“Maine Cabin Masters” is a reality series, that follows a group of Maine-based home builders and designers, who tackle work-related renovation and restoration. The show premiered in January 2017 on Magnolia Network, and has run for seven seasons, amassing a broad audience. This sort of genre has been popular for ages, and regardless of whether you are interested in redesigning and renovating, everyone wants to stick around until the end to see the final result, which is almost always awe-inspiring!

The Show’s Format and the Cast

“Maine Cabin Masters” follows Chase Morrill, the boss and the contractors, his sister and designer Ashley Morrill, her carpenter husband Ryan Eldridge, and two master carpenters Matt ‘Dixie’ Dix and Jared’ Jedi’ Baker. Although Case is the team leader, their work and efforts are made collaboratively; his sister employs her ‘designing’ abilities to choose paint colors and find interesting decorative pieces and objects synonymous with Maine culture, while Ryan does carpentry, and is also heard as the voice of reason.

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However, since it premiered, it’s also featured some other recurring members, such as Lance Gatcomb, who simply disappeared from the show. Even though Lance appeared in only three seasons, many loyal fans noticed that he was missing, and began wondering what happened to him, why he left the show.

The series is filmed at the Kennebec Cabin Company, its headquarters. The show’s format is simple – each episode starts with the team leader introducing Ashley and Ryan to a new project /cabin and its owners. In most cases the cabins are very dilapidated, and could certainly use some renovation. After they set the budget and the deadline, the crew begins working on the project, restoring various structures while trying to remain true to their initial function; however,

they sometimes add modern amenities such as solar panels. The end of the episode is reserved for the big revelation of the renovated cabin, in which they present it to the owner, and ceremoniously hand over its keys.

How did the show come to life?

In an interview, Chase revealed some information about his family and how he, his sister and Ryan got into building, designing, and carpentry. His and Ashley’s father and grandfather were handymen and builders, whom they watched and assisted them on various projects during their childhood and formative years, including refurbishing and renovating camps. The two gained a robust set of skills in the process, and they also inherited a love for building and creating. Later, they all went to different colleges; Chase attended College of Atlantic, Ashley the University of Maine, and Ryan graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington. Even though they all obtained degrees unrelated to building, they all returned to their initial passion after graduating. Chase explained: ‘One day we were working on a project, a timber frame, and my daughter’s friend’s mother, who works at Kennebec Land Trust and knew the production company Dorsey Pictures, and that they were looking for carpenters in Maine to do a show that fixed up old camps.’

The woman knew that they were carpenters, and gave them a call; they did several interviews on Skype, and then in 2015 filmed a pilot, which luckily got a green light.

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Chase also talked about the importance of editing when doing these types of series. It’s a well-known fact that an episode you see on TV is hours and hours of footage neatly edited and selected into a coherent and presentable sequence of events. Chase chuckled and said: ‘It is the power of editing. We make mistakes, we do stupid stuff, but they put together such a good story. They could have painted us in many different ways. Believe me, the footage is there.’

Who is Lance Gatcomb?

Lance Gatcomb is a builder and former reality TV star, who gained popularity by appearing in “Maine Cabin Master’s.” Despite having star status, Lance has managed to keep some of his personal matters away from the eyes of the public. Even the exact date of his birth remains unknown, but he was born and raised in Litchfield, Maine; his mother is Pamela Gatcomb, and he has a sister Elizabeth Anita David and a step-sister Crystal Perkins.

According to sources, Lance matriculated from Cony High School and later attended Maine University, however, it remains unclear which course he studied, and even if he graduated.

$150 per month to $25 per month in hot water heating costs…Lance Gatcomb's experience with solar thermal technology is impressive!

— Maine Rural Partners (@JeffNichols4) January 10, 2012

Talking of his romantic life, he’s married to Lily, with whom he has two children. In the early episodes of the first season, Lance and his wife were featured as newlyweds, and later in the episode “A Cabin for the Bride,” the audience was granted a little scoop of their private wedding. Furthermore, Lance also disclosed that he’d built the cabin where he was living with his family.

What Happened to Lance?

Lance was an instrumental member of the crew who failed to return for the fourth season. However, he’d gained popularity and become a fan favorite for his humor and laid-back personality. For example, in one episode, Lance was seen making doughnuts for his team while they were on a motorboat. In another episode, he had the fans rolling on the floor laughing when he chose to test a hammock by lying on top of it and simultaneously enjoying a bag of Cheetos. As a highly skilled and versatile builder, Lance was a great addition to the team, and also entertained the audience with his goofy attitude.

