This Old House

Kevin

Well, there it is,

Tommy. Tom

Let's check it out.

Kevin

After eight months, thousands of man-hours, and a lot of homeowners' sweat equity, our three-generation project is finally complete. And today we give this house back to the family. 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!

Tom

This one right here is right on.

Kevin

A family that paints together stays together. Nice job.

Richard

Where will a slab like this be used?

The money's in the detail. Richard

That is beautiful.

Kevin

Hi, there.

I'm Kevin O'Connor. Tom

And I'm Tom Silva.

Kevin

And welcome back to "This Old House" here in Newton, Massachusetts, where it is an exciting day as we wrap up this project.

Tom

Yes, that's right. Our project house is complete. And we're on our way to inspect the house and turn it back over to our homeowners Liz and Joe.

Kevin

Another good one, and interesting from a couple of aspects. The first is that Liz actually grew up in this house as a little girl, and when her mother passed away she left it to Joe and Liz,

so it's a family house. Tom

That's right. And we also made an in-law apartment at the top over the garage for Joe's parents to come and stay, and I guess they're gonna visit on a pretty regular basis.

Kevin

So we'll have three generations living in this house

throughout part of the year. Tom

Pretty nice.

Kevin

You know, it was a very tight budget, but despite that, we were able to add -- How many square feet, do you think?

Tom

1,000 to 1,100 square feet of living space.

Kevin

Right, and that's because Liz and Joe actually threw in and helped out quite a bit.

Tom

They worked hard, and they did a lot of little projects.

Kevin

One of my favorite aspects of this project was that we actually partnered with Mike Rowe and his foundation, which has been an inspiration to so many people and to us, and he helped us draw attention to the fact that so few young people are going into the building trades these days.

Tom

Well, you know what? It's getting harder and harder to find somebody to come and work on your house, let alone trying to build a house.

Kevin

Although we did find a few people.

Tom

We -- We did a nationwide search, and we had three apprentices that wanted to come and learn and work hard on the project, and they did. We always want to use the same sample whenever you're cutting anything.

Kevin

And I think they actually enjoyed working

Laughs

Kevin

And I think they learned a lot, too.

Tom

Well, you know what? I enjoyed working with them, 'cause it was great to see their enthusiasm and how much they wanted to work and how much they wanted to learn.

Kevin

All right, there it is. Looking good,

Tommy. Tom

Yes, it does.

Kevin

What do you say we check that out?

Tom

Let's check it out.

Kevin

Wow, the front looks really good.

Tom

Yeah. There's a couple of things out back. I want to check in with Charlie and make sure they get taken care of. Hi,

Liz. Liz

Hey, guys! How are you?

Tom

Good.

The place is looking great. Liz

Thank you.

Kevin

It's a big day for you guys, huh?

It sure is. Tom

All right, well, I got to check on some things out back.

I'll catch you guys later. Liz

All right.

Kevin

But I'm gonna stay with you and get the tour. And let's start in the front room, 'cause this is where it all started eight months ago. You did not do a lot to this room.

Liz

Nope. Our strange fireplace is still here. You can see we took the chimney out, so it's purely decorative, but we stripped off all the paint, and I'm gonna do a little painting in this area here.

Kevin

Not strange anymore. I questioned that decision to keep it, but seeing it stripped, it looks terrific. And you also stripped the top rail and the newel-post here of the balustrade.

Liz

Yep.

Kevin

And we found walnut underneath.

Liz

Yep, and we kept it dark when we restrained it. I think you can still see the grain in there, but I love it. It is beautiful.

Kevin

Great that we can save those original details. This half wall -- not original, and you were thinking of changing it out.

Liz

Phase two.

Everyone has a budget. Liz

Yep.

Kevin

Original floors were saved. They look terrific. Windows could not be, but now we've got some new inserts --

super-efficient. Liz

Right. It's a lot warmer in here, and we don't have any lead.

Okay. Liz

Yeah.

Kevin

And everything is furnished beautifully. You've got something in every corner.

Liz

Yep. Some of it's ours. Some of it is thanks to Chloe, our interior designer on our team. And we have a lot of tough decisions to make

and a lot of good ideas. Kevin

All right. Well, I think the smile says it all, so I'm gonna go check to see if Joe's smiling, as well.

