Jasmine Roth Answers All Of Our Help! I Wrecked My House Questions - Exclusive Interview
Jasmine Roth has quite the HGTV credit list. The renovation guru's appeared in a laundry list of reality TV, competition, and home renovation shows from "Hidden Potential," her own show in which she turned homes into functional works of art, to "A Very Brady Renovation," a limited series in which she worked with other designers on rehabbing the Brady house, to "Rock the Block," the competition show that she won in 2019.
Another big TV adventure is "Help! I Wrecked My House." The reality show follows Roth as she helps average homeowners who, to put it mildly, have totally wrecked their homes in DIY disasters. Considering more than 16 million people watched the show's first season, as per HGTV, it makes sense that it's back for Season 2! "Jasmine knows how to ease the anxiety homeowners feel when a home improvement project goes wrong," said Katie Ruttan-Daigle, vice president of programming and development at HGTV. "Her expertise and optimistic presence help every do-it-yourselfer get a much-needed win."
But what can fans expect in the show's sophomore season? What will homeowners and hopeful DIYers learn? In an exclusive interview with The List, Roth answered all our "Help! I Wrecked My House" questions.
Jasmine Roth dishes on the new season of Help! I Wrecked My House
Tell me a little bit about your experience filming the new season of "Help! I Wrecked My House."
Oh my gosh. Okay, so this season was one of those things. I mean, obviously, the show title gives away what the show is about, but nobody knew exactly what they were getting into, and after seeing Season 1 ... I mean, 16 and a half million people watched Season 1, and so going into Season 2, there were so many families that reached out to us, and they were like, literally, "Help, I wrecked my house." So these projects are bigger. The folks that we were able to help, we did eight houses in 90 days. That's eight different families and eight episodes. And yeah, these projects were ones that, literally, we couldn't say no to, right?
So I think anybody that's worked on their house has had that project where it didn't go right. I mean, I'm sure it's happened to you. It's happened to all of us. I think this season is all about picking the houses where there's so many things that were going wrong and that they had literally wrecked their houses to such an extent that we were like, "Okay, we have to do this project." We weren't able to do every single house that reached out, but I'm sure that people that are working on their houses will learn a lot from this season and see a lot of things that they're like, "Oh yeah, that's applicable in my own house," because there's so many things wrong with just these eight houses.
Do you think that was your goal in doing this show, to not only help people who wrecked their house, but also give practical advice for people that might be in the same situation?
Yeah, and I think it's a matter of understanding our boundaries, right, and our limits. We see home renovators ... I'm guilty of this, right? I will post a project on social media, even on HGTV. We do it all the time, but because of the nature of social media, things have to be cut down, and so you watch something for 15 seconds that takes literally weeks and weeks and weeks to do, or you see something online and it looks so easy. You're like, "I can do that." And so, I think it's just people understanding what they're capable of and what they should leave to the pros and what they can try to do on their own.
What can Help! I Wrecked My House fans expect to see in Season 2?
Can you dish about what viewers can expect to see in the new season, any specific episodes or moments you can be like, "Ooh, when this pops up, pay attention"?
Well, the first episode has already aired, and so anybody that saw it, I had people texting me like, "Jas, you're mean this season," and I was like, "I'm mean?" I was like, "I don't have a mean bone in my body," and they were like, "No, but you didn't let people off the hook," and I was like, "You know what, you're right." And I think part of that is because last season, I was pregnant, and this season I have a baby. I have a family.
And really, being a parent changes the way you think about things, so when I see a house that's not safe and I see people that put themselves in that situation, I felt responsible to let them know like, "Hey, by the way, this isn't safe for you, it isn't safe for your kids," and why, and what they could do in the future, whether it's them or somebody that's watching. I just wanted to hopefully open some people's eyes. I'm still nice, but I'm definitely a little bit more stern and a little bit more, I don't know, intentional with just making sure that people understand the why as to ... home renovation can be really dangerous. And so, yeah, I don't let people off the hook this season.
A little tough love. That's good.
Yeah, tough love. Exactly. That's what being a parent is all about, so I'm just getting into it.
Right, someone's got to keep everybody safe.
Yeah, my poor clients.
Yeah, and I mean, speaking of that, the reason I'm able to give that tough love and be really stern is because I am stepping in and I'm taking it over, right? I'm taking over these projects where they don't know what to do next and they're stuck. And so, being able to come in and take that off their plates, kick them out, and then be like, "You guys go home." No, no, "Don't go home. You guys get out of your home and I'm going to go and take over this project." And then when they do come home, it's completely done. And it is a lot about the design. I love doing these before and afters where I come in and I'm like, "Wow, this house is a mess," and when the homeowners come home and they get to see their new home, that's what it's all about, right?