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When Chase was asked about Lance’s departure, he simply said: ‘That’s really how he rolls.’ The fact is that no one actually knows why Lance exited the show, and the show’s cast and the producers haven’t let the cat out of the bag, yet. One of the fans wrote that he left the show because his wife was pregnant at the time, and he wanted to spend more time with his family’ however, this information was never corroborated.

Additionally, Lance is not a big fan of social media, and doesn’t use Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, so it’s harder to find out information about his departure. Some fans noted that his disappearance from the show was not as dramatic as the show itself, compared to other reality series of this genre, and wasn’t getting that much media coverage of its cast members. Even though “Maine Cabin Masters” was considered one of the highest-rated TV shows on Magnolia Network, many believe that it never achieved the success of similar shows such as “Fixer Upper” or “Flip or Flop,” which is why there is not much information or even theories about Lance’s exit.

Where is Lance now?

As previously mentioned, Lance isn’t active on social platforms, and seems to enjoy his life away from the limelight. However, in September 2020, he launched a self-titled YouTube channel that features him doing various tasks around the house, ‘how-to’ videos, and fixing, building and renovating numerous items. Some of his videos are entitled “Building a pavilion,” “Finishing a lawn for house-lot,” and “How to change the new style excavator bucket teeth.” Given that his channel’s description reads “Gatcomb Construction and Excavation,” it’s safe to assume that Lance owns the trucking and shipping company. He also films some of his jobs, such as “Fire Truck Recovery Gone Wrong”, and “Building a VW TDI generator.”

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Judging from his channel, he occasionally works at his shop, where he also services his cars and trucks, and repaints them as needed. His channel has over 1,000 subscribers, and has attracted over 125,000 views. He last posted in January 2022- the video entitled “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck! ” and features another vehicle recovery.

Are their budgets real?

Suppose you have watched some of the numerous home restoration series – in that case, you know that there is a proposed budget for the project at the beginning of each episode, which usually has people screaming at the TV in disbelief. An excellent example of that would be ‘Hi, I’m a part-time raccoon technician and my husband gifts murals to the homeless. We have a budget of $1.5 million.’ The budgets usually border on hefty amounts, making the audience wonder how much these types of the renovation cost in real life, and whether they’re far-fetched.

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The “Maine Cabin Masters” crew usually have surprisingly low budgets compared to other similar shows for the amount of work invested in the project. Naturally, it piqued the fans’ curiosity, and they often asked the crew in comments on their social media about it, one such comment reading: ‘Are the budgets real? How do you possibly get so much done on these budgets? What you are doing is impossible. We don’t believe you can do all this for those prices … our kitchen cost more than these whole cabin remodels, how can this be?”

On their official show’s Frequently Asked Questions site, they answered that their budgets are legitimate, further explaining: ‘The short answer is yes, but it’s a great question that deserves a detailed explanation, so we have decided to give this discussion its own web page – we’re working on it.”

How do they work so cheaply?

When watching these types of series, you must have at least once discussed the budget and the labor invested, as it mostly seems that clients get these excellent renovations for next-to-nothing.

According to the sources online, most of these series have additional budgets provided by the network. For example, it’s a well-known fact that in “Fixer Upper,” the lead cast members’ services are covered by their on-air talent fee, meaning that the network pays for their ‘labor.’

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So these ‘savings’ may get passed onto the client, who in addition most likely receives a stipend for construction materials and tools. Another reasonable option is that the crew buys material in bulk, considering that they do these projects often, and know what materials are mostly used for renovations.

Furthermore, some outlets have noted that the crew works very efficiently, which saves them time and money. Their projects usually last between six and eight weeks, and in addition, Northern Maine is said to have a lower cost of living compared to other parts of New England.

How much do they earn?

Obviously, one of the most frequent questions regarding these reality series, and the answer often closely guarded, is how much the participants earn per episode. According to online sources, Chase and Ashley receive around $30,000 per episode, while it remains unclear how much Ryan gets. Matthew and Jared are most likely receiving between $7,000 to $10, 000 per episode. Chase has the biggest estimated net worth, around $ 600,000, while his sister and Ryan’s combined net worth is around $860,000.

Interestingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the crew made a lot of money. Due to all the restrictions, more and more people leaned toward repairing their cabins located away from the city. Chase said: ‘We’re seeing a massive wave of people who are acting on their long-time desires to have an escape.’ Ryan continued: ‘Many people who live in cities today didn’t grow up there. A lot of those folks went to metropolitan areas for work, but for many of them they never really left the country in spirit. Between the pandemic and unrest across the nation, there’s been a wide leap to get back to rural roots.’

“Maine Cabin Masters” Have a Podcast

In addition to their numerous physical endeavors, the crew launched the podcast entitled “From the Woodshed,” featuring candid conversations with Ryan and Chase at their headquarters in Manchester, Maine. During the podcast’s three-season run, the two have chatted with a number of differing guests who work in renovation and building, other cast members, and their productions staff, such as Seth Glass, the show’s camera operator, and Matt ‘Dixie’ Dix. Regarding the topics, they explore various avenues, including the joys of Maine life, construction tips, and juicy behind-the-scenes information.

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The Mistakes That Happened on “Maine Cabin Masters”

Luckily for the crew and the on-set staff, there haven’t been any accidents that resulted in severe injuries. However, as Chase admitted, they tend to make mistakes like most similar workers. There were a couple of situations where their misjudgment and poor calculations nearly ruined their project, or at least hindered it. One of those ended with a rain-soaked cabin which is never good for business – Chase had removed a roof from a cabin before a storm began, and the tarp he put on in place of the roof blew off; it started raining, resulting in an entirely wet cabin.

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In a different episode filmed during the winter, the trio removed window locks on a cabin to get them stained. Unfortunately, the windows opened during the night, and when the crew arrived to continue their work, they nearly froze because the temperature was so low inside the cabin. The third incident happened while Chase and Ashley moved furniture to a site, and their truck broke down. They called a tow truck, and when it arrived, one of the members accidentally locked the car and left the keys inside, leaving them with two useless trucks, as Ashley said.

Given the audience interest in the works carried out in “Maine Cabin Masters”, as well as the antics of the crew, continuation of the series for several more seasons seems very likely, despite the unexplained disappearance of some popular cast members.

“Texas Flip N Move” is a reality-style series that follows several family companies/teams of real estate entrepreneurs who compete against each other by renovating and flipping houses for profit. The series premiered in November 2014 and ran for 12 seasons on DIY Network, which later rebranded to Magnolia Network. The show was pretty popular with viewers, who enjoyed observing the process of transforming almost condemned frame houses set for demolition into dashing homes for potential new owners. However, the show just went under the radar after the 12th season, despite the apparent popularity and a colossal fanbase. Now, fans are wondering what happened, and whether the show was canceled.

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The Show’s Format and the Cast

While similar series usually infer that the crew acquires the property when buying the house, with this show the format is a bit different. First, as hinted in the show’s name, they only purchase the actual house and not the underlying land. Then, after refurbishing and redecorating the house, the crew puts it up for an auction, hoping to sell it for the biggest profit and beat the other team. Another exciting element that sets this show apart from numerous other renovating series, is that the potential buyers at the auction are not allowed to enter the refurbished house; instead, they can view it only from the outside. While paying for the house, they also have to factor in the costs of moving house from the initial location to the renovation site.

#Designer #Demo All new episode of #TexasFlipNMove tonight on the @DIYNetwork • #GarysGirls #TexasFlipAndMove #DIY pic.twitter.com/8ViqU0C32j

— Texas Flip N Move (@TexasFlipnMove) December 8, 2017

Similar to other reality series, the cast often changes, and various members join or exit for various reasons. Initially, the show featured three crews; The Snow Sisters (Donna Snow Landers and Toni Snow Barksdale), The Lone Wolf (Randy Martin and Bleu Pride), and The Young Guns ( Cody and Suzi Slay). The show also featured auctioneer Myers Jackson, construction foreman Steven Goode, and Donna’s father, Daddy Snow, who occasionally appeared on the show. The Young Guns departed from the show after the third season, and several others joined the interesting competition, including Gary’s Girls (Gary Snow’s four daughters), Garry and Jerry, Paige and Raf, and Casey Hester and Catrina Kidd.

Was “Texas Flip N Move” canceled?

In 2020, it was announced that the Essential Media Group, the producer behind various reality series, including “Texas Flip N Move,” completed the buyout of the collapsed Canadian content/production company Kew Media Group. The CEO of the Essential Media Group released the statement saying: ‘I am gutted by the collapse of Kew. They’re good people, and there is nothing to celebrate here, but we will take this moment to buy back, consolidate our resources and rebuild. With its solid production and development slate, there is a bright future for Essential Media.”

