This Old House

Kevin

Today on "This Old House"... Our master bathroom starts to come together with a new shower, tub, and toilet. Can I give you a hand with this?

Josh

Yeah, let's do it.

Kevin

All right, where do you want to get started? And the whole family pitches in to start painting the house. This season, we're in Detroit, Michigan, tackling two different projects. Oh, my word. If this house is gonna be saved, this is one less that we have to tear down. Frank, you are a brave man to take on this project. You excited?

Frank

Yeah, we're eager to get started.

Kevin

A Detroit family found a home with lots of potential. Now, they're planning on doing most of the work themselves, but "This Old House" is here to help out. So, what have you found up here?

Tom

Well, a bit of a surprise.

Tamiko

I can't wait to see what the finished product is gonna be.

Kevin

Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House" here in Detroit, where we are working on a project house in this beautiful neighborhood called Russell Woods. And for the past four years, this house was abandoned. But the Polk family is just about ready to move in after a lot of hard work and a lot of progress. Check out these floors. Original to the house, they were sanded down, they received a coat of stain, and the first top coat. Just one more top coat to go. In the kitchen, all we need is paint and appliances. And upstairs, well, we're making good progress up there, too. Hey,

Josh. Josh

Hey.

Kevin

The master bathroom is coming along, and later today, we're actually gonna start installing some of the plumbing fixtures. But, first, I'm off to a painting party. Frank, Tamiko, hi,

guys. Tamiko

Hi, Kevin.

Frank

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

Your emerging taupe has arrived.

Okay. Kevin

And where are the kids? I thought it was a family affair.

Frank

Oh, they're working. They're gonna help us out after work.

Kevin

They have jobs, thank goodness.

Yeah. Tamiko

Mm-hmm.

Kevin

All right, so Tom Silva left us a to-do list. What is on it?

Frank

Well, we've got to get this room ready to be painted. So we've got a few things to do here. We've got to remove some old hardware.

Kevin

Yep.

Frank

We've got to do light scraping. Some mudding and sanding, and we should be set

and ready to go. Kevin

All right.

Frank

Glad you could join the party.

Kevin

Yeah, sure. What do you want me to do?

Frank

Probably remove some hardware. Tamiko's sanding,

I'll scrape. Kevin

Sounds good.

Frank

We're all set.

Tamiko

Hey, Christian and Monet!

Frank

There's the rest of the family.

Kevin

Hey, guys.

Christian

Hey, what could you have us do?

Frank

Kevin and I are cutting the ceiling here. I think you guys could come behind us with the rollers.

Christian

Okay.

Frank

We'll get this done real fast.

Okay. Frank

All right, you ready?

Tamiko

Yeah. Here, you can have this. Both of you guys. Yeah. Good job, Christian and Monet. You need some more paint. Whoo!

Kevin

Flat white on the ceiling looks pretty good. And then you've got emerging taupe for the wall color.

Frank

Yeah, wife's choice. Gonna cut up to this accent molding at the ceiling here. Then I'll trim around the casings and the base moldings.

Kevin

Perfect. Sounds like a plan.

Tamiko

You like it?

Kevin

Okay. Nice! Look at this! Tamiko, you still like the color?

I love the color. Kevin

That's good to hear. Christian, Monet, you guys up for doing some more painting?

We got more rooms. Monet

Yeah.

Let's do some more. Monet

I'm ready.

Kevin

Frank, with this crew, you're gonna be done in no time.

Frank

Yeah, we're getting it done real fast. It looks good.

Kevin

So a couple more steps for you, right?

Frank

Yeah, we'll tighten up some of these lines

and go room to room. Kevin

All right. A family that paints together, stays together. Nice job,

guys. Tamiko

Yeah.

Kevin

Outside, we have got some finishing touches going in as well, and not a moment too soon, as the weather has turned on us. Mike,

good to see you. Mike

Hey, good morning.

