06x07 - Treehouse of Terror

[bunniefuu]

Marty: oh, my god!

This house is bolted to a tree
that sways and moves.

Catastrophe.

I'm scared.

Samuel: I don't know
how long we have

Till this house falls apart.

Samuel: there's been mornings
we woke up,

It's been 30 degrees
in there.

What's happening here?
There's not even a stove.

I didn't want to leave.

Samuel: this is where
we make our money.

Michael: if she doesn't make
the payment every month,

Then she loses what little space
she had to work.

Marty: what's gonna happen here
is, most likely,

The most dangerous thing
we've ever done.

Run!!

[ Chain-saw motor revving ]

Face the challenge head on,

Using whatever is
at your disposal.

This is the way
raneys homestead.

[ Gasps ]

Aah!

-Hold on.
-Whoa, whoa.

Misty:
it's totally, completely insane,

And it's gonna take

A totally, completely
insane person to fix it.

My dad!

--Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Welcome to missouri,
for the fourth time.

The show-me state.


"Hey, in this discussion,

You're using
a lot of big words.

I'm not impressed.
Show me."

And that stuck.

It sounds like
your kind of people.

That's exactly
my kind of people.

Narrator:
the raneys are in route

To a cry for help
in the southwestern ozarks.

In summer, the region
is besieged by tornadoes,

Severe storms and flooding.

In the winter, brutal snow
and ice grip the land.

Attempting to stay
in this extreme environment,

The oglesbys.

I am ginesse oglesby,

And this is my husband,
samuel oglesby.

We have a 1,250-square-foot
log-cabin treehouse.

Samuel:
it's come off the beams.

It's connected to trees,
and it's unstable.

When the wind blows,
literally the house sways.

It gets more and more dangerous
every single day.

Besides losing a house,
we could lose our lives.

Raneys,
we need your help.

Marty: look at this.

Matt: bareback on a horse,
just bringing us in.

Hello.
You must be ginesse.

Ginesse.
Ginesse?

Nice to meet you.
Marty raney.

I'm so glad you're here.

Michael, her son.

Michael, her son?
Oh, nice.

Samuel, her husband.

-Samuel?
-Yes, sir.

That place is amazing.

Thank you. And I showed
up here with nothing.

There was no road.
There was no water.

Everything you see,
I had to do with my own hands

And since sam's been here.

It looks good.
What's the issue?

The issue is that
I'm not a carpenter.

I really didn't know
how to build a house.

There were some nights
it probably got down

To 30 or something.

Winter's right around
the corner.

Yeah.

Are you guys prepared
for another winter?

We are absolutely not.

Narrator: five years ago,

Ginesse oglesby
was a city dweller

In need of a change.

I came from a pretty
dysfunctional lifestyle.

Ginesse: I was just spiritually
looking for

What is missing in my life.

I arrived here with 50 bucks
in my pocket

And slowly started to build
this 40-acre homestead.

Here's the front of our really
cool log-cabin treehouse.

Narrator: last year
ginesse met her husband, sam,

Who soon joined her
on the homestead.

Samuel: we fell in love with
each others' spirit first,

And then just spending
time together,

Just everything clicked.

Like, she was
living off-grid.

I've been wanting
to do this forever.

Ginesse: sam works the land,

And I make stuff in my shop
to sell.

Michael: this is where
we make our money,

So it's very important
that we have a working shop.

What do you think so far?
Nice.

We're a power couple.

Yeah,
we're a power couple.

Ginesse: welcome to our
log-cabin treehouse.

You see how cool
it is in here.

Living in a treehouse,
I think it's amazing.

It's quieted me
in my spirit.

Narrator: but their attempts
to be self-sufficient

Have become a struggle.

Samuel: our garden,
it doesn't sustain us.

We are having issues
with growing our own food

And preserving
our own food.

We have no electric.

We threw practically
a whole deer out,

Because we couldn't can it
fast enough

And that's ridiculous.

