Ask This Old House

Kevin: Our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house today.

Today, Heath helps a homeowner who wants a no-strings-attached way to turn on her basement lights.

Then, Lee gets assistance from a pair of grandkids to repair a lawn that was damaged by a snowplow.

And it's flat, orange, and has spiky feet.

What is it?

Mark: When I was a young man, figure skater, I actually did a triple Lux.

Tom: It's not Lux.

It's Lutz.

Mark: Now you're getting technical.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Kevin: All that's coming up next on "Ask This Old House."

[ Down-tempo music plays ] Heath: So, I saw that you wrote in about a question on the lighting in the basement.

Can you show me what's going on?

– Crystal: Yeah.

So, we only have one switch at the top of the stairs, and it only turns on the light at the bottom.

Nothing else.

– Heath: Just that one light?

– Crystal: That's it.

– Heath: Let's go take a look.

– Crystal: Alright.

Heath: So this is the only light that turns on with that switch?

– Crystal: Yep.

That's it.

– Heath: This is a big basement.

Crystal: It is.

And, then, we have storage over here, and you got to pull-chain everything to, you know see.

And, then, we have our little gaming section down over here.

Heath: And you're still walking into the dark to make this happen.

Crystal: And we're still walking into the dark.

Absolutely.

Heath: That's not exactly ideal, huh?

– Crystal: No.

Definitely isn't.

– Heath: [ Laughs ] So, looking around, I think, you know, we have a lot of stuff that comes to that first light.

I'm guessing obviously that turns on with the switch.

I've got a feeling if I take that apart we might be able to rewire this pretty quickly and get these all to turn on with that single switch.

What do you think?

Crystal: Yeah.

Sounds great.

Heath: Let me grab a couple things and we'll give it a shot.

Crystal: Awesome.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Heath: Alright, Crystal.

So it looks like this box does have all the wiring we thought it has.

So the first thing I want to do is turn the power off.

So I'm gonna take the bulb out.

I'm gonna thread this little guy in.

And this is actually a circuit breaker tracer.

So I'll put that in, and we'll see that light up.

Crystal: Okay.

Heath: I'll go over to the panel, find out which one it is, turn it off, and you can see that light actually go off.

[ Beeping ] Alright.

So, to use the tracer, what it wants to do is go around the breakers once, just to kind of get used to the panel and figure everything out.

And, then, when we come back around, it should find the right breaker.

[ Beeping ] And that's our guy.

Alright.

So that looks like it did it.

– Crystal: Yep.

– Heath: The rest of the lights are off, so we'll take this back out.

And we'll start by taking this down.

Crystal: So what are you looking for?

Heath: So, what I want to find in here is I want to see the feed come in and go out, and I want to see the switch.

What we currently have is power coming in from the panel to this light.

It then carries out to the other light fixtures in the basement, which is how they operate on the pull chains.

But we also have a wire that comes out of this and goes up to the switch at the top of the stairs.

So what happens is power goes up on the white conductor of this cable, goes to the switch, and comes back down on the black wire to this light fixture so it can operate by that switch.

Now, in order to make all of the lights turn on with the switch, the fix is actually pretty simple.

All we have to do is move the one wire from the wire nut that goes to the other lights in the basement and attach that to the terminal on this light fixture at the bottom of the stairs.

So, I'll start by attaching this to the light.

And, then, we'll tighten that up... without cracking it.

Now, we just tie these two wires together.

And we can just simply put that wire nut back on.

So I'll put this back together, and we'll give it a shot.

Crystal: Okay.

Heath: So we'll put the bulb in.

And if you want to do me a favor, I'm gonna turn the breaker on.

If you want to go upstairs and get ready to hit the switch.

Crystal: Sure.

Heath: Alright.

Let's give it a shot.

So what do you think?

It's just that simple.

Crystal: Wow.

It's awfully bright, though.

[ Both laugh ] -Heath: A little too bright?

– Crystal: A little too bright.

– Heath: So what are you thinking?

Crystal: We'll be able to switch it, like, do half and half, so we got storage and, then, like, gaming and workout area?

