This Old House

Kevin

You guys have done this before. Today on "This Old House"...

Tom

Mid-century modern means they want a nice simple, clean line, but that transition has to be good.

Kevin

And we use magnets to hide a drain in the shower. What happened to all this plumbing here?

Richard

I've never seen anything like this before.

Roger

There's already rot going on in that trunk.

Kevin

So what have you found up here?

Tom

Well, a bit of a surprise.

Richard

It's really the classic plumber's lament.

Kevin

Nice!

Don

See this main roof form? We're just gonna pull that forward till it's even where this existing deck is.

Kevin

Definitely says mid-century modern.

Tom

The money's in the detail.

Kevin

That is beautiful. Hi there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House" here in Brookline, Massachusetts. Hey, Bill. Hi,

Nathan. Bill

Hey, guys.

Kevin

And welcome to our little neighborhood of all this traditional older homes but not ours, because we are working on this beauty right here, a 1957 mid-century modern, and we've been at it for almost 9 months, which means we are finally into the home stretches. Still a lot of work to go, though. You can see that we've got a sitting wall here for the front patio made out of block, mostly done, although we are keeping that warm because the work is not complete. Over here, we've got a new pad that was just laid for another entryway. The doors have been hung, lacking some hardware, and this is a section of the house right here with the horizontal siding. That's one of two additions, and it contrasts with the vertical siding that we have on the main house. A lot of work going on outside and just as much work going on inside. Back here in the master suite, you can see a lot of stuff going on. Hardwood floors still going down. We've got a master bath that needs to be trimmed out, and in the master bedroom -- Hey, Shawn. How are you?

Shawn

Kevin, good to see you.

Kevin

Got a closet system going in. Every homeowner loves a well-organized closet.

Absolutely. Kevin

So we thank you guys for doing this for us. What are we putting in?

Shawn

So right now we're just finishing up the final touches here on the right-hand master.

Kevin

How does this get used?

Shawn

So right here, we have a couple fixed shelves, another one over here, and what we're going to be putting in up top is the wardrobe racks for the closet.

Kevin

So hanging clothes here, stackable clothes there?

Shawn

Yep.

Kevin

What's the material in the finish?

Shawn

So this is a pressed wood with a laminate finish wrapped all the way around.

Kevin

Got you, and how do we get this look? What do you guys call that?

Shawn

So this is our river-rock finish,

that nice light gray tones. Kevin

Okay.

Shawn

We also put in a backboard here, so just kind of give it more of a built-in look.

Kevin

So hanging and stackable clothes there, looks like we've got a drawer system going in here.

Shawn

Exactly, so Derek is kind of finishing up on the final touches here, but we have a his-and-her drawer set down below.

Kevin

Yep. We still got some boxes to go in, and the hardware, did you guys give us this, or did our homeowner pick it?

Shawn

We gave that to you.

Kevin

Okay, so I know our homeowner is thinking about what he needs for the closet doors as well as some entryways. All right. You got a little bit more work to do.

I will let you get back to it. Shawn

Appreciate it.

Tom

All right, Carly. You know, this is a mid-century-modern house, and you can see the trim detail is really nonexistent. It really looks really simple to do, but it's not. It takes some of the stress off of the carpenter when he has to do the trim because normally, you'd put a casing on here like this.

Okay. Tom

So we're putting some of the trim detail on the plaster. They have to be more exact with the trim that goes around it, and we've done it on all the doors and windows. On the baseboard you see in houses, you take a piece of baseboard, and you'd put it up against the wall.

Yeah. Tom

And you'd nail it off, but we don't want that detail here. We want the baseboard to end up flush with the wall surface also, so we have to fit it in between this little groove. The plasterer has already put the molding, the metal molding that they plastered to. We want to fit that in between that. We want to make the transition between the wood and the plaster. We want to put a little bit of a rabbet cut in there, or some people would call it a dado, but that's just to give it a little bit of a line so that you can see the difference.

Carly

Okay.

Tom

But also, by putting it in here, we have to allow for the different expansion and contraction from the wood and the wall. So the first thing we're going to do is, I'm going to take a piece of wood. So we're going to cut this little detail right here on the top of our molding with a router.

Okay. Tom

And that's called a rabbet. All right. Now, here's a piece of baseboard right here that's going to insert into that place. So what I've done is, I've held this down there, and I know that I have to scribe this line right off right here

in removing this wood. Carly

Okay.