Kevin

So you've helped us out with some of the landscaping. You guys have made some great progress. What is the plan here for what's going in?

Mike

Sure. So we've got some hydrangeas here that will get up just underneath this window back here.

Those will bloom all summer. Kevin

Yeah.

Mike

You've got a hedge of boxwoods. You know, maybe trim them once, twice a year, gonna be real tidy and a low-maintenance bed.

Kevin

A couple different layers that we were fighting hard to cover up that gas panel. So the hydrangea will do that for us, right?

Mike

It's gonna be perfect, yeah.

Kevin

All right, so we've got a couple more of these boxwoods to go in over here?

Mike

That's right, yep.

Kevin

Get them in. Oh, yeah, these things are cold already with the weather.

Yeah. Kevin

All right, so no trouble planting them this time of the year?

Mike

No, not a bit.

Kevin

Get them right. All right, last one coming in.

That will look good right there. Mike

Yep.

Kevin

And now in front of these, you are obviously thinking sod, right?

Mike

That's right, yeah.

Kevin

What did you do to prep for that?

Mike

So we brought in a bunch of topsoil, a couple -- four inches. You know, got the grade away from the house.

Kevin

Nice.

Mike

And so, yeah, we're pretty close.

Let's roll it out. Mike

Okay, sounds good.

Kevin

Watch your back, Dan.

Mike

Great. Actually, hold on a second, Kevin. Just like the bricks in the house, we like to stagger the joints.

Kevin

Nice, okay. Love the little trimmer.

Mike

It's nice, yeah. It makes quick work of it.

Kevin

Yeah.

Mike

You know, if you don't have something like that, a drywall knife works pretty well as well.

Kevin

But what's spinning instead?

Mike

Well, you've got a steel blade there, that's what you edge your lawn with, yeah.

Kevin

Nice.

Mike

So, yeah, it does a nice job.

And... Mike

There you go.

Kevin

And a nice clean cut.

Mike

That's right,

yeah. Kevin

Good edge.

Mike

Yeah, it's beautiful. Yep, exactly, yeah.

You got it. Kevin

Love it.

Mike

Yep, that's how you do it. Kevin, when we get down to the sidewalk, depending on the time of year, the sidewalk could heat up. So we don't want to put the four-inch piece

right next to the pavement. Kevin

Nice.

Mike

So put a full piece here, then we splice in the four inches.

Love it. Mike

Yep. So Dan's gonna start blowing off the cement here, all the topsoil or whatever that's behind, all the remnants or whatever -- get it tidy. And then come springtime, the seams will blend right in, and, yeah, you're gonna have a great lawn.

Kevin

Looks fantastic. Cannot thank you enough for throwing in,

Mike. Mike

Okay, thank you.

Appreciate it. Mike

Yep.

Kevin

There are a few places in this house where the plaster needed to be repaired, and this casing around the door was one of them. Here, we chose to use a 3-D printer, where we replicated this profile, printed a piece, and then Tommy actually feathered that right in. But up here, Tommy, with the crown, it looks like you're going old school.

Tom

I'm going old school, Kevin. We're actually going to do it just as they did it here. I mixed up some molding plaster, and I've got a knife. And I'm gonna shave it right into place. So I've prepped the area, wet the area, mixed up my molding plaster, and now I'm gonna start just building it up a little bit at a time.

Kevin

Now, when you say just as they did it there, you're suggesting that they actually took plaster out of a pile and they formed it right here onto the ceiling?

Tom

Well, they could have formed it right here on the ceiling, or they could have done it on a table, cut the pieces, and put them right in place.

Kevin

But they definitely did not use a 3-D printer.

Tom

They did not use a 3-D printer.

Kevin

All right.

Tom

So I've already wet the area, because I don't want the dry plaster to suck all the water out of the new plaster that I've just mixed. What I did is I actually cut the profile of the molding out of this knife right here. The way I did that is I cut a slot in the molding, slid the knife in, traced it, and cut it with a jigsaw, and fine-tuned it with a file.