Samuel: you see it's dark
in here. I have a candle.

It's a rainy day.
We have no electricity.

It sucks. We don't have
a heat source in the house.

What's this? Creosote on
the side of our cabin

That just about burnt our cabin.

This is where our
wood stove used to be.

We can't sleep at night.
We're stressed.

Narrator: recently the trees
supporting the cabin have grown,

Creating instability
in its foundation.

Samuel: I don't know
how long we have

Till this house falls apart.

To think that everything
could collapse before my eyes,

Or even worse,
on top of myself.

I can't comprehend that.

Ginesse: this is what we want.
This is where our heart's at.

You couldn't drag us
out of here...

-We won't quit.
-...here with wild horses.

Sam's a provider,
so as a provider,

He's feeling
like he's failed me.

You had me at,
"we won't quit."

I say we get started
and look around.

Obviously, I want to see
what the problems are

With that house.
What's your role here?

I mean, you look like
a strapping young man.

I'm here to help.
Let's go.

Okay.

Let's head to the scene
of the crime -- your cabin.

Ginesse: so this is
my log-cabin treehouse.

This looks really cool.

What's happening here?
There's not even a stove.

Have you ever in five years

Had a working stove
that heated this house?

There was a stove, and I kept
having creosote backing up.

The winter before...
Mm-hmm.

...i actually put a teepee up
in the living room.

I strung it up

And put a buddy heater in there
with propane.

I didn't know
what else to do.

It's okay.
I didn't want to leave.

Marty:
it gets cold in missouri.

Temperatures dip down
into the teens.

If the wind blew, you probably
could get below zero.

If that's not fixed,
these homesteaders

Definitely won't be here
for another winter.

What's happening here?
This building is slanted.

This door is really hard
to open and shut.

That was kind
of the indication

That something
was going on.

You could feel what...
I can feel it right now.

...an incredible slant.

This entire building
is slanted. It's sloped.

Welcome to the leaning tower
of ginny.

Marty: so many things
are done right,

And it's so quaint,
and it's so cool.

But the most critical,
important part of your house

Is your foundation.

The problem isn't inside
the house.

It's under the house.

Ginesse: this is one of the main
supports of the house.

Cameraman, get out
from underneath there.

Seriously.

I mean, that looks
really dangerous to me.

I mean,
that's serious business.

Look at that.

I know.

More than 50% of this house
is bolted to a tree

That sways and moves
and grows.

Catastrophe.

You have an unsafe home.

This is the most dangerous thing
I've ever seen.

And it's only a matter
of one or two storms,

A lot of movement
on the trees.

And this whole thing's

Gonna break off
like an iceberg.

We've got to fix it
somehow.

I'm following you.

So this is mom's shop
over here,

Where she makes
all her gear and stuff.

She makes quivers and purses

And boots and bows.

Here we go.

Michael: she does
all the, like, tanning

And the hiding
herself, too.

This is awesome.
Alright, how do I look?

So far so good.

This is a legit workshop,
I mean, and she's good.

Oh, yeah.

Matt:
ginesse has amazing skills.

I mean, I have friends in alaska

That would buy
every single thing

That she's basically made
in this shop,

But it's like
a little dungeon hole.

-She rents this.
-Like right now?

Michael: yes. She pays
like $130 a month for it.

So if she doesn't make
the payment every month,

Then she even loses what
little space she had to work.

Ginesse's workshop is a shed
they actually rent.

If we build a workshop
ourselves, that's extra money

That they're not gonna be
spending on that shed,

That they can actually use
to improve this homestead.

This is what keeps
the homestead alive.

So I think
it's really important.

Narrator:
in the middle of the homestead,

Misty tours the garden with sam.

Misty: you just moved here,
have you been here a year?

No, this is my first
growing season here.

And how has it been
so far?

It's something I've always
wanted to do

And I've always been
a outdoors guy,

But I'm still
finding my place.

She's done so much
before I even got here.

And she's amazing,
amazing woman.

