Ask This Old House

Kevin

Today on "Ask This Old House"...

Lucy

We use this room a lot. Right now, we have this chair rail, but we really want to dress up the room -- maybe some wainscoting or paneling.

Kevin

We'll meet with a NASA astronaut to see some the tools that he uses in space.

Mike

Well, we got the ratchet wrench, very simple thing except it's designed to go in space, has a tether. All our tools are tethered to us so we don't let a tool float away. That would be bad.

Richard

And this homeowner is spending a ton of money to get a very small amount of hot water at his faucets. I'm installing a solution that will give him plenty of hot water and save him a lot.

Tom

Hi, Lucy and Steve. How are you?

Lucy

Hi, Tom. Welcome to Cincinnati.

Tom

Well, thank you. It's nice to be here. You know, in 15 years, this is the first time we've been here.

Lucy

Well, what took you so long?

Tom

I was just waiting for your e-mail.

Lucy

Well, we're glad you're here.

Tom

This is a pretty house. I really like it. How old is it?

Steve

It's 67 years old.

Tom

Well, it looks like it's in great shape. You take good care of it. Wow. This is a wide-open space.

Nice living room. Lucy

Thanks. Well, we've done some painting.

Tom

Yeah, I like your colors. And I like this mantel. This is the focus of the room here, the center point. And the mantel is pretty typical of the period with this dentil and the curve here and a fireplace insert.

Lucy

Yeah, I'm not crazy about that insert and how it looks.

Tom

Yeah, well, they do generate a lot of heat.

Steve

I like it.

Tom

Yeah, well, there's something to say about a nice fire in an open fireplace.

Yeah. Tom

And your dining room -- A lot of people don't use dining rooms as dining rooms these days.

Lucy

You know, we do. We use this room a lot. Right now, we have this chair rail, but we really want to dress up the room -- maybe some wainscoting or paneling.

Tom

Yeah, well, you can definitely do that. A lot of people take the two parts of the wall under the chair rail and maybe paint that a different shade or a different color. And that's the fastest and easiest way to do it. But you're right.

Lots of times, you'll see beadboard around the room or a stile and a rail system, like a cabinet door. But to do that now would really make a mess, and it'd cost a lot of money. But I have an idea where I think we can dress this up, give you an illusion of a stile and a rail system. It won't cost much money, and it won't make a big mess.

Sounds great. Tom

All right. Let me get some tools, and we can get started. All right, now, I want to make up a wainscoting that would run around your room to make it look like a stile and a rail system. And let me show you what I mean by that.

Okay. Tom

If we take a stile and a rail system like this, where we have your stiles and your rails and another piece across the top like that, then you would take and infill it with a piece of molding. And that would really dress up the wall. But it's a lot of work, and it can be very messy. So, what I want to do is I want to use a molding like this.

This is actually called a base cap molding, and it would go on top of a piece of wood

like that and dress up the room. Lucy

Okay.

Tom

All right? But I thought if we take our base cap molding and make a picture frame out of it like this and mount it on the wall, and let's say I'll space it out the size of a style or a rail like that. And by removing the wood, I can let the wall be the stile and the rail and also the panel. What do you think of that?

Lucy

Looks great.

Steve

Yeah,

absolutely. Tom

Good. Now, we know the height of our frame will be consistent around the room because the space is equal from the top of the baseboard to the end of the side of the molding. What we need to do is find the length of our frame. Because each wall is a different size, we want to divide it up so we can get our equal sides.

Okay. Steve

Great.

Tom

All right, let's get going. We can take some measurements. All right. You got it tight there?

Lucy

Yep.

Tom

Okay, 154 1/2. Good. Now, we'll check this one. All right, Lucy, we set up a workshop outside to keep the dust down in the house.

We'll make the mess out here. Lucy

Great.

Tom

We got a saw and a little workbench to work with.

Lucy

Good.