Kevin

Brilliant.

Tom

Now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take it, and drag it across the wall. I'm using the bottom of the crown molding and the ceiling as a guide. And I'll just keep going across the ceiling, removing the plaster that's in the way.

Kevin

Tommy, that looks better already.

Tom

Yeah, it's a process. We got to slowly build it up in different batches. I'll let this set. And, see, we're starting to remove all the high spots or low spots, and we'll slowly build it up as it sets up.

And we'll do it in stages. Kevin

All right. So we need another batch of plaster?

Tom

Yes, we do. Only this time, not quite as much.

Kevin

Wow. Tommy, look at that! That is as good as the original. And, you know what? That is as good as the 3-D printer. You still got a job,

pal. Tom

Yeah. Well, you do, too. Let's get this mess cleaned up so I can get out of here.

Kevin

All right. Nice job. A few weeks ago, our homeowners went to Wisconsin to pick out all of the plumbing fixtures for the house, including what we need for the master bath. Now, six months ago, now, this was a completely different room. It was all tile, but it was a 1930s pink tile. So the entire room has been gutted. And what was once a stall shower right here is now a new stall shower. And next to it, we have got a new jetted dub. And the mud job that we had on this floor, well, that was completely taken out with new plumbing put in. And, Josh, today, what have we got? We've got the toilet going in, and what else?

Josh

Yeah, we got a vanity going right here.

Kevin

Perfect, all right. So can I give you a hand with this?

Josh

Yeah, let's do it.

Kevin

All right, where do you want to get started?

Josh

Let's install our flange. What we've got to do is we've got to cut

this cast iron down. Kevin

Yeah.

Josh

To be flush with our tile and put our closet flange on.

Kevin

This is the existing cast iron?

Josh

It is.

Kevin

Not everything was taken out from underneath this floor.

Josh

No, we didn't need to. This cast iron, we're gonna cut it flush with the tile and put this closet flange on it.

Kevin

Okay.

Josh

The closet flange has a rubber band on the bottom, and we'll put it in over the top, expand it, it will be a seal.

Kevin

Perfect. All right.

Josh

Let's see if this will fit in there. When we place this in, we want these slots to allow the toilet to be perpendicular to this wall here. Now, we have it lined up. That's right where we want it to be. Go ahead and drill that. All right, that's good. Now let's just screw them down with three-inch exterior-grade screws. All right, good. Hey, that pulled right down. That's good. Now we need to tighten these Allen wrench bolts to expand that rubber

and seal the pipe. Kevin

Nice.

Josh

And we want to tighten these evenly. We don't want to all one, and then the other ones. That would be all cockeyed. Now, we're gonna put this escutcheon on here. And now what we have is a quarter-turn push-stop shut-off valve for our supply line. It's very simple. In fact, all you have to do is push it onto that copper,

and it's done. Kevin

Nice.

Josh

All right, now we're going to put this adapter onto the closet flange.

Kevin

Adapter? What is that?

Josh

This manufacturer allows you to have different offsets.

Kevin

Different offsets. So this flange is usually at a traditional depth, right? So what's this one?

Josh

This one's at 12.

Kevin

12. So it could have been back at 10,

it could have been forward at 14. Josh

Sure, yeah.

Kevin

And depending on where it is,

you got to pick the right toilet. Josh

Correct.

Kevin

Now you, what, you just pick one toilet, and they give you a different one of these?

A different plastic piece. Kevin

Very cool.

Josh

Makes it very simple.

Kevin

So where does the wax ring go?

Josh

It actually goes on the adapter.

Kevin

So now we're just back to traditional materials, right? This is a regular wax ring?

Josh

Yeah, this is a normal wax ring.

Okay. Josh

There we go. Now we want to put these closet bolts,

closet flange bolts. Kevin

Yep.

Josh

How we normally would on a toilet.