Homesteading puts a lot of
stress on your relationship

Because you're struggling
to survive every day.

So it's a day-by-day process.

It's been years

Since I've had
an actual garden, so...

So if this was
your dream garden,

What would it look like?

Possibly some kind of greenhouse
or somewhere

I can grow year round
and get a supply up

Where I can hit
the farmer's markets

And make a little money
doing that.

Yeah.

Misty: sam's new
on the homestead.

I think he's still trying to
find his role and his path here.

And I think for him,

Creating something
that he's responsible for,

It's gonna be
very fulfilling for him.

You're excited to go.

I want to get dirty.

Marty: you're looking
at something

You've never seen before,

And most likely
will never see again.

My dear lord,
what have they done?

Misty:
look how it's sagging.

We've been to missouri.
We've seen terrible weather.

What if the big storm
came in?

This house would literally
just tip over.

Are you fixing this?
Look how big this house is.

We're fixing it.

This house doesn't have
a wood stove in it.

There's no source
of heat, okay,

So we have to
address that, too.

Their garden's small
and mostly dead,

And sam's super excited
to provide food.

So that's what
we should help him do.

Mm-hmm.

I've seen a shop with a lot
of really cool stuff.

She makes her own leather,

Tans her own hides
and makes a living.

But the shop is tiny.
It's really cramped.

It's not the best workspace,

And they got to pay


I think it's real simple.
We could get rid of the shop

And then I want to use that
space to build a greenhouse.

We can build a shop
in seven days.

I think it's simple.

And it'll alleviate
the $130 payment.

Done.

Narrator: to save the oglesbys'
log cabin from collapse,

Marty will detach it
from the trees,

Remove the trunks and fill
the area with packed gravel.

Then he'll make
the foundation level

And install reinforced
support posts.

To kickstart
sam's food garden,

Misty will remove
the rented workshop

And build a 12x16 foot
greenhouse in its place.

To boost
ginesse's crafts business

And leave the family
even more self-sustainable,

Matt will lead the build
of a 12x20 foot workshop

In the style
of a frontier outpost.

-Oglesby?
-Yes, sir.

So it's going to be a big...
Ginesse: job.

...invasive,
dangerous, risky fix.

Wow.

I'm not afraid of it at all.

I think we're gonna
find problems as we go.

We'll deal with them
as they come at us.

You're fine with giving
that building back

And eliminating that payment.

What do I do
for a shop?

That's where matt
kind of comes in.

We build something new,
a bigger shop.

Yes.
So we can grow this business.

We'll all sweat and point
this homestead

In a different direction.
Okay.

We've been on a lot of
homesteads in a lot of states,

And what's gonna happen here

Is most likely the most
dangerous thing we've ever done.

Narrator: in western missouri,
the oglesby homestead

Is one storm away
from destruction.

Cameraman, get out
from underneath there.

The treehouse cabin
lacks suitable heat and power

And is on the verge
of catastrophic collapse,

While the garden
isn't producing enough food

To sustain them year round.

The raneys have
only six more days

To solve
the oglesbys' predicament,

Or the family's
homesteading dreams

Will come crashing down.

-Who's this?
-Michelle, nice to meet you.

Narrator:
ginesse's daughter, michelle,

Has arrived on the homestead...

Let's go.

...to help marty tackle
the massive task

Of stabilizing
the treehouse cabin.

Marty:
okay, family, this is it.

We'll stack the pallets in here
as tight as we can,

So once we get enough
support underpinning,

We're cutting this tree
right here.

Narrator: marty will stabilize
the cabin's foundation

With temporary scaffolding

Made from scavenged
pallets and logs.

Then he'll detach the cabin
from the trees

And remove the stumps
to prevent future root growth

That would damage the new posts

And raise the sagging
substructure.

Finally, he'll install
new support posts

That can handle the weight
of this 20-ton treehouse.

If we've done this right,
we're in good shape.

If we've done this wrong,
the house falls down.