Liz

Great.

Norm

Hey, Charlie. There you are.

Charlie

Hey, Norm.

Norm

Putting the finishing touches on Liz's old bedroom?

We are. Norm

Well, you know, when we got here, there was a closet here, but it came from this wall, which was always there -- only about 16 inches. There's no way that's gonna work, so I see you moved the wall out for a proper closet.

Charlie

We did, and what we did was, we reframed a whole new closet wall, which gave us our depth, and in the process of that, taking it down, there was an old chimney in here. We removed that, and by removing that, Liz had a little special request. We have a pass-through door. The kids can always come back and forth to see each other.

Norm

The kids are gonna love that.

Charlie

And we removed the built-ins.

Norm

Right, and that made the bedroom a little bit bigger.

Charlie

Yep. And the only change in this bedroom is, we removed a window and made the closet deeper. And down here, we converted the little bedroom into a laundry.

Norm

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Charlie

And this is the master suite above the family room.

Norm

Right. And, you know, this door -- This was an old door that we repurposed. Joe, the homeowner, helped me hang in a new jamb. You know, this is a great room.

Plenty of light with all these windows, and I love this hard pine floor.

Charlie

We wanted to match the old floors up here.

Norm

Mm-hmm. Now in here is where I worked with the apprentices to build this wall that actually defines the master bath. And in the master bath, we have this claw-foot tub, which was totally refurbished, but the fixtures here and at the vanity and the shower are all brand-new.

Charlie

They are. And Tommy and Kevin used rigid foam to build a bench, as well as use it on the floor system.

Norm

Right, and these tile floors have radiant heat underneath, which is really nice.

Charlie

Oh, it's gonna keep their toes nice and warm.

Norm

I think so. Our homeowners are gonna enjoy this new, cozy space.

Charlie

Oh, they're gonna love it.

Kevin

One goal for Joe and Liz is to make the house more comfortable for guests -- in particular, Joe's parents, who want to spend more time with the grandkids. And that explains this in-law suite up here above the garage. Hey,

Joe. Joe

Hey, Kevin.

Good to see you. Kevin

Yeah.

Joe

I want you to meet my parents. This is my mom, Sue, and my dad, Joe.

Kevin

Nice to met you guys. Pleasure. And you got some pretty nice space here, huh?

Sue

This is so great. We're so excited.

Kevin

So, where are you coming from when you visit?

South Jersey. Kevin

Ah. So not the kind of trip you can just do back and forth?

Joe Sr.

No,

it's a long ride. Kevin

Okay.

Sue

Yeah. So it's nice to be able to know, when we do drive up here, that we can stay for a little while.

Kevin

Yeah, that's good. Good for the grandkids, good for you guys, and for you, too.

Joe

Good for us, too, yeah. We can send the grandkids up here, and Liz and I can go out to dinner, and who knows when we'll come back?

Kevin

The truth comes out, right? Well, he made you some nice space.

Joe

Yeah, so, we have a nice sitting area on this side, we have a kitchenette with a sink and some cabinets over there, and then we have a bedroom on this side.

Kevin

Well, you got some nice, high ceilings for a room above a garage. A private sleeping space is gonna be good for you guys. And what a long way from that little, tiny one-car garage that was originally here.

Joe

Yeah, we always knew that garage had to come down, and we spent a while trying to figure out where we could put some new space, and we ended up with over the new garage.

Kevin

Which is perfect, right?

And attached to the house. Joe

Yep. So, it's attached to the house. We have a nice, big bedroom over here.

We have a full bath. Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Joe

We have a closet tucked in over here.

Kevin

And so, how long do you think you guys will spend here once you're retired?

Joe Sr.

We're hoping for two to three months.

Kevin

Oh. So you'll really get some use out of it.

Joe Sr.

Yeah. We plan to spend as much as we can.

Kevin

That's got to be very exciting.

Sue

Oh, it's so exciting. I mean, I have friends that have grandchildren that would be so happy to have a space like this where they could spend extended time with their kids and grandkids.

It's great. Kevin

Nothing wrong with three generations under one roof.

Joe

Yeah, we're really excited about it.

