This Old House

Kevin: Nashville, Tennessee.

Music City, USA.

Home to the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, with a live music scene that rivals any city in the world.

But it's also so much more.

Home to over 2 million diverse residents, it's one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country.

And one of its hottest neighborhoods, East Nashville, which is just across the river from downtown -- its historic homes have attracted a hip, creative crowd.

So naturally, that's where we'll begin season 46 of "This Old House," y'all.

Kevin: Did you get that address over in East Nashville?

Woman: Yeah.

Kevin: Thank you.

I am super excited for Nashville, Tommy.

This city is hopping, and I have wanted to come down here for years.

Tom: Yeah, I've been here a couple of times.

This is a great location.

It's got a lot of character.

I really love it.

Kevin: Yeah.

I'm excited.

Although, every time we come to another city, it's just nonsense.

I mean, they put Richard in a dress.

Tom: He doesn't look good in a dress.

Kevin: No.

And then I think Jenn had a bonnet on with a musket.

Tom: That's right.

Kevin: They put me on a horse.

Tom: I don't like horses.

Kevin: [ Laughs ] Tom: Hey, I was a jockey.

[ Both laugh ] Kevin: It's true.

Well, you are a little -- Tom: Eh, well, yeah, yeah.

Kevin: Well, no nonsense.

Let's not get silly.

Nashville -- serious city requires a serious attitude.

Tom: Can't guarantee it, sonny.

Nope.

Kevin: What's this?

This is not the jobsite.

Tom: No, no.

You're going to love this.

Kevin: This is what I was talking about.

Didn't we agree, no nonsense?

Tom: No, no, I didn't agree.

You agreed.

I didn't agree.

Kevin: It looks like a clothing store.

Tom: Wait till you just get inside.

Kevin: I'm not doing chaps.

Tom: You know, it doesn't hurt to try.

Take a look at this stuff.

It's great.

Kevin: It is a clothing store.

It's a country western clothing store.

Tom: You never know what you're going to find in here.

Jenn: Yeah, you don't.

Hi, guys!

Tom: Jenn, you look great.

Jenn: Thanks, Tommy.

Kevin: Are you in on this, too?

Jenn: Yes!

We're in Music City.

Time to get into the spirit.

Let's go.

Tom: You gotta try it out, sonny.

Kevin: It does look good, actually.

Jenn: I mean, come on.

Kevin: On you.

Jenn: We can find some tassels for you.

Let's go.

Kevin: I don't need tassels!

Yeah, that ain't gonna happen.

Jenn: Whoa!

A little bit red, Red!

And...tablecloth?

I'm not sure.

Well, let's see what else you've got.

What in the heck?!

Kevin: It might have come off a woman's rack.

I'm not sure.

Maybe something with sleeves?

Tom: And maybe two or three sizes up.

[ Laughter ] Alright.

Jenn: Hey, you guys look good.

Kevin: Yeah?

Jenn: I think you're done.

I think we are ready to hit the town.

I'm driving.

Kevin: Whoa!

This thing is gorgeous.

Jenn: She's pretty beautiful, right?

Kevin: Oh!

It's a spectacular car.

Tom: This is a 1964 Cadillac, red with white leather.

I happen to have a 1966 Cadillac.

Mine was white on the outside, red leather, and convertible.

I loved it.

Kevin: The car is very cool.

I am down with this.

But what's next?

We're gonna have Richard on mechanical bull, or he's going to be plumbing some lines to a whiskey still up in the hills?

Jenn: Listen, all I was instructed to do is bring you boys to this place, and there's gonna be a great surprise.

Tom: A lot of old-timers played here.

I know Bill Monroe.

Even Vince Gill -- he's played here, too.

Kevin: Well, what's up with this?

Ohh... Ma'am.

[ Laughing ] This is for real, huh?

Jenn: Oh, wow.

Kevin: That's really Richard up there.

Tom: Wow.

What's he gonna do?

