Jeff Laurence: 10 Facts About The Unsellable Houses Contractor And Why You Won't See Him In Season 4
HGTV fans know contractor Jeff Laurence as the working hands and executor of ideas on the show "Unsellable Houses," which first aired in 2019, and is the fifth highest-rated show on the network. Laurence has served as an integral member of the team, taking the renovation plans contrived by twin hosts Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis and making them beautiful, remodeled realities so that featured individuals and families can enjoy better luck in their endeavors to sell their previously undesirable homes. In addition to Lamb and Davis' design skills, Laurence offered over 20 years of renovation experience and project management to the "Unsellable Houses" team.
It may be difficult for some fans to envision what the show is like without Laurence, who has been a cast member for the first three seasons, but he has decided to reshift his professional focus toward projects closer to home and far beyond. With Laurence being a fan favorite, viewers have expressed their regret for losing his expert skills and easy rapport with Davis and Lamb. Still, they can rest assured knowing that Laurence is leaning wholeheartedly into an exciting and heartwarming chapter in his career.
Here are some facts about the former HGTV star and a few reasons why he will not be joining Lamb & Co. for the fourth season of "Unsellable Houses."
Jeff Laurence owns his own remodeling business
After receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration from Central Washington University in 2000, Jeff Laurence went on to create his business, JL Remodeling, the following year. Having grown up in Edmonds, Washington — a town just north of Seattle — Laurence decided to build his business in Lynwood, less than five miles from his hometown.
JL Remodeling is a contracting business that assists clients in remodeling and renovating mainly home kitchens and bathrooms. Though kitchens and baths in residential homes are the company's main focus and area of expertise, that is not the full extent of their skill set. According to the company's website, they also offer services such as design consultations, tile selection, and finish selection. JL Remodeling employs a small team of professionals, including contractors and administrators, who offer unique knowledge and talents to create a successful and effective team. His team member bio featured on the JL Remodeling website states, "One of Jeff's favorite things about JL Remodeling is the great group of people he works with and their continual passion to put the customer first."
Laurence reiterates his dedication to his customers in his LinkedIn profile as he writes, "I founded JL Remodeling in February of 2001 on a mission to make a positive impact on the lives of my clients, my employees, and my community. We believe home remodel success centers on quality, timeliness, and a core commitment to the client."
Jeff Laurence is married and has four kids
Jeff Laurence married his wife, Kelli Laurence, in 1994, and the couple share four children, per Laurence's Facebook profile. After establishing JL Remodeling in Lynwood, the couple decided to settle in the small city of Mill Creek, just over eight miles away, where they raised their children. Though neither is very active on social media, Jeff Laurence has shared multiple posts about his love and admiration for his wife over the years.
Like Jeff, Kelli also grew up in Edmonds and graduated from Edmonds Community College in 1995. According to her Facebook profile, Kelli left her position as an assistant loan officer at Capstone Home Loans to join the JL Remodeling team as a renderings specialist.
As for the couple's children, in 2021, Jeff shared a post of himself assisting one of his daughters, Kamryn Laurence, with her move from San Diego back to their town of Mill Creek to finish her doctorate program in her home state of Washington. In a different post, Jeff announced his younger daughter, Kaitlyn Laurence's (affectionately called "Katie" in the post) first job at the local pumpkin farm. Jeff's boys have also been featured in his sporadic posts on Facebook. The older son, Jackson Laurence, can be seen lounging at an airport with his father as they prepared for a trip to Las Vegas to cheer on his youngest son, Jake Laurence, as he participated in the HyperX Esports Fortnite Tournament in 2019.
Jeff Laurence created a nonprofit
Service is a value Jeff Laurence holds near and dear to his heart, which is why he created the nonprofit arm of his business called JL Cares. In a YouTube video entitled, "A New Chapter," he made to introduce JL Cares to his audience, Laurence expressed his desire to give a platform to those in his community who sincerely wish to do charitable acts toward their neighbors but lack the skills or finances to do so.