Tom

To do that, I'm going to use my plane. Now, when using a plane, I want to run with the grain and not into the grain. So, I can see that the grain dives down like that. So if I took the plane, and I went into the grain the wrong way, it wants to dig in, and that could actually chip off a piece. So I take the plane, I turn it around, and now I'm going with the grain. So I'm going to hold my plane on an angle like that. I'm going to shave it, so I take more off of the bottom creating a slight bevel, bring it right down to the line. Now, we'll try it and see how it fits.

Okay. Tom

All right.

That fits right in there nice. Carly

Yeah.

Tom

Okay, so the next thing we need to do is cut the rabbet across the top, and I want to do that before I cut the length.

Carly

Why is that?

Tom

And I'll show you why right now. Also, you notice how I placed the plane when I left?

Yeah. Tom

I put it on its side. Don't get in the habit of using the plane and then dropping it down like that. This leading edge is so sharp and so thin that you could hit something and blunt it or make it dull, so to get the life out of the plane that you want,

get in the habit of doing that. Carly

Absolutely. Got it.

Tom

Okay. Now, we're ready to cut the rabbet across the top of our baseboard, and to do that, we're going to use a rabbeting bit right here in our router. So the rabbeting bit has a bearing, and it cuts a 1/2 inch deep if we want to go all the way. We control the depth of the way it cuts this way with this bearing right here, and we can change that by changing the size of the bearing.

Okay. Tom

Okay? In this case, I only want to cut a rabbet about 1/4 by maybe 3/16 inch, and I can control that with the depth and by the bearing.

Got it. Tom

The bearing is going to control it this way, and the depth is going to control it that way.

Carly

So how do you know what depth to set the stop at?

Tom

All right, so what I do is, I would take the router, and I would take a block of wood like this and hold it on the plate, slide it over, so the wood touches the bearing and push down until it stops. Now I'm going to lock the router in. What that does is that sets the top of that bit right there flush with the base of my router.

Okay. Tom

Now, I want to control the depth that it makes the cut. I'm going to use this spacer right here, and I'm going to hit one of these detents. It doesn't matter which one, but we'll use that one, and I've cut a filler that's 3/16 inch.

Carly

Which is the size that we want it to plunge into the wood?

Exactly. Carly

Okay.

Tom

So now I hold it right here against the stop, and I push this down. Hold it firm, not too tight.

Mm-hmm. Tom

Lock it in. Now, when I take that out, I've created a gap that's 3/16 inch. Now when I loosen up the router again, I push down that 3/16ths, and that's the depth of my cut. Okay?

Carly

Oh, okay. Mm-hmm.

Tom

All right. So you ready to do some routing?

Yes. Let's do it. Tom

I'm going to show you first why we didn't cut the board to length yet.

Okay. Tom

Now, you're going to take the router. You're going to make sure that it's loose. You're going to push down until it stops,

and you're going to lock it in. Carly

Okay.

Tom

Going to keep two hands on the router. You're going to push down here because you don't want the router to fall off.

Okay. Tom

All right? So take the router. There's your trigger, on, off, and I'm going to have you -- You're going to stand like this, and you're going to push it like that.

Okay. Tom

Okay? You could start about halfway and run it down. Now, keep it away from you, and take it off the plunge.

Carly

Yeah,

right. Tom

All right. Now, start it up. Don't plunge it. Don't plunge it. Start it up. Lock it in. Now, bring it out gently. Make sure you keep pressing down here to keep the router base flush. Now, we'll look at the cutter. Bring it down. Push down all the way until it stops. Now, lock it in tight because you don't want it to come back up. Now you're going to gently -- the router base flush and right along. Push it. Right along, gently push in. Push it right along. Okay, so you see how you made that little cut right there?

Yeah. Tom

If we had cut this board

to length... Carly

Oh, okay.

Tom

...you'd see that on the face, all right? So we need that extra material to run the bearing on.

Carly

Got it.

Tom

The first thing I want to do is, I want to square one in, so we can mark our length. Cut a square. Take it over to the wall, and we're going to mark our length. Take the square end and put it against the jamb on that side and then mark the length on this side. All right. Let's see how it fits. Put it into the opening. All right. Now, before I nail it off, I want to sand it all and then put it back into place.

Looks great. Tom

All right? And that's the detail we're looking for.

Bilo

So we've got a master toilet, which is a wall-hung toilet here...

Yep. Bilo

...three volume controls and the thermostatic valve with a rain head, another rain head and a handheld.

Kevin

Nice big shower, right?

Bilo

It is.

It's a curbless shower... Kevin

Oh, yeah. Look at that.

Bilo

...which we don't have any center drain due to the fact that we've got very short floor joists to get the curbless drain below us.

Kevin

Drain being where, over here?

Bilo

So now our drain has been -- We've gone to a wall drain which has helped us out.

Kevin

You can actually see. It is all pitched right up to this wall.