Richard: I poured the concrete Cut the 2x4s Yeah, I built the whole thing Nail by nail and brick by brick Oh, but girl, what you did Was put the singing in the kitchen The dancing down the hallway You put the tangle in the sheets And the perfume on my pillow Without you it's just a pile of sticks and stones I built a house And you made a home [ Applause ] Kevin: He's gonna be up here forever, guys.

Tom: Yeah, you won't get him down from that stage.

Kevin: We gotta get to the jobsite.

Tom: I agree.

Jenn: Yeah.

Kevin: Let's go.

Tom: Alright.

Kevin: He won't even miss us.

Jenn: Our boy sure can carry a tune.

Kevin: [ Laughs ] Tom: Yeah.

Kevin: But, to the project house, please, so we can get back to work.

[ Record scratch ] Richard: I built a house And you made a home Kevin: Richard.

Nice job.

Richard: Check it off my life list.

Kevin: My goodness.

Richard: [ Laughs ] Kevin: Alright, here we go.

This is what I'm talking about.

East Nashville, just 3 miles outside of downtown across the Cumberland River.

Some of these houses go back to the early 1900s.

Jenn: And look at these front porches.

I would love to hang out there.

Tom: A few years ago, a tornado hit this neighborhood and a lot of the homes here were damaged, including our project house.

Richard: Here we are.

Kevin: Alright, get serious now.

No more nonsense.

Kevin: Hey!

Rachel: Hi!

Kevin: I'm Kevin.

Richard: Rachel.

Kevin: Nice to meet you.

Adam: Kevin, welcome to Nashville.

Kevin: Thank you very much.

Terrific.

We just drove through the neighborhood.

Very taken by what we've been seeing so far.

Adam: Very cool.

Rachel: Yeah, it's beautiful.

Kevin: I presume you guys like it as well, huh?

Rachel: We do.

Adam: We do.

We love it here.

Kevin: What brought you here?

Adam: You know, this neighborhood, Lockeland Springs, it's an older neighborhood, but it's got a lot of young families, young kids.

Kevin: Right.

Adam: A lot to do.

We're close to downtown and really nice people.

Kevin: Looking for other families with young children 'cause you've got some yourself, right?

Rachel: We do.

Our son is 5 and our daughter is 3.

Kevin: Awesome.

So, what do you know about the house?

Adam: It's from 1929.

We've been told it's kind of in a Tudor style, but I think that might be up for debate.

And we're trying to get it ready to last another 100 years.

Kevin: Good.

We like the sound of that.

We like the old houses, we like people who are committed to keeping them, and gets me fired up to see the inside.

Who wants to give me a tour of that?

Adam: I'd love to.

Kevin: Awesome.

Rachel: I'll go find Jenn.

Kevin: Alright.

Lead on, please.

Adam: Right this way.

Come on in.

Kevin: Oh, you guys have moved out.

Adam: We have moved out.

We're ready to go.

Kevin: Okay.

Adam: So, this was our living room, and it's going to stay that way.

We really love this kind of the vibe of this place.

We spend 90% of our time here as a family, and we're going to keep it that way.

Kevin: Very nice.

Adam: This, for instance... We put a gas log in last winter.

It's extremely cozy.

It doesn't get cold here very often, but when it does, it was great, so we're going to keep that.

The house itself is going to stay the same footprint.

So square footage for this whole first floor is going to stay as it is.

Kevin: Mm-hmm.

Adam: We're just going to move some walls around and kind of make it a little bit more living room.

Kevin: And this stays the living room.

Adam: This stays the living room.

Kevin: Okay.

Double doors leading to what?

Adam: This was where we had our dining room.

We're going to turn it into a music room.

Kevin: Oh.

Adam: It being Nashville, we figured we will, you know, got to have the music room.

Kevin: Who's the musician?

Adam: We all are, a little bit, but our son is a violin student, and our daughter's going to join him pretty soon, so this is a good place for them to practice.

Kevin: So, music room.

You're able to close the doors, keep it private from there if lessons are going on.

