This Old House

Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh, ooh

Kevin

This is Detroit -- the heartbeat of America. Motor City. Music City. It's the place where the modern factory was invented and where those factories won a World War. From 1900 to the '60s, the factories attracted millions of workers. They were paid good wages. But recently, Detroit has been called down and out. Deserted. Bankrupt. The houses that were the homes to the richest middle class in America are empty and broken. Many words can be used to describe Detroit, but "quitter" isn't one of them. Today on "This Old House," we follow the people who are turning these neighborhoods back into an oasis for families. Ooh, ooh, ooh Hi there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome to a special edition of "This Old House." In the summer of 2016, we spent six months in Detroit with a wonderful family, and they had a simple goal -- renovate an old house and move in. But there was just one problem. Like many houses in Detroit, theirs sat abandoned for years. Oh, my word. Weather, neglect, and thieves had taken a toll. The city has a program through the Land Bank to get these empty houses back to families. The Land Bank offers most of these homes at auction. The price starts at $1,000, and it's up to the homeowners to fix them up. If they don't, they go back to the city. And that's what happened with our project house -- a Detroit family found a home with lots of potential, and they put a bid in. Now, they're planning on doing most of the work themselves, but "This Old House" is here to help out. Richard, Tommy are here to assess the house. And, obviously, our homeowners are here, as well. Hey,

guys. Good to see you. Tamiko

Hi.

Frank. Frank

Hello, Kevin.

Kevin

So, a second-generation fireman here in the city. And you are a brave man for taking on this project. You ready to go?

Frank

Yeah. We're eager to get started.

Kevin

Alright. I love to hear it. And, Tamiko, Frank's wife, I hear you're gonna be working on the interior of the house?

Tamiko

That is correct.

Kevin

What have you got in mind?

Tamiko

I plan on resurfacing the floors, doing the walls, little interior decorating.

Kevin

Nice. A brave lady, too. Great. And, Carolyn, Frank's mom, you're gonna be moving in with everybody. What do you think of this whole affair?

Carolyn

I think it's an absolutely wonderful affair. I have a supportive, wonderful family, and we're just gonna have fun.

Kevin

Great. Alright. So, a family affair. We love to hear that. And, Frank, I know you're anxious to get with Tommy,

to start assessing the house. Frank

Yes.

Kevin

And he's actually out back waiting for you.

Frank

Okay. I'll head back there now.

Kevin

Alright. And if you guys don't mind, I'd love a tour of the inside.

Tamiko

Sure. Follow me,

Kevin. Carolyn

Sounds good.

Tamiko

Kevin, this is our living room.

Kevin

Look at this. And quite a room it is.

Wow. Tamiko

Yes, it is.

Kevin

It turns out that this house, in its heyday, was at the center of a thriving African-American middle-class in Detroit. Motown royalty lived in the neighborhood. There are stories that Diana Ross's sister used to babysit here. But four years of sitting empty took its toll. Alright. Little beat-up. Look at the floor. So, we're cracked down here. Something is settling or leaking. And -- Oh, no way. So, was this where the thieves take out all the fixtures and the copper?

Yes. Kevin

Look at that. They just blow right through the wall.

Frank

Hey, Tommy. What do you have there?

Tom

I actually have an atmospheric level. Works like an altimeter in an airplane -- it tells it how high or low it is.

Frank

Okay.

Tom

Well, this tells me how out of level your house is.

Oh. Tom

What I do is, I pick a point in the front of the house, and I set it at zero. I will then come around the back, and I take the same row of brick that I took it off of, and I put my level up against it, and it tells me that the back of the house is about an inch and a half lower than the front of the house.

Richard

Theft and vandalism are two of the things that plague the abandoned homes in Detroit, and the thieves usually start right down here in the basement. There's plenty of stuff to go after. There was once copper water lines that have all been taken out of here. Much of the copper wires are gone. The furnace that once sat right here, that disappeared.

Kevin

After a careful inspection, it's time to get started. The first project is out back. Whew. Hey,

Frank. Frank

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

Think you and Tommy may have settled on a plan?

Frank

Yeah, we're gonna totally remove the whole roof and replace it. I've got some of my buddies here from the fire department. Close friends.

We're gonna put a new roof on. Kevin

Alright. Well, we can use all the hands we can get. And I'll actually give you a hand, too, if you want.

That would be great. Kevin

Alright. I'll get the harness on. We'll get up there. Frank, you got a second layer of asphalt underneath the top one. We'll see what's underneath that.

Frank

Okay.

Kevin

Oh, it is, Frank. Under the second layer of asphalt, you got another layer -- wood and cedar.