Kevin

All right. Well, good for you. And we'll see you at the wrap party?

Uh-huh. Sue

We'll be there.

Norm

Hey,

Roger. Roger

Morning, Norm.

Norm

You know, for a small lot, you did a lot of landscaping here.

Roger

A lot, but, as usual, the sod makes the instant impact, doesn't it?

Norm

It sure does.

Roger

We were able to get it down and laid out, and it looks really good, and we got it done before the snow came.

Norm

Anything special about this grass?

Roger

This is a really new type of grass. It just uses less water, less pesticides, less herbicides. It's gonna be just a great lawn for these people.

Norm

And you can put it down in the winter.

Roger

Put it down in the winter. We always do. It's dormant. It'll be fine in the spring.

All right. Roger

Next to it, we have -- Remember the concrete walk that was here, all broken up?

Yeah. Roger

Took it out, and we put in these concrete pavers, and they're made to look just like brick.

Norm

Yeah,

they look great. Roger

Came out good.

Nice and wide in the front. Norm

Mm-hmm.

Roger

Down here on the corner, we had that big, old gnarly maple tree. Do you remember the one?

Norm

Oh, I remember that, when you took it down.

Roger

We came out, and we took the tree down, and now we've put in three fruit trees here -- two apples and a peach.

Norm

Oh, so they'll have fresh fruit out here eventually.

Roger

They'll have fresh fruit. Let's take a look in the backyard. Norm, remember Liz had some roses of her mother's she wanted to save? Well, that's what's in this bed here.

You can see them. They look a little scraggly right now.

Norm

Oh, yeah.

Roger

Next year, they should blossom out, be 18 to 24 inches tall. If you wanted to, you could eventually train them

right up on the fence. Norm

That would be really nice.

Roger

The other side, we have some more planting. There's a rhododendron, hydrangea, some grasses. The tall tree behind you is a lilac we saved from the job.

Norm

And that was really important for Liz.

Roger

But over here is the queen of the yard right here. This birch tree is absolutely beautiful. Our arborist pruned it, put a cable in it. It should be good for several years.

Norm

Back here, we have a nice-sized deck that Liz and I installed, the decking material. It's nice to work with the homeowner. And I see you used the same pavers back here as you did out front.

Roger

Figured they worked out front, they'll work out back.

Norm

All right.

Roger

Now, Norm, underneath this driveway, we had a huge excavation, and we put in eight dry well tanks that hold 300 gallons apiece. We're storing 2,400 gallons of water. What that does, it catches all the water that comes off the gutters and absorbs it into the ground so we have no runoff at all.

Norm

That's great.

Roger

Now, these stone walls were brought in sections. They were made offsite, brought in, and set, and they set all these walls in a half a day.

Norm

Prefab stone walls?

Roger

Pretty amazing.

Norm

That's pretty cool. Well, you know, Liz and Joe are gonna be very happy with everything you've done, especially when the warm weather gets here.

It's gonna be nice. Norm

It will be.

Kevin

Tommy, this porch is gonna make a great first impression to anyone who comes to the house.

Tom

Oh, yeah. I mean, let's face it. It's the first thing you see when you drive up to the house. The porch is really impressive.

Kevin

Although it took a lot of work.

Tom

It was a lot of work, and it wasn't in the budget at all. I mean, we had to put new footings in, we had to reframe all of this lower section here. We were able to save the roof, but new columns, new stairs, and new railings.

Kevin

And we got a break, because we were able to save the original railing around the perimeter.

It's a little short for code. Tom

Right. Well, the building inspector signed off on the approval of that. Because it's an "old" house, you can do it.

Kevin

Yeah, and as you said, it was not in the budget, so if it wasn't for the help of the apprentices...

Tom

It never would have happened.

Kevin

Well, guess who's coming back.

Tom

Who?

Kevin

Check this out. Huh?

Look at this. Tom

Hey, guys. How are you?

Kevin

A little reunion, huh?

Tom

Good to see you.

Kevin

Nathan, Bailey, Austin. Welcome back, guys.

Austin

Thank you. We're glad to be here.

Kevin

Yeah, well, we're glad to have you. So, how about an update? What have you guys been up to since you stopped working with us?

