HGTV star Tarek El Moussa has learned many important lessons during his time on the network.
In a recent social media update, the 44-year-old shared words of wisdom on home renovations and ensuring everything is done correctly.
See what tips Tarek El Moussa shared with his audience and how they can avoid getting in trouble with the city.
Tarek El Moussa Remembers Making a Massive Mistake During ‘Flip or Flop’
During renovations, some homeowners may decide they no longer want to use their backyard pool. Tarek El Moussa understands the temptation to fill the hole with debris and cover it up with dirt, but he’s coming forward to advise against it. He learned his lesson the hard way.
“Backyard pool owners, STOP🛑” the HGTV superstar shared on Instagram. “You CANNOT just throw junk in there and cover it with dirt. It’s actually illegal. This is the story from the VERY FIRST ‘Flip or Flop’ pilot episode… the La Habra house that started it all. I thought I was a genius. Turns out I was just a guy with a hole in the ground and bad ideas. 😅”
“So if you have a pool in your backyard, I gotta tell you this,” Tarek began in the video, noting that homeowners can face hefty fines from the city if they make the same mistakes he did.
“So the very first ‘Flip or Flop‘ was back in… Wow, we filmed that in summer of 2011,” he remembered. “It was in La Habra, California. For those ‘Flip or Flop’ fans out there, you guys know the house was kind of on a cul de sac. It backed to the park and had this huge pool in the backyard. And if you remember this pool, it was empty, it had no equipment, and it was just a big hole in the ground.”
The Real Estate Expert Realizes the Error of His Ways
Since it was so early on in Tarek El Moussa’s television career, he admittedly made many mistakes.
“I knew nothing about construction, nothing about flipping houses, and I remember remodeling that house with Christina [Haack], thinking, ‘Man, we are experts,'” the real estate pro continued, noting the biggest problems came along with the pool. “It was very expensive to fix the pool, right? I had to redo the coping, the plaster, I had to redo the equipment, the draining, everything. So I decided, ‘We’re just gonna fill the pool with all this junk.’ Why? Well there’s a hole in the ground. It’s my ground!”
Tarek recalled that he initially wanted to completely demolish the house and throw the discarded debris in the pool and then cover it all up with dirt.
“It turns out, you cannot do that,” the father of three added. “It’s actually illegal.”
In the comments, many viewers remembered the episode and thanked Tarek for his tips.
“I remember that, Izzy caught you,” one Instagram user wrote.
“I remember watching this one! You had friends there helping you fill the pool with materials. Miss ‘Flip or Flop’ it’s one of my favs,” another added.
Tarek El Moussa has learned from his past mistakes and conducts more thorough research on his projects today. Fans can catch the reality star back in action when “The Flip Off” returns to HGTV this year.