Adam: This entrance here will go into the kitchen.

But however, this is going to get closed off.

So, kind of an interesting feature our architect thought of was that the refrigerator in the new kitchen setup is actually going to bump out into this room.

Kevin: Oh, interesting.

Adam: And perhaps some shelves on either side.

And a good opportunity for a chase if we need it to go between the second floor and the basement.

Kevin: No one will ever know any difference.

So, you won't be able to enter the kitchen from the music room.

Adam: No, you'll have to go through the double door.

But kitchen is this way.

And this is one of the prime reasons we decided to redo the house.

Not a lot of storage.

Kind of some funky features.

Could really use a whole facelift.

Kevin: Okay.

And then, so that means the new dining room is in here?

Adam: New dining room in here, some island seating.

But we do enjoy sitting at the table.

We do most of our meals there.

So, this wall will go away.

So kind of like an open dining room area.

Big sliding doors looking outside at the park behind us.

Kevin: Very nice.

Adam: And this wall will go away as well as it kind of expands.

Really, the whole back half of the house will be open.

Kevin: Right.

Adam: And right this way is the bathroom.

Kevin: So, hallway area.

Adam: Kind of a fun phone box.

Antique phone box.

Kevin: Oh, sure.

Adam: That'll get repurposed into a cellphone charger.

In a different location, but we're going to save that.

Kevin: You will save this?

Adam: Yeah.

Kevin: Nice detail.

Adam: And then over here, our one bathroom for the house.

Kevin: Only bathroom for the four of you?

Adam: Four of us.

Kevin: How's that?

Adam: It took a lot of scheduling.

Kevin: More baths will be nice for a family of four.

Adam: Absolutely.

This space was really the only bedroom in the house, and our kids shared it as a bedroom.

Kevin: I remember seeing that in the video.

Did they like sharing a bedroom?

Adam: They did.

They got along pretty well.

Kevin: That's great.

Adam: But this will kind of transform both into a powder room.

That was -- the first floor powder room will be here and then stairway access both to the second floor, which is currently unfinished, and down to the basement.

Kevin: So, bedrooms will go in a new finished space upstairs.

Adam: Exactly.

Kevin: Alright.

Adam: And then this space was a three-season porch, or sleeping porch, which my wife and I were using as our primary.

And it is, uh, funky.

And it does not have any HVAC.

No heating and no cooling.

So, cold in the winter and blazing hot in the summer.

Kevin: Lovely.

Hot summers in Nashville.

And so you've got windows... Oh, check this out.

Adam: These are...

I don't even know what to call these.

Kevin: Check that out.

Adam: Some sort of maybe a jalousie window.

Kevin: I would call it an awning window with these two sash operating like that, but then it's got this mechanism that lets you sort of work them both at the same time, like a jalousie that you'd see with the glass panes.

That is really cool.

Check -- Oh!

Don't lose that.

Adam: Whatever you call it, we're gonna fix them up and keep them.

Kevin: Oh, yeah?

Very nice.

I love it, and I think it's got a ton of potential.

This gets me excited.

Adam: We're excited to get started.

Rachel: Hi, Jenn.

Jenn: Hey!

How are you?

Rachel: Good.

Nice to meet you.

Jenn: Nice to meet you, too.

Rachel: So, this is our driveway.

It's not really in the budget to do anything here right now, so we will do that with a future project, hopefully when we build a garage.

Jenn: Yep.

Rachel: But I'll show you the front yard first.

Jenn: Yeah, driveways are always last anyways.

Rachel: So, this is the front yard.

You can see it's really a blank slate.

All the big trees that were here came down in the tornado that came through Nashville a few years ago.

Jenn: Right, right.

So it's a wide-open pallet.

You can select whatever you want.

Rachel: Yeah, we'd love to get a little bit of shade up here.

Jenn: Okay, so maybe an understory tree instead of like a 50-foot oak tree.

Rachel: Yeah.

Jenn: Like this dogwood.

It's perfect for up here.