JL Cares seeks to aid those who have given their time, talent, and energy to those in their families and communities or simply those who need financial, physical, or emotional aid. Members of the communities surrounding JL Remodeling in Lynnwood, Washington, can nominate impactful persons, or those they believe to be deserving of the services offered by JL Cares, to Laurence and his team. They will then select an individual to assist. Laurence describes the next steps of the process when he says, "We will come in, interview this person, find their story, find your story, celebrate that relationship, and then we will fix their home for you."
As Laurence states, a large part of JL Cares' mission is to share the experiences of those their neighbors have nominated through his social media platforms, where the stories and projects are compiled to convey a heartwarming message of service and strength to his audience so that they can be inspired to display care toward their neighbors.
Jeff Laurence has a YouTube channel
As stated before, Jeff Laurence documents and compiles the efforts of JL Cares to spread a message of charity and foster feelings of connectedness with one's community through service, and his primary method of sharing those stories is through the use of his YouTube channel, which shares the name of his business, JL Remodeling. The YouTube channel is one of Laurence's most active social media platforms with multiple videos posted throughout 2023.
Though most of the videos featured on Laurence's channel are centered around JL Cares, he also features a few videos focusing on JL Remodeling, what the business does, and how it operates. Fans can learn about the origin and values of the company, as well as meet a few members of their team by watching two of Laurence's first uploads, "Our Mission at JL Remodeling" and "Working With JL Remodeling." The channel also provides a way for viewers to meet more of JL Remodeling's team members and get a better look at what goes into executing their projects.
Laurence also posted videos about his work on "Unsellable Houses," displaying clips and before and after photos of homes featured on the show as well as descriptions of his experience as a member of the cast alongside Leslie Davis and Lyndsay Lamb. He also uses his YouTube platform to give updates about his life and work outside of his business and nonprofit.
Jeff Laurence frequently participates in international missions
Jeff Laurence states on his employee profile for his business that he is an active member of his church and has been on multiple mission trips around the world. He says his goal is to participate in at least one overseas mission trip yearly.
In a YouTube video posted by JL Remodeling in August of 2023, Laurence and his team document a mission trip to Columbia, where they built a house for the family of a coffee farmer in the small village of Palmor. JP Remodeling's creative director, Gabriel Wahl, described the landscape, size, and features of the tiny but impactful village that contributes to the millions of pounds of coffee exported from Columbia every year. Wahl explained that though the coffee industry in the country is successful, many of the farmers and their families live in impoverished conditions. Laurence and his team partnered with another charitable organization, Dwellings, to offer their skills and resources to the hardworking individuals of Palmor. Gabriel states in the video that Laurence has partnered with Dwellings for over a decade to build homes for the underserved worldwide.
The video details their experiences and tactics for accomplishing their goals to create adequate housing for their initiative, and this is only one specific example of Laurence and his team's efforts to offer tangible relief to those in need.
Jeff Laurence and his team give back to those in need
Though Jeff Laurence and his team habitually visit other countries to perform charitable works, JL Remodeling and JL Cares also frequently volunteer to aid the underserved closer to home.
According to the JL Remodeling website, Laurence and his employees have a quarterly commitment to performing service projects for disabled community members who need their home repairs. They also volunteer for projects that are not construction or renovation-related. Their website states that they frequently aid their community's shelters, churches, and children's sports programs. As Laurence is a father, an active church member, and has an expressed fondness for soccer, these other volunteer efforts are no surprise to his fans.
In a YouTube video posted by JL Remodeling, Laurence explains his penchant for service: "Part of my DNA has always been using the talents God has given me to benefit the people around me." Laurence describes the culture of closeness, community, and selflessness that he has witnessed in other countries, and he seeks to foster those values in the United States. In the same video, Laurence describes the inspiring charity he has witnessed abroad, and then he goes on to say, "I somehow wanted to bring that level of community, that level of care, that level of compassion, to the United States. I wanted to accentuate that — shine a light on the people that feel that way because there are people here that feel the same way. They just don't know what to do."
Jeff Laurence was a well-loved member of the 'Unsellable Houses' cast
When Leslie Davis reminded her followers about the premiere of "Unsellable Houses" Season 4 on Instagram, they were shocked and saddened to see that Jeff Laurence would not be joining them as the third trusty member of the cast. His relationship and team mentality with Davis and her sister, Lyndsay Lamb, appeared so effortless that many viewers felt shocked to learn that a new primary contractor would be serving in Laurence's place.