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The story behind this acquisition is that Kew Media Group first bought Essential Media for $21million in 2018. However, according to online sources, the owners of the Kew Media Group were in over their heads with this purchase. It spawned financial troubles, which eventually caused the company to go under. Furthermore, after Discovery rebranded the network from DIY to Magnolia, the company changed the creative direction. Essential Media was hit and eventually lost vital series such as “Texas Flip N Move”, and focused on other types of series, including “Ghost Loop” on Travel Channel.

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Scandals and Controversy

In 2018, one of the show’s regulars, Toni Snow, and the network attracted backlash for the anti-Semitic comment he made in an episode when bargaining over the price of a house. Initially, several media outlets such as The New York Post, reported on the inappropriate term he used. The fans quickly hopped on the bandwagon to share their disapproval and shock after the network chose to air it. In the episode entitled “Snow Sister’s School Bus Flip,” Toni and Donna purchased a $300 school bus and converted it into a home after spending $27,000 on renovation. The Snow’s sister’s initial price was $36,000, and a client who had set his eyes on the bus accepted it. Given that the client did not even try to haggle over the price, Toni said: “You’re not even gonna bicker a little bit…Jew us down?” and Donna added: “You’re not even gonna blink an eye?”

After the backlash, the network addressed the incident and apologized. The official statement reads: “On a recent episode of “Texas Flip N Move”, an inappropriate comment unfortunately made it past our team. We were made aware of the issue shortly after it aired, and immediately pulled the episode to edit it for future broadcast. We apologize unreservedly for any offense caused.”

Toni, who has a huge fanbase, also offered his sincere apologies. She wrote on the official Snow’s Sisters media platform: “I am deeply sorry that in a recent episode of Texas Flip N Move I used a negative phrase that was a hurtful stereotype about members of the Jewish community. The comment was insensitive and inappropriate, and I sincerely regret using any words that have the power to hurt anybody.”

The DIY Network has apologized for an anti-Semitic remark made by "Texas Flip N Move" host Toni Snow https://t.co/yvfy5hbJA5 pic.twitter.com/LgHk341W31

— CNN (@CNN) January 17, 2018

Given the severity of the situation, the fans began fearing that the Snow Sisters might be fired from the show due to Toni’s comment. This theory was further reinforced after the series didn’t air on the usual schedule on Friday night following this controversial incident. However, the Snow Sisters team weren’t fired, and the show returned two weeks later.

Paint Violations on the Show

In 2021, the production company behind “Texas Flip N Move” was sued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the alleged violation of federal regulation meant to reduce the dangers of lead-based paint during renovations. In some of their show’s episodes, the crews violated the Toxic Substances Control Act’s Lead Renovation Repair and Painting Rule (RRP Rule) while doing renovations for compensation without the EPA renovation firm certificate. In addition, they failed to comply with several practice standards required for the safe handling and disposal of lead-based paint.

After the agency and the production company reached a settlement, Acting Regional Administrator David Gray said: “Renovating older homes comes with the responsibility of safeguarding residents from exposure to dust from lead-base. Through this settlement, Texas Flip N Move is ensuring the safety of their renovation work and educating the public about exposure to lead-based paint.”

Lead-based paint exposure is a serious matter, and can cause elevated blood levels in children as they are the most vulnerable to its effects, as they are actively developing, so can absorb more lead than adults, which affects their brains and nervous system. Long-term exposure can cause irreversible and life-long health issues.

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The company agreed to pay civil penalties and ensure compliance with the RRP Rule in future renovation projects. In addition, they also agreed to do some projects to educate children on the detrimental effects of lead-based paint, the importance of following established practices, and employing a certified renovator, including banners on existing episodes of “Texas Flip N Move”

What happened to Cody and Suzi Slay from “The Young Guns”?

Original cast members Suzi and Cody became very popular during the first three seasons, for their goofy personalities and working dynamics. However, they didn’t returned for the fourth season, which sparked theories from fans who wanted to get to the bottom of their departure. Even though the show continued and grow in popularity despite the frequent cast changes, their exit caused a lot of backlash. Their fans on Twitter created a Change.org petition to get the two back on the show. Unfortunately their efforts were in vain, and the petition was closed.