It'll get 20, 25 feet.

So, that -- just one would do justice, right?

Rachel: Yeah.

So the other thing we're looking to change is this walkway.

It's pretty uneven.

It's pretty hazardous.

So, we need -- My parents come over a lot.

They live nearby.

So we need just, like, a nice, safe walkway to get into the house.

Jenn: Yeah, and that's achievable.

It's a nice straight shot.

It'll be easy to do.

Maybe we could do it together.

Rachel: That'd be fun.

So, the other thing we want is a place to sit.

Some seating right around here.

This neighborhood is -- it's so vibrant.

The neighbors are always out.

People are always walking their dogs.

Jenn: Maybe add a few raised beds.

You could grow some things.

Rachel: Yeah.

Jenn: And so, I think that's a great plan.

Keep it simple.

Add a little color, add different plants.

Rachel: Yeah.

Want to see the backyard?

Jenn: Yeah, I'd love to.

Rachel: Let's go.

So, this is the backyard.

Jenn: Oh, it's a pretty good size.

Rachel: Yeah.

It's also kind of just a wide-open space.

So, one of the first things that will happen is this deck will come down.

Jenn: Okay.

Rachel: A new deck will be built that goes the entire span of the house.

Jenn: I think that's a great use of space.

You're going to have a killer view looking that way.

Rachel: Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Jenn: So, what are you doing with the fence back here?

Rachel: So, the two sides are going to stay, but we're going to take the back fence down, and I'll show you why.

Jenn: Okay.

No way!

Rachel: You can't see it from back there, but this is all part of the property.

Jenn: I mean, it's like a wildlife sanctuary back here.

Rachel: Yeah, the property backs up to a public park over here.

Jenn: Okay.

Rachel: We'd love to cut a path through the woods so that our kids can get down to the park as well.

Jenn: So awesome.

So that completely makes sense why you would want to take these fence panels down.

Rachel: Mm-hmm.

Jenn: Open it up.

Well, I have to say, there are so many great pieces to this project, from the front to the middle to this, and I'm really looking forward to working with you on it.

Rachel: Yeah.

Me too.

Jenn: Awesome.

Kevin: We are working with a new GC firm local to the Nashville area.

And, Javier, Lyn, nice to meet you guys.

Lyn: Kevin, welcome to Nashville.

Kevin: Thank you.

Also our first husband-and-wife team.

Javier: Yes, sir.

Kevin: So, sort of begs the question -- How'd you guys meet?

What's the story?

Lyn: Well, we met 20 years ago and through family ties.

My sister was married to his cousin.

And so we met at a cookout.

And then, I had a general contracting company, and his dad and he had a framing company.

We worked together three or four years, and then we became a couple, and we've been married 15 years, Sunday.

Kevin: Awesome.

Oh, hey.

Congrats.

That's great.

So, this project, Javier, I mean, it's not that big, although there's a lot of things to be done.

How do you feel about this one?

Javier: It's not huge.

But we're going to be doing a lot.

A lot of demo happening.

We're going to do a lot of structure to make this house last another 100 years hopefully.

And this is their forever house.

Kevin: Yeah.

Well, I like to hear that.

So, we're excited to hear more about the plans and working with you guys.

So welcome aboard.

Lyn: Great.

Thanks.

Kevin: And I think your first job is a meeting with Mr. Silva upstairs.

Javier: I'm gonna go meet with the wise man.

Kevin: Don't keep him waiting.

Javier: Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Kevin: So, when we look... Javier: Tommy?

Tom: Hey, Javier.

I'm in here checking out this mess that you were telling me about from the roofers when they did the house over from that tornado.

Javier: Mm-hmm.

Tom: I know it hit before Adam and Rachel moved in.

It must have been bad.

Javier: It was.

It was a big tornado.

And it damaged this whole entire subdivision.

So I feel what happened here is people just came in and repaired what they could, in and out and on to the next one.

But I do feel that they missed a lot of key components to repair this properly.

Tom: Yeah.

