Renovation expert Conor Speiran’s reputation received a prime time boost after he did his hometown proud while being in the national television spotlight over the summer.

The 37-year-old owner of CC Woodcraft made it to the finale during Season 4 of Home and Garden Television’s popular Handyman Superstar Challenge.

Many fans of the show cried foul when Speiran didn’t come out on top in the matchup against winner Jason Best and fellow runner-up Jesse St. Germain.

In the finale, the trio were tasked with designing and building a backdoor patio deck in six hours and with the help of two assistants.

Although Speiran has known the results of the show for months, he didn’t get to see the episodes until the rest of Canada did a few weeks ago.

“For the most part it was a good experience,” the Richmond High grad told The Richmond Review Monday.

The show was originally shot over 11 straight days in Toronto last October, and scheduled to be broadcast during the spring. But due to the financial troubles at parent company Canwest, it was delayed until the summer, with the finale airing last month. The seven-episode season is in the midst of being rebroadcast on HGTV.

Speiran wasn’t sure how the show’s editors would portray him, but being the cocky guy wasn’t all that bad, he said.

“It shows that I knew what I was doing. It could have been a lot worse. We were worried that they were going to portray people as the underdogs, or portray one guy as being the ass----- or whatever,” Speiran said.

Speiran got to spend time with home renovation celebrities Mike Holmes and Jim Caruk on and off camera.

“Jim’s a really nice guy. He’s down to earth, always positive. Mike off-camera is really good. He’s actually really nice, he helps you out, answers any questions...On camera, he’s got that persona. He’s got to be the bad guy, so he’s always shooting you down. But off-camera, he’s not like that at all.”

It’s been an exciting few weeks for Speiran, who is also marrying his fiance in three weeks.

These days, it’s not uncommon for fans of the show to greet him at the local Home Depot.

“I just love doing something different every day,” Speiran says about using his hands to make a living.

Speiran has been living in Richmond since Grade 7, and earned his cabinet maker’s ticket and carpentry ticket after graduating from high school.

He branched out on his own after growing weary of working for companies and doing the same thing over and over again.

Speiran says he does “a little bit of everything” from cabinet work in houses to renovations. He does carpentry repairs at the Vancouver International Airport as part of a maintenance contract.

Current consumers are much more knowledgeable, Speiran says, of the renovation industry thanks to the proliferation of home improvement-related shows such as Holmes on Homes.

And that’s a good thing.

Thanks to this television exposure, Speiran believes more people want to renovate their houses.

“The majority of houses in Richmond were all built in the ’60s and ’70s, and it’s to the point now where everyone wants to upgrade their houses. Not everyone can afford a brand new house.”

Speiran says people considering a major renovation should always obtain a permit.

“When you sell your house, if you’ve put an addition on without a permit, it’s going to turn buyers away.”

Work done under the table doesn’t give the homeowner avenues for recourse should something go awry.

“If you’re all above board, then everything’s getting done right,” he said.

This year, there’s added incentive for homeowners to do renovation work. The home improvement tax credit can qualify a homeowner for $1,350, and people are keeping their receipts as a result.

“Come next year, you tack on the (Harmonized Sales Tax), a lot of the contractors are going to go back to working for cash again. And the government’s going to be in for a little bit of a shock when they see how...much money contractors made this year because nobody’s really working for cash right now.”