Ask This Old House

Kevin

On "Ask This Old House," our experts traveled across the country to answer questions about your house. Today, Ross will explain how he became an engineer and share what he loves about his job. Then, from claw hammers to sledgehammers to electricians hammers. We'll tell you how to select the right hammer for your job. Plus, we'll explain how to tackle some of the most common emergency plumbing problems. And we'll show you how to remove and replace a garage door. All that on "Ask This Old House."

Ross

So "This House" is definitely in my blood, no question. My grandfather started on the show in 1979.

What a day we got. Bob

A little wet for you.

Ron

Yeah, a little bit. Good to see you.

Ross

My dad took over after that.

Richard

Putting the heat above where you want

the solder to go... Bob

Mm-hmm.

Richard

...but capillary attraction can draw that solder uphill.

Ross

But, yeah, it's crazy to think about, that the show is in its third generation. Growing up, we would hop on a plane or get in the car, my mother, my brother, and I, and we'd drive to wherever the project was. You know, my brother and I would be swinging hammers and banging wood. And when I got a little bit older, I wanted to learn. And so I was trying to, you know, pull Tommy away and ask him a question about something. The producer of "Ask This Old House" called and said, "Would you be interested in doing a segment? I was like, "Sure, I'd love to do it." You know, it's basically installing solar on a roof in San Fran. The typical solar panel takes sunlight and converts it into DC power, direct-current power, but for it to be used in the house, we need to have as alternating current or AC power. Because I was always around the camera and watching from the outside, I at least had enough of a kind of an understanding of what it was like and what the filming process was like. But it's completely different when the camera's on you. And I remember being like, "This is hard. This is really hard stuff. Like, this is not easy." Each of the panels are wired in parallel, not in series with each other, so that if one does malfunction or one does get shaded, it doesn't knock out the entire array. I didn't get a call for about probably five, six years after that segment, so... Ultimately, they did call back, and then I was just so grateful to become a regular on the show. Kevin, how you doing?

Kevin

All right. So your dad tells me you've been out here running some numbers. What do you think of our roof?

Ross

I think I'm most proud of the fact that I'm starting to pull the show in a different direction. We're able to allow people to capture a 3-D model of their home in minutes. Very cool. And I think the technology part is one that's evolving so fast and it's becoming more a part of our everyday life. So this is the hub and connects all the devices in the house down to this one station. Future House, to me, is a sneak peek where we're taking those technology products that are really in their infancy and trying to bring them to the audience.

Thomas

What we're trying to do is bring geothermal to residential neighborhoods.

Ross

Growing up in a family of plumbers, we were taught hard work ethic. We were taught how to solder a pipe. But what I was curious about was more or less the future of plumbing. So I heard you and your father are working on a smart automatic water shut-off valve.

Gabe

We have a flow sensor that's installed on the main water supply line. So we basically negated the need for all of those point sensors that you previously had.

Ross

If it wasn't for that fundamental basics of what plumbing is and how that's done, I don't think I would have been able to get to where I am today or into this career path. And so mechanical engineering was the fit for me.

Ryan

Hey,

Ross. Ross

Nice to meet you.

Ryan

Nice to meet you, too. Welcome to Mission Control.

Ross

What an engineer's dream.

Ryan

It is pretty incredible, I have to say, to work here every day.

Ross

I love the challenges that we deal with every single day.

Axel

We thought, "What can we do as a developer to provide an energy-efficient source for heating-cooling?"

Ross

I can come into work every single day with a new enthusiasm because it'll be a new challenge with every single project and something that requires us to think outside the box, to come up with the right approach.

Hasier

And now we have two spaces.

Ross

Your bed is robotic, too?

Hasier

Yes.

Chuckles

Ross

I would love to inspire others to get into engineering. There's not enough mechanical engineers working on the projects and systems that we design.

Mike

For example, let me go turn the oven on and how you what happens.

Ross

Whoa! Instantaneous! These jobs are here today, and they need to be filled. And so it's important for us to use this platform as a megaphone.

Richard

You're really smart, but I still don't really understand my electric bill.

