Ask This Old House

Kevin

Today on "Ask This Old House"... How are quartz countertops different from other materials? We'll show you what they are, how they're made and how they're installed.

Danny

As you can see, Kevin, the ceilings are a little low here, so when we lift this piece up from the bottom, we're going to lean it on the edge of the cabinet. We're going to lower the L shape towards us so we can slide it in safely.

Nathan

I'll show you how to display and hang the American flag.

Jenn

We're going to split some firewood! Yeah, Tommy.

Mark

And installing a masonry fire pit can really upgrade your backyard. I'll show you how to do it.

Jim

This is awesome, Mark. Thank you.

Kevin

When picking out new countertops, most people opt for some kind of a stone, and traditionally that has been granite or marble. Those are quarried from the earth. They come out in big blocks, and then they are sliced into slabs, but lately another option has surged in popularity, quartz countertops, and those are made in facilities like this one here in Minnesota. Quartz is extremely hard, and that's why people like it for countertop surfaces. It basically won't scratch, and it's nonporous, which means it really won't stain, so it's easy to clean, and you don't have to seal it like granite. Quartz is a mineral, so it is mined out of the ground, and then it is crushed and sorted into pieces as big as this right down to a fine powder. Those pieces are mixed with a binder that basically makes a batter. It then comes into this machine right here, which distributes the batter evenly into rubber molds, which are then rolled into this machine where it is vibrated, compacted, and a vacuum pulls out all of the air, making the material nonporous. Then it is rolled into the big oven where it is cooked at about 200 degrees for 30 to 60 minutes, and when it comes out, it's hard as stone. And once they're polished smooth, they're ready to be sent to a fabricator, cut to size, and then they're ready to be installed in somebody's home.

Jenny

Hi, Kevin. Welcome to our house.

We're so happy to have you here. Kevin

Very nice. How long have you guys been here?

About 4 years. Kevin

Nice.

Okay. Jenny

Yeah, so it was a little bit of a fixer when we bought it, and we've been doing some projects here and there.

Kevin

Such as?

Jenny

So in the kitchen, we painted the cabinets white.

Yeah. Jenny

They used to be a dark wood before. We also painted the walls. They were yellow to match this lovely countertops.

Kevin

You're not enamored with your countertops, are you?

Jenny

No. No. We are not. No. So we were thinking of putting something in a little bit more durable that looks a little more modern, updated.

Right. Jenny

We were thinking quartz.

Kevin

Probably a good choice, hardworking material, definitely updated from what you got. I mean, this is typical back in the day that you see a lot of this laminate countertop with the embedded backsplash, but it has probably served its purpose, so we can definitely upgrade that, and we've got a friend who fabricates countertops.

Jenny

Oh,

great. Kevin

So he's going to be able to help out, although we could help him out if we were to take these out before he got here, so you up for doing some work?

I am. Kevin

Alright. Well, let's clean them off and get going.

Okay. Kevin

Alright. So we've got to get this sink out of the way, so I'm going to give you that wrench. Why don't you get underneath there? We've turned the hot and cold water off, and now you just have to break the connection there from those risers so the little... See that nut? Yeah.

There you go. Jenny

Just like that?

Kevin

Yeah, just a threaded connection, just lefty loosey.

Jenny

Okay.

Kevin

Nice. Alright. Now the drain pipe, if you use the rag, you can probably loosen that by hand, that nut, yeah,

right there. Jenny

Yeah.

Kevin

Alright. Finish that off.

There it goes. Jenny

Alright.

Kevin

Alright. We should be able to pretty easily... Oh,

look at that. Jenny

Pretty good.

Kevin

You going to miss this?

Jenny

I don't think so.

No. Kevin

Alright.

We will get rid of this. Jenny

Thank you.

Kevin

Okay, so when I was underneath there, there were a bunch of places to clip the countertop to your cabinets, but none of them had screws, believe it or not...

Oh. Kevin

...hence this, but I think that's going to work in our favor. We might be able to just pull it out.

Grab over there. Jenny

Okay.

Kevin

Look at that.

Chuckles

There you go. Jenny

There it is.

Kevin

That came off pretty easily. There we go, down like this.