Let's go. Start stacking.
Start stacking, people.

That's a heavy one there.

-Stop!
-Yeah.

That's it, money.

This is the way
raneys homestead.

Face the challenge head on,

Using whatever is
at your disposal.

Guys, give that some shakes.

Grab what you can find.
Make it work.

Next phase,
cut this tree down right now.

We can now cut the beams
loose from the trees,

But then the trees
have to be fallen

And the stumps have
to be pulled out

Because the massive
root systems

Compromise the integrity
of the new foundation

We're going to applicate.

I don't think it's
gonna fall that way.

I think it wants to fall
towards the house.

Misty: big branches leaning
over the house.

So we're gonna be in the bedroom
with a stick,

And we're gonna be out here
with a rope pulling.

We're losing daylight.
We've got to make it happen.

[ Chain-saw motor revs ]

♪♪

♪♪

-It's going!
-Run!!

♪♪

Everyone's alive.
-Good.

Alright.
-Good job!

-That was fun.
-Whoo!

That was fun actually.

That was scary, seeing my
husband under the tree.

They're excited.
I'm traumatized.

[ Laughs ]

You better pace yourself.
This is just day one.

I'll be alright.
Okay.

♪♪

Wow!

Look at the difference
in what that tree...

How much stress
was on that tree.

It's not an inch,
but it's over a half.

All of that stress, this
difference was on these 2x12s

And three lag bolts,
which is crazy.

Ready?

-Right on. Let's go.
-Yes, we're ready.

Matt: you're good, keep going.
You did it.

-That's it, that's it.
-Yeah!

That's it! Whoo!

Yeah!

Marty: one down, one to go.

How close?

Keep going, marty.

Down.
That's it.

You got it.
You got it.

Whoa, you're pushing
on the house.

You're on the windows.
You're pushing on the house.

Get me off the window.

Whoa, whoa. Moving.

Keep going.
I think we're good.

Pull it out!
Pull it out!

We're gonna hit the house.

-No.
-No.

♪♪

Wow.

♪♪

Come on in.
Look at that.

One thing I can say for certain,

Tonight in missouri
as the sun sets,

This cabin is no longer
hanging on a limb.

[ Sighs ] that was a good day
on the homestead.

It was a day
you'll probably never forget.

It was a hard day,
but what's crazy?

The hard days are
really the only ones

You remember in life.

The house
is still standing.

The plan worked, but it's just
the first big step.

Let's get some rest.
Thank you very much, guys.

Let's hit it.
Get some rest.

♪♪

-12X20, right?
-Yes.

Narrator: it's early morning
and matt and mike push forward

On the foundation
for ginesse's new workshop.

It's a critical build
that will eliminate her need

For the small rented shed
she currently uses.

I know it's not as big

As what you guys had initially
planned out, but this --

This is bigger than --

This is big.

What you guys had out here
was massive.

We've got a good footprint.
Let's get the materials out.

We'll start laying it
in place.

We're laying out
our flooring, right?

You ever done any framing?
Michael: no.

All of our joists,
which are the boards

Running basically
in between our box,

The ones that fill
in all the gaps

And add all
the structural support...

All the joists are together,
all I need now is a foundation.

Some posts in the ground
that aren't gonna rot,

Keep this thing up off
the ground and super sturdy.

I've been able to source
this local tree called

Osage orange,
what the locals call "hedge."

And it's great for fencing,
it's great for foundations

And it's really what's gonna
keep this shop in the ground

And sturdy for years to come.

All these posts
are all level,

But here's the moment
of truth.

Is this gonna sit
on there perfectly?

Michael: I think it will.

We might have to
fudge it around,

But we're not gonna know
until we try.

So let's lift it.

Is it heavy for you?

I'm strong.

Look at me.

Okay.
I'm on this corner.

Okay, hold on, guys.

Is it level?
This is perfect.

I say we start
laying down this deck.

Hopefully we can have
this thing sheeted

And maybe stand a wall up
before the day's over

Because time is ticking.

