When season two of HGTV’s Timber Kings premieres on Jan. 4 it will be bigger and better, promises Bryan Reid Sr. of Pioneer Log Homes.
“There will be more episodes, 14 instead of 10, so we have a full season,” Reid said. “There are some great sets, some right around Williams Lake, which we really wanted to do.”
Timber Kings follows the work of Pioneer Log Homes from the building of structures at the work yards in and around Williams Lake to the assembly on location in spots all over the world.
In season two viewers will see log homes erected in places such as California, New York, Russia, Newfoundland and at a Shearwater fishing lodge on the B.C. coast.
Reid said Pioneer Log Homes chased the producers of the show.
Historically the company did 40 home shows a year from the Eastern Seaboard to the Western Seaboard.
Now because of the television show, that number has been reduced to three or four.
“It takes a lot more of our time here, but most of it’s local in the building of the houses,” Reid said, adding the company is going to deliver houses regardless. “The TV slows us down a bit in our production because we need to explain things.”
Selecting the stories is a combination of showing people the process of how the homes are built, the quality of the buildings and that nothing is impossible, Reid said.
“It makes for good television,” he said, adding he loves how the show gives recognition to the company’s employees.
The first season introduced Reid, his brother Andre Chevigny, son Bryan Reid Jr., Peter Arnold, Joel Roorda and Beat Schwaller and because of the popularity of the show, the six of them are recognized all over.
“You can be on a plane to China and somebody will come up and start talking to you about the show,” Reid said. “Those guys deserve to be recognized, they are the best in the world in what they do.”
The second season will introduce another string of people who are all part of the Pioneer culture.
“They aren’t the main characters, but they are the people who help us do the work. If you peel back the onion skin you’ll see without the people we wouldn’t be here.”
All along the mandate of the show has been to make Williams Lake look its best.
“And you don’t have to try hard to make it look good,” Reid said. “Williams Lake is now recognized in more than 50 countries in the world. How many places in B.C. have a show?”