I mean, it looks like they took off the old roof boards, because it was boards with this period of house, and replaced it with OSB, and they missed some of the nails when they put the sheathing into the rafters.

That's not good.

I look over here where the boards were, and I can see how they cut them off with a saw, but they took the sheathing and they actually brought it right up and over the old boards and nailed it.

So there's a bump in the roof.

And when I look in the corner over here, I can actually see the end of a valley rafter sticking down, just hanging in the air there.

And they left a mess here.

Everything is just crazy.

Javier: Yeah, like I said, they were in a rush.

They didn't care about what mess they were leaving behind.

Look at that couch.

They left a couch behind this wall.

Tom: I saw that.

Javier: That is insane.

Tom: I know there's a lot going on up here.

There's quite a bit of changes.

You're going to put a new set of stairs right here in the corner.

Javier: That is correct, Tommy.

So, that set of stairs will come down, and we don't have enough room to go all the way straight.

So we're gonna have a nice landing, and then we're going to turn to the left.

Tom: Yeah, you don't have enough room to put a straight run in, so the winder is always good.

Javier: Yes, sir.

Tom: And also, I know we have to keep the roof pitch on the front of the house because of historical reasons.

But you're going to raise the whole back of the house up for an 8-foot ceiling, which allows you more floor space to put the bedrooms in.

Javier: That's correct.

So, we would have our set of stairs, nice, here.

And then we're going to have one bedroom for the kids, another bedroom for the kids, and then we'll turn around and we're going to have a nice bathroom for them here.

And then what that does, it creates this big, huge playroom for the kids.

Tom: This is a nice play area.

And I know this is all going away, because this is the old stairway that we're not going to need anymore.

Javier: That's correct.

Tom: But this dormer is going to raise all the way up, and you got all this new floor space here.

What's the plan here?

Javier: So, now that this will be gone, Tommy, and this will be framed back in, it's going to allow us the opportunity to create the primary suite.

Tom: Oh, yeah.

Javier: Putting the primary bathroom back here.

Tom: Yeah.

Javier: And then back here, we're gonna have the primary bedroom.

Tom: It's gonna be great.

Hey, Rich.

Richard: Hey, how are you?

Tom: What do you think of the project, huh?

Richard: Love the project.

And I really think the builders seem terrific.

Tom: I agree.

I was talking to them.

They seem very knowledgeable.

They've been together for quite a while.

Richard: That's great.

Tom: I also like the size of the project, and I like the fact that the homeowners are going to keep the outside historically correct as much as possible.

Richard: We discovered that three years ago, they put in a new gas-fired furnace with air conditioning, all kinds of new ductwork and stuff like that.

Also a water heater here.

You know what?

We always come into these projects and just sort of blow it up and throw it all away.

So what we'd like to think about doing this time is reusing this thing, because it's only three years old, with new ductwork.

Tom: Yeah, and because we're making the house that much more efficient, maybe you could use this for the first and the basement.

Richard: That's right.

Speaking of basement, I mean, what is this?

It's like a bunker down here.

Tom: [ Laughs ] I know it.

I noticed this when I first came in myself.

A lot going on.

A bunker wall.

But you know what I think?

I mean, this basement is pretty high right now, but I don't think it was originally.

We came in the basement door over there.

You come down two high risers and a small one.

So that would bring the basement floor way up here, maybe even higher in the front of the house.

Richard: So, you think they dug this floor out?

Tom: I think they dug it out, but they have... You have to remember, when you dig down against the foundation, the block probably did not go all the way down.

I would guarantee that it didn't go all the way.

Richard: Sure.

Yeah.

Tom: So they want to put something against the upper courses because there's so much force being pushed against it.

The grade is right up there at the top.

You can see all this damage from water and stuff like that was coming in.

It's always pushing against it.

The water gets in there.

You can look at this wall right here.

It's just bulging.

Richard: Oh, yeah.

Hey, Lyn.

Lyn: Hey.

Richard: So, what is the plan down here?

