05x02 - Wisconsin Washout

[bunniefuu]

-Oh, my gosh.
-Right up this hillside

Is basically a loaded g*n
pointed straight at the cabin.

Millions of gallons of water
through that culvert?

That's really bad.

It's like someone designed this
to destroy that home.

The homestead is in threat
of washing away downhill.

All of this water
is breeding mold.

So scary.
Everything is dead.

I've actually been a vegetarian
for quite a long time.

I really want to hunt
for my own food.

Let her rip!

[ Gasps ]

We'll dig a trench to divert
the water away from the house.

Matt: pull that trigger.

[ g*nsh*t fires ]

It's all hands on deck
before the rain hits.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

Oh, my gosh.
You've got to be kidding me.

It's a complete disaster.

There's nothing like
doing a job twice.

This is it right here.

The hail mary pass
on the last day.

The pressure's on.

Remember that house?

It could come crashing down
and k*ll somebody.

Push up tight.
Real tight.

[ Wood creaking ]
misty: oh, the house is moving.

-Whoa!
-The house is moving.

--Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

You got any wisconsin facts?

In the last 10 years,

This area has had
six 100-year floods.

That is insane.

Oh, look at this.

This happened
two weeks ago.

Well, these homesteaders
have issues

That are threatening their house
and their property.

Look at this.
Wow.

That's erosion 101
right there.

A mountainside
that cannot contain

Two, three inches of rain
per hour.

Wow.

Narrator: the raneys head
deep into the wilderness

Of wisconsin's
remote driftless region


Of the great lakes.

Over the last decade,
wisconsin has been battered

By massive rainstorms
and flash floods.

Two weeks prior to filming,
a federal disaster was declared

When six months of rain
fell in just two weeks,

Causing over $200 million
in damage.

And for one homestead
on the edge of civilization,

The torrential rainstorms
threaten their very existence.

We're at the end of our rope
because what else do we do?

Our homestead is
just eroding away.

Lou: we're out of our league
here and skill level,

And if we don't get
any kind of help here,

I don't think
we're going to make it.

♪♪

Marty: hello.
Hey there.

-Marty raney.
-Nice to meet you. Lou shields.

-Misty.
-Hi, misty. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.
-Hi, my name's matt.

-Pleased to meet you.
-Hi, matt.

What are you doing
right now?

I'm losing land because
of the water

Rushing down
from up higher.

So I'm throwing some stones
in here

To try to slow
that process down.

Wow.

♪♪

Stacey: lou and I met
four years ago now.

He was a hot, talented,
van-dwelling hobo.

musician.
musician.

[ Chuckles ]

Narrator: before homesteading,
lou and his wife stacey

Toured the country,
performing music

And living in their tiny van.

Lou: we worked on the road
all the time,

And I was just like,
"this is ridiculous.

We can't do this."

We started dreaming
and talking about homesteading

Just to be able
to self-sufficient and off-grid.

Lou: for me, the dream
of homesteading

Comes from my grandfather.

He was always into hunting and
fishing and living off the land.

He built his own house.

He dug his own well.

He's a very big inspiration.

This is all about following
in my grandfather's footsteps,

You know, trying to get a little
closer to the way he lived.

Narrator:
three years ago, they spent
$75,000 on 15 woodland acres

In the driftless region hills.

There was a freshwater spring
and a cabin hooked up to solar.

Here it is.
Our little slice of paradise.

Stacey: it's everything.
It's just our heart and soul.

So when I originally scoped
this area out,

I really felt no risk of floods,
we're high up.

But I didn't realize
that there is a hill

That goes higher up
in front of our place here,

And a culvert that directs
all the water that's coming off

This big, old hill

Right down like a g*n
pointed at my cabin.

Narrator:
the regular torrents of water

Saturate
their vegetable garden.

Everything that we had been
growing is covered with mold.

I've actually been a vegetarian
for quite a long time,

And now our only food source
is ruined.

And in terms of hunting
and trapping, I'm at a zero.

The idea of k*lling your own
animals for food is scary.

Narrator:
unable to feed themselves,

Lou and stacey have been forced

To take jobs
in the nearest town.

Lou is a teacher,
and stacey at a local co-op.

We have to leave the homestead
to make money.

We're spending at least
$500 a month on food here.

It's a big burden.

