TV show will spotlight Newfoundland construction company as it builds up and tears down

BRIGUS, N.L. — Each time he steps inside an old home, Randy Spracklin feels like he’s digging for buried treasure.

The direction-finder he uses is whatever tool he happens to be using.

Whether it's crowbar or a large hammer, Spracklin uses them equally when tearing apart a home at the start of a new construction.

“It’s like you’re always on a treasure hunt,” he said earlier this week. “You always find hidden treasure.”

That search for the treasure inside the walls of old homes led Spracklin and his crew at Newfound Builders from their home base in Brigus to Gander, Bonavista and elsewhere in the Newfoundland.

Now, the rest of the province and the country will see Spracklin and his crew at Newfound Builders hunt for those treasures as the stars of the new HGTV Canada television show "Rock Solid Builds."

Spracklin will be joined on the show by fellow co-owner Scott Spracklin,his father, along with  Paul Earle, Nikki Spracklin (no relation) and the rest of the Newfound Builders team.

Scheduled to premiere Feb. 18, the show will track the Newfound Builders group as they jump from one job to the next.

Those jobs could be anything from the renovation of 100-year-old homes or the ground-up construction of their own design. Viewers will also get the chance to see some of the interesting woodworking projects that take place in the group's workshop.

“We rolled with it and here we are,” Nikki said of being part of the show. “It’s been an amazing journey.”

"Rock Solid Builds" is the east coast answer to similar home renovation and construction shows like "Property Brothers" or "Home Town."

Viewers will see Randy, Nikki and company take on a variety of jobs while battling the unstable weather that Newfoundland is known for.

Through it all, they’ll showcase their part of the province, especially picturesque Brigus — where the Spracklin family has a long history as builders — along with other parts of the Avalon and beyond.

“We said it would definitely make good TV, being where Newfoundland is so unique,” said Randy. “We’re definitely different how we build stuff. We joked about it, but we never thought we would actually be here.”

They’re a group that prides itself on doing the job right and being creative while they’re doing it.

"We joked about it, but we never thought we would actually be here.” — Randy Spracklin

It is one thing to get the job done by themselves, but it is another thing to have a film crew recording every step of the way.

It’s been their day-to-day lives, but with cameras and producers cataloguing their every move for a national audience.

“It’s been awesome,” said Nikki. “It is so good for the world to see what Newfoundland is and to see our landscape.”

Nicholas Mercer is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network. [email protected]