By NICK BRENNAN
The Orange County Register

ABC Television's Extreme Makeover

"Take a look inside the 'organized chaos' as local contractors remake a Costa Mesa home for a reality TV show."

"What is it like to be a contractor on an extreme home makeover? To face six months' worth of strenuous and complicated work, and have only seven days to do it? To find out, The Orange County Register spent a day inside during the remake of the Costa Mesa home of Tom and Deirdre McCrory. It is 4 a.m. on a Sunday, and most of Costa Mesa is sleeping peacefully. But on Rosemary Place a small army of workers has started painting the exterior of the McCrory home, which is being expanded by 50 percent, adding 500 square feet. Just how do you have your entire home remodeled on national television courtesy of ABC? In the McCrorys' case it was a matter of a growing family in a tiny space. Their 1,077-square-foot home was already tight on room with two toddler boys. In December, Deirdre found out she was pregnant with triplets. The show spices home improvement with emotional extremes, showcasing good works for deserving families and the conflicts that arise from an insane construction schedule.

... Steve Suer's ... team from Laguna Construction and Builder has just eight hours to install the siding and battens, which are used to attach the siding to the home. In a typical situation, the install would take four or five days with a four- or five-member crew for a house this size, he said. Today he has four guys installing just the siding's battens.One siding crew works on the home's back wall while two others install siding on each side of the house.

It is 3 p.m. on Feb. 18, and a long black limousine pulls up in front of the remade home. Ty Pennington, host of the show, gets the rain-soaked crowd of more than 100 onlookers poised for a big greeting.

"Tom and Deirdre emerge with their two little boys and are overjoyed with the results."