We return to the Rudolphs to find them still standing in the wreckage of a job that was supposed to be “six weeks, tops.” Instead, it’s October 2020, the kitchen is still a construction crime scene, and Borg’s excuse factory is running three shifts a day.

The mysterious Brothers Tran have vanished. Again. The windows still leak. The contract still doesn’t exist.

Just when it seems like momentum is building, Borg’s latest “solution” shows up carrying red flags, backdated invoices, imaginary property ownership. The Rudolphs are forced to say the quiet part out loud: they are worse off now than when this all started. But wait - the insurance cheques actually clear. Real money hits the bank. Hope flickers. Borg scrambles. Isaac returns demanding payment like a landlord in flip-flops. Tempers flare. Lines are drawn.

In the midst of the chaos, we also pivot to that rare quality that the Abandon House! guests all seem to have in spades, in spite of it being absent for the majority of the fiasco: competence.

Kenny and Shari welcome Michael Fournier and Doug Reid from SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology), creators of Trades Take 10 and educators who actually explain how things are supposed to work. Together, they unpack:

• Why the skilled trades shortage is very real (and very fixable)
• How apprenticeships are equivalent to university degrees — without the soul-crushing debt
• Why soft skills matter just as much as technical ones
• How trades can be a launchpad for any dream (including rock stardom)
• And why the future of housing depends on training people who actually know what they’re doing

It’s a rare bright spot in a saga defined by demolition dust and broken promises - proof that good people still exist in the system, and that not everyone asking for money is running a long con.

Next time: Sidehustle Joe and Mad Man Moreno descend upon the castle - and if you thought the last batch of pirates were bad…honey, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Go sell crazy somewhere else!

This podcast is the official companion to the book series of the same name Abandon House: How to Survive a Home Repair Fiasco. Book 1 is available wherever you buy books, and at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-House-Survive-Repair-Fiasco/dp/B0FJYRFYKT

Abandon House! is produced by Jess Schmidt: https://www.jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our editor is Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

The Abandon House! theme song was produced by Jeff Gerke with music and lyrics, vocals and guitar by Kenny Rudolph: https://abandonhousepod.com/

Additional music graciously provided by Eden's Journal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28z4W9e04lGdr0GWL-DK2A

Down came the rain…and with it, a team of licensed catastrophists.

When Isaac and his Planet Eden crew arrive to perform what’s been generously labeled a “discovery process,” Kenny and Shari watch their functioning kitchen get stripped to the studs in record time - no signed contract, no clear scope, and no guarantee anything will ever be put back. Cabinets vanish. Appliances hide in plain sight (right where the car is supposed to be in the garage). A plastic zipper wall turns the kitchen into a private demolition club, and the Rudolphs are not on the guest list.

What began as a leaking window has now escalated into a full-blown kitchen apocalypse.

As invoices multiply and reports drift dangerously close to creative fiction, the insurance pirates circle, Borg’s promises wobble, and the Castle enters its submarine era: six months without a real kitchen, a microwave in the garage, and just enough hope to keep everyone hanging on.

Then, finally, our long-awaited window expert appears (no, it’s not Moby).

The Rudolphs welcome Terry Adamson, Technical Director (and former President) of Fenestration Canada, the national trade association in Canada for windows, doors, and glazing. Terry brings decades of industry knowledge, plain-language explanations, and something the Castle has been missing for years: clarity. From flashing and envelope failures to real-life examples like the infamous “Vancouver leaky condo crisis,” Terry explains what went wrong, why the whatever-you-want-to-call-it sky wall likely failed after 14 years, and how homeowners can avoid ever living through this kind of fiasco.

Actual answers. Real standards. No smoke. No mirrors. No Jedi moisture meters.

Kenny, Shari, and Terry cover:

• What fenestration actually means (and why consumers never hear the word)
• Why flashing is non-negotiable - especially in rain-heavy climates
• What test reports homeowners should demand before buying windows
• The importance of window and door maintenance (yes, that’s a thing)
• How to find real experts instead of confident guessers

Next time: Borg’s excuse factory goes into overdrive, a mysterious window sensei appears, promises are broken (three times), and the Rudolphs inch closer to the moment every homeowner dreads: realizing they may need to walk away.

This podcast is the official companion to the book series of the same name Abandon House: How to Survive a Home Repair Fiasco. Book 1 is available wherever you buy books, and at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-House-Survive-Repair-Fiasco/dp/B0FJYRFYKT

Abandon House! is produced by Jess Schmidt: https://www.jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our editor is Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

The Abandon House! theme song was produced by Jeff Gerke with music and lyrics, vocals and guitar by Kenny Rudolph: https://abandonhousepod.com/

Additional music graciously provided by Eden's Journal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28z4W9e04lGdr0GWL-DK2A

After weeks of wrangling with Overlord Surety Bond, Rounders Insurance, and Swizzle Stick Claims Management (yes, all names have been changed to protect the innocent and the incompetent), Kenny and Shari decide to bring in Borg of Clydesdale Construction as their Bigfoot contractor to finish the job. Borg promises superhero-level expertise, industry muscle, and negotiation skills that will free them from the administrative doom-loop they’ve been living in. And to kick things off…Borg no-shows their first meeting.

When he finally appears, he brings Chuck - a man who actually seems to know what he’s doing - and Isaac, a one-man Middle Eastern hurricane who bursts onto the scene wielding a moisture meter like a Jedi lightsaber while shouting “Cut the jive!” It is unclear whether they’ve hired salvation, or started a subplot in an action-comedy.

But then: a breath of actual expertise.

The Rudolphs welcome into studio Nick Svaikauskas, owner of Calgary Custom Concepts, and host of the Constructive Conversations podcast and Nick Svaik Youtube channel. Nick is a Red Seal carpenter, former firefighter, and the contractor’s contractor: a human antidote to every grifter, ghoster, and Google-less “expert” who passed through the Castle. He brings clarity, candor, and deeply practical advice about vetting contractors, spotting red flags, preventing scope creep, and surviving the reno industry’s lack of regulation. A contractor who actually cares? Believe it.

Kenny, Shari, and Nick cover:

• What a Red Seal carpenter actually is
• How to spot shady contractors before they disappear (again)
• The questions you should ask any contractor before you start a project with them
• Why scope creep can ruin both homeowners and builders
• Nick’s recommended Calgary service pricing (a homeowner’s dream) https://calgaryhomeservicesblackbook.com/

This podcast is the official companion to the book series of the same name Abandon House: How to Survive a Home Repair Fiasco. Book 1 is available wherever you buy books, and at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-House-Survive-Repair-Fiasco/dp/B0FJYRFYKT

Next time: Sledgehammers are swung, prices are pulled out of thin air (and then raised…and then raised again…) as work finally gets underway to FIX THAT WINDOW! But will the repair actually get completed before someone walks away? And who will crack first: Borg, or the Rudolphs?

Abandon House! is produced by Jess Schmidt: https://www.jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our editor is Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

The Abandon House! theme song was produced by Jeff Gerke with music and lyrics, vocals and guitar by Kenny Rudolph: https://abandonhousepod.com/

Additional music graciously provided by Eden's Journal: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28z4W9e04lGdr0GWL-DK2A