>>Ty said one of his "ah-hah" moments for SPF was after he had it installed in his mom’s house in Florida. "We put SPF in the house then left the house for 5-6 days, during which time it didn’t have any power going to it. When we went back, the house felt like a refrigerator, and it was in the mid-80s outside." Ty said this experience with SPF changed him. "If I wasn’t a believer before, I was then! I am not sure people understand the comfort level it provides." However, "in the SPF industry, it is so important to have someone well trained and well versed." Ty also mentioned, "I am amazed how far home building has come in the past 20 years."
>>Ty said he started out being a carpenter "to pay my way through art school." He also dabbled in landscaping, "making $3 hour to work in the grueling sun." Luckily, he found that in construction, you can always go back to it, as long as you have the tools. "And what I kept going back to was construction. I have always been really good with my hands," which he realized even as a young man when he rallied some neighbors and borrowed some tools and built a three-story treehouse in a day. However, as a student, "I was distracting but highly entertaining. So it should be no surprise I ended up on television," said Ty, with one of his contagious laughs.
During his search to find a career that suited his skills and personality, he ended up going door to door. "I realized you had to be your own salesman. I must have had an honest face or a face that said, ‘Oh please God give me a job!’
Now, people ask me, "How did you get that job (referring to Extreme Makeover – Home Edition)?" They also ask me, ‘How did you get a job being you?’ I don’t know, but I think I was qualified!"
>>One aspect of the show that most people don’t know is that Ty would have a couple different house renovations going on at one time. "I would leave on the third day and start a whole new project. Then I would fly back to the other family and house. What I realized early on is that you have to have plan a, plan b and plan c," especially in construction. "Murphy’s Law is out there! Shoot for the skies, but know where your middle is. Make your middle the best it can possibly be."
>>High quality work was a must for Ty. "Looking back on the quality of what we built is what I can be proud of." It is even one of the reasons he joined up with Lapolla and SPF. On the show, "the contractors had a 10-year punch out list... they would come back" and stand behind the work done to the houses. "That is one of the reasons I got behind Lapolla and SPF."
>>Ty said "the bus" was a pivotal moment in every project as well. "In that moment, when that bus moved... there is no better reward. It is just mind-blowing."