Marriage Under Construction is a Canadian docu-reality television series produced by Tricon Films & Television which follows the lives of a married couple purchasing their first home and chronicles the process of searching, buying, renovating and decorating their new home.
The series premiered in Canada on HGTV on 1 October, 2007. There are 26 half-hour episodes in two seasons to date.
Marriage Under Construction premiered in South Africa on DStv's The Home Channel on Tuesday 21 October 2008, at 20h00. There are 13 half-hour episodes in the first season.
Repeats
Wednesdays: 08h00
Thursdays: 12h00
Fridays: 16h00
Synopsis
Derek and Nessa arrive in Toronto with great expectations, but are quickly tuned in to the reality of a burgeoning real estate market by Jodi, their agent.
Homes are expensive to not only buy, but also to run. Jodi sets them straight about monthly costs, and the trio set out to explore the market.
A series of houses is narrowed down to three. Derek and Nessa have to start making hard choices about quality of life versus security. Do they really want to buy a house they can barely afford and suffer the consequences?
Nessa desperately wants her dream home, which is over their spending comfort zone, so Derek takes the risk. They make an offer and find out that the house sold for more than $50,000 more than they could come up with. Another wake-up call.
Derek and Nessa need to be realistic, and that will require sacrifices. They agree to put an offer on a fixer-upper with the idea of doing renovations themselves, and living through construction.
They fight through a bidding war and finally become new homeowners.