Jasmine Roth on her favorite parts of Help! I Wrecked My House
Would you say that those big reveal moments are some of your favorite parts of filming?
It's so cool because when else in your adult life do you really get a surprise like that, right? There's nothing that I can even compare it to, really. I mean, I guess when your child is born and you're like, "Oh my gosh, my new baby," obviously, it's not even comparable to that, but other than that, I don't really know when else you're genuinely surprised in your adult life.
And there's a lot on the line, right? I mean, in my show, homeowners paid for their own renovations, so literally, people have handed over their entire life savings, they handed over what is probably their biggest investment of their life, and they've given me all of their trust. That moment when they get to see their new house and they get to realize that their journey of home renovation, which for ... in this case, everybody ended in a failure, is over and that they can just pick up and live their life and not have to worry about bad electrical or plumbing or leaks or things that are going to catch on fire or construction dust around their kids. There's so many things that just are no longer a concern for them, and so I think half of it is the design, and I know they're really excited about having a new house, and half of it is just the relief, knowing that their project is actually finished.
I can understand that. Besides that final reveal moment, what are some of your other favorite parts of being on the show and filming the show?
Oh my goodness. Two things, one, I love the creativity. So I have been working with most of my guys and my trades for years and years. I say, "Guys," but it's guys and girls because I have some really creative carpenters and metal fabricators and just, I mean, all these different folks, artists, I get to bring in local art. You can see this piece behind me here. This is in my own house, and I had this artist come through and do a lot of artwork for the show. And just being able to bring the community together here, where I live, and just bring people work and just put everybody together, that's part of it, so the creativity of the resourcefulness it takes to actually finish these projects.
Jasmine Roth details how she broke her ankle while filming Help! I Wrecked My House
And then the second thing about this season that people should know is, I broke my ankle halfway through. Yeah, so last night, in that episode. And we didn't really show it because it didn't really work. It's too much. It would have taken over the whole season. But last night, in that episode, when I was helping my clients clean up the trash that was in their front yard, I actually stepped on a piece of trash and broke my ankle. And I didn't realize it at the time. I was just like, "Oh, that really hurt. I think I sprained my ankle a little," and I tied my boot a little tighter. We just kept filming.
So from then on, for about half the season, I had a full-on broken ankle, so that was a challenge. I do not recommend breaking your ankle. I still have an ankle brace on. So yeah, that was definitely a challenge, and just one more reason to be really careful and realize that when you're doing construction, it's dangerous, which I already knew. What more can you do? I had my boots on and everything, but it was just a fluke accident. But yeah, I think that was another thing that viewers can look out for and be like, "Is her ankle broken here? Is it not broken here?"
Oh my gosh, that's insane.
I'd gotten a lot of the main construction done. You know I get in there and rip houses apart. So luckily, for these eight houses, most of that work was done and it was literally just me trying to put them back together from a design standpoint and then invite my clients back so they could see them. But yeah, I couldn't drive, I couldn't walk. It was really hard.
Oh man, and you got the little baby too.
But at that point, Hazel had just turned a year old and she wasn't walking yet, so I was like, "Okay, just chill so mom can walk again. Just wait a little while," and she did. So she didn't start walking until I was able to keep up a little bit. I still can't run or jump or anything, but I can at least walk now, so that's good.
Well, good for Hazel. She knew what Mama needed.
Yeah, she's an angel.
Jasmine Roth reveals the hardest clients on this season of Help! I Wrecked My House
Besides breaking your ankle and having to push through that, have there been any least favorite moments from filming this season or any difficult parts?
Yeah, so there was one family that we worked with that I feel like ... Half of my job is getting through and trying to really help my clients and these homeowners realize their boundaries, how I mentioned before, and there was one family that I think ... They weren't quite there yet. They knew that their house was wrecked, and they had called, and they had reached out, and they had given me all their money to work with, but part of it is not just fixing their house. I wanted to make sure that after I left, they didn't come back in and start ripping into walls again and that kind of stuff. So there was one family that was really hard to work with, and I think that was probably my least favorite part of the show, just because in real life, it was a challenge, and it was one of those things where, professionally, it pushed me.