One user commented, "I will really miss Jeff, he was a big part of the show," another wrote, "I'm going to miss Jeff!! I loved the connection he had with the girls." Multiple other commenters followed suit, expressing their surprise and disappointment to discover that the lovable Laurence would be absent. After Season 4's premiere on September 10, 2023, some fans commented on Davis' post saying that the show wasn't the same without Jeff, and though most had no discernible negative feelings toward his replacement, they felt that he did not have the same chemistry with the twins as his predecessor. A week after Davis originally made the post, a user commented, "I just finished watching the first episode of the new season. I'm sure you know what I'm going to say ... it just wasn't the same without Jeff. I wish him huge success with his business but will miss him. I'm sure Owen is a nice guy [...] but he's not Jeff."
Jeff Laurence left 'Unsellable Houses' to expand his business
Jeff Laurence ultimately made the decision to leave "Unsellable Houses" to focus wholeheartedly on the growth and development of JL Remodeling and JL Cares.
In a statement for Global Newswire, Laurence said, "I was blessed and am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the success of the first three seasons of 'Unsellable Houses' [...] I am excited to announce my focus towards the dream of JL Cares, and to devote my time to both JL Remodeling and JL Cares, I have stepped away from being part of the 'Unsellable Houses' Team."
In his YouTube video, "Here's Jeff," he acknowledges fans' confusion regarding the sudden change in the show's casting. The video features Laurence lining up a shot on a billiards table as he says, "So, a lot of people have been wondering what I've been doing with my time since I stopped filming 'Unsellable Houses,'" then the video cuts to a vintage television playing clips of his time on the show before returning to Laurence. He continues, "Some people have been asking, 'Where's Jeff?' Well, I've actually been pretty busy," and a montage of clips from Laurence's remodeling projects, volunteer efforts, and life outside of work plays so viewers can catch a glimpse of what Laurence has been up to since his departure from the show.
There is no bad blood between Jeff Laurence and the remaining cast of 'Unsellable Houses'
Though his departure from the show was greatly lamented by its faithful viewers, the split was completely amicable between Jeff Laurence and the remaining hosts of "Unsellable Houses," Leslie Davis and Lyndsay Lamb.
In response to the multiple comments the sisters received regarding Laurence's unforeseen absence in Season 4, the sisters offered up multiple diplomatic responses and well wishes toward Laurence and his business, stating in the comment section of one post, "He's focusing on growing his business and we're expanding ours with Lamb & Co. Renovation— wishing him and his company nothing but the best!" On another, she said, "He has moved on to focus on his company and we wish him all the luck." Though both Davis and Lamb had to do quite a bit of reiterating themselves as fans continuously asked about Laurence and called for his return, they maintained a positive and supportive tone when discussing their former team member's whereabouts. Lamb and Davis even posted a good-humored Instagram Reel wherein they addressed some of their fans' concerns about Season 4, which included multiple mentions of Jeff. "Jeff is focusing on his business. You know, this has been a huge success for him. Like, his business has exploded as a result of being on the show, which is phenomenal. But he's focusing on his business, which we completely support," said Davis during the Reel.
Jeff Laurence's replacement on 'Unsellable Houses' was one of his employees
During his time on "Unsellable Houses," Jeff Laurence has involved his own employees in projects for the show. As a result, one of his contractors decided to leap from JL Remodeling to the Lamb & Co team. It was an exciting turn of events when, after Laurence agreed that he would leave the cast to focus on his business and non-profit, one of his employees, Owen Mather, stepped in as his replacement. Mather left his position with JL Remodeling and accepted a role as a primary contractor with Lamb & Co., which means that he will be assisting the show hosts and managing their renovations.
Host Leslie Davis was delighted to announce the newest addition to their team in a September 2023 Instagram post reminding her fans about the premiere of the fourth season of "Unsellable Houses." She captioned a carousel of photos featuring Mather, her sister, Lyndsay Lamb, and herself with, "We can't wait for you to *officially* meet Owen and watch as he takes on his new role as our in-house head contractor and our leading man. Owen is truly one of the most loyal, authentic, kind humans we have ever met and we know you're going to love him (and our pawject manager, Esau) as much as we do."