Tom

Okay, so, now, the first thing we want to do is we've divided up the room, and we know that we need 14 panels around the room all the same height, which means we're gonna need 28 sides.

Okay. Tom

Now what I've done is I've set my saw up at a 45-degree angle. We're gonna make our first cut. Okay, so, now I have my stop set up over here the length that we need. So, I don't have to continually turn the saw every time I want to make a left and a right-hand cut, I'm gonna leave it in this position.

And I'm gonna go slightly by our mark. And I'm gonna make another cut. So, now I hold the molding tight to the saw, make another cut. We're gonna slide that out of the way.

We're gonna do it again. Slightly past our stop, hold it tight, make another cut. There's two. Now we slide it past just a little bit.

Make another cut. All right, you want to try it?

Lucy

Sure.

Tom

All right, slide down the piece, cut another one. All right, good. Now that's our last piece cut roughly to height for our uprights. Now what I need to do is cut the other angle, 45 degrees, and also cut the height for each piece.

First thing we do is we turn the saw in the other direction at 45 degrees. Next thing is I've set this stop right here. I pull that down. And that gives us the height that we needed from the long point of each of the 45s.

All right, so, we hold it into position like this, we hold it tight to the saw, and we make a cut. That's the length we need, and they'll all be exactly the same. All right, here we go. We've got all of our vertical pieces cut.

We've also divided up each section of the wall equally, and we know the lengths for our horizontals. So, we have two of those cut for the long wall. And to put them together, we're just gonna take some wood glue. Put it in the joint before we nail it.

We'll take our horizontal and our vertical piece. Make it tight. Hold it, and we're gonna use a headless nail to tack the two pieces together. All right, let's grab them, and get them on the wall.

I'm gonna use a piece of one-by-four as a gauge block to set my height off the baseboard and for the spacing between each panel. All right, guys, what do you think?

Lucy

It looks great -- even better than we imagined.

Tom

It's quite a transformation.

Steve

It looks awesome. We love it.

Tom

Well, all right. Now, remember -- These moldings are just primed, so you're gonna have to do a little bit of sanding, fill in any holes. And I really want you to take some caulking and fill the gaps on the outside and the inside because the plaster has some imperfections in it. All right, do you have any idea what you're gonna do about colors?

Lucy

I think we're gonna do white on the bottom and then a darker blue on the top.

Tom

Oh, that sounds nice. I hope you'll send me some pictures.

Lucy

Of course. Thanks for coming to Cincinnati.

Tom

Well,

thanks for having me. Lucy

Of course.

Thank you. Tom

All right, bye-bye.

Kevin

Wow. That is great, Tommy. And short dollars too, right? I mean, there's not much material there.

Tom

We transformed that whole wainscoting for under $100.

Kevin

So, not that much money and something anybody can do in a weekend.

Tom

Well,

Laughs

not anybody. Kevin

Most people. So, how did it turn out? Did they paint it? Have you heard back from them?

Tom

They did paint it. Take a look.

Kevin

Wow, that looks amazing, huge transformation. Nice job, Tommy. We've always tried to inspire the next generation of young people to work with their hands. And along the way, we've found some unexpected allies in that endeavor.

And one of them is a NASA astronaut who has made it to the International Space Station on two missions, Captain Mike Foreman. Captain Foreman, nice to meet you.

Mike

Great to meet you, Kevin.

Thanks for coming up. Mike

Pleasure to be here.

Kevin

Yeah, well, we're glad to have you.

Mike

Well, it's been a dream of mine to come and meet you on this show.

Kevin

For a guy who's been to space, that says something. So, we appreciate that. You always wanted to be a astronaut?

Mike

I wanted to be an astronaut since I was 8 years old growing up in Ohio. And I set my goal to become a naval aviator. I did that. I became a Navy pilot,

a test pilot... Kevin

Wow.

Mike

...and then went on to NASA after eight attempts at applying to NASA.

Kevin

It took eight applications? Wow.