We were able to figure it out, and I think viewers will really appreciate that episode and be like, "Wow, Jas had her hands full on this one." And I do feel confident that this house that we completely finished and gave back to this family isn't going to be torn apart in the future, but there was a moment there where I didn't know. I was like, "Are we doing all of this, and are they just going to come in and start messing with things and mess it up again?" So yeah, I think some people are just predisposed to work on their house, and I say, "Work," in air quotes because it's not always ... If you're destroying your house, you're not working on your house. There's two different things there. So yeah, I think that was definitely the hardest part of this season.
That's understandable. You don't want someone going in there and ripping up all your hard work.
Well, it's dangerous, and they had kids and it was affecting every part of their life. It was affecting their relationships. Their failed DIYs and their home project was affecting their finances. It was affecting their work and being able to function at work and being well slept. And there's just so many things that go into your house, and having it be a place that's put together and finished and safe, and if it's not those things, it's going to take a toll.
Houses are high stakes.
They are. They're high stakes, yeah.
How HGTV has changed Jasmine Roth's life — including helping her meet a famous friend
Can you speak about how your life has changed since joining the HGTV family?
I can, yeah. I was thinking about this the other day. I posted this on social media, but Drew Scott was in town, and he only lives up in LA and I live in Orange County, but still, it's far enough. So he was in Orange County and said, "Hey, I'm almost done filming for the day. Are you guys around?" And so, we got to go meet with him and his wife, and we went out on our little boat and we had dinner and I was like, "Wow." I still feel like a new person at HGTV. I still feel like I just started yesterday. But if you think about it, it's been quite a while and I've done so many different shows and events and different things with HGTV, so it was really cool to just take a minute and reflect on all the friends I've made, whether it's other TV hosts or people that work at HGTV.
I wouldn't say that that much has changed personally for me, in the sense that ... I probably shouldn't say this to you, but I don't consider myself a celebrity. You know what I'm saying? Once in a while, well, pretty often, actually, people will come up and be like, "Oh my gosh, I watch your show. Can I take a picture?" And I'm like, "Of course, that's amazing." They're like, "Oh, we follow your baby on Instagram. This is Hazel," and I'm like, "Yeah." And so, that has changed a little bit, especially because all over the world, anywhere I go, it happens, where it's pretty cool to be somewhere pretty far away and ... well, as far away as we can travel right now.
But yeah, so it's cool to be out of even my hometown and just have somebody come up and be like, "Oh my gosh, I just pre-ordered your book," or like, "Oh my gosh." And so, that has been, a little bit, something for me and my husband to get used to. But other than that, personally, not that much has changed. Professionally though, a lot has changed, and as you can imagine, having your own TV show is one of those things that I wasn't necessarily trying to do. It was something I fell into and it was an awesome opportunity that I was able to take advantage of. But yeah, I can't imagine life without HGTV.
Is Jasmine Roth going to be on Food Network?
So you've been on so many different shows and special events. Do you have a favorite, and do you have any plans for future shows beyond "Help! I Wrecked My House"?
Yeah, so as far as my favorite shows, that's a really tough one. "Rock the Block" was one of those shows that ... Being on Season 1 was so cool. They went big and they'd never done anything like that. I say, "They." HGTV had never done a show that was all female. As far as the contestants go, they pulled some big names. I was definitely the underdog, and so going into that and being able to compete was really cool. It really opened my eyes to how competitive I am because I had no idea. And yeah, so that was a really fun experience.
And then the "Brady Bunch" show. "A Very Brady Renovation" was one of those once in a lifetime ... It's just wild to me. I send Christmas cards to the "Brady Bunch" kids because they're my friends now. What? So that was one of those shows that was just, I don't know, surreal is the only word I can use. And then, obviously, having my own show, I loved doing "Hidden Potential." It was fast, right? We did whole houses and it was 30 minutes to see the whole house and get the whole story and everything. So now, having "Help! I Wrecked My House" be an hour-long, I've had a lot of really good feedback with that. People feel like they can actually see the houses and everything like that.
So I'm pretty sure I just said every show. I can't tell you exactly what I have coming up, but I have some really fun ... So the cool thing about Discovery owning HGTV is that now, there's Discovery+, and it means that all the different networks that are under the Discovery umbrella, whether it's Food Network, I'm giving you a little wink at Food Network, whether it's Food Network or HGTV or DIY, or ... There's so many awesome, different networks that are all together now, or yeah, different networks, and so being able to maybe do some cross-collaboration, is what I'm working on right now.