We only have
so much time left.

I got mike working
side by side with me,

And he's got a strong back.

He's fast, he's smart and
that's what it's gonna take

Because we have
so much work to do

And not any time to do it.

Narrator: later that morning,

The raneys assemble at the
oglesbys' rented workshop shed,

Where they will move
the structure

To make room
for misty's new greenhouse.

We have a plan,
we want to move the shop

Out of the way
for the greenhouse.

Matt: it's just not
the shop she needs.

So we are going to hook up
to it with an excavator

And pull it
out of the way.

There's a right way and then
there's my dad's way.

[ Sighs ]
which is also right.

Watch your fingers.
We'll probably come in here

And grab that with a tooth of
the bucket and start dragging.

Is that what we agreed to?
-Yes.

Are you gonna be in there?
Yes.

You're there
for damage control.

So if you see anything
crack or twist

Or turn say,
"stop, stop, stop."

Okay. I got the safety glasses.
I'm good.

Let's go. Ready?

I get it that there's 40 acres
on this homestead,

But the optimum place to extend
the garden greenhouse area

Is off of the end of
the existing garden right here,

But right here is a shed.

So we're gonna move
that shed, hopefully,

And provide a space for
a greenhouse, extended garden.

Marty: here we go!

Okay, here we go.

Oh, god.
We're moving!

[ Gasps ]

Aah!

Narrator: later this season
on "homestead rescue"...

Marty: go! Hold on!

Narrator:
...the raneys encounter

Their most extreme challenges...

You need to be
in an institution!

...fighting to save homesteaders
on the brink...

Whoa!

Before the brutal winter
descends.

It's gonna be


This is insane.

Everything you look at
is failing.

-Pull, pull!
-You didn't pull it!

That went well.
[ Laughs ]

It's gonna make
all of our dreams come true.

Narrator:
and for the first time ever,

The raneys go toe-to-toe
with an active volcano.

Marty: this is terrible.
I'm speechless.

Narrator: two days ago,
the raneys arrived in missouri

To find the oglesby homestead
on the verge of collapse.

My dear lord,
what have they done?

Narrator: but before they can
get the family on solid ground,

Marty must move ginesse's
rented workshop...

Marty: here we go!

...to make way
for misty's greenhouse project.

Aah!

Wow. We're totally away
from the spot.

Misty: dad, that's as far
as I need!

Done.
-Okay.

Yes!
Whoo!

You got to be this tall
to ride this ride.

[ Laughing ]

Wow.
That was interesting.

So the best news of all

Is there's no damage
and we're ready.

We're out of your space.

We're ready to start building.
I'm out of here.

Back to work.
I got to build a greenhouse.

♪♪

Everywhere you look,
there's a stack of windows.

And that's one of
the first things

I noticed when I walked
around the property.

Lookit, we found
our new front door.

But I'm thinking, "yes!"

Narrator: misty will construct
a one-of-a-kind


With window walls

And a single pitched roof
sloped 18 degrees

To shed the missouri
snow and rain.

Inside, it will house
planted vegetables

And have shelving
for food storage.

Okay.

First couple of
foundation posts right there.

So what, if you take off
all the bark

It adds life
right to the wood?

Yeah.

So we'll just take off
every bit of bark.

We'll cut this guy in half

And we'll stick him
in the ground

And then boom,
we got a foundation.

You want to do
that side?

Sure.

Give you a break.

Sam works really hard,
he's really smart,

But I think there is a lot
that he has to give.

So it's really exciting
to build this greenhouse

And help him find
his role here.

Whoa.

Nice.

So we got
these cedar posts,

We'll get them below
the frost line,

Get some rocks in there,
get some dirt in there.

I really liked that
you can get your foundation

Pretty much from the woods.

Pretty cheap foundation.

A foundation is the most
important part of your structure

As we've learned
from the cabin.

So for me, I want to use these
cedar posts for the greenhouse.

