Breaking New Ground

Joes love of home improvement is rooted in his childhood in Port Orchard, Wash., where he used to watch his father build cabinets and do other carpentry work. I have a lasting vision of my father at a table saw and a planer. I was always in the mode of handing him things and helping him, he remembers.

A few years after he moved to Atlanta and bought a contemporary-style home on a tree-filled, half-acre lot in East Cobb, his fathers carpentry skills began to grow in him. All of that really started to come back, he says. I really got excited about doing things and realized that I could, with the help of a few books and looking at the way other people did it, he says.

Joe even studies houses under construction to develop techniques for his own projects. Im a good observer. If I see something Im interested in, Ill ask questions and learn how to do it. He says that willingness to learn and confidence in ones own abilities are the only things any homeowner needs to become a do-it-yourselfer and enjoy the sense of empowerment that comes with it.

Just as Joe watched and learned from his father, his two sons, Cameron, 10, Matthew, 7, are now learning from him. Joe says he strives to teach them pride in homeownership through chores like raking leaves. I stress that this is [their] home, too, he says.

Joe is taking more pride of ownership in his show, as well. The current season of Ground Breakers is noticeably different than the previous seven seasons of the show. In the past, Joe narrated while viewers were introduced to the featured homeowners and yard; he now talks with the homeowners about their plans and explores the landscape with them. Im able to interact with them; its fun. Now, were drawing out their personalities.

When theyre searching for subjects, Joe and the shows producers look for a combination of great ideas and interesting stories. One family, for example, who had taken in several children of a family member in crisis, was able to buy the house of their dreams at auction. Because of the deal they got on the house, they were able to afford to put in a swimming pond with a waterfall, and a play area for the children. Another woman, having grown up in a military family and married a military man, was creating the yard of her dreams for the first house shed ever owned.

Sometimes its the homeowners ideas that make the shows interesting, like one couple who had collected metal sculptures for years and wanted to design their landscape to showcase them. Joe says he loves getting a chance to meet [the homeowners] and share their dream.

Ground Breakers Executive Producer Hildreth Stafford, who has worked with Joe since the show started five years ago, says Joes well-honed interviewing skills and engaging style help the homeowners open up and share their stories on camera. He brings to the show his humor and warmth and his ability to connect with homeowners and architects, she says. She adds the show also benefits greatly from Joes landscaping expertise.

Outdoor fireplaces, kitchens and water features are wildly popular choices among homeowners he meets through the show. New options in materials and concrete techniques like stamping and coloring mean homeowners can create any look they want.

People are wanting to spend more time at home, Joe says. Parents want to create an environment where they can keep a closer watch on their children. They feel a lot more comfortable if they know theyre in the backyard with their friends.

Although Ground Breakers is his biggest project right now, its not the only place youll find Joe in home-improvement circles. Joe is the voice of Bob, the main character in The Home Depots animated employee training videos. Employees of the chain often approach Joe when they recognize his trademark deep voice. And I say, Yeah, Im Bob, he laughs.

And when his distinctive, deep, baritone voice isnt recognized, his face is. Atlantans have seen Joe on TV for two decades. In 1976, the then-23-year-old took a job as weekend anchor and reporter for the Channel 11 news. He spent 11 years reporting news, then nine years reporting sports before going part-time and freelancing in the early 1990s. In 1999, HGTV producers called him and asked him to host Ground Breakers.