Narrator: they get no peace from
the relentless rain storms.

Two weeks ago was the greatest
storm on record in this area.

The water is eroding
all the soil under our cabin,

And the posts that are holding
up the structure could go.

And I threw
a whole lot of rock in there

And a lot of soil and earth
and black pipe,

And it washed right back out
and down the hill again.

Narrator: the culvert water
is slowly wearing away

The entire homestead
from the face of the earth.

There's nothing
to fall back on.

I have no plan b.

The thought of losing this place
is devastating.

Lou: I need the wisdom.
I need the help.

And I really need the raneys
to come and help us out here.

Alright,
I'll follow your lead

And point me
to the problem areas.

This is where the big problem is
where water is rushing through.

And this post you can see
moved out about three

Or four inches
out that way.

This looks to me to be about the
outside corner of your house.

-Yeah.
-Well, you do know

That's probably the most
critical of all these posts.

That's bad.
That's really bad.

Okay, this one -- this one's
seen some dry rot right now.

Yeah, it's starting
to rot now.

I mean, there must have been
so much water

Coming through here,
it's insane.

The structural posts
have been compromised

By the flooding water.

What does that mean?

Danger.

That house could come crashing
down and k*ll somebody.

I think I've seen some
pretty serious problems here.

I say it's time to see

Where these problems
are really coming from.

-It's up the hill.
-Let's go.

Yeah, let's.

Oh, my gosh.

I mean, it's --
it's like someone

Designed this water
to destroy that home.

Right?

Why not get a hold
of the county and say,

"Hey, this culvert
is destroying my property"?

I tried that.

They said "the culvert
predates the cabin.

Sorry. That's where
that culvert's going to live."

Legally, that's where
that culvert has to stay.

Right. Yep.

Alright. Um...

So as common as these storms
seem to have been,

We could have a storm
while we're here.

We're trying to save
a homestead

That literally is
washing away down hill.

The house may not survive
the next rainstorm.

Here we go again.

Narrator: once the flood water
from the culvert

Has washed over the ground
beneath the cabin,

It continues to wreak havoc.

Misty: this is
your little garden?

Stacey: yeah.
It's quite a mess.

You have
a serious problem.

All of this water
is breeding mold.

Everything is dead.

And we can't keep topsoil
in the garden.

Everything's going down
the hill.

We've lost about 15 feet of land
over three years.

It's so scary.

We're in over our heads.

Give it 10 years.

There's not going to be
anything left.

It's washing away.

How do you deal
with that problem?

I mean, how do you solve
a problem like this?

♪♪

In the surrounding woodland,
matt wants to check out

The homestead's potential
for hunting.

Matt: through hunting, you
not only provide for yourself,

But you also control

The quality of that food
that you're eating.

I've actually been a vegetarian
for five years.

Oh, really?

So, the idea of
going after an animal

Is not a thrill
for me at all.

But, uh, this is definitely
about being self-sustaining.

I mean, your heart's
in the right place

'Cause that's the only
reason why we hunt.

Yeah.

Part of the reason
why I went vegetarian

Was because I didn't want
to have food in my body

That was injected
with all these antibiotics.

Matt: do you have any hunting
experience at all?

Nope. The only time
I've shot a g*n

Was when
I was 12 years old.

Oh, wait.
I see some tracks over here.

There's a ton of tracks.

This looks fresh.

I guarantee there was probably
deer here this morning.

-Yeah.
-You have wild, organic meat

Running right
through your property.

My grandfather was really
into the hunting thing.

He was an outdoorsman
and hunting

And fishing
and so many things.

Now we really want to be
less dependent on things

That are coming
from the grocery store,

And so, you know,
just hunting makes sense.

It's kind of
out of necessity.

It's something that gets closer
to my grandfather

And what he knew, the things
that he learned along his path.

The coolest thing about
lou is,

You know,
he has hunting history

In his past
with his grandpa.

If I can get some iron
in his hands

And start him on that trail,
teach him how to hunt,

He can take it
and run with it.

♪♪

Narrator: the raneys,
along with a small build team,

Have just six days to save this
homestead from being washed out.

They've lost 15 feet of their
actual homestead due to erosion.

I would love to look
at their garden

And formulate
a better plan.

I think we need to get lou
out there

And teach him everything
we know about hunting.