Heath: Oh, I got you.

Just split this side and that side.

So put a second switch in?

– Crystal: Yeah.

Heath: Let me go up there, and we'll take that single switch apart, see what we have going on, and then we'll give it a shot.

I don't think it's a bad idea at all.

– Crystal: Awesome.

– Heath: Alright.

Let me just turn that breaker off and we'll head back up.

Crystal: Perfect.

Heath: Alright.

So this is what we thought we had down bottom, which makes sense.

Doesn't go anywhere else.

So, we have power coming up from the panel, tying to that white wire in the light fixture at the bottom of the basement stairs.

Comes up with power.

Then, when you close the switch... [ Switch clicks ] ...it goes back down on this black wire and ties to the lights.

And that's how all the lights come on now since we tied that together.

So what we're gonna do is take this box out, take this wire out.

And I need to replace it.

So, in order to light these two areas separately, I need to replace the 14/2 that comes from the light at the bottom of the stairs up to the switch.

So, I'm going to replace this with a 14/3.

This is going to give me an extra conductor so that I have constant power up at the switch box, but I still have switched power going down to the lights in the storage area.

In addition to that, I'm going to add a new 14/2 out of the switch box to the backlights that go to the gym.

This will let me add that second switch and control the area separately.

Now I want to take our new, two-gang box.

And how this operates is we're gonna cut that in.

Now, before I run the actual saw through it... I want to score it.

And what this will do will help it from chipping out when you go to cut it with the actual saw.

If you're still worried about chipping when you pull back on the saw, don't.

Go ahead and push in.

Pull the saw back a little bit, and then pull it out.

That way, you're only cutting on the stroke in, not on the way out, so you're not grabbing the plaster and pulling it out and risking chipping it.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] And now we'll give it a test fit.

Great.

Just like that.

So, our next step is to take this wire, which you can hear... [ Wire rattling ] ...is loose and just fished in the wall.

We'll cut that down bottom and use that as a pull and tie our new two new wires on and pull those up.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] [ Drill whirring ] [ Drill whirring ] And now we can put the cover on.

[ Nail gun clicks ] So, I'm gonna take the old porcelain back out.

These two are the ones we want to reuse again.

That's the power in from the panel.

And this continues over to the lights in the storage area.

I'm not real sure about this box.

Probably has enough, but I just really can't read the stamp.

So I'm gonna go with this one instead.

This one I know has all my ratings inside and is plenty big enough for the wires we're adding.

Alright.

So, what we have is we have these two wires, black and white here.

That's our feed in that comes from the panel.

So I'm gonna push this back this way.

These two come back out and go down to the lights in the storage area.

So that's what that is.

And this is the new wire we ran down from the switch when we made it a two-gang.

So I'm gonna start by putting all the grounds together.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Next, all the neutrals in this case are gonna go together.

This is our power up to the switches now.

This red wire coming down is what's switching on these lights in the storage area.

And since these are the storage-area lights, we're gonna put this together.

Alright.

Now that we have our wire over from the second switch in the basement stairs, gonna come over into this box.

So I'm gonna take this down and install this wire and then make the splices that we need in order to change what we want to change.

So, what's currently happening is there's a wire coming over from the storage-area lights, comes across, back down to here, and then continues out and over towards the gym.

I'm gonna leave that wire in place.

I'm gonna separate it and cap it and put it in the back of the box.

That way, in case they ever change their mind, we can always swap it back and make something else happen.

Now the bulb can go back in.

And it's time to turn the breaker on and test it.

Alright, Crystal.

The power's back on.

You want to give it a shot?

– Crystal: Sure.

[ Switch clicks ] Heath: Alright.

Gym's on.

It looks good.

[ Switch clicks ] And the storage area.

Looks nice.

– Crystal: That's amazing.

Heath: Yeah, that's actually a really good idea.

I like the way that turned out.

– Crystal: Thanks.

Heath: So, now that we have those, we replaced a couple of the fixtures.

But the rest of them that had the pole chains, we don't need to replace them.