Mike

For me. Some people make it a little bit quicker in one application. I went the harder route with eight applications and finally got selected. So, one of my messages to kids today is persevere.

Don't give up when you have a goal. Go for it. Keep working.

Kevin

Go for it. It might get you into space.

Mike

It might get you into space.

Kevin

So, it's a little difficult to imagine sort of an astronaut as a tool guy. But, I mean, you guys actually use these things all the time.

Mike

Right. I grew up kind of a tool guy. Hanging around my dad, he had a hobby. Carpentry was his hobby.

And I worked with him in the basement doing some projects. And I continued with the tools. You know, growing up, continued to work in my garage. And it's a great skill applicable to being an astronaut because NASA likes guys that know how to work with their hands, too.

Kevin

I bet they do 'cause, I mean, look at some of the tools you've got. These are what you guys have used on the International Space Station. You brought them to us. What are they?

Well, we got a very basic ratchet wrench here. Nothing too exciting except it was designed to go in space -- 7/16ths ratchet. Everything on the space station, basically, is 7/16ths. So, we don't have to go to the tool bag for different sizes of ratchets.

Everything is tethered, including myself. We're floating out there. We're weightless in space. So, we got to make sure everything stays with us.

Wow. So, literally just a hand ratchet as you guys are repairing or adding on to the space station. And then here's the big guy. This is a pistol grip tool.

We call it PGT. And this thing is, basically, a power bolt driver. You can grab hold of it. In space, it's weightless.

Here, it weighs close to 20 pounds, I think. Boy, it sure does, right?

Mike

It's a little hefty.

Kevin

This is one tool that Tommy and Norm don't have.

Right. Kevin

That is tremendous.

Mike

I'm gonna make sure I have to leave with that, also.

Chuckles

Kevin

Okay. That is remarkable. And I love the fact, I mean, ultimately just 7/16ths -- You guys are bolting and unbolting things to the space station.

Mike

Right. We're working on the outside of the space station. In my two shuttle missions, they were both assembly missions. So, that was back when we were building the space station.

Now the guys up there are maintaining the space station, primarily. So, when something fails, they put on the suits, they go outside, fix it, replace a box with the same bolt driver, unbolt the box, put the replacement in, fix it.

Kevin

So, persistence helps you get there. But once you're there -- I don't know. You grew up with the tools, maybe a mechanically inclined mind. Does that help?

Is it essential?

Mike

Well, I think it's essential for an astronaut to have a technical background. My degrees are in engineering. So, I have an engineering background, but, you know, NASA's looking for people that can work with their hands, also. And that's another message to kids today is that, you know, pick up a skill.

You know, you might be going to college, but be able to do something with your hands, as well. Work on your car. Build something in the garage.

Kevin

Right. That's tremendous. Did you think when you were, I don't know, working with your dad in the garage as a small boy, maybe picking up his screw gun, that you might be doing similar things in outer space?

Mike

Well, I had that dream. But frankly, I was doubtful that it would ever happen for me. But I just hung in there and lucked out.

Kevin

Tremendous. Well, we appreciate you bringing the tools, joining us. We appreciate your service, as well. So,

thank you for coming. Mike

Thanks, Kevin.

Kevin

Pleasure. This is tremendous. Awesome.

Richard

Good morning. Andy?

Andy

Yeah,

good morning. Richard

Nice to see you.

Andy

You,

too. Richard

Beautiful house.

Thank you. Thank you. Richard

How long you been here?

Andy

Been here for about 2 years.

Richard

Oh, you got some kids?

Andy

We do. We have two little boys under the age of 4.

Richard

Okay, you know, I used to have two little boys. And now, I have two really grown men. It goes by fast.

Andy

I believe it. I believe it. Well, the kids are the reason that I wrote you. We do bath time with the boys.

When we try to fill the tub, it starts out hot. By the time it's full, it's lukewarm. I just can't get a full tub of hot water.