Millions of gallons of water
come directly to this homestead,

A lot of it
through that culvert.

We've got to divert the water
away from the house.

Priority -- foundation post
under the house

Because once that house
tips over,

None of this
other stuff matters.

Grab a pick and shovel.
Let's get to it.

Narrator: matt will give lou
firearms training

And teach him how to
ethically hunt the local game.

Misty will regenerate
the eroding garden

By shaping it into two


And plant fast-growing grasses
to secure the topsoil.

And to battle
the county culvert,

Marty will use boulders
to build a flood-defense wall

And line a 100-foot trench
with rock so storm water

Can be safely diverted
around the cabin and garden.

[ Whistles ]
hello.

This is the rainy season,
and one of these storms

And another crazy
flooding could happen.

Right this second,
it's all hands on deck.

Replace that post while
it's sunny before the rain hits.

Narrator: still to come,
the cabin gets a major lift...

-Oh, the house is moving!
-The house is moving.

...and marty busts out
a century-old construction hack.

Cut some of these branches
and make some pegs

And fasten all those beams
and posts together.

Narrator: in the remote
driftless region of wisconsin,

The raneys have just six days
to rescue a homestead

From being
washed off the map...

It's like someone designed this
to destroy that home.

...by a culvert unleashing
massive amounts of rain water.

We're trying
to save a homestead

That literally
is washing away downhill.

♪♪

Narrator:
now marty has rallied everyone
for the most urgent fix --

Replacing the cabin's
decaying foundation posts.

This is the cornerstone
of the house right here

We're about to dig out,

And this could collapse
and k*ll someone.

Quick, quick. Move!
[ Grunts ]

Matt:
what we're doing here is we're
trying to support this building

By using a bottle jack
and this old 6x6.

Here you go.

Matt, I want to see it go up
a half an inch.

Lou: oh, yeah.

Narrator: to repair
the three rotten posts,

The raneys will first use
a 12-ton jack

To lift the cabin's corner.

Stress will be applied
to the old lumber.

If a post or joist fails,

The entire cabin
could collapse.

Keep jacking, please.

[ Wood creaking ]

-Uh, the house is moving!
-The house is moving.

The house -- it had,
like, a ton of movement.

We don't need
that much movement.

Matt: what does a ton
of movement mean?

It went
[imitates creaking].

The building is secure, dad.
-Okay.

Narrator: house jacked up, the
first rotten post is removed.

A new post is cut to size

And screwed onto
the underside of the cabin.

Matt, dig that out. We're
coming in with the concrete.

Yeah,
I'm making it square.

Break this open, please,
and fill that box up.

Just add water,
and now you've made concrete.

But the new foundation
post could still shift,

So marty needs a quick fix
before the concrete sets.

The post still could slide up
and down, given enough pressure.

So if we drill something into
here through the concrete,

Then it will serve
as a break.

It won't allow this post
to settle again.

We're going to
put this drill bit

Right through the form,
right through the beam.

And it's going to be
really crazy,

And I can't believe
I'm going to do it.

That's awesome.

This is what I love
about working with my dad.

I work with him every day
my entire life,

And he still surprises.

You see how much work's
involved with just one?

Mm-hmm.

I can't spend my whole time
on your homestead down here

Digging these out because
the rest of the days

Have to be dedicated to
the water and the flooding.

Narrator: marty must find
a speedy and reliable solution

To shore up the other
two rotten posts.

I'm thinking on my feet.
We're just going to take a beam.

We're going to go from there
to there.

-You mean horizontal?
-Yeah.

Cut this as straight
as you can cut it.

Misty and stacey
will make a beam

That will carry from this
very solid post

To this very solid post
overhead.

They'll have that solid beam
in there.

So, look what we created
in about a minute.

If you bought this,
it will be real expensive.

Let's haul it over.

Get it in here.
Everybody ready?

Push up tight,
real tight.

But we do have a real issue
right now.

My screws
aren't long enough.

You got five bolts
that long?

-Nope.
-Okay.

You like old school?
Love it.

Back-100-years-type
construction?

How about building some stuff
out of tree branches?

Cut some of
these branches...

And make some pegs,

And fasten all those beams
and posts together.

Marty: out here,
you have to improvise.

You don't have access to
the store to buy long bolts?

You cut a branch
off of a tree.

