclusive: Shane Duffy of ‘Build It Forward’ Reveals Exactly How an HGTV Star Is Made—Hazing and All appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.