Austin

Well, I mean, before I came to work with you guys, I was in high school. I literally just graduated and then got on a plane the next day. When I went back home, I started up college. But other than school, I've been in the workshop a bit, working on a TV stand that my mother's been waiting on for who knows how long.

We've had this flat-screen TV sitting on the floor of our living room, so...

Another good project. Austin

Yeah.

I like it. Tom

Great project.

Kevin

So, hitting the books and keeping busy in the shop.

Austin

Just trying to stay out of trouble.

Kevin

Awesome, all right. And, Bailey, what about you?

Bailey

Back to school and working, as usual. I've been doing a lot of drafting this semester, and I actually just designed a whole house and handed it in as my final yesterday.

Tom

That's great.

Kevin

You're gonna be working for her soon, Tommy.

Tom

Maybe.

Laughter

Kevin

And, Nathan, what about you?

Nathan

Just staying busy. Went right back to work -- a couple of big trim jobs, putting in a few kitchens. I actually just got married a few weeks ago, and we bought a house, an old house, so it's keeping me real busy.

Tom

That'll keep you busy. And congratulations.

Nathan

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Kevin

Old house, new wife. That's terrific. So, what do you guys think of the house? You've had a look around?

Nathan

Looks fantastic.

Bailey

It looks awesome. It's great to see drywall on the walls now.

Austin

I guess it's safe to say we could put our signature on it, and it'll be here for a very long time.

Kevin

Feel good to be part of it?

Bailey

Yeah,

absolutely. Tom

It will be here forever. You guys did a great job, and thanks for all the work that you did on this project.

Thanks for having us. Kevin

Oh, yeah. Well, hey, don't go anywhere. Stick around for the wrap party. Right now, though, I got to go in and see Richard,

so if you'll excuse me... Tom

Did you guys take a walk through the house? Did you see upstairs?

Nathan

Yeah. It looks fantastic.

Bailey

It looks great.

Richard

A little nippy out there, huh?

Kevin

It is cold.

Richard

Well, it's nice and comfy in here now.

Kevin

Yeah, it is, thanks to the new heating system.

Richard

That's right. Now, there was a big clunker of a system, and it had this old return right here. Now, we didn't refinish the floors, so we just left it. We abandoned it, but we found new registers that look old connected to our new system.

That is a nice match. Richard

Let me show you. So, quite the transformation down here, Kevin. Remember that big, old furnace we had right here? This was originally coal fire then it went to gas, big old, duct work everywhere, and we finally made it all go away.

Kevin

So, half of this space used to be finished. Unfortunately, we found so much mold

that it came out... Richard

That's right.

Kevin

...but with this gone, this is a great space

to refinish. Richard

That's right.

Kevin

And the chimney went away.

Richard

That's right. Thanks to Mike Rowe, actually. So, here's our command center right here. Instead of having individual gas-fired furnaces, we have one super efficient gas-fired condensing boiler.

It squeezes every bit of the heat out of it -- so efficient that it can't go and vent into a chimney, so it goes to outside right here.

Kevin

Making hot water for the whole house.

Richard

Doing everything. So, here's a super-smart pump right here pushing water up and over to one of our air handlers right here. So water goes through this coil, air blows across, it gets heated. You can see this refrigerant line right here in the summer, we can use it to take heat out of the building, connects to a condenser outside for air conditioning.

So we end up with four zones in the building right here. We also used this heated water to make water for the faucets for the whole building. So now we've made this building super efficient, we made it really tight, but we also have to think about one thing, important thing -- fresh air into the building. Let me show you.

So, this box is called a heat-recovery ventilator. It's pretty straightforward on the inside. It has a couple of different fans right here, and it has a core. Now, the exhaust from the kitchen and the bathroom comes right here.

Now, this is gonna be filled with moisture and smells and everything else, and that pushes down across that heat exchanger and gets sent to outside. But at the very same time, this fan is bringing air in from outside. Now, in the winter that'll be really cold. Now it passes down through that core in the opposing direction, and the heat that would've left the building actually gets picked up by the cold air here, and now, right here, is fresh pre-tempered air going right into the duct system.

Kevin

And this is pretty much standard fare for you these days.

Richard

Right, and it really should be code everywhere as we insulate these buildings tighter and tighter and tighter. In Canada and in many Northern states, it is required.