But I don't think you need them anymore.

So I think if we just pop those off... Crystal: Perfect.

Heath: You can save them if you want.

– Crystal: No, thanks.

[ Laughs ] -Heath: Alright.

Thanks so much.

– Crystal: Thank you.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Lee: Hi, ladies.

How are you?

Arden: Hi.

I'm good.

How are you?

– Lee: Good.

And your name?

– Arden: Arden.

Lee: Arden, I'm Lee.

– Both: Nice to meet you.

– Lee: And your name?

– Lauren: Lauren.

– Lee: Nice to meet you, Lauren.

– Lauren: Nice to meet you.

So I got an e-mail.

What's going on?

Arden: Yes.

This is actually my grandparents' house.

– Lee: Okay.

– Arden: Over the winter, plow got her lawn a little bit.

– Lee: Alright.

– Arden: So if you want to take a look.

Lee: Sure.

Let's take a look at that.

Arden: We really want to be able to fix it for our grandparents.

They take good care of their lawn.

– Lee: Okay.

Arden: But we're just, like, not sure how.

Lee: Yeah.

It happens.

We're here in the Northeast.

We had a lot of snow last year.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

– Arden: We did.

Lee: So it's something that's very, very common.

– Arden: Yeah.

– Lee: But it looks like we have some irrigation, okay?

Pop-up head, so we got to keep an eye on that.

And I also noticed some other areas.

Okay, so we can address those, too.

– Arden: Cool.

– Lee: So, I'm gonna show you how we do this one, and then I'm gonna -- you guys do those.

What do you think.

– Arden: Sounds good.

– Lee: Let's go to work.

– Arden: Yeah.

Lee: Okay.

So we got to get some prepping over here done.

But I want to use sod, 'cause the lawn looks fantastic.

But another option would be if the lawn didn't look as nice as this, you could do some seed, okay -- some grass seed.

That's like a Kentucky blue mix.

And with some fescue, it's a sun and shade mix, real popular.

And, then, I would prep it all up, put the seed down, and cover it up with some peat moss, okay?

But in this application, I think we should use this.

So, we got some sod.

This is a nice blend of Kentucky blue.

Instant gratification.

See the root system in here?

These are all roots.

This was freshly cut late last night.

What do you think?

– Arden: Alright.

– Lee: Let's go.

– Arden: Do it.

Lee: So, we're gonna throw some sod down.

Start here, where the damage was.

We'll roll it out on the edge of the driveway.

Nice, long blend, right?

– Arden: Yeah.

Looks good.

– Lee: Can I get that edger?

– Arden: Yeah.

Lee: Awesome.

Thank you so much.

So, I'm gonna cut an edge.

So, I'm gonna cut like this, all the way like that.

See that?

Step down on it.

I'm gonna let you grab an edger.

See what I'm doing?

And cut that edge out there for me.

How's that?

We're working as a team.

– Adren: Alright.

– Lee: Okay?

– Arden: [ Laughs ] -Lee: Put that weight into it.

Put that weight into it.

There you go.

Nice job.

Arden: [ Laughing ] I don't think -- Lee: You're doing it.

You're doing it.

Doing a great job.

– Arden: " Just stand on it."

Put both feet on it?

How are you doing that?

Lee: Well, you guys are twins, so maybe do it together.

– Arden: [ Grunts ] -Lee: Jump in there and help her on the other side.

Arden: You're stronger than me.

[ Laughing ] Oh, my God.

– Lee: No?

– Arden: [ Laughs ] Lee: You're making the old man look like I know what I'm doing.

Put your foot down in.

There you go.

Perfect.

I'm gonna come over there and help you out in one second.

Let me sneak over here.

Help me out.

Okay.

I think the ground's harder here.

Arden: Yeah, yeah.

Definitely.

Lee: It's a little harder over here.

A lot harder.

– Arden: [ Laughs ] Lee: Give it a flip.

Perfect.

That was pretty good.

– Arden: Thanks.

– Lee: I'll cut it in, like, slices.

Be easier to take out than one whole strip.