Good. Jenny

Okay.

Kevin

Here -- Why don't you take this end, lighter end over there? And we're going to go right out the back door, so you lead.

Alright. Kevin

Off you go.

Kevin

Jenny, say hello to Danny Puccio. He has helped us out a lot.

Hi. Danny

Hi, Jenny.

Nice to meet you. Danny

Nice to meet you.

Kevin

One of the best in the biz.

Thank you for coming. Danny

Thank you.

Kevin

She helped with the countertop removal, so we're in good shape here, Danny.

Danny

Excellent.

Kevin

And your guys are doing what for us?

Danny

Well, what they're doing is, they're taking these wooden glue-on strips, and they're going to actually make a form of the counter. At that point, we'll measure it all out, write it down on this graph paper so that we ensure that all our measurements are correct.

Kevin

Hot glue with the individual pieces?

Danny

Yes. They're going to scribe the walls. This way, we can take that form and later on cut it. Well, now that we've completed the templating process, Jenny, I'm going to need you to come back to my shop

and pick out an actual slab. Jenny

Okay.

Danny

What we'll do is, we'll take that slab. We'll put it down on a wet saw, and we'll cut out the form that we've made here, including the sink cutout and the edge detail work.

Jenny

Alright. That sounds good.

Kevin

Danny, a lot of the time, you see these slabs being moved by four or five guys, and you're down to two because of this set of wheels.

Danny

Yeah. As you can see, along with the wheels, we also have these clamps on the ends. These three things really take the burden off the guys' backs when they're transporting the material. It narrows it down from a three-to-four-person job. Now two people could comfortably use these tools to get a stone into a house.

Kevin

And the wheels are clamped right to the stone, so they can just lift it up over a threshold or up a stair or two, and they're right back on the wheels.

Danny

Exactly.

Watch the ceiling. Danny

As you can see, Kevin, the ceilings are a little low here, so when we lift this piece up from the bottom, we're going to lean it on the edge of the cabinet. We're going to lower the L shape towards us so we can slide it in safely.

There we go. Danny

Alright. Kevin, we're going to lift this up. Michael is going to come in behind us and put a nice bead of silicone along the tops of the cabinets and along this sink here. This way, it seals everything up nice, and it secures the countertops in place.

Kevin

Okay.

Danny

At the shop, we inserted some threaded inserts, and what Michael is doing right now is, he's securing the sink with some threaded clips. We also use silicone to secure the backsplash into place. Well, Jenny, your new countertops are in. What do you think?

Jenny

I love them! They look so great.

Kevin

Boy,

they really do. Jenny

Yeah.

Kevin

I think you nailed the color too, right?

Jenny

Thank you. Yeah. It's a big improvement on the yellow ones.

Kevin

Yeah. Well, that was easy.

Yeah. True. Kevin

But this is a good color.

Danny

You want to wait 24 hours before you put anything on them. We really want that silicone that we put in to really set up.

Okay. Kevin

Couple other things too, this outlet is not in a great spot, but that's an easy fix for an electrician to move that. Your faucet needs to be connected by the plumber as do the connections underneath, and, you know, we noticed when we were down there that the shutoffs for the hot and cold and the P trap is below this cabinet in the basement, so when the plumber comes, have him look at that and fix it as well.

Jenny

Okay, will do.

Kevin

Otherwise, I think you're good to go.

Jenny

Yes. Thank you again. Thank you both. It looks amazing in here. I can't wait for the kids to come home

and see this for the first time. Kevin

It's going to be awesome. Danny, thank you to you and your guys for all the help.

Danny

You're very welcome.

Kevin

Nathan, we are talking flag etiquette, and you are our guy thanks to both your naval service but also as an Eagle Scout for the Boy Scouts.

Nathan

I've had a lot of training over the years, a lot of training on flag etiquette, so I know a little bit about it. Actually, my Eagle Scout project was based around the flag itself. I had a local cemetery, and I wanted to update the veterans' database

from paper to electronic. Kevin

Oh, interesting.

Nathan

And in doing so, we found some graves that weren't marked properly, so the American Legion supplied these new markers, and you place it right at the grave, and then we have these cemetery flags we upgraded as well.

