The DIY Network is once again filming in Hudson County, this time for its home improvement show, “10 Grand in Your Hand.”
Tapings of the show, which are currently taking place in Secaucus and Jersey City, follow two families as they renovate their homes, doing much of the work themselves. The show’s host, John DeSilvia, tries to help the homeowners save $10,000 or more by offering money-saving tips and advice.
“The houses, in many cases, are older and require a certain amount of work.” – Andy Singer
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The network obviously considers the county to be fertile ground for home improvement projects.
“From a television perspective, Hudson County is desirable for us for a number of reasons,” said Andy Singer, vice president of programming for the network. “Hudson County has a very good housing stock. But the houses, in many cases, are older and require a certain amount of work and renovation, and that’s what our network does.”
Local homeowners, he added, are also “culturally diverse and diverse in their lifestyle choices,” which, he said, attracts more viewers who can identify with the families featured on the shows.
The fact that the network has taped two shows in Secaucus this year is something Singer called “a coincidence more than anything else.” Yet he noted, “As people are moving out of New York City, and maybe even moving out of places like Hoboken and Jersey City, they are looking at places like Secaucus where maybe they can get out of an apartment and actually have a house and a yard and a better quality of life. But, of course, the houses are older and will likely need work.”
Singer, who used to work for MSNBC in Secaucus and lived in Hoboken, knows Hudson County well.
The network finds homeowners through fliers, home contractors, web postings, newspaper ads, and referrals from real estate agents.
The projects
The projects currently being featured on “10 Grand in Your Hand” are ambitious and not for novices.
New homeowners Tom Selementi and his wife Clara Lofaro are completely remodeling their kitchen and redoing the hardwood floors in their three-floor Jersey City Heights house.
“The floors throughout the house were quite old, so we’ve stripped them, stained them, and we’ve done the sanding,” said Selementi, who works for a software development company and said he’s never been much of a handyman. They stained and refinished 2,500 square feet of floor space in their home.
The couple also ripped up the tiles in their kitchen and put down hardwood floors and replaced the cabinets in their kitchen – all by themselves, or almost.
“My brother is a licensed plumber, and my father is a superintendent of a building, so he does this kind of stuff everyday, and they helped us a lot,” Selementi admitted.
And DIY host DeSilvia did help them save money.
“We probably saved about $20,000 doing the work ourselves instead of hiring contractors to do the work for us,” he said. “We got an estimate on the [hardwood] floors for $12,000. The work we did in the kitchen could have cost as much as $8,400.”
But, he noted, the remodeling project hasn’t been without its “obstacles.” When their new kitchen appliances and cabinets were delivered he and his wife thought installation would be uncomplicated. It was only after these items were delivered they realized they had to change the voltage on several outlets.
“And the [floor] sanding was really difficult,” he added. “We went with a darker color than the natural color of the wood. And to get the color even we had to put on an extra coating that we weren’t expecting to do… So the floors came out a little bit darker than we really wanted. If we had it to do again, we wouldn’t have selected dark walnut…But they’re still beautiful.”
Secaucus homeowners Donna and Toni Salvatore are adding a dormer to their home, in addition to remodeling a bathroom.
“These are projects that are big in scope,” Singer concedes. “They are not quick fixes. They’re adding rooms, completely redoing kitchens, bathrooms, basements.”
Return to Hudson County?
Now that DIY has twice taped in Hudson County, is there a chance the network will return to the area for another one of its shows?
“The network is always open to Hudson County,” Singer said. “We have numerous shows that shoot in the tri-state area. As long as there are good [home renovation] projects and interesting homeowners we can feature, we’re always interested.”
The DIY Network will air the episode of “10 Grand in Your Hand” featuring the Salvatores on Jan. 13. The episode featuring the Selementis will air on Jan. 20.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.