ET spoke to the HGTV star ahead of the show's season 2 premiere.
Inflation is impacting more than prices at the pump and the grocery store, it's changing the way No Demo Reno star Jenn Todryk does things on her show. ET's Lauren Zima spoke to Todryk ahead of the hit HGTV series' season 2 premiere about how inflation has upped the costs of home renovations.
"I think the thing that’s gonna be the hardest for even viewers to accept, is they loved that $50,000 that $40,000 renovation, 'Oh my gosh this budget is so relatable,'" Todryk tells ET.
While the lower costs are what made Todryk's renos so relatable and doable for her viewers, she said due to inflation, it costs a lot more than that to create the amazing home transformations No Demo Reno is trying to achieve.
"It's not $200,000, and I totally get and respect that. That’s way more relatable, the $40,000. However, that doesn’t get you anything anymore, at least not for the premise of my show," she continues. "We need at least three rooms, that’s what can hold an episode. Three rooms and then we have a B story. That’s what we have to fill the time, in order to do that, I have to have the three rooms. You can’t do anything under 85 right now, 80."
$80,000 was actually the lowest Todryk says she and her team were able to do a renovation for this season.
"You could do more, but if we're making a design TV show, it needs to look amazing. We want it to look amazing. The clients want it to look amazing, and so yeah, we can’t do less than, really, 80 was our lowest budget this season," she says.
To stick within the show's no demolition concept, Todryk has to think outside the box -- creating an amazing design, on a budget without removing any walls or knocking down the home altogether.
"I don’t want to say a box, but I like the box. it’s the no demo box, and we're not removing walls and no one else was doing that," Todryk says of the unique concept behind the home design show. "That’s a hard rule, 'How can I design around that?'"
With those constraints, the reno expert says it makes it even harder to stick to a budget on top of that.
"I already have that box around me. I can’t have a price attached to that," she says. "It would be a lot. It wouldn’t be able to produce the designs that I have."
The COVID-19 pandemic has been driving prices up as well, with Todryk telling ET that she's seeing it from "both angles."
"Especially in Texas, it's nuts down here because it comes from both angles -- it comes from the market's so crazy, they can’t afford to move, so they’re gonna stay in their house, and now they’re gonna invest money and make it what they want, and you have the people who do have the money to buy -- they just bought a house that they don’t actually love, they just want the school district or whatever and now they want to gut and renovate the entire thing. You’re getting it from both sides," Todryk explains.
"So, the labor is insane," she continues. "And laborers due goes up, because the highest bidder gets the job. We would do the same thing."
In turn, Todryk says, it's driving up the costs of everything in the home reno, buying and design market.
"And so, what that's doing, is driving the price up on everything," Todryk shares. "Labor is so much more expensive than even the materials most of the time now. It's nuts."
The increased costs of doing business aside, season 2 promises more laughs, tears and life-changing home reno moments.
"It's a high. I mean, I love it. [That's] why I do it," Todryk says of making the show. "The client's is probably the number -- it’s really awesome, and you’re right, they do think it's life-changing for them and I get to be part of that. I’m in their life story forever."
Season 2 of No Demo Reno airs Thursday nights on HGTV and is streaming on Paramount+.
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