The point --
if you're not innovative,

You'll never make it
as a homesteader ever.

Narrator: wooden pegs
have been used for centuries.

-That get all the way through?
-Yep.

Dowels are strong
and rust-resistant

And will expand and contract
within the post.

Stacey: here you go.

This is when you know
you really trust somebody.

Aah!
Aah!

[ Laughs ]

So dumb.

That's it. We're done.

Call it good.
Looks great.

I'll definitely sleep
better tonight.

Right now, the strongest thing
on this homestead is that post.

That's done.

What I'm more concerned about
is saving that homestead

From the next rainstorm.

♪♪

Narrator:
early the next morning...

Misty: yoo-hoo.

...the raneys return
with big equipment...

[ Horn blows ]

...and a truck full
of half-ton boulders

And rocks worth 500 bucks.

Marty: fire it up!
Here I come. Watch out.

Unloading the boulders
is a risky move.

The truck is parked
directly above the cabin.

One runaway rock
could spell disaster.

Stacey: any one of those rocks
hitting any piece of our porch

Will take it out.

Misty, when you're ready,
let her rip.

Misty: here I come.

Just be ready, baby.

No.

[ Gasps ]

Whoo.

Look.

♪♪

Marty: looks good, misty.

Ooh.

So the plan is to attack
this problem at its source,

And it's that culvert.

We have to
redirect this water.

Narrator: marty's plan --
build a flood defense wall

With boulders at the mouth
of the culvert leading

To a trench system fortified
with 100 tons of five-inch rock,

Catching the water
from the culvert

And diverting it
into the woods below.

Dad,
this is a huge rock.

Get it over the bank.

-Whoa.
-Moving dirt, diverting water,

Building trenches
is a big project.

Narrator: to avoid disaster,
they need the weather to hold.

We've had many storms
over the past couple of weeks,

So I'm really worried.

If we do get one inch of rain
in an hour,

Like all the people talk about
here in wisconsin,

We're in big trouble.

Hey, clear.
Here we go.

Narrator: coming up,

Vegetarian lou takes his
first shot at meat...

Matt: pull that trigger.

[ g*nsh*t fires ]

...and the heavens above
come tumbling down.

-Aw, man.
-We have to stop working.

These rains are turning
this soil into a virtual swamp

And mud pit.

Narrator:
in wisconsin's driftless region,

The raneys are saving
a washed out homestead.

Marty: the house may not survive
the next rainstorm.

We're in big trouble.

Narrator: work on marty's
diversion trench has begun...

When we leave,
that house will be protected.

...but matt must teach
homesteader lou

Vital hunting skills...

Yep, the only time I shot a g*n
was when I was 12 years old.

...and misty has yet
to tackle the food crisis.

Give it 10 years, there's
not going to be anything left.

[ Howls ]

Narrator: while marty creates
a boulder defense wall...

Just smashing them together,
and they fit like a big puzzle.

...matt carves out
the hillside,

Creating terraces
for the new garden.

We're gonna have this done
in a matter of hours.

My whole plan is to give you
back what you've lost.

Misty: the soil's
just washing down the hill.

Hopefully, we can
change all that.

We're gonna try and terrace
your property.

To make it useful as a garden
and terrace is amazing.

Narrator: misty's plan --
shape the hillside into two



And slow the destructive
torrents of water.

Planting fast-growing
grass seeds

Under biodegradable
erosion mats

Will help keep
the topsoil in place.

Misty: there's three different
seeds we're gonna plant --

Bluegrass, ryegrass,
and fescues,

Which grows
really fast.

The sooner roots
take place the better.

Alright, we're getting
some sprinkling in,

And we're doing it by hand.

Right now, how much money
are you spending

On your grocery bill
a month?

Stacey:
maybe $600 or $800.

Wow.
Yeah.

Do you think,
with this much garden space,

You'll be able
to half that bill?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

On top of this,
we're using erosion mats

That's gonna hold it
in place.

Without this, these little seeds
would all wash away.

This will decompose,
break down, and disappear.

Okay.

Misty:
we're planting this grass

To help hold this whole bank
where we want it to be,

Which is here and not
at the bottom of this mountain,

But it's all weather-reliant,
and hopefully it doesn't pour.

Let's get
this matting down.

Yeah.
Sounds good.