And it's good to have. Richard

Yeah.

Kevin

And we also put some radiant in the house.

Richard

Yeah, you were a good help with that. So, here in the garage we did the radiant with the grid system, put the tubing down. They have a beautiful floor here. The lines come back to right here to a manifold.

These two lines go all the way back to our boilers -- nice mixing value there to put the right temperature here.

Kevin

Nice for this space, but we have living space above, so nice for there, too.

Richard

Right, and for the cars, too. So, we ended up with three air handlers in the building. One we saw in the main house for the whole first floor, another one up in the attic -- will down-feed to the whole second floor -- and the last one we stuck right here in this closet. Now, we're off a garage -- We had to make sure this is a tight, sealed room.

So you can see a perfectly installed air handler. Here's our return air insulated, comes back through a filter right here. That's important. We've got refrigerant line right here with a coil that cools the air, comes up to a hot water coil here.

We're gonna end up with three -- actually four zones total. This place will be comfortable for years to come.

Kevin

The most comfortable it's been in 125 years.

For sure. Kevin

Nice job, Richard.

Tom

Hey,

Joe. Joe

Hey, Tommy.

Good to see ya. Tom

Good to see you. Coming in the new back door off the family room with this new,

added space here... Joe

Yeah.

Tom

...it's

great. Joe

Yeah, we love this.

Tom

The tile rug -- I like that.

Joe

Yeah, so this was a cement tile. If you remember, we designed it with a computer -- we really get the pattern and the colors exactly the way we wanted to, and it came out great.

We love this. Tom

Really great. They say computers are good for that.

Joe

They're good for something.

Tom

And you have this new space over here.

Joe

Yeah, so the architect made a great use of this -- this new space. We have a little bench here where you can sit and change your shoes.

Yeah. Joe

Then we have this nice, little coat closet over here.

Tom

Nice and low -- I like the idea of putting the shelf down low since you can put natural light with this window here, and Liz did a beautiful job on that window.

Joe

Yeah, one day she's out back building a deck, and the next day she's in here building a beautiful window like this.

Tom

You guys did a lot, and you worked hard.

Joe

Yeah,

we did. Tom

Yep.

Joe

And then we also have a new powder room over here. We used to have a full bath down here, but we shrunk it down, got some space back.

Mm-hmm. Joe

And we used the same cement tile in the floor in there that we used out here.

Tom

Yeah, it looks great. And, of course, the family room, I remember how bad that was. The flow was crooked, it had a bounce to it, and that little transition from the family room into the dining room -- just a little tripping point.

Joe

We'd always trip on it, yeah.

Tom

Well, we ripped it all out, restructured the floor, made it stiffer, stronger, raised the height of the walls and flattened the ceiling for the new bedroom upstairs. And in the corner we framed and put a big concrete slab in for your wood stove.

Joe

Yeah, that thing's not going anywhere.

Tom

No, we don't want it to fall into the basement. And Liz did a beautiful job helping Mark with the tile.

Joe

Yeah, she did, and I even helped install the stove pipe and the chimney pipe and was all the way up on the roof.

Tom

Obviously, you're not afraid of heights.

Joe

Not anymore!

Tom

Nice job, Joe.

Joe

Thanks,

Tommy. Tom

Well, the place is really

looking great. Joe

Thank you. We love it.

Liz

And here we have the dining room, which is pretty much the same as it was when I was a little kid. We've got the China cabinets still here, all the China made it. Nothing broke. Just a little dusty.

Kevin

The fact that you made us keep the China in the cabinet during the renovation, that was nerve-wracking.

Yeah. Kevin

So, that cabinet never moved, this one came out, but is now back in the corner, so not a bunch of changes here. But the big change is opening up the kitchen and taking down this wall.

Liz

Yes. I love this kitchen. This is one of my favorite rooms. One thing we knew we wanted was a large island countertop.

This is reclaimed oak from a barn in Ohio that Jeff Sweenor made us, and I absolutely love it. We've got the quartz countertop for durability, and here we have Fortuna, the goddess of fortune

on our fireback. Kevin

Oh, that's who that is!