You know what I mean?

– Arden: Mm-hmm.

Lee: I'll do it like that.

I'm gonna do another one.

So, there's three strips I want to take out.

I'm gonna do those with a flat shovel.

See that?

Compared to, like, a spade shovel, this is a flat shovel.

– Lauren: Okay.

Lee: Easy to, like, go under the surface like that.

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: So I'm gonna try to do is get underneath there.

And you just want the surface?

– Lee: Exactly.

– Lauren: Okay.

Lee: So I want the same diameter, or close enough to it as a sword.

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: Okay?

Alright.

So, what we're gonna take out here, this is gonna substitute and be right under there.

See that?

Lauren: Yeah.

Nice.

Lee: There we go.

We'll clean that up after.

I just want to get all that out.

It's pretty good.

Lauren: Yeah.

Lee: So, we got a little low spot right here.

So, what I want to do is I want to get some compost, and we're gonna spread it in there real thin.

And that will help the sod out.

I think we had one over there, too, right?

Lauren: Right.

Lee: Just a little bit.

Not much.

But overall, the soil here is really good.

Lauren: What happens if the soil is not good?

Lee: Okay, so, there's a bunch of things you could do.

But fertilizing, putting on fertilizing program, organic fertilizer -- that helps stimulate the soil, you know, get the organic material that we need.

But definitely, like, an organic fertilizer I like to use, as well as the synthetic ones, things for pre-emergent, to help keep the weeds down and things like that.

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: I think we did pretty good job on that one.

Lauren: Yeah.

Lee: We want to do is we want to tuck the edges.

Okay?

– Lauren: Okay.

Make sure the edges aren't exposed to the sun.

'Cause they'll dry out.

We don't want that.

– Lauren: Instant gratification.

– Lee: Instant gratification.

So, I can feel the head right here.

So we're gonna cut that out, okay?

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: Alright.

And for a tool for that, I'm gonna use... There's a couple tools you can use.

You have a box cutter.

And this one's just a saw.

Cuts Sheetrock and things like that.

But this works really good.

– Lauren: Okay.

Lee: Okay.

So, find it right there.

I cut it like this.

I can feel it.

Look at that.

There it is.

What do you think?

– Lauren: Wow.

– Lee: See that?

– Lauren: Yeah.

– Lee: So when the pressure comes on for the water, irrigation system, it pops right up through.

– Lauren: Nice.

– Lee: But if we didn't do that, this would pop up, and it would flood everywhere.

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: Alright, so we're all set with this one.

Let's move on and get the other ones done.

Lauren: Okay.

Sounds good.

Arden: Oh, my gosh.

– Lee: Ready?

Alright.

– Arden: I don't know -- Lee: Alright.

You grab that one, and I'm gonna grab this one.

Ready?

– Arden: Yeah.

Lee: Do it together.

1...2...3.

Nice.

– Arden: Yay.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Nice job.

Okay, give me something.

Here you go.

Boom.

Nice job.

– Lauren: Thanks.

Lee: This compost will help it grow and give you some nutrients.

That looks pretty good.

Lauren: Yeah.

It looks identical.

Lee: Yeah.

Not bad.

Not bad, huh?

Arden: Yeah.

It looks good.

– Lee: Good day's work.

– Lauren: Yeah.

It looks great.

– Lee: Not too bad.

Easy homework on this one.

Okay.

– Lee: Alright?

Just water for me.

– Lauren: Okay.

– Lee: Early in the morning, but not after, like, 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.

Okay?

And then I have some markers here.

– Lauren: Sounds good.

Lee: These are like snow markers.

We'll put these in, like, maybe in November, before we get any snow.

Okay?

– Arden: Sounds good.

Lee: And that will keep them off the grass.

I think that's it.

We're good.

– Arden: Alright.

Awesome.

– Lee: Nice seeing you.

– Arden: Nice to see you.

– Lee: We'll talk to you soon.

– Arden: Yeah.

Take care.

Lee: Alright.

Thanks for having me.

Bye-bye.

– Lauren: Bye-bye.