♪♪

Narrator:
across the homestead, marty has
set the eight half-ton boulders

In place
for his flood-defense wall

And now uses smaller rock to
build the main diverter trench.

Marty:
these rocks this size --

They call it
five-inch rock here.

I work my way down all the way
from the culvert to the bottom.

Narrator: the defense wall
will take the full force

Of the powerful culvert water

Before it flows
into the diverter trench

And away from the cabin
and garden.

But marty also needs to defend
the cabin foundations

Against rain runoff
from the roof.

Whatever amount of rain
is falling on that roof

Every drop of it has went
right underneath that house,

And it's
all been eroded.

I'm suggesting
we catch this water,

And we catch all of it --
every drop.

We'll dig a trench along
the entire length of this house.

Have you got any metal
roofing like that?

I do. They're about 12 feet long
I think.

-Bring back four.
-Okay.

So, we're about to install
a homestead gutter.

This metal roofing will actually
be buried in the ground,

Catching
all of this water.

How do you cut metal?
You ever use a blade backwards?

Let's try to flip the chain
around on a chainsaw.

If we were to cut metal with it
in this position, normally,

We would
destroy that blade.

If we flip it around,

This back side of the chain
will tear into the metal.

Have you ever
done this before?

Can I be honest with you?
Yeah.

I've never done this before
in my life.

Want to try it?
Yeah, let's do it.

Alright, let's go.

[ Chainsaw revs ]

♪♪

Whoo! [ Laughs ]
that was awesome.

I can't believe it!

Trust me, I will be cutting
metal for the rest of my life...

With a chainsaw.

♪♪

This homestead saved
a lot of money today.

Two guys fixing a problem
with materials on the homestead.

I'll guarantee you
that that will work.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: the next morning,

Marty's flood trench
is behind schedule.

It's almost
becoming the norm now

To work under
considerable pressure.

But what can I do?
Keep working.

Do the best we can.

Narrator:
misty and stacey finish sowing

The new garden terraces
with grass seeds.

There's a lot of room
for food here.

A lot of potential.

In the nearby woods, matt must
test lou's sh**ting range

Before they can go
on a hunt.

This little red part
is the heart.

If you're not
hitting this,

You shouldn't be
out there hunting.

He's got to be able to hit
this thing on the vital organs,

Because we want to harvest
these animals

In the most humane way
possible.

You got it?
Yes.

Now check it real quick.

Like this?
Yeah, yeah.

Lou:
I've never k*lled an animal.

The reason why I went
to vegetarian

Was the treatment is the animals
is incredibly important to me,

So this is very new for me.

Everyone has a range
they can sh**t at.

I would love for you to be
comfortable at about 50.

Matt: want to know where
his effective range is so

That we know how close

Or how far we can
actually take an animal.

Okay, let's do 50.

Okay.

Matt: just try to go as center
as you can on those vitals.

You start your breathing,

And then slowly
just squeeze the trigger.

Okay.
Alright, safety off.

Safety off.

Start your breathing.

Pull that trigger.

♪♪

[ g*nsh*t fires ]

Ha, ha!

That was awesome.

You're, like,
almost dead center.

Okay.

[ g*nshots firing ]

That's awesome.

Lou fired a hunting r*fle
for the first time today.

I mean, that's a victory
in itself.

We're gonna get him out there
and go on a hunt.

That was really cool.
-Thank you for helping me here.

♪♪

Narrator:
back on the homestead,

An update could put
the project at risk.

Did it look bad?

Yeah, we have some really
bad weather coming.

It could stall out above us
and just continue to downpour,

And that's what causes
the flooding and the landslides.

Misty: the worst thing that
could ever happen is rain.

This entire project will turn
into a giant mud hole.

Misty: there's a lot of weather
coming in,

So we should be
full steam ahead.

I'm concerned about how
much rock is available

And how much time there is
to put it in that ditch,

Under the banner of saving
that homestead

From the next rain storm.

♪♪

Narrator:
in the aftermath of record
flooding in wisconsin,

The raneys are saving
a homestead from collapse.

Push up tight,
real tight.

The pressure's on.

Now marty's under the g*n
to finish his flood-diversion

Trench before the rain hits
in just two days.

Marty:
we're in big trouble, because we
have a lot of disturbed ground

That's gonna turn
to slippery black mud.