Ross

Don't worry. I'll help you. My dad's now Grampy. He's awesome with the kids. He comes over to the house and helping them, you know, build forts with, you know, building blocks and teaching them why a certain way of building it is going to be stronger. And he can't turn it off. He's always teaching. And he's a really great father and great grandfather. My kids are 4 and 2. When they get a little bit older, I would love to give them a taste of what I had as a kid growing up and hopefully open their eyes the same way that my eyes were opened up. I want to make sure that I can instill the same traits and skills that were instilled in me from my father, my grandfather, and so then they can take that and run with it.

Kevin

Tommy, look at you and your hammers. The only place where there are more hammers than this table are the aisle at the home center.

Tom

Hey, and there's a lot more than are here because, like you say, these are just some that we have up here. I mean, lookit -- they have wooden handles, steel handles, wood, fiberglass and different types of heads. All kinds of hammers for different things. Rubber mallets are used in all trades. Carpenters, plumbers, whatever, they're all going to use that. A ball-peen hammer, mechanics love these for making gaskets and stuff like that. Tin knockers. Mason hammer for cutting brick, setting it.

Kevin

And then the army of the hammers that the carpenters use, which are distinguished by obviously size, but they've got different heads, handles, claws.

Tom

Yeah. I mean, look, right here. We have a straight claw and a curved claw. And the curved claw will give you more leverage when you're trying to pull a nail out.

Kevin

Yeah, this one's gonna have to travel a lot further

to pull it that way. Tom

Right. And you also notice that you have a longer handle, so that's going to give you a lot more leverage, also.

Kevin

So a framer would use something like this.

Tom

A framer would use that. I mean, I think I've tried every single kind of hammer out there, and I always go back to my old faithful right here. I've probably had this thing for 35 years.

Kevin

So you like wooden handle?

Tom

I love a wooden-handled hammer.

Kevin

You like the straight claw.

Straight claw is a plus. Kevin

Versus the curve.

Tom

The reason I like the straight is because you can use it for different things. I mean, I can use it if I'm driving a nail into a tight spot. I can use the claw to drive the nail. Or I can actually chisel wood out.

Kevin

And you like the smooth face versus the waffle.

Tom

Yeah, great for framing, not for finish.

Kevin

Why good for framing?

Tom

Well, when you're framing, years ago, we were taught that when you are framing and you're driving nails and let's say you're driving a nail in a corner, that hammer could slip off the nail if you're driving -- you're driving at an angle. You want it to bite into that head. You actually get a better grip.

Kevin

Okay. So that's for gripping.

Tom

Now you look at this hammer here, and there's a few more of them. You can actually drive a spike. Let's say when you frame a roof or something and you're up on the ridge and you want to take that hammer, you've got to hold the rafter up against the ridge, and you're up there reaching, and you can take this and just bang it, one stop.

Kevin

So you've got a little tiny magnet into the head. You got a little bit of a recess for the head of the nail. And when those two kind of come together...

Tom

Take it up there to reach up high. Boom -- the hammer allows you to drive it in.

Kevin

That's pretty cool.

Comes in handy. Tom

Yeah.

Kevin

So I'm also noticing different handles. That one's wood. This one is a metal tine with a rubber handle right here. Do you have a preference? And is there...?

Tom

Well, I have a preference, but you have to think of a hammer, number one, as an extension of your arm. All right? And you're gonna hold that hammer -- As a carpenter, we hold the hammer a lot during the day.

Right. Tom

And you want it to feel good in your hand. And you get used to different styles, like that steel with this grip. That's a nice grip. All right?

Kevin

This is a hatchet handle right here, which I know -- I mean, there's some people who just swear by this. I've never gotten used to it.

Tom

I can't get used to it, either. I still like the conventional -- I actually modify my handle just a little bit. You can see I put holes in it for a grip.

Yeah. Tom

As a carpenter, you use this hammer a lot during the day, and it becomes part of you, and you want it to feel good.

Kevin

And then, in terms of technique, Tommy, I mean, you have always said that it's about the grip and how the hammer is like an extension of your arm.

Tom

Exactly right. I mean, you want to swing the hammer, line it up with your shoulder, the hammer and the nail, and swing like that, not like this. Also, the grip is very important. A good, firm grip with your fingers and thumb around it. Not down here, not pointing to the nail or having your thumb up while like that. Because if you want to bend a nail, this is the best way to do it. So you drive the nail, 9 times out of 10, you're going to slip off just like that.