How Jasmine Roth says homeowners can avoid these common renovation mistakes
What's the most common problem you see in DIY renovation and how can people avoid it?
Yeah. So there's a few things that I see all the time and I'm like, "Ooh, I wish ... Did you not listen to any of my things that I say?" So electrical and plumbing are the two things, for sure, 100%, hands down, every single time, you call a professional. One, because they're both really dangerous, but two, because there's a reason that there are career electricians, that's all they do. And it's not because they think it's fun; it's because it's a legitimate career. There's so much that goes into being an electrician, there's so much that goes into being a plumber, and to think that it's something you can learn from watching an online video or as a weekend warrior, it's not realistic. So electrical and plumbing, hire a pro. You're never going to regret it. It may seem expensive, but I promise you, the alternative of doing it yourself and doing it wrong is more expensive and it's much riskier.
So those are the things that I see over and over, where people just don't get it and they just try to do it themselves. And I'm like, "Why? No, no, no, no." But as far as things that I see, that I recommend for people to do themselves, I am a huge fan of using paint, and paint is one of those things ... it's inexpensive, it's not super permanent, it's not dangerous, right? You can live in your house while you paint. I think that's another thing people don't realize. They're like, "Oh, we're going to renovate our house and we're just going to do it piece by piece," but the minute you start tearing into walls, or ripping up floors, or basically pulling your house apart, there's a ton of dust, there's a ton of construction debris. It's really dangerous to be around. And chances are, if you're living in your house during construction and you're trying to do it yourself, it's going to take way longer.
So you're going to be living and breathing that in and being around that all the time. That takes its toll. So yeah, I always recommend that my clients, if possible, move out of their houses, hire the right people, and get it done so they can get back in. But if you're not in that position, paint is one of those things where you can stay in your house, you can make a huge impact, you can change things up, you can make a house feel really fresh, really clean, really new. And the other thing, I share all of my paint colors on my website, so I'll just ... shameless plug for my website, but I do find it really helpful. People are just like, "Oh, what color should I paint my front door?" Even my friends ask me. They'll be like, "What color should we paint our front door?" I'm like, "Just go to my website. It's, literally, all right there."
You're like, "It's easy, it's accessible."
Yeah, there's photos and then it says the paint color.
The renovation trend Jasmine Roth is loving right now
What's one renovation trend that you're really liking right now, and then are there any that you're like, "Ooh, don't do that to your house"?
Oh, man. Yeah, so on the first episode of "Help! I Wrecked My House" that just aired, I did something called color blocking. And color blocking is when you take parts of your wall and you paint different parts of the wall different colors, but big parts of the wall, and that's something that I have done a little bit before. I've done it at my own house, but this was my first time, I think, unless I'm forgetting something ... But I think this is the first time I did it for a client and that I did it on HGTV, and it turned out really cool. I got a lot of messages already. My friends were like, "Wait, what was that called?"
So color blocking. It's called color blocking. You can just literally search it online and all these different results will come up. And it's something that there's not really a right or wrong way to do, so that's why I like this as a project. You would take maybe paint and just do a big circle on the wall. You would do a big square. And so, yeah, it's just a fun way, and if you get sick of it, you can just paint right over it.
The things that I'm not as into right now, my clients on the episode last night had wood-look porcelain tile floors. And while I do like tile floors, I feel like the wood-look tile, it can be a little bit frustrating to work with. I've always had a tough time with that material. They had already purchased it and I had to install it, so maybe I'm just bitter because, one, they had already purchased it and I didn't get to design it myself, but two, I feel like, as a material, it's really expensive, and it's expensive to install, and you have to make sure you have enough, and there's just a lot that goes into it. So I would recommend to my clients, rather than using that wood look porcelain tile, they could save a lot of money and get a lot of the durability out of a luxury vinyl plank. So it's called LVP, so I'm getting real technical here.
Hey, I love it.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can talk about flooring all day. But this is one of those things. So luxury vinyl plank, LVP, is what I recommend for 99% of my clients. It's really durable, it's waterproof, and you get a lot of that same durability, but it's a lot less expensive than a wood-look tile.
That's an excellent tip. I'll have to remember that.
I have tips for days.
Jasmine Roth recommends homeowners do this
I love it. Do you have any more?
Let's see. This is a totally different direction, as far as tips go, but I think that something that really makes the houses that we work on stand apart is that at the very end, when everybody comes back home and they get to see their house, right, there's pictures of their family framed in the house. So not only is the house done, right, the floors are installed and the walls are painted and everything's finished, as far as the construction goes, they're done in a sense of the decorating. It's not just staging, it's actually items that mean something to their family, and photos that ...