Kevin

So they could be appropriately honored

on Veterans Day. Nathan

Exactly.

Kevin

Okay. Cool. So there are rules, and you guys in the military certainly have to follow those rules.

Nathan

Absolutely. There's a set of guidelines. The military likes it, Boy Scouts. American Legion follows them. It is a set of guidelines. Civilians aren't required to follow it, but it's a great set of guidelines to follow because there's a lot of good information in there.

Kevin

Alright. So give us some of the rules that we should be thinking about.

Nathan

You know, a lot of people like to display flags on their houses. Good place to start is an all-weather flag, something synthetic that's going to stand up to the rain and the wind.

Kevin

Got you.

Nathan

If you want to display it at night, keep it lit. Over time, if your flag becomes tattered and worn and you need to retire it, the best way to is burn it, incinerate it, start with the union, the blue field.

Kevin

Okay, so this up here, this corner right here, this is called the union?

Nathan

This is the union right here, so once you incinerate that, it's no longer a flag. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, you can bring it to the American Legion or the Boy Scouts,

and they'll do it for you. Kevin

Cool. Okay. The union being blue and white, currently has 50 stars because we have 50 states.

Nathan

50 states. If they ever added another one, they would add a star. If they added another state, they would add a star the next Fourth of July following.

Kevin

So not until the Fourth of July would we change the flag?

Nathan

Yeah.

I don't know if... Kevin

That's cool.

Nathan

...that's going to happen, though.

Kevin

I did not know that.

Alright. Nathan

So displaying the flag, some people like to hang it up horizontally or vertically.

Kevin

This orientation horizontally.

Nathan

Best way to do that is keep the union in the top left.

Kevin

Okay, so union up there.

Nathan

Now if you're going to hang it this way, again,

top left... Kevin

Oh, interesting.

Nathan

... proper way to display it.

Kevin

So that's proper, and if you hung it this way off, say, your upper deck, that would be inappropriate.

Nathan

Inappropriate,

yep. Kevin

Got you. Alright. So those are some of the rules, regs, and as you say, civilians don't have to necessarily follow those rules, but it is a great way to show respect for the flag

to try to adhere to them. Nathan

It is.

It is. Kevin

Alright. In terms of just practically getting them up on the house because a lot of us have got something like this, you know, where it comes with the pole and the bracket.

Nathan

These kits are a great place to start. You get a bracket, the pole, the flag, everything you need to hang it up.

Yep. Nathan

These kits are... You can only have it in two different angles. I actually like a bracket like this that you can adjust with a wing nut, so you can get just the right pitch.

Kevin

So if you unscrew this, this goes either way.

Yeah. Kevin

Alright.

Nathan

And outside the front door, a lot of people have overhangs, so you might need to avoid that. You don't want the flag brushing up against it. If you need to get out into the body a little bit, you can get one of these surface-mounted blocks

that fits into some clapboard. Kevin

Interesting.

Nathan

You can mount that right anywhere you need to and then mount the bracket to that.

Kevin

Let's mount that up here. Let's see how we do right there. Hold that, so it's got a little center hole right away.

Nathan

Yeah.

Alright. Kevin

Okay. You want me to locate this guy?

Nathan

Yeah. Let's place it up there.

Kevin

Alright. So I'll try to center that. Going to pilot first?

Nathan

Yeah.

Kevin

Try not to move it on you and screw you up.

Nathan

And it's good to remember when mounting this bracket that it's going to see a lot of high winds, so you want to go through that block into the sheeting and really drive those screws in. Alright, Kevin. Can you hand me the flag?

Kevin

I can.

Here she is. Nathan

Alright. We'll tuck that right in and tighten up this nut on the side.

Kevin

Nice, nice and secure, good angle. She's hanging properly and proud.

Yep. Good. Kevin

Thank you, Nathan.

Nathan

You're welcome.

Tom

Hey, Jenn. Splitting wood, what's going on?

Jenn

Splitting wood because a lot of homeowners have firepits and fireplaces and...

Tom

It's a big deal.

Jenn

It's a huge deal, and it's cheaper to do your own wood.

Tom

Absolutely.

Jenn

So this machine is an electric wood splitter, and it's really easy to use.