♪♪

Narrator:
in the nearby dense forest,

Matt takes lou
on his first hunt.

♪♪

Lou: I've never actually done
any kind of hunting.

Taking the life
of an animal --

It's quite an immense
responsibility.

This is going to be a big
learning curve for me.

It's something that gets closer
to my grandfather

And what he knew.

You know, the things that
he learned along his path,

And so, it's important,
you know?

It's really important.

♪♪

♪♪

[ g*n c*ck ]

[ g*nsh*t fires ]

Matt: whew. It was dead
before it knew it.

First things first --
get this thing field dressed

As soon as possible
and up off the ground,

Because you want the meat
to cool down.

Lou: I just really felt like
I wouldn't get the shot,

And I don't want
to maim the animal,

And so at that moment
I just really felt

That it was better for him
to take it, you know?

It's very warm, huh?
-Yeah.

And that's actually
a bad thing,

'Cause you don't want
that meat to be spoiled.

I was very apprehensive,
but, you know,

To go and hunt in this way
is probably about as pure

As you can get in terms
of harvesting your meat.

This is food.
This is basic survival.

♪♪

Narrator:
back on the homestead,

Matt and lou return after field
dressing and skinning the deer.

Now matt shows lou
how to carve the trunk.

Matt: there's parts of this deer
that are just so good

They have to be eaten
right now.

This prize piece of meat
exists on the right

And left side
of that spine.

Basically, what you want to do
is cut into this spine.

You follow the blade.

So now I'm following
the ribcage, right?

-Yeah.
-So now I've made two long cuts.

Yeah.
I can pull this off.

I'm barely --
barely even cutting.

Boom.
Yep.

That's just one.
Mm-hmm.

Let's put it
on the grill.

Lou: just like they would've
done in the old days, you know?

I imagine my grandfather
feeding his family, you know?

Alright, here we go.
Let's give it a try, man.

Mmm.

Not bad.
Hot?

It's so good.
Is it?

Mm-hmm.
Really?

I've never really tasted meat
that good,

I don't think, you know?

My goal is to subsist,
you know, on your own.

I can see it,
I can feel that it's closer

To what my grandfather
was up to, I think.

The next time I will be able
to pull that trigger,

And it'll be my animal
that I take to feed my family.

Thank you so much for that.

Cheers.
Appreciate it.

We are bros for life.

Narrator:
an hour later, the rainstorm
arrives earlier than expected.

We have to stop working
because these rains

Are turning all of this
freshly excavated soil

Into a virtual swamp
and mud pit.

And every raindrop
that falls here --

It's getting worse and worse.

Narrator:
the garden topsoil isn't secure,

And the diversion trench
is completely untested.

My biggest fear is that
it will keep raining

And we're left with
just a muddy mess.

We're at that mercy
of the weather right now.

And what I've seen,
wisconsin weather has no mercy.

♪♪

[ Thunder crashes ]

Lou: it's about


It's crazy.
It just never seems to let up.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Frog croaking ]

Narrator: during the night,
three inches of rain

Cascaded onto the homestead.

Oh, my gosh.

You got to be kidding me.

Oh, my god.

Oh, man.

[ Sighs ]

Narrator: their worst fears
have been realized.

Marty:
this is terrible news.

It's a complete disaster
in mud.

Narrator:
rainwater smashed through
the unfinished diversion trench

And onto the terraces below,
turning them into a muddy swamp.

All the seed and
all the matting and everything

Got washed away.

Wisconsin weather is merciless.

It's a mess right now.
[ Sniffles ]

Everything is mud
or washed away.

Can't let your guard
down for one second

When you're trying to deal
with floodwaters.

It's an all-day fix,
and we're leaving tomorrow.

I don't know what
we're gonna do.

Basically, we got to rebuild
the trench with larger rock.

-Yeah.
-Bigger rock,

Slow it down,
more control, done.

We've got to fix these
two terraces.

Not a small fix.

You've got a 12-alarm situation,
and we're gonna fix it.

Basically, starting over.
Oh, okay.

Narrator:
with just one day left,

The raneys must rebuild
their entire project.

This is it. This is
the hail mary pass right now.

♪♪

Narrator:
in the hills of wisconsin,

The raneys have 24 hours
to save a washed-out homestead.

Push up tight,
real tight.