Kevin

Yeah.

Tom

But if you hold it correctly and swing it right, the nail will be driven with less effort.

Kevin

And the technique changes a little bit when we are talking about trim because obviously smaller nail, but a little bit finer technique, a little more finesse.

Tom

Finish nail, smooth hammer, light hammer.

Not the waffle. Tom

Yep. So the head is nice and smooth, so if I did miss, I'm not gonna damage the wood. I drive it down, get it so just right there,

almost flush with the surface. Kevin

Just tiny bit above.

Tom

Yeah. Take the nail set, give it a good firm tap, get it down below so you can get some wood filler in there.

Kevin

And this is gonna make you wince, but I'm just gonna do it. The frame -- the framing hammer.

Yeah. Kevin

Drive it in. And, of course, when you finish it...

Tom

So now you get a lot of wood that has to be fixed, and you still have to set the nail.

Right. No good. Tom

Yeah, not good.

Kevin

Okay,

I love it. Tom

All right.

Kevin

All about hammers. Thank you, Tommy.

Tom

It's hammer time, right?

Kevin

Oh, groan.

Both laugh

Kevin

Richard! There's a leak!

Laughing

Kevin

Do something! There's leaking!

Richard

There's nothing more horrifying than coming home and seeing water coming out of the walls.

It's just.. Kevin

Pit in your stomach.

Richard

So, the whole thing is really about control. How do you get through the night? How do you get under control so that you can get through the night and call the plumber, and they can come and fix it? So, first things first. Every single house somewhere in it has a main shut-off valve. It's gonna be usually at the front of the house where the water meter is or where the well pump supply is. And it's got a valve you turn clockwise like this, or it could be a ball valve like this. Once you do that --

Breathes deeply

Richard

-- full stop.

Kevin

The house is no longer pressurized.

Okay. Right. Kevin

The leak should stop.

Richard

Right. So then it's a question, "Okay. So how do I now analyze -- What do I have to do to get through the night?" So let's work down from the house. It could be that the emergency that you thought was the toilet was running, and it could have been that you turn off the supply right here. Normal water comes in here and you could turn the main water back on. One thing I do want to talk about is, if this thing's got a toilet stoppage, the one thing you don't want to do is have somebody flush this because that water in the tank now can't go anywhere except overflow and go down through the building.

Kevin

That's the one thing the 16-year-olds do do. They just keep flushing and flushing.

Richard

They won't be 16 forever. All right. So let's work downwards into the building. So now you've got a pipe maybe that's frozen or you've got a pipe that somebody maybe hung clothing on in the basement or somewhere. And so if the pipe breaks, you have to control it. So you could just isolate it. Now, if you know how to solder -- there's a solder kit here -- you can put a cap on the the pipe and solder it. The challenge for that is that the water that's in the pipes coming back won't let you solder easily.

It's hard to solder. Richard

Now, in the old days, one of the things -- all we had -- was that you actually peen over the end of the pipe, put a little bit of flux on it, and try to solder that or even to bend the pipe back on itself and then put a breeze clamp and sort of -- just sort of -- Almost like tying a knot in the pipe just to get through.

Kevin

That's going to interrupt the leak, which is gonna allow you to turn the house back on.

That's right. Kevin

Gotcha.

Richard

Okay. Then what we had were these. These are compression connections. Compression connections -- we've used them before. So you've got... You've got a brass ring called a ferrule. You can make that -- even when water's coming out, you can do that, and you tighten up with two wrenches, and you're out of it. Okay? And the last thing we always had was this, some sort of two-part epoxy that you hoped that could do it.

It never seemed to work for me. Kevin

No.

Richard

Okay. The breakthrough was these push-to-connect connections, okay? So. say you have a frozen split like this. These connections, you just do this. Even with water coming out -- Imagine this. Even at full pressure, you could push this in and then close this off

and you're done. Kevin

So look at that. I mean, once you push that in, that's not going anywhere.

Richard

So if there was a split like this, you can cut the exact coupling. And then sometimes there's not enough play. This thing is a lifesaver. This thing has a push-to-connect on both sides. So you're going to go like this. Go boom.