Kevin

Again, traditional here.

Josh

Yes, sir. Now those are ready to go. We're just gonna press that in.

Kevin

So now instead of setting the toilet to these, we're gonna set your adaptor to these?

Josh

Yeah, just press it nice and tight in there. Nice and even.

Okay. Josh

Perfect. All right, now we got these little brackets that go over the top.

Kevin

So now we're back into the world of the adapter.

Josh

Correct. This is manufactured material here. Now I don't want to tighten these too tight. See, it's supposed to go through here, and then it will hit that.

Kevin

Right there. Set it down. All right, that's nice and tight there.

Josh

All right, my guy just turned on the water,

so give that a turn. Kevin

All right. Give it a look here.

We got water. Kevin

We got water? Let's see how we're doing in there. Yep, we got water coming in.

I don't see any drips over here. Josh

That is key.

Kevin

We got water in the bowl. Let's give it a flush and try it. How's our seal down there?

Josh

I see no leaks.

I think we're good. Kevin

Beautiful. All right, one toilet installed. What are we doing next?

Josh

Let's go to the vanity.

Kevin

Let's do it.

Tom

All right, that the last of it, Frank?

That's the last door. Tom

Okay, great. Now, what I've done is I've actually trimmed this door that's gonna go in this opening on one side to see how it fits widthwise. Next thing I want to do is I want to check the height to see how it is in relationship with the header over the doorway. So if you want to take that door and bring it over there.

Frank

Okay. Set it right down on the floor, right near the opening, and I'll twist it in there. All right, now let me just spin it up there and slide it in the opening, see how it fits at the bottom and... Nice. Okay, so now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take a measurement on this side of the door because it's the widest distance. So whatever that is, that's a half an inch. Come down this side and measure half an inch. Okay, so now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna connect that dot with the top of the door's edge right here, and cut it. And the door with match the angle of the jamb perfect. Okay, so I'll make it flush here and on the mark down there. Hold that there, and I'll just score it. And you're scoring it why, Tom?

Tom

I don't want the door to chip when I cut it. Okay. Width looks pretty good. Now what we need to do is push the door up, leave about an eight of an inch space, and make for our hinges. I want to mark the center of our hinges.

Frank

Okay,

top and bottom. Tom

Top and bottom. I made a templating guide to cut our mortises so they'll be the exact size of the hinge. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna use my router that's set up with a templating bit and a bearing on the top. And the bearing will ride right around the jib. Now what I have to do is take my chisel and square off these corners because the hinges you chose have square corners. Looks good. Let's see how it fits.

Frank

Oh, that's perfect.

Tom

Perfect. All right, all we have to do is drill for the hardware.

Frank

Okay, great.

Kevin

Recently, we visited Pewabic Pottery, a local institution that hand-makes tiles, and they've been doing so for over a hundred years at the same location in the same way. And we are thrilled that they have custom-made some tiles for us. And, Roger, I assume you are familiar with Pewabic Tile.

Roger

Yeah. Pewabic Tile is a great product. I've seen it on a million houses around here, but it's kind of an honor to be able to do an entire fireplace. Usually we do smaller sections of it. But it's a very custom tile, you know, and it's a great artistic product.

Kevin

Well, I love the fact that you love it. When it's custom like this and very irregular, what is the challenge for you to install it, compared to a very uniform, machine-made tile?

Roger

Yeah, you can see the variation in spacers that we have there, different sizes, depending on the shape of the actual tile.

Kevin

So red is narrower, yellow is fatter, and you've sort of got to use a little bit of each.

Roger

That is correct. But all that's part of what gives it the character.

Kevin

Sure, handmade. And so what is the basic pattern we've got here for the hearth? Obviously, squares all throughout. Well, it's all 4x4 squares, and they're in a standard pattern. But the key on these, it's a completely random. So we won't want to have them in bunches.

Right. Roger

They're --

Kevin

A bunch of different kind of textures and colors here.

