On tonight’s Homestead Rescue on Discovery Channel, a family in Ohio has built a solar-powered home that is housing more than humans.
Wait until you see the exclusive preview below as bats, rats, wasps, snakes, and other critters made their happy homes inside the Broadhead’s homestead.
It’s a challenge now as the government stepped in and threatened the family with massive fines if they do not comply with building codes as soon as possible.
We find the Raneys — Marty, Matt, and Misty — deep in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country as the team is four days into one of their biggest challenges yet — to save the Broadhead family homestead from collapsing in on itself and being ravaged by pests and predators.
In an interview, a visibly anxious Wendy Broadhead says: “We apparently have built a high-rise condo for all the wildlife in the area, which of course, because we still have a child at home, it’s not safe.”
Her son Ashton Broadhead says: “When I tell my co-workers and friends about the house, a lot of people look at me like I’m totally crazy.”
Fans of the series know that if the Raney’s can’t rescue this passive solar home from the demolition ordered by the government, the Broadheads won’t be able to survive the winter unless they find a new home, as the cost will be completely unaffordable for them.
The Environmental Protection Agency will condemn the house as a hazardous waste dump, and will fine the family hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has to be fixed up and fast before winter arrives.
Overwhelmed, Wendy says: “We just feel so overwhelmed that we just feel like we can’t do it ourselves, coupled with the facts we’ve got a government agency saying ‘look you’re going to get done faster.'”
Marty Raney says: “You’ve heard the story of the three little pigs? They built out of straw… no good. Sticks… mmm. Bricks was the only thing that staved off the big bad wolf. I’m wondering if 100 years from now that story will change. They [Broadheads] built out of sticks they built out of straw, they built out of rubber tires!”
And so far, the Raneys have plumbed and built the walls up again, but Matt is struggling to capture and relocate the unwelcome wildlife.
Misty just learned the biggest problem of all. She says: “Wendy just told me that they’ve been hauling water this whole time they’ve been here. They don’t really have a water source at all, and they’re trucking it in at four hundred dollars a pop…”
Listening, Marty Raney notes the problem and the cost: ” thousands of dollars…”
Tune in tonight as the clock is ticking in part two of this rescue as Marty, Misty, and Matt work to provide fresh water, strengthen walls, and jump-start an indoor garden:
Homestead Rescue airs at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday only on Discovery Channel.