Lyn: The plan here is to maximize the space of the basement, both headroom and square footage wise.

So, they asked to dig down the slab to get more headroom.

Richard: Yeah.

Lyn So we called an engineer, and he did his investigation and said, "No, let's just take it all out."

Richard: What do you mean, take it all out?

Lyn: Take the whole foundation out.

Richard: Okay.

What do you do with the building above it?

Lyn: The building above, we're going to lift it up, and we're going to move it to the backyard and get it out of our way.

Richard: That sounds dramatic.

Lyn: It is, it is.

Tom: So, what are your plans with the new foundation then?

Lyn: Well, once the house is out of the way, we're going to bring in some precast walls -- solid concrete, and give them a nice basement.

Richard: So, instant foundation.

Lyn: Yes.

Tom: Yeah, that's a smart way to go.

Kevin: The house-moving crew has arrived.

They brought tons of steel and stacks of cribbing.

They start lifting the house in the next episode.

But before we leave, we have some sad news.

We lost some "This Old House" family members this summer.

In the golden age of television, WGBH in Boston was a hotbed of creativity.

And no one exemplified that better than Russ Morash.

He helped launch the TV career of Julia Child, directing her award-winning show.

He produced 21 seasons of "The New Yankee Workshop" and the longest-running gardening program, "The Victory Garden."

And to our audiences, he's best known as the creator of "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House."

Russ: What we set out to do is to find a house that needed work, fix it up, and sell it.

Kevin: Russ wanted people to ask the why and the how.

He wanted them to be armed with the knowledge of how to build and grow the right way.

This television icon inspired generations of homeowners who wanted to do things themselves.

And a few weeks ago, we lost another DIY inspiration.

Roger Cook was plucked from a landscaping crew in 1982 to appear on his first episode of "This Old House."

Roger: Well, we've extended the season in the last few years and we're able to plant right up until the ground's solid.

Kevin: For the next 38 years, viewers of the show grew to cherish his botanical wisdom.

Roger: We have to grade this so that the water is going to run right out of this area.

Kevin: While he struggled through a Boston accent to pronounce R's, he did just fine calling out each plant's Latin name.

Roger: This is hydrangea arborescens.

Ilex glabra "shamrock."

This is a cornus kousa.

This is a Japanese dogwood, Bob.

Tom: The words that he comes up with is like, whoa!

The Latin words -- I have trouble with English.

Roger: We have Hydrangea macrophylla lacecap.

Richard: I'm not amazed at the level of outpouring of love for Roger.

Roger: I'm going to turn the face to the backyard because that's where you guys are going to be sitting.

Richard: The people love him.

Roger: We got people out of the house and outside and enjoying themselves.

Alright, put a scoop right on that side.

It was really special to have people come up and say, "Oh, I saw you on the show and you did this, and I did that, and it worked."

That should slide right in there.

Jenn: He's contributed a lot of his life to the show, and he loves sharing what he knows.

Kevin: Roger left behind a great team to continue his work, and while there are giant shoes to fill, there was never a doubt about who he wanted to fill them.

Jenn: He's definitely not replaceable.

I am honored to carry the torch on, to share what I know about landscape with other people.

Kevin: He's kind of reserved and he just wants to work.

And yet the only thing you see are these sort of wrinkled hands covered in mud and him sticking steel shovels into the ground.

You think it's a very physical, you think it's a very sort of manly thing to do, and yet what's going on up here and what's going on in here is a very sort of thoughtful, nurturing thing that he's doing.

And that's how he lives his life.

That's how he treats all of us.

He is the guy.

Despite his physical nature, he is the softy.

He's the sweetheart of the group.

Kevin: Next time on "This Old House"...

The builder and the engineer decided that the best thing for this house was a new foundation.

And to get that, they decided that the house should be moved.

Tom: To make sure this brick doesn't crack, Carlos is going to cut a slot and let it snap free away from the foundation.

Man: Go ahead.

Adam: I did not know this was possible until a few days ago.