Put that on there. Richard

Okay. And that's the other side. Okay, that's boom, and you made it.

Wow. Richard

Turn the water back on.

Kevin

So it gives you a lot of flexibility.

Richard

That gets you through the night. Okay? Now, any plumber, any carpenter, anybody that lives in a rural area away from the home center should also be thinking about a little control kit. It would have some of these parts I've talked about but also a copper cap, a push-to-connect end cap, here's a threaded cap, because there's only two real sizes in American plumbing, in residential -- 1/2 inch and 3/4. So if I had a thread like this that I could get onto, I could put a little cap on it like this.

Kevin

Yeah. I mean, you don't even need to be that far from home center.

If this happens at 10

00 at night, nobody's open.

That's right. Kevin

This is literally gonna get you through the night.

Richard

It's just about control. Okay? There's plugs like this. Say you had a little -- And I want to caution -- if you smell gas, get out of the house. But if there was a little leak on a gas supply valve, you could put a plug in here just to get through the night right there.

Kevin

So, upstairs could be the toilet. Throughout the house, it could be the pipes anywhere.

Richard

And if the water heater -- Someday, your water heater's gonna leak, and it'll get your attention. So it could come from the drain at the bottom.

So the drain at the bottom... Kevin

Got one right down there.

Richard

Yeah, there's a washer in here sometimes. All you got to do is just put -- To get out of it, just put a little hose cap -- the same garden hose cap that you do it. Okay? If you have a water heater that's leaking, there's always a shut-off valve on the cold water inlet to the water heater. Turn it like this. Turn it off. Okay? Now, it still means that it's under pressure. You want to make sure you turn off the gas supply or the electrical supply, if it's electric.

Kevin

Under pressure 'cause it's full and it's got the weight of the water.

Richard

And the last thing I want to call out about this is, every one of these water heaters has a really important valve called a temperature and pressure relief valve, like right here. Here's the overflow. If you see water coming out through here, the number-one thing you don't do --

Kevin

'Cause that's doing what it's designed to do.

Richard

It's relieving pressure. And so I've heard about people taking that out and putting a plug in there so they don't have the water leaking out anymore, and it turns this into a bomb. Turns it into a bomb.

Kevin

'Cause now you've got nowhere for the pressure to go.

Richard

Then you got a real emergency.

Kevin

Then you got a real emergency.

Richard

And if these don't work, you can always actually just take these and, uh, call me in the morning.

Laughs

Richard

Call me in the morning.

Kevin

This is what you're leaving me with.

Bye. Kevin

Whose are these? These aren't yours. They're definitely not Tommy's.

Richard

I thought I'd be taller.

Kevin

Slimmer.

Nathan

Hi,

Melanie. Melanie

Hi, Nathan.

Nice to meet you. Melanie

Nice to meet you, too.

Nathan

Beautiful spot you have here.

Melanie

Thank you.

Nathan

Have you guys been here for long?

Melanie

We've been here for about 10 years.

Nathan

10 years? Any projects?

Melanie

We have done a couple of projects, but we really need to replace the garage door.

Nathan

So this must be the one you wrote me about.

It is. Nathan

Oh, yeah.

Older wooden door. Melanie

Yes. So as you can tell, it's seen some effects from the elements. We live right near the water. The good news is, we replaced the trim already.

Nathan

Looks beautiful.

Melanie

And we have the garage door. It's on the inside because we had to disengage the motor, so we're gonna have to lift up the door.

Nathan

All right. Let's take a look. All right. Looks like we have all our parts and pieces. We have our panels. And one good thing to do before you start any project is just pull dimensions again. Make sure you have the right-size panels that are going to fit in this opening. I'd hate to leave you with a big hole in your house. So you have four panels. They're 9 foot. You have four panels that make up your door. And these are at 9 feet. And then, you have all the parts and pieces with the rollers and hinges. So I feel pretty safe that we can start the demo. I'm gonna grab some tools out of my truck.

We'll get started. Melanie

Okay, great.