Bilo

Correct, so all the water will run this way and then should all make it down into this drain.

Kevin

Well, what the heck is a wall drain? I've never even heard of such a thing.

Bilo

Well, it's kind of similar to a linear drain that you'd see at the bottom, but instead of it falling into the floor, now we're going to fall into the wall

and dive into our trap... Kevin

Which is...

Bilo

...which is actually sitting inside the wall due to the fact that our floor joists are so low below us.

Kevin

Is that still exposed? Can we look at that?

Bilo

Yeah, right downstairs here.

Kevin

Okay. Let's go check that out because that's not something I haven't seen either.

Bilo

So down here in the powder room, Kevin, we can see the trap for the drain and the floor joists. So here is the body of the shower drain, which sits in this stud bay. We've recessed it, so it sits flush with the wall. Here is the mud bed and then the body of the drain. Mark waterproofed that to the mud bed, and you can see our floor joists right here and the drain that runs along to our 2-inch trap. Now, the 2-inch trap sits below our floor joists, but because of the wall drain, it's inside the stud bay, and we do not affect the shower on the other side of this wall, so we don't have to put recess or put a box of any sort to where the trap would be below the floor joists.

Kevin

So if that trap were in the center of that shower, what would you have to do?

Bilo

We'd end up having to box it in or drop the ceiling somehow.

Kevin

So that actually helps us as well as looking pretty good.

Bilo

It was perfect for this installation.

Kevin

And then how do you finish off that drain? What's the final look?

Bilo

There's a finished cover plate that Erik Ferrante is working on right now.

Kevin

I'll go check it out. Thanks, Kevin.

Bilo

Yes, sir.

Kevin

Hey,

Erik. Erik

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

So this is the cap to our wall drain?

Erik

This is it.

Kevin

What do you got going on here?

Erik

We're just going to put this last piece in.

Kevin

Into a -- What is that, a metal trough they give you?

Erik

Yep, yep. We have a metal-finish plate here that's going to insert into the drain body there.

Kevin

Ah, so that's the tile you've added.

Yep. Kevin

All right. Let's check it out. So it's like a linear drain where it actually fits in there, except obviously on the wall. How is that going to stay in place?

Erik

Well, behind the tile, there's -- The manufacturer supplies us with magnets...

Kevin

Oh, interesting. Okay.

Erik

...which coexist with the magnets behind the drain body itself.

Kevin

So you've added the tile, but you guys have taken the time to cut it, so it matches the pattern in the wall.

Beautiful. Erik

Yep, exactly.

Kevin

And this dimension right here, the opening set by you or the manufacturer?

Erik

The manufacturer gives us feet to put on this finish plate which is set at 3/8 inch off the floor.

Kevin

Right, well, that is pretty slick, you know? And if you're standing up looking down while you're taking a shower, you almost -- You don't see the drain at all.

Yep. Kevin

Very cool. All right. That's a first for me. Okay, so that stuff goes in pretty quickly, doesn't it?

Shawn

It does, absolutely.

Kevin

Looking good, and how do you give us that final finished, trimmed-out look?

Shawn

So over here on the corners here, we're going to put in the paper, so it's actually in the same finish as the river rock.

Kevin

Like, literally like a wallpaper?

Shawn

Yeah. It's a wallpaper. And then we'll tie in the side with some trim pieces. Down below, we'll do a toe pick.

Kevin

So we'll cover this space up right there?

Absolutely. Kevin

All right.

Shawn

And then up above, we're going to bring a shelf all the way to this window frame here, so we actually won't even see that ceiling.

Yeah. Shawn

And we'll pop a hole in there, so we'll have some recessed lighting really protruding into the cabinet space.

Kevin

Beautiful finished look and well organized, awesome.

Appreciate it. Kevin

Shawn, thank you.

Thank you. Kevin

Appreciate the help.

Shawn

Pleasure.

Tom

The white-oak floors are in, and they're beautiful, and they're prefinished. Unfortunately, the transition pieces like the nosing, the risers and the treads are not. So we have to match that finish, so we brought in a restoration expert, Wayne Towle, to show us how to do it. Hey, guys. Wayne, how are you?

Wayne

Good, Tommy. How are you?

Tom

Good, thanks.

This is Jim. Tom

Hi, Jim.

Good to see you. Tom

How are you? So I got to say, those floors up there are beautiful, and they're prefinished, but obviously, you've got to stain the stair treads and the transitions.

Wayne

Yes,

we do. Tom

So what do you got there?

Wayne

This is a piece of the prefinished floor.

Tom

So this has the finish on it?

Wayne

Correct.