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As expected, several of their fans commented and reached out to them on their social media, asking about the show and whether they chose to depart. Cody replied: ‘Not exactly, creative differences”. Rumors were floating around on the internet that they departed due to contract disputes, or behind-the-scenes disagreements, as the two wanted more screen time. The network never revealed any information or even addressed their exit, so nothing could be stated with certainty. However, Cody was asked on Twitter to explain what he meant by ‘creative differences,’ and he replied: ‘It means we cannot agree on behind-the-scenes stuff, so we had to agree to disagree.” Although numerous fans wanted to keep them on the show, there were some fans who were actually glad that they left, one of whom wrote: ‘I’m watching some episodes from the first season, and thank goodness they got rid of the ‘The Young Guns.’ They just didn’t fit with everyone else. The folks they have on there now are much more pleasant to watch.”

After they left the show, the two stopped flipping houses, and decided to focus on their Texas Wild Hog Salon in Fort Worth. One of the customers described the salon as a place with “Friendly staff… great drinks and great conversation.”

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Suzi Slay was arrested

As various media outlets called her, the dashing blonde had locked horns with the law enforcement in the past. According to online sources, in April 2003 she had been arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The court papers read: ‘Slay did then and there intentionally and knowingly possess a controlled substance, namely hydrocodone of less than twenty-eight grams, including any adulterants and diluents.’ After pleading guilty to the charges, she received 12 months of community service and a $700 fine. Why an incident so far in the past was even raised is strange – perhaps ‘any publicity is good publicity’, but it had no apparent effect on the series’ popularity.

Drama in Donna’s Life

If you watched the show, that chances are that you are familiar with Donna and her then-marriage to Marshall Landers. She mentions her husband and their seemingly perfect relationship in several episodes, and even shared heartwarming captions about him on social media. However, in 2017, the former reality star shocked the public after filing for divorce following 24 years of marriage. According to court documents, she requested a temporary restraining order against Marshall, and asked that her husband be forcibly removed from their home. Donna cited “conflict of personalities” as the reason for the divorce, but insisted that they would be able to divide their property together. The court papers also listed that she had some property aside from their community estate, and wanted to ensure that her soon-to-be ex-husband wasn’t entitled to any of these.

The judge in the case sided with Donna, and based on the ruling, her husband “was given two days to remove his property from their residence.” Marshall then filed a countersuit against Donna to get her to pay his attorney, as Marshal was “not in control of sufficient community assets to pay attorney’s fees and anticipated expenses.”

After he was removed from their house and collected his possessions accompanied by a police officer, it seemed that Marshall had nowhere to go, as his only property was a white Ford F-250 pickup truck.

When the news of their divorce broke, many believed that Donna was a victim of domestic violence, considering she sought a restraining order against him. In addition, she was photographed by a media outlet at the courthouse with a cast on her right hand, which many took to confirm the domestic violence allegations. However, Donna never spoke out about these issues, and Marshal was never charged for domestic violence or any other crime.

I wanted to share a little something that happened New Year's Eve with me, most of you guessed right, but so many have been asking so here is a video recap!
Thank you Rick Irving for the amazing pictures and video your son Dusty did for us.https://t.co/QQhuQFfIQL

— Snow Sisters Texas (@SnowSistersTX) January 14, 2022

Is “Texas Flip N Move” fake?

A common question that all reality series deal with, is whether it’s scripted or not, and “Texas Flip N Move” is no different. Since the show aired, several cast members were asked on their social media about the show, including Snow Sisters, who received tons of messages every day. In a 2017 interview, Toni and Donna talked about the messages, saying that fans often ask them ‘how long it takes to memorize a script so funny”.

They both claimed that there was no script, Toni saying: “We are what we are on TV. We know how to cut a piece of wood, we know how to measure, we know how to do things like that, but we also kid around and be ourselves, in and out of the reality part.”

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Furthermore, the two were so unassuming, that when the then- DIY producers initially reached out asking them to join the series, they thought it was a prank; Donna explained: ‘I just went right along with it. I was being nice to him, as I was raised to be respectful, and answered all his questions. I start questioning, ‘Well, you know, if this is a competitor pulling a prank, boy, they’re really taking it to the hills.”

Another important detail about the show is that every one of the members is a seasoned and skilled flipper and contractor, who had been in the business numerous years before the show even started. For example, Casey Hester is the owner of the family company Hester House Moving founded in 1962 by his grandfather.

The popularity of the series is undoubted, so its return to the screen isn’t impossible, but given the attitude of the producers, would seem to be unlikely – as to ‘why’?, your guess is as good as ours.