The two men spearheading the upcoming "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" build in the Chattanooga area say they are confident they can get six to nine months' worth of construction crammed into six or seven days.
But if watching the show is any indication, they aren't sure they can do it with dry eyes.
"I actually had to stop watching [the show] for a little while because I was crying every Sunday," said Craig Smith, co-owner of Vision Homes, at a news conference Thursday.
Ty Pennington, host of the tear-jerking ABC reality show, will visit one of five finalists for the project on Feb. 13 to tell them, with his famous bullhorn, that they've been selected for the project house.
The show selects a deserving family with a dilapidated, cramped or unsafe house and uses donated materials and volunteers to rebuild the home.
Craig Smith, left, and Jason Willard, owners of Vision Homes, announce the upcoming Extreme Makeover Home Edition visit to Chattanooga at East Chattanooga Lumber Co. The home makeover is scheduled for some time in February.Smith and others at the news conference were mum on the location of the house and the identity of the family, citing agreements with the show.
The build will kick off Feb. 14, and the new house will be revealed Feb. 19, according to documents from the show. Show staff plan to hold a community "pep rally" Feb. 3 at The Chattanoogan hotel from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Shows usually air six to eight weeks after the build, according to information provided at the news conference.
Smith and his business partner Jason Willard made a plea for volunteers, saying it would take a communitywide effort to build the house. They said they need support from financial donors and sponsors, contractors and skilled workers and plenty of other volunteers.
"You might say, 'I don't know anything about building a house,' but you don't have to to move this over there," Smith said.
When asked about the price of services Vision Homes was offering, Smith said, "we're going to leave this to Chattanooga's imagination."
Smith said he and Willard first were contacted in August about working with the show.
"There was no hesitation between me and Jason that we were going to do it," Smith said.
Celebrities such as filmmaker Tyler Perry and kitchen guru Paula Deen have appeared on episodes when "Makeover" filmed in Georgia, but Smith and Willard said they had not heard anything about potential celebrity appearances.