Tom

I put it up against this with no finish. That looks pretty close to me, Wayne.

Wayne

Exactly, but watch this.

When you wet the wood. Tom

Oh.

Wayne

See how much darker it gets?

Tom

Yeah. It definitely gets...

Wayne

That's why we have to stain it a lighter color.

Tom

Stain it lighter?

Wayne

Correct, and to create this color, we're going to use a white-base stain, and here is the white-base stain. We'll be adding yellow ochre, French yellow ochre and raw umber.

Tom

Okay, so you're actually just going to do this by eye?

Wayne

Yes, and what we do is --

This is a step sample. Tom

Yep.

Wayne

So what we do is, we start here. Then we keep adding more color, more color until we hit it.

Tom

So that formula is made up by eye.

Correct. Tom

That's amazing. All right. Well, I'd like to see the process.

Let's see what happens. Wayne

So, Jim, if you'd...

Jim

Okay, so I'm just going to start with some white stain. So we're going to add a little raw umber to our mix.

Tom

Okay, so you just take a proportion,

and you're guessing right now. Jim

Exactly.

Tom

So you can tell by just looking at that as a liquid that you need more of a color?

Wayne

Sure.

Tom

That's definitely an eye because I don't think I could do that.

Chuckles

Jim

Let's add a little French yellow. And this is what just takes time because you're

just doing everything by eye. Tom

Right.

Jim

You don't want to shoot past the color.

Tom

Right. Now, this is a very small amount.

Right. Tom

So this is just so that you know that the three colors that you are using is going to be right?

Jim

Exactly.

Wayne

So that doesn't look too bad. So you can kind of see we're getting into that range.

Tom

Oh, yeah. I can start to see it.

Yeah. Wayne

And then the other thing we have to think about is the natural color of the wood because that's going to have a big role to play too.

Tom

So we're ready to start staining the treads?

Sure. Tom

All right. Let's see it. Now, I know it's always a challenge when you're trying to stain a board and match the color because the color of wood varies, the same species, the same board. Like, for example, you have some lighter colors here

and some darker ones right here. Wayne

Correct. So what we've done is, we've taken an average of the color, and we've stained and sealed this nosing and this tread.

Okay. Wayne

And as you can see,

it has a nice flow... Tom

Yeah.

Wayne

...through the dark and into the light.

Tom

It does. All right. So what's the next step that we need to do?

Wayne

So the next step is, Jim is going to start staining these treads.

Tom

Oh, perfect. Well, it's looking good. I got to say, you guys have your work cut out for you. There's a lot of stairs to do.

Kevin

It is time for a last-minute shopping trip, so we've come to a local hardware-locksmith store. Sunil, good to see you.

Sunil

Hi, Kevin. Good to see you too.

This is Dan. Kevin

Dan, nice to meet you.

Dan

Kevin,

pleasure. Kevin

Thanks for having us. So you are in the market for hardware?

Sunil

Yes, interior hardware, you know, including those for the closet doors, the tall doors in the bedrooms, as well as all the interiors, I guess, entry to the bedrooms, bathrooms, et cetera, et cetera.

Kevin

Where did you start?

Sunil

So we started with the handles for the closets. You know, we started online like everybody does these days, and, you know, we actually picked this model earlier. It looks pretty slick in picture, but when I felt it, it didn't have that good, you know, solid feel that I wanted, so after looking at, you know, the rest of them, I think we have chosen this model.

Kevin

So what are the options right here? This is what material?

Dan

This is a satin-nickel finish, which is actually what Sunil is going with.

Kevin

But just in this style here?

Dan

In this style. This is an oil-rubbed bronze.

Got you. Dan

And it comes in -- You can get up to an 18-inch pull...

Nice. Dan

...which I feel is

a very sturdy pull on a closet. Kevin

Okay,

so that's for the closets. Sunil

Yep.

Kevin

Also interior doors you're looking for?

Sunil

Exactly, yes. So, you know, we looked at knobs and levers. This was our top choice.

Kevin

That being a lever surrounded by knobs, right?

Sunil

Yep, exactly. So this was the lever we picked online, but again, this was very thin, almost bladelike, and didn't have a great feel when I, you know, tried to pull it. So we chose something that's somewhat different, and so these are the levers and knobs that we ultimately considered. I think, you know, I like this knob a lot although Neha wasn't into knobs that much. I think, ultimately, we're going to go with levers, and from the ones here, I think this one, I think, had the good, solid feel that I was going for. What do you think, Dan?

Dan

These three different types of levers that come in various different finishes and also different types of rosettes. So Sunil actually said he's going to go with the satin-nickel and square rosette shown right here.

