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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | DeKalb County's Oldest Newspaper

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DeKalb business to help in extreme makeover

By Mark Harrison
The Times-Journal

Published September 8, 2009

A co-owner and an employee of a DeKalb County business are in for an extreme experience today, as they head to Kentucky to work on a remodeling project for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Shane Fowler, co-owner of Fowler Pest Control in Geraldine and Jeremy Lang, an employee of the business, left around 8 a.m. today to help spray foam insulation into a home to be featured on an upcoming episode of the series.

Fowler’s co-owner Phillip Fowler said the pest control company, which has been in business for about 40 years, started offering spray installation of AirTight insulation a few years ago. He said a manufacturing representative contacted him about helping with the Extreme Makeover project, the details of which remain shrouded in semi-secrecy.

What is known, at this point, is that Shane Fowler and Lang will be driving their insulation rig today to Owensboro, Ky., where they will lead a team in installing 10 drums filled with 55-gallons each of insulation between the walls and overhead of a home being remodeled for the show.

Fowler said the installation is scheduled to begin and midnight and be complete by 5 a.m. on Thursday. He said a job of this size usually takes three days to complete, but several crews will be helping in order to meet the deadline.

He said he isn’t sure why AirTight selected his business, out of all its distributors, to head up the project, but he’s “honored” to participate.

“It blew us away to get asked to go out of all the dealers they have,” Phillip Fowler said. “We jumped at the opportunity. The people they ask to participate on this show are no fly-by-night contractors. They usually represent the best of the best.”

He said Fowler’s would donate all labor, and also pay for all travel costs. He said that’s a small price to pay in exchange for both the publicity and, more importantly, to provide a helping hand to someone deserving.

“If you watch that show, you never see anyone on there who doesn’t really deserve a remodeled house,” he said. “My wife, she cries every time she watches the show.

“As for what we’re doing, this is the Top Gun of insulating. For a company from a little town with one red light to get asked to do this, it’s really quite an honor.”

Shane Fowler said he’s a “little nervous” about the job, but feels confident the crew will be able to pull it off. He said he would be able to reveal more details once he gets back, but he plans to stay at least until Saturday, for the ceremonial “moving of the bus” that’s become a trademark of the show.

“I’m excited to get to be a part of something that they’re doing,” he said. “It’s good to help out with that once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

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