It's rot resistant,
it's water resistant,

It's insect resistant,
super durable,

Last a really long time

And they're free
on the homestead.

You don't have a tamper,
you just grab a shovel

And you turn it
upside down.

And as we get
towards the top

We can put a little
bit bigger ones, right?

Yeah, the dirt

Just will naturally kind
of fall in there.

You have some
pretty stable ground, too.

Okay.
We did it.

The foundation
is pretty much in,

We're ready to frame.
Ready?

Yes.
Okay.

♪♪

Narrator: matt and mike
put up the last wall

In ginesse's new workshop.

Matt: I would get a little
further to the left.

Michael:
a little further?

If it gets heavy,
grunting helps.

Okay.

And the more it sounds like
you're in pain, the better.

Okay.
Alright?

Alright.
Here we go. Okay.

Three, two, one.

[ Both grunting loudly ]

♪♪

Sweet.

♪♪

Yeah. This is really
gonna help her now.

'Cause now her business
can grow, too.

She was just trapped

In that little, tiny shed,
very little room.

Getting rid
of that old shop,

You know, that's a bill
that's just completely gone.

You can save a lot.

I mean,
if you had 3 grand,

That's money
that could just be saved

And put into
the next project.

Exactly.

So this is really cool that
we're actually to the point

Where you can start
to explore the space.

You can start to see
where stuff's gonna go.

But here's the thing,
we're not done.

We've got
to sheet this thing,

Get the roof on,
have this thing dried in.

Michael: my mom, she's always
really struggled for so long.

She's had to make a decision
on "do I pay the shop bill

Or do I pay the water bill?"

And then you just go
by whichever one

Has the best grace period,

And she's been living
like that for a long time.

♪♪

If you're free,
I'll take you and matt.

Narrator:
to aid in the dangerous task

Of fixing the tilted cabin,

Marty's called in a safety team.

We've got a house that is
extremely unstable

And can fall right off
on the ground.

We've got a chain hooked
to that tree with this binder

And this chain is keeping it
from falling down the mountain.

This point right here
has to go up 8 inches, 8 inches.

It's a long ways,
it's a lot of weight.

I'm gonna bring
the bobcat over,

Lift this, straighten this up,
put in the 20-ton jack.

It should lift
the building easily.

♪♪

♪♪

We got to go 8 inches,
we went an inch and a half.

This is full-on


Can't do it all at once here

Because that will be
a catastrophe.

This house is unusually heavy.

Takes three or four jack plates
just to go up a half an itch.

This is going to be slow
and painstaking.

[ Wood creaking ]

Ginesse:
oh, god, what'd that do?

If I had to rate the risk factor
on this house-raising...

Hold on!
Whoa, whoa!

...between 1 and 10,
without hesitation,

I would say it's a 15.

Here we go.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.

Whoa!
-Whoa!

What's wrong?!

The whole house
moved that way.

[ Crying ]

Narrator: in missouri,

The raneys are racing
to save a homestead on the edge.

This is full-on


Narrator: marty's leading the
charge to stabilize their cabin,

But one wrong move

Could send the entire structure
crashing down.

The house is actually trying
to rock and fall

Off of the existing good posts.

See that gap? That's because
this whole thing's going, "rrr."

[ Sighs in frustration ]

Misty: it's totally,
completely insane,

And it's gonna take

A totally, completely
insane person to fix it --

My dad.

Slow and steady.
No margin for error.

[ Wood creaking ]

Yeah.

We're in.

-We're there.
-We're there.

Okay, we're
gonna let it down.

Break out that
water level, please.

It's good?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

What did I tap into to fix
this major cluster of a problem?

A single playground apparatus.

Which one?

The teeter-totter.

Yeah!

Look at that.
We're right --

It's on the nuts.

Nice, nice.

The house is level.

My house is level.

The very best posts

That we could put under
this cabin is right here

Because of its longevity
factor -- hedge.

It's better than cedar
and it's better than locust.