– Arden: Thank you.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ] Lauren: Looks good.

– Arden: Water?

– Lauren: Give them some water.

Kevin: This segment is short, it's silly, and it often involves guessing an odd tool.

"What Is It?"

– Man: It's flexible.

– Man: It's metal.

Man: It's plastic.

Man: Multi-pronged.

Man: It has a rubber hand grip.

Roger: It's green.

Man: It's yellow.

Jenn: It has knobbly bits in the middle.

What is it?

– Man: What is it?

Man: What is it?

Nick: [ Grunts ] What is it?

[ Laughs ] Kevin: So, this little segment, fellas, right?

I mean, did you ever think it was gonna be this popular?

Richard: Our show was filled with all this heavy content -- how to do stuff.

And, then, this became a chance for the viewer to sort of breathe and sort of have a little bit of fun, like a little break in the middle of the show.

Tom: Doesn't this feel good?

Kevin: Gentlemen, do you know what we have here?

Richard: Yes.

Do you?

Roger: Miraculously, Roger has the answer.

Tom: We'll see.

I happen to use one of these... -Kevin: On the jobsite.

– Tom: ...on the jobsite.

Roger: This is an exact replica of deoxyribonucleic acid.

– Richard: Easy for you to say.

– Kevin: No.

Tom: This is a quarter sorter.

[ Laughter ] Man: Sorter.

[ Laughter ] Kevin: The audience sees you guys as just master craftsmen, on top of your trade, can do anything.

And, then, all of a sudden, you're just an idiot.

[ Laughter ] [ Creaking ] Roger: I don't hit the boats.

I don't hit buoys.

When I snap my fingers, you're gonna be a plumber.

[ Snaps fingers ] Tom: Ooh, ooh.

[ Sighs ] Oh, yeah.

Richard: What was that?

Tom: It's alright.

You can cut right through that beam.

It's only holding up the roof.

Richard: He turned out being one of the funniest.

But very often, it was by mistake.

– Mark: Yeah.

– Tom: By mistake?

– Richard: [ Chuckles ] -Tom: That's hurtful.

Man: Look at you.

Fly, boy, fly!

Tom: I can get anywhere in a matter of seconds!

[ Laughter ] Man: Look at you!

Tom: Get a little spillage, you go back after it.

And I run across the street, and I go... All: Oh!

[ Laughter ] I think it's important to laugh.

It takes a little edge off.

And so you're happy doing what you do.

Man: Yeah.

Kevin: You know when you got to take your family photo?

I'm like, "Smile!"

[ Laughter ] Tom: Turn them around.

– Kevin: Oh, we're betting here?

– Mauro: Yeah.

Kevin: How about a five-ski?

My contract is so strange.

All: How strange is it?

Jenn: You are the closest.

I don't know about you and you, Mr.

Exfoliation.

Richard: Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous.

Kevin: First and second place of the idiot... Tom: Well, you guys are all wrong, as usual.

– Roger: Hey, Kev.

– Kevin: Yeah?

Roger: You're clueless.

Tom: This is the quietest these two bozos have ever been.

Kevin: What do you think, Tommy?

Tom: I'd say driver.

Kevin: Driver definitely.

Okay.

[ Power tools whirring ] Alright, guys.

I got a little bit of a different "What Is It?"

for you today.

This one actually comes from our Spanish-language show.

– Mark: Okay.

Good show.

– Kevin: Yeah.

Mauro: "Dime Cmo Hacerlo."

– Kevin: S.

– Mauro: Seor.

Kevin: And it comes from our carpenter, Tony McKlem.

And so he sent this, and I'm gonna show it to you.

Tony: Buenas.

Take a look at this.

It's orange.

It looks to be two-sided, but it also has these little spikes on the sides.

What is it?

Kevin: And he also sent us some so that you guys can lay hands on.

– Tom: Oh, yeah.

– Kevin: So?

Qu es eso?

What is it?

Mauro: Don't even waste your time.

I know what this is.

– Kevin: Alright.

Mauro: Okay?

You guys know I do a lot of paint.

