Ask This Old House

Kevin

Today on "Ask This Old House"...

Tom

Have you ever seen a window like this? Wait until you see me repair it. Boy, looks like it hasn't been out of that wall cavity for a long time.

Josh

That's right.

Richard

Worried about lead in your water? I'll teach you everything you need to know. Flint did two things. They changed the water supply and the water chemistry, which made that layer disappear, losing its insulation, so now it could leach into the water.

Kevin

So, that's what got all the problems there.

Richard

That's right.

Roger

And after you see what I'm up to, you may never mow your lawn the same again. And it's going along cutting just a little bit at a time. It's like having sheep or cattle out here grazing on your lawn.

Kevin

That's next on "Ask This Old House." Ta-da, here it is. Hey, Tommy. -Good morning,

Richard. -Richard

Hey, good morning.

Singsong voice

Kevin

Look at what I got.

Richard

What, what, what?

Normal voice

Kevin

Season 15. I got the roster.

Richard

Oh, boy.

Kevin

Tommy, you want to see if you're on it?

Tom

Uh, no,

I'm on it. -Richard

What? You make the cut?

Kevin

So confident.

Tom

Oh,

yeah. I'll see you. -Richard

How about me?

Kevin

He did make the cut. You too. Right here, plumbing, heating.

Richard

Talk about being typecast.

Kevin

What do you mean? You're the plumber.

Richard

I mean, I can do remodeling, romance, electrical. There's so much more to do.

Kevin

What are you talking about? Just stick to plumbing. Good morning, Scott.

Scott

Did I just hear Richard say he was doing electrical?

Kevin

No, Richard was dreaming. No worries -- you are right here.

Master electrician. -Scott

Yes!

That's exactly what I wanted. Kevin

Perfect.

Roger

All right, Kev, what do you got for us?

Kevin

Roger, Jen, I got you right here. Landscape contractor, landscape designer.

Roger

That's good 'cause I'm working on a story about lawn mowers that you and I are gonna show people a new way to cut their lawn.

Kevin

Sound like me mowing the lawn, but okay, I'll help out.

Jen

I've got all kinds of stories about edible landscapes.

Kevin

Now that I can get behind.

Good team. -Jen

All right.

Kevin

All right,

punch in. -Roger

Punch in.

Kevin

Let's go. And I got one more right here, Ross.

Ross

Did I make the cut?

Kevin

Of course you made the cut.

Ross

Awesome.

Kevin

Renewable energy expert. You got some good stories for us?

Ross

I'm working some really cool stories about renewable energy and the high-tech home.

Kevin

Love it. Keep them coming.

Ross

All right.

Kevin

All right, there we go. We got a nice list. Got a good line-up, and season 15, we are off.

Josh

Welcome to my dining room, Tommy.

Tom

Oh, this is really great. Nice, low ceilings.

Definitely. Tom

Look at this.

Josh

We enjoy having fires in the holidays here.

Tom

Nothing beats a fire. How old did you say this house was?

Josh

This house was built in 1757.

Tom

Oh, it is old.

Josh

But I'd like to show you the newer portion of the house, which was built in early 1900s. We use this room as my daughter's playroom right now and kind of hang out here.

Tom

You can see they tried to mimic the old house with post-and-beam construction. It does play a little bit earlier to me, but it is nice. But look at these windows. They're huge. Probably 6 1/2, by maybe 4, 4 1/2 feet high. And lookit, each nail hinge is on the top, so the top sash will swing out, and it's held up with this big hook-and-eye right here. Now, the lower sash or the big sash actually pushes down into the wall creating real large opening. So when all of these are open, you got a lot of air flowing through here. My guess is this was probably built as sleeping porch. And remember, back then, they didn't have air conditioning, so they want all the air they could get.

Josh

That makes sense. And part of the problem that we're having with these windows is this sash has never been moved up or down.

Tom

So you've never closed this sash.

Josh

We've been here three years and haven't had this functional.

Tom

All right, well, let's see if we can get this sash up. You ready?

Josh

Yep.

Tom

Oh, yeah. Nice. Boy, looks like it hasn't been out of that wall cavity for a long time.

Josh

That's right.

Tom

All right, so that's probably good. So, now all we do is swing this over.

Oh. Nice. Josh

Wow.

Tom

All right, there it is. Up first time in three years.

Josh

Wonderful.

Tom

All right, now we have to think about the solution.

Josh

Sounds good.