Richard

All right, let's see. So, you heat the house with steam radiators.

Andy

We do.

Richard

Let's check how you make hot water.

Andy

Sure, this way. So, this is the basement, Rich, and here's the boiler room.

Richard

It's a summer day, and it sounds like the burner's firing. All right, let's turn that off so we can talk. All right, so, what you've got is a steam boiler. You're using it to heat the house, but you're also using it to make hot water for the faucets.

Let me take you through sort of how it works. Now, if you could see inside this, it's only half filled with water. So, imagine a big lobster pot. The water level is right to about there.

So, now, thermostat says, "Give me heat upstairs." It comes down, fires the burner. In your case, it's oil-fired. It comes in with a flame underneath the lobster pot right here. Now, it heats up this water.

And over time, this water will, all of a sudden, turn to steam. And when it does, it fills the top part of the boiler. And now it moves out through these pipes. And it moves right along through the pipes.

It's gonna push it's way up to the radiators. There's little vents that are on the radiators that'll hiss right? Now it'll fill those radiators with steam. Thermostat should shut off.

And now the steam gives off its heat to the room. And the water that's inside -- the steam that's inside turns to water. And now, it's called condensate. It comes back through the same pipe all the way back to the boiler.

And it can be reheated. Now, with your system, what they tried to do is to actually capitalize, in their mind, with the water that's inside the boiler by sticking a tankless. This -- see this plate right here?

Andy

Mm-hmm.

Richard

This, if you could see behind it, has got copper-finned piping. And it sits immersed inside that boiler water. And the boiler water would heat up the water for your faucets. And it would come out through here, come out to the faucets.

Now, when they first get installed, they work okay. You know, they got finned heat exchangers. But over time, that boiler water can have gunk in it. They get clogged up, and it starts to drop off in performance.

So, they're falling out of favor for that reason. But also, the fact is, the way they're controlled, because this thing leaves the boiler hot all the time. It has a control on it which senses the temperature here that's set for what -- 160. I've seen them even up to 200.

And that means that boiler sits hot 24/7, 365. That's really like leaving this boiler running all the time on the off chance that you might run faucet water upstairs. It's sort of like leaving your car in the driveway running in case you go somewhere. All right?

It's wasteful. So, what I could do is I could get a new tankless and replace it. And you'd be back to where it was when it was first installed. But you still have the same issues in terms of its performance drop-off and its operating cost.

What I want to do is actually use the boiler water to heat your faucet water in a different way. Let me show you. All right, Andy, what we're gonna install today is an indirect hot water heater. Now, as it's name suggests, it's indirect, meaning there's no direct flame.

It's not like a gas-fired or oil-fired water heater that's got a burner underneath and a flue passageway. This is really like a giant thermos bottle. It's stainless steel on the inside of the tank, not glass-lined steel like a water heater. And if you'd see inside it, it's got 2 inches of insulation around every surface top and bottom.

Now inside it, we're gonna have another coil. You know, we had a coil over there.

Andy

Yep.

Richard

This one looks like this. And it sits down inside the bottom of the tank. And boiler water is now pumped into this coil, transferring this heat to the larger body of water right here. Think about the difference.

You had a boiler over here with a ton of boiler water and a little bit of potable water passing through a coil. And this thing was on all of the time wasting energy to the basement. We're gonna reverse that principle. And instead of having the point of transfer be at the boiler, we're gonna do it inside the tank.

What it gives us is a chance that any of the boiler's temperature that's inside this coil is given up to the larger body of water right here, okay? And it'll heat up that tank beautifully. There's a sensor that sits right here, and when that's satisfied, it's gonna shut that boiler off all day versus leaving it on and off all day like you do. You're also gonna get a ton of hot water.

We're gonna be able to fill that tub.

Sounds great. Richard

All right. Let's get it into position and get rolling. We'll start by shutting off the main water line to the boiler. Then we have to pump out the water from the steam system.