Nice. Sunil

That's right. Yep.

Kevin

And have we thought about exterior hardware?

Dan

Oh, let me show you.

Kevin

What're you thinking?

Sunil

So this is the exterior door handle that we went with, and this is the latch. On the inside, it'll have this kind of a lever. For a dead bolt, though, instead of having a manual or mechanical one like this, we would like a digital one.

Kevin

Can you do that?

Dan

Yeah. I have them right over here. This is the lock that Sunil chose. It's an electronic dead bolt. This dead bolt could be used with your cell phone, eKey override or with the actual keypad itself.

Kevin

Mm-hmm. How does it work?

Dan

The way it works is, you would press the logo to lock it.

Kevin

Yeah.

Lock engaging

Dan

And then when unlocking it, you press the logo button again. The lights light up, and then you put in the code.

Kevin

Right.

Lock disengages

Kevin

Nice. Okay. So, Sunil, this is the one you're going with.

Sunil

Yep, exactly.

Kevin

We've got decisions on the interior. Are you ready to order everything we need?

Sunil

I think so. I think it's getting close.

Kevin

All -- It's getting very close, and you're ready to supply it for us, right?

Dan

I'm ready whenever you guys tell me.

Kevin

Wonderful. Thank you, Dan. I appreciate it. Thanks,

Sunil. Dan

Pleasure meeting you.

Sunil

Thank you,

again. Dun

Sunil, pleasure seeing you.

Kevin

Hey, Nathan. Hey, Bill.

Bill

Hey,

Kevin. Nathan

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

So your cabinetwork continues. You guys did the kitchen cabinets for us and now bathroom vanity it looks like?

Nathan

Yep, bathroom vanity, a high-tech one.

Kevin

Yeah. It's very high-tech. What is that, all aluminum?

Nathan

All aluminum. It's a modular unit, so they kind of pick their pieces, and they've built a great one to put in the master bath.

Kevin

How many pieces am I looking at here?

Nathan

Looking at six pieces. You got a big lower and a small upper, a small one between adjoined and another big and small.

Kevin

You guys have to sort of assemble it? It's going together right now?

Nathan

Exactly, like an ERECTOR Set. We're bolting this thing all together. We have ganging kits here.

We're just about finished up. Kevin

Okay.

Nathan

We got aluminum channels to hide this joint.

Kevin

So that's going to be sort of the trim feature when it's all said and done?

Exactly. Kevin

Beautiful. That just slides down there.

Nathan

Nice frosted-glass panels going everywhere.

Kevin

Like, here and here or such?

Nathan

Yep, these raw fronts are frosted glass, endcapped on the end with frosted glass as well.

Kevin

Whoo, fairly fancy. And why am I seeing outlets?

Nathan

It's a nice little...

Kevin

For plugs, I guess?

Nathan

...feature.

They have night-lights. Kevin

No kidding.

Nathan

So if they go in the bathroom at night,

it'll be a nice little glow. Kevin

It lights up right here.

Nathan

But also, they're going to have power coming in, so if they want to have a hairdryer or a curling iron in the drawer, they can have power right inside.

Kevin

Okay, so is this fully assembled, or do you guys got another couple to do?

Nathan

This is fully assembled, but we're just finishing tightening stuff up. We'll put these channels in.

Then we're going to bring it in. Kevin

All right. Got a little temporary shelf to rest it on?

Nathan

Yeah. It helps, though, quite a bit to have one of these to rest it on.

Kevin

So you still have to hang it and then trim it out with those drawer fronts, and what's the material for the top?

Nathan

Half-inch porcelain countertops.

Kevin

All right. So you guys got it hung on the wall, drawers going in. Almost ready for the countertop?

Ready to template. Kevin

Nice. How many more of these to do?

Nathan

We got three more bathrooms.

Kevin

All right, so plenty more work left to be done, plus, one way or another, our homeowners are moving in next week, which means next week, we are going to wrap up this project. So until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor...

I'm Nathan Gilbert. Bill

I'm Bill Gilbert.

Kevin

...for "This Old House" here in Brookline, Massachusetts.

All right. Nathan

You like them?

Kevin

It's a sleek look, I'll tell you.

Bill

Look at that.

Kevin

Next time on "This Old House," the year was 1957. Best-selling cars had tail fins, and Elvis was all shook up. That same year, this house made quite a splash, and 60 years later, the modern had worn off this mid-century, but after months of work, the luster returns. Today, we give this mid-century-modern home back to our homeowners. Tommy, a lot has happened to this house.

Tom

And look what we did. We more than doubled the size of it.

Kevin

Big changes outside and in.

Let's have a look. Tom

Absolutely.