Tom

All right, let me show you what I brought here. I actually brought and old window, double hung, that works off a weight and pulley system. Now, in the cavity right here, there's a pulley with a rope attached to it. And the rope comes out, inside the jamb, and attaches to the side of the sash. On the other end is a weight, and that's a counterbalance that actually allows me to pick the window up and down pretty easily. It also allows me to stop the window wherever I wanted to so it won't slam down or jump up in the air.

Josh

And is that counterbalance -- is that the same weight as the sash or...?

Tom

It's close to the same weight as the sash, so equal on each side. All right, now, what you have is a little bit different. It's a retractable balancing system. I like to think of it as a tape measure that's mounted in the wall. The strap comes out and goes down and attaches to the side of the sash. When you pull the sash up, it retracts, but it also keeps tension on the sash, holding it where you want it. When you push down, it comes out, but it won't let the window slam down on your fingers. Now, I noticed on this side over here this one seems to be broken. The tension isn't working right. I can actually hold it, and it's all crinkled up.

Josh

Okay.

Tom

The good thing is they still make these today.

Josh

Awesome.

Tom

I actually found the company that's still in business that made these original ones.

It's from upstate New York. -Josh

Wonderful.

Tom

We sized them exactly the way these were, so the counterbalances should be right. Now, all we need to do is take the sash out, remove these, and replace them with new ones.

Josh

Awesome.

Tom

Little fine tuning after that, and I think the sash will work fine.

Josh

Great.

Tom

We'll start by removing the old stop beads. Pick it up. All right, so now let's see if we can get it out of the opening.

Josh

All right.

Tom

Let's go up. Now try to get it out. Shake it just a little bit so I can look at where this is attached here. All right, so let's place it on the stool. All right, tension's holding it?

Josh

Yep.

Tom

All right, let me look at this. All right, so I got to take this clip off. This down and around. Oh, there it is. Came right off. That was easy. All right, so now we look at your end. Well, I got to get in there to get it unhooked, so let me see if I can hold it. Pull out. There it is, okay. Whoa. Okay. Now let's get that out of the way. -Ready?

Josh

Yeah.

Tom

Okay. Now we can remove the old balancers. Before we put the sash back in the opening, we want to sand inside the jambs, make them smooth for the sash to go up and down nice and easy. I also want to sand down both edges of the sash.

Spray can hissing

Tom

To reduce friction even more, I'm gonna spray on this lubricant. All right, now let's lift the window up into place, and then I want to see if can make this connection. So we'll put it up onto the stool to give me enough space to get my hand in it.

Josh

Sounds like a plan.

Tom

Okay. Good. Now just hold it there for a second. Okay, so now I got to get it down. Okay. So, that one's hooked. So, now what we want to do is square the window off in the opening.

Okay. -Tom

Tilt the top in. Now let's pick it up. Are you in?

Josh

I think I'm in.

Tom

Okay. Let's see if it works. Come right down. Keep it going. Oh, yeah, look at that.

Josh

Look at that.

Tom

Now pick it up. Whoa, nice.

Josh

Well done, Tommy.

Laughs

Tom

That's the way I like it. Now, the stops hold the window into the opening. When I install them, I don't want to install them too tight that the window can't go up and down easily. All right, Josh. Remember earlier how we had to struggle to get the window up out of the wall, and then we had to struggle to put it back in?

Josh

Yep.

Tom

All right, well, now that it's done, why don't you try it yourself, see how it works?

Josh

Sounds good.

Tom

Look at that.

It's a little easier. Josh

Piece of cake.

Tom

Definitely easier.

Josh

Can even do it one-handed.

Tom

Yeah, well, I think you're in business.

Josh

Perfect. Thanks, Tommy.

Tom

My pleasure. Glad to help. Josh

Appreciate it.

Kevin

That was awesome. I have never seen a window that slides into the wall cavity like that. I mean, you probably have.

Tom

Well, I haven't seen a window exactly like that, where one window slides into the wall cavity and there's an awning over it. I've seen windows that go into the floor and up into the walls above.

Kevin

A first for you, as well. That's great. And this -- I mean the fact that this company's still in business and you can get your hands on these, that's great.

Tom

Well, I use these. These are great for retrofitting old windows. You know, I showed you the one with the weights and pulleys in there. Now think about that old window. It's very inefficient because you need room for the weights and pulleys to go. A lot of cold air can come in there.

Kevin

'Cause there's no insulation in that pocket.

Tom

Right. So, you can size these to a double-hung window.

Kevin

Oh.

Tom

All right, now you have weigh the sash. You can tell the company what it is, and they may send you smaller units.