Can you get that end?

Andy

Yep. Yep. Coming out pretty clear. Oh, there we go.

Richard

You can see the brown and dirty water coming out of the boiler. That's probably the reason this system's not as efficient as it once was. Okay, shims? Before making the pipe connections, we'll shim the water tank in place to make sure it's level.

Andy

Yeah, it's front and back. So that...

Richard

Two and a quarter. Now, it's time to make our copper pipe finishing. That means a lot of measurements, cuts, and soldering.

Andy

Yep, that's level. Good?

Richard

All right, so, let's just review where we're at. We've got all of our piping done. Now, you remember what that water looked like

when we pumped it out of here. Andy

Oh, yeah.

Richard

I'm always worried about the water quality in a steam boiler, particularly if we tie in an indirect like this. So, what I did is, I took the tapping from right here. You see it's just below the water line. It's not from down low where there's all sorts of sludge.

So, now the water will come out here. It'll go through this very important part. It's actually a Y strainer. You got a mesh inside this.

So, any impurities would settle down here in the sort of the rest area. And if it clogged up, you could just flush it out to protect the pump and everything else.

Okay. Richard

All right? Here comes boiler water this way. Here's where it goes into that heat exchanger, goes around, around, around. And here's a circulator pump right here -- a really efficient circulator pump that'll just push that water back to be reheated, a shutoff valve right here and a place that we can purge and make sure everything stays clean.

So, that's the hydronic or the boiler-side piping. Now, on the water, here's where the cold water was that went down to our original tankless. And you can see. I've cut a T in right here.

Now, this cold water comes over right here, goes right down to the bottom of the tank to fill the bottom of the tank. The hot water leaves right from here, from the top of the tank. And between the hot and the cold, there's a really important safety valve right here. This is called a tempering valve or a thermostatic mixing valve.

Now, in normal mode, this tank will always be perfect, 120 degrees or whatever. But say something were wrong. The steam was on too much, and it got too hot. What would happen is the hot water right here, if it got too hot, a little bit of cold would mix with it and guarantee you always have the perfect temperature upstairs for the boys.

Okay? All right. So, we still have to tell this boiler when to come on. So, it has a sensor right here called an aquastat.

And that sits in the well right here. Now imagine you're now drawing a bathtub upstairs. Cold water's gonna come in through the bottom as hot water leaves out through the top. And the cold water will come like this, come like this, come like this.

And ultimately, it gets to this point where the sensor is. It'll send a signal from here to a relay. And at that point, we'll fire the burner. And we'll bring on that circulator pump to try

and keep you in hot water. Andy

Great.

Richard

Just have a little bit more electrical to do.

Andy

Sounds good.

Richard

All right, so, we've got our sensor and our circulator wired into the central location, the relay. And now, with it fully wired, we are ready to go. We got water back on. The tank is full.

Boiler is all refilled. Now we just flip the switch on. Okay, that'll heat up the water. That'll start to heat up the tank.

You'll have hot water in no time. Let me just finish up the wiring.

Andy

Sounds good.

Richard

All right, Commander, how'd we do?

Andy

Hey, Richard. It's amazing. It's piping hot. I might even take a bath now.

Richard

I got to tell you -- From experience, your boys are only gonna take a bath for what, another couple years. There'll be a period in the teenage years that they'll barely take a shower.

Andy

Yeah, I believe it. It's great for now though.

Richard

Thank you for all your help.

You were awesome. Andy

Thanks, Richard.

Richard

All right. Stay in hot water.

I appreciate it. Richard

You're welcome.

Kevin

Next time on "Ask This Old House"...

Tom

You can use cutoffs from your scrap pile to build all kinds of small projects, even like this cutting board. And we'll show you how to build it.

Man

I'll show you how to get the clean look of recessed lighting in any room without all the work.

Tom

And it's a trap. But it may not be the best way to keep mice out of your house.