Roger

Yep, exactly. So and they're not supposed to look perfectly uniform, so -- but they do -- it gives it a lot of character, kind of it pops out in different sections.

Kevin

And then up on the surround here, what is the pattern?

Roger

Well, it's the same thing here. It's supposed to be random, you know, it's not every other

or anything like that. Kevin

Right.

Roger

And then you get this cool, iridescent break in the middle, which they're famous for,

this shiny coloring. Kevin

Very nice.

Roger

It's one of the big things

that they're famous for doing. Kevin

Okay.

Roger

And you got the cool texture line in the middle of this one that breaks it up between the two.

Kevin

And then more of this all the way across the top?

Roger

Yeah, we're gonna get some really cool pieces up across the top. So we've got this guy that's gonna go in the middle here.

Kevin

Nice. Look at that.

Roger

So and then we've got those there that are gonna bring out the accents on the windows all through the front of the house.

Kevin

I mean, that's awesome. That's the actual crest design that we have on our stained glass windows.

Roger

It's amazing. And that's something they had there, you know, so just because they've been doing it the same times

these windows were made. Kevin

Right. Well, we are thrilled that it's going in the house, and we appreciate you installing them.

I'll let you get back to it. Roger

Thanks a lot, Kevin.

Kevin

Here at our second project in Grandmont Rosedale, we are very close to the end. Just a short punch list to deal with. Hey, Sean, hey, Darrick. Man, this place looks good.

Darrick

Hey, how you doing, Kevin?

Kevin

I'm doing all right. Man, this is nice, huh?

Darrick

Yeah, what we try to do is we tried to marry the old with the new.

Kevin

So you keep some of the original details in the house as you clean up the rest of it.

Darrick

I believe it's gonna add character.

Kevin

What do you think of this? You happy with the way it turned out?

Darrick

Yeah, this was something that we took a lot of pride in. So what we wanted to do was keep a lot of stuff. So what we did was we kept all this tile right here. We kept the existing stone right here. We took it off, rebuilt it. We re-stained all this, put a new piece of birch up here, and stained it to match everything.

Kevin

What are people gonna think when they walk through in the open house and they see that?

Darrick

I believe it will be a really good selling feature.

Kevin

All right. Well, I think you think the same of the kitchen. We saw this a couple weeks ago, almost done. Now it's all cleaned up -- look at this, huh?

Darrick

All we really got to do is add our appliances and somebody's ready to move in.

Kevin

And they're gonna love the granite and the stainless. All right, how about upstairs?

Darrick

Let's check it out. Okay, Kevin, this is our standard package. We got hardwood downstairs, and we got carpet. Hey, what's going on, son?

Man

Hey, how you doing, Darrick?

Kevin

So carpet on the second floor and staircase. Why not save the hardwoods up here?

Darrick

Well, typically, there is no hardwood. Extensive water damage.

Kevin

Okay.

Darrick

This is our standard bathroom package. We got tile on the floor and tile on our tub surround.

Okay. Darrick

And then what we do is we have our final little touch-ups. We have to touch-up all our paint. We have to re-hang some doors. And we have to put our final coat of polyurethane.

Kevin

Well, I tell you, it is not hard to imagine a family walking into a bedroom like this and getting excited about this house.

Nice job. Darrick

Thank you, Kevin.

Kevin

Appreciate it. All right, so next time, Tamiko and Frank are gonna move into the Russell Woods house, and this one will be filled with prospective buyers at an open house. So until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor for "This Old House" here in Detroit. Next time...

Richard

This house was once a magnet for Motown and sports celebrities. But for the last four years, it's been abandoned and left to decay.

Kevin

But this family decided it was too good of a house to pass up. So they saved it. Today, they cross the finish line. We continue our story of rebuilding Detroit. Oh, my word. Shining a light on a civic corporate partnership, ridding the neighborhoods of blight house by house.

Norm

That's next time on "This Old House."