Aberdeen builders, designer showcased in HGTV's 'Cabin Wars'

Teams competing over six episodes in second season of popular TV series

Chris Galvin, Mike Re and Jackie Ulmer were members of the Building Bros team in “Cabin Wars: Flip it to Win it.” Season 2 episodes have started airing and streaming. Photo courtesy of Mike Re.

A reality competition show on HGTV kicked off its second season of “Cabin Wars: Flip It to Win It” this month with a team from northeast South Dakota showcasing its talents to a national audience.

Aberdeen contractors Mike Re of Building Bros and Chris Galvin of Galvin Construction and interior designer Jackie Ulmer, who is Re’s mother-in-law, make up the three-member squad of builders, featured in the first episode of the six-part season on Jan. 15.

Episode 1 aired Wednesday, Jan. 15, and the cabin renovation process will be detailed throughout the six-episode season.

This season features Re’s team and two others from Louisiana. The final episode will reveal the winner, selected through an online voting process that happened about a year ago.

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Episodes are posted on the Cabin Wars YouTube channel and broadcast on Destination America, which is now part of HGTV. That’s channel 115 on Midco and channel 62 on NVC cable, with the show broadcast at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Each team received $20,000 for materials to restore a 500-square-foot cabin in 30 days at Adventures RV Park in Robert, La., in January and February 2024.

Construction has long since been completed, but restoration work on the park’s cabins is being unveiled over five seasons with three teams featured each season. Re called the program a brilliant marketing plan.

Re heard about the contest through his college roommate who had moved to New Orleans and encouraged him to audition. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Re and his wife, Michelle, who is from Mobridge, moved to Aberdeen with their five sons in 2021. The two met while attending Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. They have since had a sixth son, a development Re found out about on camera during filming of the show.

Re started Building Bros construction company when he moved to South Dakota. Previously working in the computer software field, Re said his experience in construction came from fixing and flipping homes in Philadelphia as a hobby.

His and Galvin arrived in Louisiana early, and Ulmer and Michelle later drove down with the boys.

Once selected for the program, Re assembled his team with Ulmer in charge of interior decoration and Galvin helping with construction.