Tom

Yeah, so I see this is not a hydraulic splitter.

Jenn

No. It's not a hydraulic splitter. It runs on centrifugal force.

There's a wheel inside. Tom

Yeah. Right in here, I know there's a big heavy wheel in there that spins really fast.

Jenn

Right, and when the momentum gets going, you pull the safety, pull the lever, and this part goes out and slams the piece of wood to split it into this wedge.

Tom

Right, definitely easier than splitting by hand.

Jenn

It definitely is. I prefer this method.

Tom

Well, have you ever done it the older way? Let's put it that way.

Jenn

I'm not sure I've done it properly the older way.

Well... Jenn

You want to show me?

Tom

...let

me show you. Jenn

Alright.

Tom

Absolutely. Alright. So when you're splitting wood, a lot of people, first thing they think of

is an axe. Jenn

Right.

Tom

Alright? Now an axe is really... You know, it's okay for splitting wood, but the primary design of an axe is to cut trees down, cut heavy branches off without using a saw.

From the side. Tom

Alright? So if you notice, it's kind of a narrow head,

and it's very sharp. Jenn

Okay.

Tom

The other way you can split wood is with a splitting maul. Now look at this. This is heavy.

Jenn

That's a completely different shape to this.

Tom

Yeah, and it's really broad so that when this gets into the wood, you want to split those fibers apart.

Jenn

Okay.

Tom

And sometimes you'll actually split it with a wedge and a maul or a sledgehammer and drive that into the tree like that, and this works down, and it pulls the grain apart, but this is heavy. Splitting it and turning this around all day long

and over your head... Jenn

How many pounds is that?

Tom

This is probably 8 pounds, 8 pounds right there, yeah?

Jenn

That should be a good workout, though.

Tom

Yeah, so you swing that around, and you're going to have a workout. That's for sure, but they developed a splitting axe right here. Now you see the difference in this head? This actually has a wedge right here.

Right. Tom

Alright? And it's a little bit heavier than the standard axe also.

Jenn

Right, and it's a little wider, huh?

Right. Jenn

Okay.

Tom

So when you look at the... If you look at the two together, there's really a big difference in the width.

Jenn

Right,

right. Tom

Or should I say the girth?

Jenn

And that makes a big difference in splitting.

Tom

It makes a big difference in splitting. So I could take and use this for the maul like this also, a splitting wedge like this. I drive it in, and that would split the wood, and this is giving me some good power, but if I could try to split this with hand, the first thing I would do is, I would look for the checks in the wood.

Checks would be cracks. Jenn

Okay.

I would stand back. Jenn

I would stand back, too.

Tom

I'm not going to hit anything. Now I'm not going to drive this into the middle. I want to start out on the edge. Now I could either go to this edge and that edge, but you're always better off coming to the edge

closest to you. Jenn

Why is that?

Kevin

Well, because I don't want to have to reach fast, and if it comes through too fast, I don't want to hit the handle on there, could damage it.

Jenn

Okay.

Kevin

Next thing I do is, I look for any knots because going through a knot is not good.

Mm-hmm. Tom

So I find it. I get it lined up like that. I stand back. I have my legs apart a little bit, a little bit of an angle.

Okay. Tom

Now I reach. I grab it. I get it to swing. When it swings, then I'm going to just turn a little bit at the same time, get the momentum of the axe going and drive it into the wood. I want to keep pushing it all the way, so I get up, get a good distance, bring it up, swing it down just like that.

Jenn

Just like the centrifugal force in the wheel.

Exactly. Jenn

Got it.

Into the wood. Jenn

Okay.

Tom

Drive it away. Turn it. Drop it on. Get a distance. Swing it.

Jenn

Look at that.

Tom

Oh. That's the grain of the wood right there.

That happens. Jenn

Wow. I didn't know the tips of coming from the outside and going...

Tom

Want to try one?

Jenn

I would love to.

Tom

So line it up first for distance. Good job.

Jenn

Ready?

Tom

Let it fall. Grab it.

Jenn

Almost.

Tom

Almost. Whoa! You got that one alright.

Nice job. Jenn

Excellent.

Tom

So what do you think is better?