The collapsing cabin foundations
are shored up,

But last night
a huge storm raged...

Oh, my gosh.
You got to be kidding me.

...destroying marty's
flood-diversion trench...

This entire trench was 99% built
out of this five-inch rock.

It's not big enough.

...and wiping out
the newly built garden.

It's a complete disaster
in mud.

Now it's all hands on deck
to repair the damage.

There's nothing like
doing a job twice.

Misty and stacey
immediately replant

The washed-out grass seed

While matt races to repair
the water-damaged terraces.

It's literally the eleventh
hour, so we got to work fast.

But marty faces
the biggest challenge of all --

Completely rebuilding
his diverter trench.

Marty:
this is it right here --

The hail mary pass
on the last day.

Narrator:
marty must seal the breach
and prepare the ground,

This time using larger rocks.

I need some rock,
and I need it now.

Over at the garden,
it's the final hurdle.

Misty's taking no chances

And secures the erosion mats
with heavy-duty steel.

These stakes help hold
this erosion mat in place

So the seeds have a chance,
before they wash away,

To take root.

This problem's fixed.
It looks amazing.

These are huge.
Yeah.

And I can't wait to see
what comes out of them.

Quite an upgrade.

Before the raneys arrived,

Lou and stacey's hillside
had eroded by 15 feet,

And their tiny garden
was riddled with mold,

Leaving them with zero food.

Now the couple have two massive


Protected from floods
and erosion.

In a few short weeks,
the banks will be covered

In lush green grass,
and by next spring,

The terraces
will be abundant with crops.

You came a long ways from
the little patch in the corner.

Yep, yep,
and it's not on a slope,

And hopefully we won't get
mold or anything.

I don't think you will.
Yeah.

My work here is done.

Up the hill, the race is on.
Bigger boulders arrive.

Marty:
so, we're ramping it up to this


Marty plans to use
the boulders to slow the water

And avoid another breach.

We'll plant some of these
big ones like this one,

Offset them,
try to slow the water down.

Bigger rock,
hopefully the cure-all.

We're under pressure like

I can't even remember
that's ever happened before.

With less than an hour to spare,
matt and marty

Set the last boulders
in place.

Matt: we're gonna get all
the work done, triple fast.

We're right at
the last minute here.

♪♪

We're done.
Shut it down.

It's over.
How's it look?

It's looking great.

Do you think
it's gonna flow?

Do you think this fix
will work?

Marty: I think it will.
I really -- I really do.

I did such a good job
on this.

I think this fix
is the one.

Alright, guys, we've got
that rock pounded in

From here
to the very bottom.

I'll guarantee they're gonna
defend your home.

Narrator:
for the last three years,

A culvert blasted rainwater

Through lou and stacey's
homestead, land,

And cabin foundations.

That's bad.
That's really bad.

Now they have
a flood-defense wall

With a 100-foot
rock-lined trench

That diverts the culvert water
into a series of large boulders,

Slowing the water's flow.

For just 1,700 bucks, this major
fix has saved the cabin

And the garden
from complete destruction,

Rescuing lou and stacey's
off-grid dream.

I'm looking right now
at a homestead

That is 10 times safer
than when we found it.

That was so emotional, seeing
everything completely torn up.

I really see
how the rocks are gonna help,

So that's amazing.

We learned so much from you
and getting me closer to,

You know,
where my grandfather was.

It kind of brought me
closer to him.

I really appreciate that.
Thank you.

Thank you so much.
Thank you.

Alright, we'll see you
guys later.

Misty: bye.

[ Horn honks ]

♪♪

Welcome back to our homestead,
where it's officially winter.

As you can see, the trench
is holding up really well here.

It's survived several
heavy rainstorms.

The grass is coming in
on the base of the terrace.

There's zero water
underneath the cabin.

It's really dry
down here.

These posts will no longer
be exposed to moisture.

We learned a lot from you.
Come back any time.

Thanks so much.

Narrator:
on the next episode...

This family move out
into the middle of nowhere.

You don't have
any food source.

I do not know
how to build anything.

She got her ear bitten
by a bear.

This exactly what you need --
a root cellar.

Definitely a bear den.
-This is crazy.

Marty:
old school, old world.

I can't see!

Don't quit.

They need to progress
from cabin dweller

To homesteader.