It'll be on concrete...
On a piece of rebar,

And it will be protected
from all the elements.

I want to spin it into place.

Please come over there.

Yep, I like it.
I love it.

Don't be shy here.
We're good.

This building's --
we own this building now.

Get some screws
and pin this down please.

A very dangerous structure
swaying and moving,

Creaking and popping,
is now stable.

It's beautiful.

And it will be in that position,
firmly implanted for eternity.

Give that a big hug.

Your dream has just been
re-grounded, if you will.

♪♪

Samuel:
let me get my hands under.

Narrator:
at the garden, misty upcycles

An abundant homestead resource

For use
in sam's greenhouse.

So ginesse, for, like, years,
she's been collecting windows.

She has an endless supply,

And they are perfect
for this greenhouse.

Misty: so basically
we're just gonna take

All of these
little random windows

And just piece it
all in like this.

It's gonna look cool.

I love this because you've taken
somebody's resource

And kind of made sense of it.

It's gonna look
really amazing,

And more importantly,
it's gonna work.

Even got some circle handles.

There isn't one thing
we've bought from the store.

We've made hinges
out of leather.

Just kind of used
every single resource.

I think sam's kind of
seeing that, pretty much,

He can build anything
out of what you have.

And the front is done.

♪♪

Narrator:
at the workshop,

Matt and mike
are nearing the finish line.

I'll make this
the workbench area.

She had a little workspace,

But it was only probably
about 4-feet wide.

We're gonna triple that
with these massive planks,

And this window
is a 6-foot-wide window.

That's gonna give her all the
light she could possibly need.

This is looking
real good.

Yeah, this is great.

Go ahead,
take a look around.

Matt: ta-da.

What do you think, huh?

Wow.
Look at all the space.

Your last workbench
was only this big.

Yeah,
I had to really...

Right next to the window.

Right out the window.
I didn't see that coming.

Did you see the skylight?
[ Gasps ]

Okay, now, that's cool.
Yeah.

I just can't even take
in how much room is in here.

The coolest thing
is there's no payment.

There is no payment.

Narrator: a week ago,

Ginesse's leather shop
was a small rented shed

With no ventilation
and a cramped workstation.

Now matt has built
a 240-square-foot shop

With plenty of airflow
and ample room

For ginesse's
his leather-goods projects,

All for $400 in materials.

Thank you.

Thank you.
This is amazing.

Giving her the shop


For her to have,

I mean, it's the best thing
for this homestead.

Look at the amount of work
that has happened.

Heck yeah.

It's more than incredible.

♪♪

Marty: alright, guys, yet one
more project to finish.

Narrator:
back at the treehouse cabin,

Marty shows ginesse his fix
for the homestead's

Non-existent heat source.

This wood stove is actually
of high quality.

We've sourced insulated pipe,
stove pipe,

All the little bells
and whistles and trinkets

That it takes
to install this safely.

I love it.
And I need to get started.

I'm at the salvage yard,
and guess what I see there?

A tv. A wilderness tv.
What's that?

It's a wood stove
with a glass door.

Oh, yeah.

Because they'll be
spending hour after hour

Just gazing at that fire.

You know you're homesteading

When you fire up a chain saw
in the living room.

♪♪

Get rid of it, please.
Thank you.

When you hear ginny talk about
how brutal the winters

Have been outside
and inside her cabin,

You tell yourself,
"that has to stop,"

And it will on my watch.

Hey, missouri,
show me your toughest winter

Because this lady
is going to be warm.

The next step is to run the
chimney between those rafters,

Cut a hole in the roof,

Flash the upper side of the
chimney from rain and weather,

And make a transition
from single-wall pipe

To insulated pipe
right in here somewhere.

It's a big job.
We'll start now.

Narrator:
the raneys arrived in missouri

To find the oglesbys

Living in a treehouse cabin
with an unsafe foundation.

Samuel: and it's come off
the beams.

It's connected to trees
and it's getting unstable.