Kevin

And so what's the idea? That you're taking out that weight so that you can put this in, and it will allow you to fit insulation?

Absolutely. -Kevin

That's clever.

Tom

Increases the efficiency of the window tremendously, so the payback over time comes back to you.

Kevin

Speaking of payback, though, what does this thing cost?

Tom

Well, this one here is $100.

Kevin

What?

Tom

For one.

Kevin

And you need two. Wow. That's expensive.

Tom

All right, but now if you have a double-hung window and even though they're smaller, well, these would be smaller. But you need four for a double-hung window.

Kevin

Holy mackerel. All right. So, you're gonna spend some money on it. But you know what? If it saves a beautiful window like that or if you could increase the efficiency of a smaller window, then maybe it's a good idea.

Tom

Right. It saves you money over time forever.

Kevin

Most importantly, it saves a beautiful window like that.

Absolutely. -Kevin

Nice one. Richard, when homeowners think about the perils of lead inside the house, I think they used to think about paint chips.

Sure. --Kevin

But nowadays, with the news coming out of Flint, Michigan, they're starting to think about water.

Richard

It's really front of mind, isn't it?

Kevin

Right.

Richard

I thought I would give you a little history lesson to help understand the history of lead

and where we're at now. -Kevin

Nice.

Richard

So when we first brought plumbing inside the building, we were making it up as we went. There was no standardization. So we found the materials that we could use of the day, which was lead. Had a low melting point. You would heat it up in a pot. And then you would form it into all kinds of shapes. So imagine if you wanted to make a pipe like this. You couldn't buy it at the supply place. You take a dowel like this, sheet lead,

and wrap it around the dowel. -Kevin

Really?

Richard

Fold it onto itself, take a hammer, And a torch like this, and then you'd heat it up 'cause it had a low melting point. And you would get it into some craggy-looking stick like this.

It was a pipe. -Richard

Right. And then when it came to actually making fittings, look at this. So, now with this, you'd have your gloves on, and you'd bring this piece together. You'd take your torch, and you would wipe and try to make this thing form into a fitting. And at the end, you would shave it like a carpenter would shave to form the fitting. That took time.

Kevin

And you're saying that back in the day,

this was everywhere. -Richard

Right.

Kevin

But that's not the case now. I mean, we don't have lead all throughout the houses.

Richard

No, that's right. Lead doesn't exist all that many places. Over time, there was an evolution, and lead gave way to threaded brass. You'd buy straight sticks of brass, and you'd cut it and thread it like this.

Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Richard

Then it went to galvanized steel before and during the Second World War. Then you've got copper piping, and nowadays, we even have plastic piping. But there's still one place -- getting back to Flint, there's still one place that many houses still have some lead in it. And that's from the main city water supply in through the foundation called the water main.

Kevin

So, this is the part that's buried underground

that no one could get to. -Richard

That's right. And this might be the part you see coming through the foundation wall. It's called a cup joint right there, where you have the lead, and it transitions to copper. You'd see a shut-off valve, probably an old-style shut-off valve right here. Now, in the case of Flint, over time, the lead water mains would get coated with minerals, okay, inside here. So those minerals actually act as an insulator to keep the lead from leaching into the water.

Okay. -Richard

Flint did two things. They changed the water supply and the water chemistry, which made that layer disappear, losing its insulation, so now it could leach into the water.

Kevin

So that's why we got all the problems there.

Richard

That's right, and there's still not just Flint. There's many houses still in Boston and a lot of urban cities.

Kevin

I mean, this is a big concern, right, 'cause we know that lead causes neurological problems.

Richard

That's right.

Kevin

And that's a big problem in pregnant women, where that could be transferred to the unborn child,

but also to little kids. -Richard

That's right.

Kevin

So if there's any lead, if you know about anything, how does someone get the peace of mind, and how do they protect themselves?

Richard

You got to start by testing. Either go out and you get a kit like this that I can do at a do-it-yourself level or go to a third-party testing agency to just get the water tested. The other thing is don't be fooled that you think you can just get something like this that goes in the refrigerator and takes care of lead. This will be for taste and odor. Some of these are for taste and odor, maybe for rust.

Kevin

So, this is something you put maybe on the whole house.

Richard

That's right.

Kevin

Right, and so, that will not necessarily treat for lead.

Richard

The other thing to stress is that we're not worried about the water that you might shower in, do your laundry in, or flush down the toilet.

Kevin

It's not gonna leach into us.

Richard

It's only what you ingest. So you got to think about and look at the labels. There's little units that'll go onto the aerator right here. Read its level right here to be sure. I'm not sure how long that'll last.