I have my 17-in-1, my old 5-in-1.

Now I got my 2-in-1.

– Mark: Oh.

– Mauro: Alright?

– Kevin: You went the other way.

Mauro: The other way around.

Now, this is gonna work as a scraper.

We got this, like, 2.5-inch scraper.

– Man: Yeah?

– Mauro: Just put it down.

Scrape it off.

– Man: Okay.

Kevin: So from a 5-in-1 to a 2-in-1.

You're gonna sell a lot of -- maybe two of those.

– Tom: Yeah.

– Kevin: That's it.

Tom: You went back with -- Mark: The one you buy and I buy.

Tom: I can tell you that that's not what it is.

Mauro: Right.

Tell me.

Come on.

Tom: You heard of the Pinewood Derby, the little cars that... -Kevin: Yeah.

Second place.

Cub Scouts right here.

– Tom: Yeah.

– Mark: Ninth place.

Tom: Well, what do you do in the wintertime?

You can't race the cars on the ice.

This is like a Pinewood Derby car for the ice.

You can see this is the hood of the vehicle.

– Kevin: Oh, yeah.

– Tom: Here's the windshield right there.

And when they run down the track, go right down the ice real fast, and it just slides right across.

It stays up nice and slow.

– Kevin: Is that right?

– Tom: They go forever.

Mark: Okay.

I like that.

That's good.

Not.

– Kevin: [ Chuckles ] Mark: But what it is -- You're close.

This is a concrete skate.

So what I do, wet concrete, I take one, strap it onto my boot.

I take another.

I strap it onto my other boot.

– Kevin: Oh.

– Mark: And I'll give you guys a little bit.

When I was a young man, figure skater, I actually did a triple Lux for the -- Same thing.

– Tom: Triple Lux ?

It's not Lux.

It's Lutz.

Mark: No, I knew that, Tom.

Now you're getting technical.

I mean, we were talking about something else, by the way.

Kevin: All I can see is Mark figure-skating in a leotard.

– Tom: Yeah.

– Kevin: I don't feel good.

Mark: I'm hurt, too.

– Kevin: I don't feel good.

– Mark: I'm hurt, too.

Kevin: No surprise -- all wrong.

– Mark: Oh!

– Tom: Oh, come on.

Kevin: Listen here.

I got -- Tony wouldn't send us that kind of garbage.

– Man: That's true.

– Kevin: Deckboards right here.

Right?

And these things are actually spacers.

– Man: What?!

Kevin: And they give you two spacing options.

So, this side you can see is 1/8".

So that's this dimension right here.

Or the other side, the 3/16", is this dimension right here.

Alright?

So you fasten your first deck board to the frame, okay?

And, then, you just take your -- Let's use an 1/8".

– Man: A 1/8".

– Kevin: You pop it in right there, and you set it as 1/8".

Pop it in right there.

Set it as an 1/8".

Tony actually sent me four of them.

And, then -- wha-bam!

– Man: Wow.

Kevin: And -- wha-bam!

And look at that.

And, then, so if you just for a second pull them out, you can just see how perfect and aligned those are.

How about that, huh?

Tom: It's actually pretty good, 'cause it is difficult to space out the boards.

Kevin: You can thank Tony for that.

– Mark: Okay.

– Kevin: Alright.

Well, that's it for us, but we would love to hear from you.

So make sure that you keep your questions coming.

Until next time, I'm Kevin O'Connor.

Mark: I'm Mark McCullough.

Tom: I'm Tom Silva.

Mauro: I'm Mauro Henrique.

Kevin: For "Ask This Old House."

Kevin: Next time on "Ask This Old House"... Richard shows a homeowner a DIY-friendly way to add a hose spigot to his backyard.

Richard: It's not completely do-it-yourself.

Straight in.

Nicely done.

Kevin: Then, Jenn shows a homeowner how to use cover crops to maintain soil health through the winter.

Jenn: I can't wait to see if your tomatoes taste different, like, if you get more of a bumper crop.

– Woman: Yeah.

Kevin: All that on...