Marty: this is the most
dangerous thing I've ever seen.

This whole thing is gonna
break off like an iceberg.

After a week's work, they put
the cabin on solid footing...

-Look at that.
-It's on the nuts.

My house is level.

Narrator:
...built a greenhouse

That will provide
year-round crops,

And constructed a workshop
that'll allow ginesse's

Burgeoning leather-goods
business to expand.

Look at all the space.

Michael:
now her business can grow.

Pin it.

Narrator:
now marty's racing against time

To install a vital heat source
for the cabin.

One thing that I consistently
see wrong on homesteads,

No matter where I go,

Is the wood stove
and pipe installation.

Ginesse was right there
at the worst,

Meaning the most likely
to burn the house down.

Let's see if it works.

This is the kind of tv
I like to make.

[ Wood crackling ]

You hear that?

You don't have a fire
until it's making noise.

♪♪

Narrator:
with only a few hours left,

Misty and sam put the finishing
touches on the greenhouse.

We're ready to plant,
so here we go.

Whoo.

Feels muggy in here.

Everything we worked for led up
to this moment right now.

We have some swiss chard,

Herbs,
a bunch of greens, lettuce.

Greenhouses extend
your growing season.

Sam will be able
to plant cold crops,

Go into winter as far as he can,
then start canning and storing.

Narrator:
just seven days ago,

Sam was struggling to grow crops
in the homestead's garden.

Now he has a greenhouse
built from upcycled materials

And can grow
and store food year round,

All for the cost of $300
in lumber and glass panels.

♪♪

At the treehouse cabin,

Marty has one last surprise
for ginesse and sam

That will bring much
needed power to the woods.

What doesn't this
homestead have?

[ Gasps ]

I want you to meet
two of your neighbors.

[ Crying ]

Come here.

This is our cabin
solar generator.

It's enough to run your fridge,
lights, you name it.

These gentlemen donated this,

So get over
and get some of that.

That's so amazing.
Thank you.

Welcome home.
Come on in.

On the day I met you,
I stood right here

And we set
this mason jar down,

And it rolled all the way
to the door.

And today it just wants
to stay right there.

This house is level.

Not only level,
it's structurally stable.

So let's look at that
wood-stove installation.

Come on.

This wood stove is


Than the wood stove
I have in alaska.

It drafts amazing.

Wow.

Now, here's something
you've never seen before.

That's my chandelier
I made.

I didn't think
I'd ever see it light up.

The cool thing about this,

The source of that power --
those solar panels.

Five years, I've carried
a candle around

So I could see.

It's incredible.

It's a big moment
when you get light.

So beautiful.

Neat, isn't it?
It's beautiful.

Narrator: one week ago,

Ginesse's treehouse cabin
lacked heat

And a power source,

And the foundation was one storm
away from collapse.

Now the foundation's reinforced.

There's a stove for heat

And a solar generator
for electricity.

All for just $900.

Believe it or not,
I'm kind of speechless.

So much has happened.
I can't even digest.

We won't look
at things the same.

We won't operate here
the same.

We'll be more successful.

We always had that inside us,
that determination.

But you guys have
equipped us to do that

Even more, so thank you.

You're welcome.
So on that note, bye-bye.

Let me describe to you
the dream homestead --

A nice log cabin,
structural and sound,

With a reliable heat source.

Solar power, a garden,
it has a greenhouse,

And that dream homestead exists
right here

Where I'm standing in missouri.

The place that has the motto,

"Hey, talk less and do more.

Show me."

♪♪

Ginesse: the raneys did so many
amazing things for us.

Our cabin is level.
We could sleep at night.

We know the roof's not gonna
come crashing on top of us.

We have this
really efficient wood stove.

Sam's garden has grown food.

Now I have this great big shop.

Our income has gone up.

I'm so, so grateful
for this space.

We're both very, very happy

And so grateful
to you guys.

Thanks, guys.

Thank you, raneys.
We love you.