House Rules

In the first exciting episode, you'll finally meet our three competitive couples and see the amazing houses they'll be battling for over the next three months!

In this second episode, the three couples are charged with renovating their master bathrooms. But first, they must vie for their budgets by competing in a furniture-moving contest. Hidden among the furniture is a budget certificate. The first team to locate its budget certificate gets a master bathroom budget of $17,500.

Before renovating their master bedrooms, the three couples must vie for their budgets in a ceiling-painting contest. Later Rebecca & Joey create a ""pillow wall""; Bill & Cindy must cut through brick to install a window; and Katie & Adam bite off more than they can chew, while also deciding to get a puppy.

To begin the episode the three couples must vie for their budgets in a water hose contest. Once the budgets are determined, the couples are ready to dig in. During the renovations, Joey and Rebecca use their Kia SUV to pull out boxwoods; Katie & Adam add a working water fountain in the atrium; and Cindy & Bill come up with a ""secret weapon"".

Before renovating their living rooms, the three couples must vie for their budgets in a game of polo played on riding lawn mowers. The team to score three goals first gets a living room budget of $4,900. That team will then choose which team gets a budget of $3,800 and which team gets a budget of $2,800. Once the budgets are determined, the couples are ready to start to work. During the course of the renovations, Rebecca paints the entire room three times before settling on the right color. Cindy & Bill balance their space by increasing the size of two columns. And Katie & Adam find themselves strapped when it comes to executing their flooring ideas. Three days before Judgment Day, the men are invited to 'escape' to a Houston Astros game, complete with a VIP tour of Minute Maid Park. Then on Judgment Day, realtor Shad Bogany, designer Kelley West and contractor Stephen Hann grade each project, this time raising the bar on what they expect from the amateur renovators and hurting some fe

Before renovating their kitchens, the three couples must vie for their budgets by stacking paint cans into towers. The team with the tallest paint-can tower receives a kitchen renovation budget of $35,000. The second-place team gets a budget of $25,500, while the third-place team gets a budget of $19,000. Unlike previous projects, the kitchen renovation will take two weeks. To get things started, the couples decide to work as a group to demolish each kitchen. During the course of the first week¿s renovations, all three couples run into major electrical issues that are beyond their abilities to fix. After consulting with Lorenzo Lerma, the HOUSE RULES ¿Go To Guy,¿ it is decided that professional electricians are needed. Meanwhile, during a trip to Lowe¿s, Joey challenges Lowe¿s associate Leon Gordon to a footrace in the parking lot. Gordon is a 2004 Summer Olympics hopeful. While the electricians are working in their kitchens, the three couples have dinner with Walberg at Houston¿

In the previous episode, it was discovered that all three kitchens needed major electrical work. So while professionals work on that, the three teams get a week to go back over previous projects and finish them. But first, they must compete for their weekly budget by each putting together a puzzle that spells out a word problem. The team to put the puzzle together and solve the word problem first gets a budget of $4,500. Second-place gets $3,500, and third-place gets $2,500. Joey & Rebecca decide to spend their time tiling the shower in their master bathroom, but Rebecca's perfectionist nature makes it a difficult and time-consuming task. Katie & Adam, meanwhile, decide the things they need to do the most are refloor their living room and rework the tub in the master bathroom. Bill & Cindy run into major plumbing problems while trying to install their new bathtub, while their dog, Kitty, accidentally hurts her foot and needs to be taken to the vet. A much-needed break from their hard w

Rather than competing first for a budget allowance, each team is competing to see how many days they get the extra help. The labor competition involves making an entire breakfast using the same kind of tools they use in their renovations: making juice with a drill, cutting toast with a miter saw and jellying it with a paint roller, cutting grapes with pruning shears and making egg salad with a hammer. The team that completes breakfast the fastest gets help for three days, while the second place team gets help for two days and the third place team one day. Once the labor competition is over, the helpers are brought out. To the teams¿ utter surprise, the help turns out to be none other than Katie, Joey and Cindy¿s mothers. During the renovations, the guys are offered an ¿escape¿ to go play paintball. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Katie struggle to find the right paint colors while Cindy tackles a complicated faux finish for her dining room. A special dinner for the teams is held at Katie &

After waiting two weeks for professional help to rewire their kitchens and install their cabinets, the HOUSE RULES teams are back to complete their kitchen renovations. Since budgets were already decided for this project, the teams are given a one-day getaway to The Houstonian Hotel and Resort. While there, they get to experience everything from kickboxing lessons to rock climbing. And one lucky team will get pampered with some much-needed massage therapy. Once back at home, it's time for the teams to complete their kitchens. Katie & Adam realize their refrigerator won't fit in the door, so they come up with an amusing solution. Bill & Cindy, who thought their plumbing problems were over, find the pipes in their ceiling are leaking. And Joey & Rebecca don't know what to do with a kitchen island that has turned out much larger than they expected. They affectionately dub it ""Greenland."" On Judgment Day, realtor Shad Bogany, designer Kelley West and contractor Stephen Hann grade each proj

Before beginning work on their back yards, the teams first have to compete for their budgets in a Newlywed Game-style session. One member of each couple is asked a question about his/her partner, and the answer must match the answer the partner gave earlier. If a team member gets an answer wrong, he/she must dive into a dirty pool to retrieve a paint can lid that tells them if they are ""Still Breathing"" or ""Dead in the Water."" The team able to stay alive longest gets the best budget, $7,500. The second-place team gets $6,500, while the third-place team gets $5,000. Once budgets have been determined, the teams get to work. Katie & Adam decide to spruce up the area around their hot tub once they realize it can¿t be moved. They also have issues with a hole they¿ve dug for a pond after two days of rain turns their yard into a soggy mess. Bill & Cindy build a slate patio, but also find time to spy on their teammates with a digital camera. And Rebecca & Joey work on a fully stocked outdoor

To wrap up the final week of room renovations, the producers have chosen a different room for each team to remodel. But first the teams must compete for budgets in a game of HOUSE RULES miniature golf, complete with household objects as both clubs and obstacles. The winning team gets a budget of $5,000, while the second-place team gets $4,000, and the third-place team gets $3,000. Once budgets are determined, the teams get to work on their rooms. Bill & Cindy, working on a breakfast area/den, decide to paint a music-themed mural on the wall. Katie & Adam go for striped walls in their guest room/office, which also includes installing a sink in an adjoining bathroom. And Joey & Rebecca work hard to turn their garage into a Men's Den. On Judgment Day, realtor Shad Bogany, designer Kelley West and contractor Stephen Hann grade each project for the last time. The highest-scoring team wins a complete home entertainment system, including a 55-inch High Definition Television.