What To Know
- In the latest episode of Renovation Aloha, Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama’s newly renovated property in Mānoa, Hawaii, suffered severe flood damage.
- The couple was emotionally impacted by the destruction, but received significant support from their local community.
- Tristyn and Kamaohai shared an update on the house’s post-flood status.
Bad weather put a major dent in Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama‘s latest renovation plans on Renovation Aloha.
During the Tuesday, June 9, episode of the HGTV series, the couple renovated a property in Mānoa, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. Shortly after the house was fully renovated and ready to be put on the market, heavy storms in February caused severe flooding in the area, and the pair’s home was one of many affected.
“It’s just really common to have really wet weather in Mānoa. They come in the afternoon, and they go. But these floods never happen like this in Hawaii,” Kamohai noted in a confessional. Tristyn added, “And it happened so fast. I mean, I was seeing Mānoa Marketplace, which is right down the street from our Mānoa house, was getting flooded. So, I called my dad, and I asked him to go over there and check it out.”
Tristyn and Kamohai FaceTimed with her dad as he inspected the home’s flood damage. “So, it’s from the entrance. So, yeah, it went as far as your dining room table,” he explained while showing water all over the home’s floors. “And then, whatever the step-down part is, your step-down part is done. The lowest room, it’s already floating. It’s floating six to eight inches now. … Yeah, and the built-ins on the bottom are probably gonna swell. Carpet’s shot.”
The damage hit Tristyn particularly hard, as it marked the first time a renovation project she worked on was affected by flooding. “All of this is brand new. I just finished that house,” she told Kamohai. He assured her that they would be able to “make it look like that again” and would file an insurance claim and hire a crew to help clean up the mess.
Before bursting into tears, Tristyn stated, “This sucks.” After taking a moment to let out her emotions, she and Kamohai headed over to the house to see the damage for themselves.
“The aftermath of a flood is something that I’ve never experienced personally on one of our homes. Seeing what a property can look like after a flood is kind of traumatizing, honestly. You’re dealing with layers of mud. The water that comes into the home is very unclean,” Tristyn said in a confessional. “But the beautiful part is how our community has stepped up and come together.”
In the house, she told Kamohai, “I don’t know what we would’ve done if those neighbors didn’t come and help. We just have to full steam ahead with what we need to do and just keep really good records of everything.”
The episode ended on an uplifting note, as Kamohai revealed that they had flood insurance for the property. “The remediation company, they’re basically cutting out all the drywall. They’re drying everything out to make sure that there [is] zero chance of any mold,” he explained. “And then, we have to put it all back together. Unfortunately, we have incurred a few extra months of additional holding costs, which is about $55,000. Now, the house is back on the market.”
He continued, “When we get an offer at $1.79 [million], we’re gonna be making approximately $190,000, with the additional $55,000 of holding costs, which I am very, very stoked with because this hasn’t been an easy process. It has been very hard, but we’ll still be coming out on top, and it would’ve been a good local family getting in the house.”
Tristyn jokingly pleaded, “No more floods. Please, no more floods.”
Renovation Aloha, Season 3, Tuesdays, 8/7c, HGTV