Mark

Oh, wow, great space.

Jim

Yeah. We love it back here. We've been here for about 7 years, and it's a great place to hang out. We built this patio a few years back. We like to eat dinner out here, and sometimes we like to have a fire by the firepit.

Mark

Alright. Ah,

so this is the firepit. Jim

Yeah. We're looking for something to upgrade it. You know, this is sort of a temporary thing for us. It's getting old. It's getting rusty. We'd love to replace it with something more permanent.

Mark

Alright, well, you know, these firepits can really run the gamut. They can be super inexpensive and just give you four or five fires a year all the way up to something that's super expensive. Few years ago on the show, Jenn actually put a firepit together using four pieces of granite, so it was beautiful, but they can get pretty pricey.

Jim

Yeah. We're not looking to go that high with the budget.

Mark

Okay, so I know if we go down to the home center where they have these precast blocks, they're actually cut in such a way that they're going to make a circle which, again, is a desirable firepit, so I think we should probably start there.

That sounds excellent. Mark

Alright. Let's go. Alright. So what we've done is, I've taken the metal ring that we're going to use when we're done, and we've used it as a template, and I laid the first course of block dry. That's going to do a couple things for us. Most importantly, it's going to give us the location. You like where we are?

Jim

Yeah. This is a great spot. It's set back from the patio and far away from the trees, so we don't have to worry about the fire coming up.

Mark

Alright, that's great. So the next thing is to dig, so grab your shovel, and what we're going to do is dig around the block, and we're going to stay off the block by 3 inches. So once we're done making this cut, we're going to remove the first course of block. We're going to remove the ring, and then we're going to dig out our pit. So, as we're digging, just make sure to save some grass because once we put our firepit in, we're going to need to patch our lawn into the block.

Jim

So, Mark, how deep do we need to go?

Mark

The manufacturer wants us to go down 2 inches, but in New England, I like a little drainage, so we're going to go down a little deeper, maybe 8 inches. Right there. Straight up. Alright. Now this is 2-inch trap rock which is very good for our drainage.

Jim

Why is it important that we have drainage underneath the pit?

Mark

We get a rainstorm and water goes into the pit, we want it to be able to drain through the trap rock and into the soil and disperse itself. We're going to want to pack it with the hand tamper every 2 inches.

Jim

How do you know when we're ready for the next course?

Mark

You got a minute to go. It's going to feel very solid. It's not going to bounce the way it's bouncing right now, so keep hammering down. Flip it in. Great. So this is going to be our final course. It's the paver base, and all it is, is a mixture of 3/4-inch stone and stone dust. All you're going to do is rake it out, and then we'll level it off. Alright. So we're going to put our ring back in, and just like before, we're going to use this as a template because we're going to do the most important thing on the job so far, and that's set our first block which is very, very important. We want to make sure it's level side to side. That's perfect actually. We're going to go front to back and make sure that's level. I got to tap down a bit. Alright. I'm level there. Now we're going to level the whole first course off of that one block. Don't forget the next two courses go off of this. We're not going to use the level too much on those courses, so that's why it's critical to get every single block as perfectly level as possible. Perfect. So what we've done is, we've laid our second course, but we've laid it dry, so we're going to peel back this block, call it our first block, and you're going to give me some construction adhesive right across here and right across here, and I'll put the block back in. Now I'm going to wiggle this one into place, and we're going to do this the entire way around the rim. For the third course, we're going to do the same as we did for the second course, going to lay them in dry, and then we're going to use the adhesive. So now we're going to fill up the bottom of the pit with lava rock. You dump. I'll spread. Alright. So the last piece of this whole puzzle, Jim, is just to take the grass, patch it back into the lawn so like we were never there. What do you think, Jim?

Jim

This is awesome, Mark. Thank you.

Mark

We had fun today, right?

Jim

We did.

Yeah. I love it. Cheers. Jim

Cheers.

Kevin

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

Richard

How do they get water to the top of a high-rise building in New York City? I'll show you how they do it and how to fix it when it goes wrong.

Tom

And this bowl is a great first-time lathe project, and we'll show you how to build it. Bring it in. Once I feel my cut, I'm going to drag it over, come back, push it in, push it over.