Liz

Yep. She stands on a ball, and her cloak waves in the wind, and you never know if you're gonna get good luck or bad luck. She's certainly given us a lot of good luck.

Kevin

A good design choice, and inspired as well.

Yep. Kevin

Another rustic touch with this detail around the hood, and the subway tile, always a classic choice.

Liz

Yeah, a little bit of a handmade look to it.

Kevin

And you've got the diamond window, which you guys found, right?

Liz

Yep. We got it from the salvage yard, and it's supposed to match the existing diamond windows.

Kevin

It brings sunlight in from that wall, but you've got this bank of windows to bring more light in. This is the extra five or six feet of the bump out.

Mm-hmm. Kevin

Center sink.

Liz

Yep. You can wash a baby in here.

Kevin

Perfect for your situation. And more of the reclaimed oak, in this case, open shelving, which is a popular look these days.

Mm-hmm. Kevin

You guys got a lot

of reclaim materials... Liz

Yes, we love it.

Kevin

...including the floorboards that you had Charlie pull up and save I think from this part of the house here...

Yep. Kevin

...and turn it into

this barn door. Liz

I love this barn door. I think all the colors bring in all the colors in the house, and I think of Charlie every time I open it.

Kevin

Aww, that's nice, and it does a pretty good job of hiding a hard-working pantry as well. So, this is a long way from the old kitchen, which was a lot smaller, darker, it had that dated look, those old cabinets. I'd say you guys nailed it.

Liz

Thank you. I just -- I love this kitchen. I can't wait until I can cook a meal in here.

Kevin

Well, you can start. I think the house is done.

Liz

Well, there's one other thing we need to do. This way. You know how much this house means to my family, my parents, my mom, and hopefully future generations, so we figured we'd do something kind of fun and put a time capsule in the newel-post.

Kevin

Oh, what a great sentiment.

Joe

Yeah. So, we have some old pictures of the house in here going back to the '30s, we have some pictures of the house under construction, some pictures of Liz's family, some pictures of our family, some coins and other things that are important to us, and we're hoping that we can put them in there and then someday have our grandkids or our great grandkids find them here.

Tom

You're gonna have to have a treasure map

so somebody can find them. Joe

Yeah, I know.

Kevin

Of course Charlie's got it engineered so it fits.

Charlie

Got some magnets here. It was a pleasure working with both of you, and it was a great team effort, and I'm gonna miss both you guys.

Joe

We're gonna miss you, too, Charlie.

Tom

Well, I got to say, out of all the homeowners that we've worked with over the years, you guys really did your fair share of helping out.

Liz

We really can't thank you enough. We love this house.

Kevin

Well,

that is great. Tom

It's a great house.

Kevin

And look at this -- The whole gang is here. So that is a wrap on another great project, but we will be back with two new houses in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, and that's coming up next time. So until then --

I'm Charlie Silva. Tom

I'm Tom Silva.

I'm Roger Cook. Richard

I'm Rich Trethewey.

I'm Norm Abram. Liz

I'm Liz Delfino.

I'm Joe Delfino. Kevin

And I'm Kevin O'Connor for a wrap here in Newton for "This Old House." So what do you guys say we have a party?

Cheers and applause

I'm Joe Delfino. Kevin

Kevin

The completion of a construction project is usually cause for celebration. Today, we have some sad news. After filming the final episode of our Newton project, our friend and young apprentice Austin Wilson unexpectedly passed away. Austin had a pre-existing medical condition, and he died in his sleep.

He was just 18 years old. When he joined our team a year ago, Austin immediately became part of the "This Old House" family. He was hardworking, he was good-natured, and he was up for any challenge that we threw at him. We are obviously devastated by his passing, and our love goes out to his family.

Austin, our young friend, you will be missed. Next time on "This Old House"... How about this, huh? Charleston style.

In a city that was invaded once by the British, once by the Union, and now by tourists, we'll try to restore the elegance to this Charleston single house...

Scott

It's going to take a lot of work, but we're really looking forward to it.

Kevin

...and bring a family back to this home in the historic district.

Tom

There's a hole in the floor. There's a hole in the sidewall up there.

The ceiling's all fallen down. Judith

Yeah.

It's really in tough shape. Judith

It is.

Norm

That's next time on "This Old House."