It's the difference between walking into a model home and walking into your own home, and so I really stress the importance to my clients. All the time, I'm like, "Your house isn't finished until you have a few framed photos or objects that mean something to you, whether it's an old wedding invitation or a ticket stub to a favorite concert. Whatever it is, you have to have some things that make your house feel personal." And so, I think framing photos is one of those things. It's so easy. It takes a tiny bit of time, but it's so easy and it makes a huge impact in your house.
Another excellent tip.
Jasmine Roth reveals her favorite room to renovate
Do you have a favorite room or space that you like to work on?
That's interesting. This season, I kind of run the gamut, so I do a lot of kitchens. I love working on the kitchen. I think the kitchen, from a design standpoint, is fun, but from a functionality standpoint, that's where I really get excited, as nerdy as that sounds. I love figuring out the kitchen and I think there's things you can do for every kitchen across the board that make it more functional, and then there's things you can do to make it functional for your own family. Literally, yesterday, I took everything out of my drawers and I opened my drawers, pulled everything out, put it all up on the counter, and organized it on the counter and then measured. And I'm going to add dividers in my drawers because that way, my spatulas don't get mixed in with all of my ... Everything has its own spot. So things like that, I love doing.
I don't do bedrooms as often because usually people can figure out their bedroom, right? If you think about it, usually from a construction standpoint, it's floors and walls, and then the rest of it is decor. But there were a few bedrooms I did this season that people should look out for because they turned out awesome, so I'm really excited about that. I got to do a lot of, yeah, a lot of bedrooms. And then I love landscaping. I love doing the exterior of a house and landscaping. Of the eight homes we did this season, only one of them did we do the exterior of, but I love the way it turned out. I was really proud of it. I do a lot of exteriors for my clients off TV as well. So yeah, I love the exterior as well.
That makes a huge impact on the house. That curb appeal is a big deal.
It is, yeah. And I love front yards and backyards. I got to do a big backyard on Season 1 of "Help! I Wrecked My House" and I got to do a big backyard on Season 2 as well, so I'm excited for people to see that.
That'll be fun.
Help! I Wrecked My House's Jasmine Roth gives her top tips for managing kids and a renovation
As a mom, can you give tips on how parents can manage kids and a renovation, or even ways to involve kids in the project?
Yeah, good luck. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I think watching this show is actually going to be really helpful because we do bring ... As much as we can, I would bring the family back to work on the houses. I think that's really important, right, to not just take your house and completely hand it over and be so hands-off that you don't have any ownership of your own project. And so, I would bring back the kids. I brought in the grandparents. I brought in as many people as I can to work on these houses and projects. So yeah, there's definitely projects. One of the houses, we actually took the heirloom piano that the homeowner had for a long, long time, that she was sick of, and the kids came and helped me paint. We painted it bright yellow, so that was really fun. So yeah, I think projects like painting.
And on another house, my client, she had two teenage kids, and they were the cutest, and they had only seen their mom working on the house, but never had they seen a project finished because she had gotten in over her head and she just thought she could do more than she could. So I was like, "I think it's really important that these kids come and help us, not only start a project, but finish it, and that they can come back in and be like, 'Yeah, we did that.'" So they came back and they did this really fun, Scandinavian-style, built-in banquette seating with me and my contractor, Scott, and they had so much fun. They got to use nail guns, and they got to use construction adhesive, and they were all about it. They had all the gear on.
So yeah, wear safety gear. Don't take on projects that are too big. And remember, kids have a shorter attention span, so it's important to ... even if you get everything teed up so that you can literally be like, "Okay, we're going to do this," boom, boom, nail, nail, nail, and do it ... You cheat it a little, make it feel like they're accomplishing stuff, even though maybe you've gotten it a little further already. But yeah, I love working with kids. I think it's so good for them. I grew up doing projects with my dad all the time, and so I think that's where a lot of my background and love of construction ... And just even having that mentality where you're like, "Well, I can do that," or like, "I can try that," or like, "Let's figure it out." Being resourceful, I think that's part of it, so yeah, I'm all for the kids. But again, anything that's dangerous, you keep them alive.
Yes, excellent advice.
Hazel hasn't started into her construction career full-on yet, but you do see her in some of these episodes.
"Help! I Wrecked My House" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV and is now streaming on discovery+.