Nathan

All right. We're getting ready to remove this door. And there's two things we want to keep in mind for safety. One is that, it's an older door. It's really heavy, so we want to be careful with that. Good to have two people working on it. The second thing is, we're working with springs, which could be under a lot of tension. These ones aren't, but you always want to be careful when working with things under tension. So, to get started, I'm gonna apply this clamp to the track and that will keep the door from slamming down when we release the spring tension. I'll come up here. There's just a little hook. I'll pull that out on this side. We'll go to the other side, remove that, and then slowly lower the door. All right, tension's off. Pop this clamp. Slowly lower this down. I'm going to remove the rusted square nuts using a wrench. You just need to go slow because these bolts come through the back side of this panel, and they are a little bit older and rusted. All right, I'll take this roller out. Slowly lean this out. We're going to remove the door panel by panel, working from the top down. All right. I want to introduce you to the parts and pieces that are going to make up your new door. Some good news to start -- your motor and your track are still in great shape so we can reuse those. To get started, here are your hinges.

Melanie

Each of the hinges look a little bit different.

Nathan

A little bit. We have ones, twos, and threes. And as we start from the bottom and work our way up, we'll use different hinges. These hinges receive the rollers, which will slide right into your existing track. Up here, we have your top brackets. Have your bottom brackets. And then, most importantly, we have your new panels. This is obviously the top. It has the glass. And the one below it, with the weather stripping, is your bottom. I think we have everything we need. You want to get them installed?

Melanie

Sounds good.

Nathan

Nice. To install the door, we're going to start with the bottom panel and work our way to the top. Pretty easy to install it. What I'm gonna do is tuck my end in first into the track. All right, swing your end in. All right. Lower it on top of the table. Having the table here is really good because it creates a workspace for us. I need to put my bottom bracket and my first hinge on. All right, let's pull that table out. We could drop this first panel down. And one of the most important parts when you're working your way up is making sure that you're working off a level base. So we're going to toss a level across this and see if we need to shim it. Okay. We need to come up a little bit on our left side. So if you want to watch that level, I'm gonna come up a little bit. How's that?

Melanie

Looks good.

Nathan

Looks good? All right. Now that we're nice and level, we can put our second panel on, third and fourth. And when we attach all our hinges, it'll be nice and straight. I'm going to attach the brackets and hinges to the panel using an impact driver. All right. For our top panel, we're going to put it in a little bit different than the other ones. We don't really have to put the rollers on first, so go all the way up. Drop it down. So, one thing that I noticed was our new bracket is not going to work with your two-track system. You can see if I put the roller into this, mounted that at the highest point, we're still below. So what we were able to do is salvage your bracket off of one of your old panels, put that roller in, get that into place. And now that'll work with the two-track system.

Melanie

Great. All right. Now we're ready to make our connection between our door and our springs, and we're going to use a cable. So we're just going to come over, hook it on the bottom panel, which is our bottom bracket, gonna run it over this pulley. And if you want to lift up that spring a little bit, take some of that tension off. Now here's the fun part. Now we got to come back. You can see this little clip here. I'll just feed that through and back on itself. Okay. The last thing we need to do to finish up inside is attach this bracket to the top panel that you have here. Really easy. Pull these screws out, put a couple more in. Brought forward this opening arm, which was already existing, so we'll just reattach that with one pin, and you'll have a working door opener. Great. I'm excited to have a working door.

Nathan

I'm glad it'll help. All right, you want to hold that? And I'll take this one. Perfect. All right, to finish up the front of your door, I picked up some door trim, which is just some PVC with a vinyl edge. And we're going to lightly push it up against the door, and that'll create a really nice seal around the front. One piece across the top. And then we'll do a piece down the left and right leg. All right, Melanie, you're all set. I think it came out pretty good. What do you think?

Melanie

It looks great. I love the curb appeal, and it's going to be so nice to have a working garage again.

Nathan

Nice transformation. But one last thing.

Let's give it a try. Melanie

Sounds good.

Button clicks

Let's give it a try. Melanie

Nathan

Looks like you're all set.

Melanie

That was great. Thank you so much for all of your help.

I really appreciate it. Nathan

You're welcome.

Enjoy it. Melanie

Thank you.

Kevin

Next time on "Ask This Old House," we're all about hydrangeas. We'll show you all the different varieties to choose from and explain what you can do to help your plants bloom this season. Then, we'll break down the different types of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors available to help keep you safe. And we'll bring weathered deck handrails and posts back to life on "Ask This Old House."