Kevin

So this is point of use, and you're saying that I could get a filter at point of use

that would treat for lead. -Richard

That's right. And if you really want piece of mind, you really want to think about reverse osmosis -- R.O.

Right. -Richard

Here's a unit here. Pre-filter, post-filter, but in the middle, it's got this membrane. And with the membrane, you're driving water at the molecular level through this membrane. The only thing that can move through the membrane is H2O molecules. All the impurities remain back and flush away.

Kevin

Which is why these systems come with these holding tanks and why we typically have a separate faucet because just the drinking water, just the ice water.

Richard

Think about what you're drinking and what's going into the ice maker.

Kevin

All right, well, that's a very cool history lesson and some good information.

Richard

It's a lot of hard work back there.

Kevin

Still is.

Roger

Kevin, I brought you out here to talk a look at his lawn with me. Now, it's just under an acre, so it's pretty large. In fact, it's right on the edge of pushing a mower around here.

Kevin

So you might be pushing a mower, or you might be riding on a little tractor. You're sort of right on the cusp.

Roger

Right, but not only that. There's some other things to look at. You've got obstacles, you got trees, you got rocks. You've even got a pretty good-size hill over here.

Kevin

Yeah, you don't want to be pushing a mower up this hill, or more importantly, you probably don't want to be riding a tractor on the side of this hill.

Roger

No,

that's tough. -Kevin

Wait a second, Roger. Are you trying to get me to mow the lawn?

Roger

No, I'm trying to get you to think about mowing your lawn differently. All right, Kevin, here we go.

Laughing

Kevin

Oh.

Roger

This is what's gonna take care of this lawn. This is a robotic lawnmower.

Kevin

Look at this beauty right here. Tell me about it.

Roger

Well, it's been around for about 20 years, but there's been some recent developments that helped to make it a better yard machine, including a lithium ion battery.

Kevin

Right, which we're used to 'cause they're in our power tools, and lot of people have them in their cellphones. We know that they're light but powerful.

Roger

Right, and it'll last a long time, and we got a pretty big yard here.

Kevin

And you said we've got, what, just under an acre of lawn. Can this cut that much grass?

Roger

It's actually rated for an acre and a quarter,

so it would do this easily. -Kevin

Cool.

Roger

The other thing -- it has eyes that sense an obstacle. And we have obstacles here we talked about. So the machine will go up to it, stop, turn around, and go in another direction.

Kevin

And how we stop it from just driving down the road and leaving this entire yard?

Roger

Well, it has a GPS component that we can use, but what we're gonna do is put a wire in the ground, which will tell it where to go.

Kevin

All right.

Roger

We're gonna run this low-voltage wire all the way around the perimeter of the yard. Why don't you put a staple in about every three feet? All right, we talked about obstacles before, and we have to handle them a little differently with this wire, Kevin. And we are gonna go single line right around the tree.

So I'm staking this. Roger

Yeah.

Kevin

So, this is the wire that's gonna keep our mower away from this obstacle?

Roger

That's right. When the mower hits a single wire, it stops and turns and goes in another direction. Now at this point, Kevin, we have a double wire that cancels itself out and allows the mower to go right over the top.

Kevin

So we've created sort of a little island around any obstacle so long as we've got a single wire.

Roger

Right, now we're right down to our perimeter wire, and we can continue on. All right, we've just about run out of line, so we're gonna have to make a connection. And they give you these little splice kits. There's two parts to it, and inside is dielectric grease that makes them waterproof. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna take it and slide it in there and make sure we get it all the way in. And then we're gonna take our other wire. Slide that all the way in. And then all we have to do -- take our pliers, squeeze down on that connection.

Kevin

And that's waterproof?

Roger

Waterproof. Let's lay out some more. And we're also gonna run a guide wire right down the middle of the yard. This will help the mower find its way back to the charging dock. Kevin, this is where we're gonna locate our base station, our dock, which is where the machine is gonna recharge.

Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Roger

What we're looking for in an area to put it is in the shade, keep it cool, level, make it easy for the machine to dock, and we'd like to have a place where there's a plug-in so we can power the machine.

Kevin

Perfect.

Roger

What we have to do now is attach our two perimeter wires, our guide wire, and then we're ready to hook up the machine. All right, our mower's all hooked up. It's been charging for a little while.

It should be ready to go. -Kevin

All right.

Roger

What we're gonna do is push the start button, close the top, and in a few seconds, it should back out, and start cutting.

Kevin

Let's see this thing go.

Roger

Hey.

Kevin

Look out. It's off and running.

Roger

Whoa, look at that. Really kicked into gear. What do you think? Pretty neat, huh?

Kevin

That's quiet, and it's just going after it, huh?

Roger

Yeah, and it's going along cutting just a little bit at a time. It's like having sheep or cattle out here grazing on your lawn.

Kevin

And every time it hits an obstacle or that wire, it just sort of bounces off and just randomly starts going around.

Roger

Randomly starts going. And then over time, soon or later, it's gonna hit every area, and they're gonna get cut.

Kevin

Look at that, Roger. It's working the hill here. I don't have to push it or anything.

Roger

No, it's actually programmed that if the hill's too steep, it'll go at an angle so it's not quite that steep and make the cuts that way.

Kevin

Huh. So, Roger, I got little kids, and they're gonna be out in the yard. And I guarantee you they're gonna be all over this thing. If they're out here playing when this thing works, what happens?

Roger

Put your foot right in front and watch what happens.

Kevin

Oh, look at that. It sensed me, huh?

Roger

Pretty good, huh?

Kevin

And what about security, Roger? What if somebody tries to take this?

Roger

Well, if someone tried to take this machine, it would simply send out an alarm.

High-pitched alarm blaring

Roger

You want it?

Laughing

Kevin

No, I don't. Not anymore. Wow. That's terrific.

Blaring stops

Device chimes

Roger

And if someone does take it, it has a GPS in it, and you can go find them.

Kevin

Huh. Pretty cool, Roger. Although, I don't need any GPS. If this thing's missing, it's at Tommy's house.

Roger

You think so?

Kevin

Absolutely.

Tom

Hey, what do you mean by that, sonny?

Kevin

I just call them like I see them, pops.

Tom

Hey, if I wanted that lawn mower, I'd go and buy it. How much is it?

Roger

Well, this top-of-the-line model is $3,500. But you can get a scaled-down version that does a third of an acre for about $2,000.

Richard

All right, so, a gas walk-behind is, what, 500 bucks.

Roger

Right, now add in the maintenance on it, keeping gas at your house, sharpening the blades, going out there and mowing. It's all about time. Over time, it would pay off. Now imagine you're paying some guy $50 to come and cut your lawn every week. That makes the payoff even sooner.

Kevin

Right, and this has less maintenance, right? So, it's battery operated, so as you say, we're not changing the gas or the spark plugs. But you do have to maintain the blades.

Roger

You do have to do the blades. If you look underneath here.

Kevin

Although, it's not the blade you expect. I mean, check this out. On a regular walk-behind,

you think you got a... -Tom

Look at that. That's gonna take about a 9- or 10-inch swipe.

Roger

Yeah, but it's continuous, Tommy. The mower's going and going and going. And there's your blades. You just very simply take one out, pop a new one on. When you notice the grass turning brown on tops, or if you look real close at the blades and they're all ragged on the end, that's when you want to put in a new blade.

Kevin

And it's making really small cuts all week long, which you prefer.

Roger

Which I love because that's falling down into the grass, decomposing, and feeding the lawn.

Richard

So it won't have the big clumps like behind my lawnmower.

Kevin

And don't forget, guys, it comes with an app if you like to mow your lawn with an app.

Richard

Of course,

of course. -Kevin

No, but check it out. So, one screen -- it allows you to stop it, or you can park it. And how about this? This is a GPS view. And you can even seen the path it's taken on any given day.

Richard

It's cutting on the hill.

Tom

Right there.

Kevin

And if it ever ends up somewhere else --

Clears throat

Kevin

Tommy -- we can track it.

Tom

Just give me the address. I might swing by and take a look at it.

Kevin

I thought so. All right, guys, season 15 off and running. Roger, that was a pretty good one.

Roger

Thanks.

Kevin

All right, so, until next time,

I'm Kevin O'Connor. -Tom

I'm Tom Silva.

I'm Roger Cook. -Richard

I'm Richard Trethewey.

Kevin

For "Ask This Old House."

Roger

Don't even think about it.

Tom

3,500 bucks.

Kevin

Mowing the lawn. Next time on "Ask This Old House"... We'll go to Chicago to see just how dangerous a home fire can be.

Man

If you see this in your home, it's time to call 911.

Kevin

There is almost nothing left to that, and this was a total of seven minutes.

Scott

And I'll show you a home generator that you'll never have to fill with gas.

Richard

Look what I found under this kitchen sink. Looks pretty bad, but it's more common that you'd think.