Frank

Hopefully that's the last one.

Kevin

Well, we're gonna find out. Alright, Frank. Well, this is what we got. These cedar shingles were put down on what they call skip sheathing. So you don't have any plywood sheathing underneath this. Looks like this whole roof's gonna have to come off

and be re-sheathed. Frank

Okay. Well, me and my guys will have it done by the next time you guys get here.

Kevin

I love to hear that. The old layers were stripped off and Frank hired a roofer to install the new shingles. But Tommy was worried about ice dams forming above the plastered ceiling in the den. Insulation was the cure.

Frank

So we've rented this insulation machine. Could you tell me a little about how it works?

Tom

Well, it actually works like a vacuum cleaner in reverse. We're gonna load it up. It's gonna suck the insulation down through the bottom. And it's gonna push it out through the hose up there. So we keep loading it up, and we keep driving it in. Before you know it, we'll have plenty of insulation up there.

Kevin

And how about this? This meet with your approval, Tommy?

Tom

Yep. That's cellulose insulation. It's recycled newspaper and paper ground up and treated with borate. So it has a fire retardant and an insecticide in it. It has a great R-factor.

Kevin

Alright. Where you want me?

Tom

Alright, why don't you load the machine? Frank and I will go up and start blowing it in. And we'll try to get about 12 inches, which will give us around an R45.

Sounds good. Tom

Alright. So, what I did is I took the hose and I put a stick on the end of it.

Okay. Tom

That will allow us to reach in there, way in, and direct the hose around the perimeter, 'cause we'll start tight against the eaves and work our way in, gradually filling it up. Alright, Kevin, fire it up.

Blower whirring

Okay. Tom

Going in there really good, fill all those voids up. Gonna put in more than we want so it'll settle down. You can see the studs right there. We're blowing it right down there.

So that's a good thing. Frank

Okay.

Tom

So, the more insulation we get in there, the more money you're gonna save on your heating and cooling bill.

Frank

Great.

Tom

Alright, Frank. There you go. Now, the good thing is that you had about 6 inches of Fiberglass insulation in your existing attic. We added about 8 inches on top of it. So you're gonna have more than enough insulation to keep the snow melting on the roof and the ice dams from forming.

Frank

Sounds good.

Kevin

The interior of our project posed many challenges. The copper plumbing that had been stolen was replaced with PEX. Gouged wood floors were restored. Next on the list, plaster molding. Hi, Frank. Hi,

Tommy. -Tom

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

Well, you certainly do have some beautiful moldings in this house,

Frank. -Frank

Oh, thank you, Kevin. We've got some detailed archway moldings here,

Yeah. -Frank

on both sides. We've got cast moldings here at the top, crown molding, and trim molding as well. We want to try to preserve this, rather than eliminate it.

Kevin

Yeah, we can't blame you for wanting to save it. I mean,

it's gorgeous. -Tom

It's beautiful stuff. Now, years ago when they would make this, what they would do is they would actually make a cast and they would fill it with plaster or they would make a stamp out of plaster and put it on the wall

after they built the plaster up. -Kevin

Right.

Tom

What I found is this material right here, this is actually a two-part silicone that you mix up and you force it onto the wall. Now, this has been on there for about 30 minutes, so I'm getting ready to pull it off to see if we can make a reverse casting of your detail. So when I pull this off... it comes off pretty good. Let's see how it works.

Grunts

Kevin

Hmph!

Tom

All right. So what we have is a reverse casting of this molding right here.

That's pretty cool. -Tom

Now I can take this and fill it up with plaster and I'll have a little molding.

Kevin

There is a third option that we're gonna use, where you end up with this and this is actually -- it's essentially an industrial plastic that's been printed for us. And what you do is you take a picture of the good molding. So Dave Kempskie came out with his 3D camera, snapped a picture of an area where the molding was good, and they bring it back to their computer and they can mix any defects and then, from the computer, they can actually send it to a 3D printer and we end up with lengths like this. And he actually printed this for us last week.

Tom

That's pretty cool.

David

The material itself comes in a spool. This filament right here.

Kevin

And, what, that's just sort of getting melted down onto the piece?

David

Yeah, so it gets extruded out, melted layer by layer, and eventually builds our part.

Kevin

And how long to make a piece for us?

David

It's gonna take about five or six hours. We can do multiple versions of it as well.

Kevin

And have you made any yet?

David

We have.

Kevin

Wow, cool. Look at that. Boy, you can see all the detail right there. And we can just paint right over this?

David

Cut it to length, paint it -- whatever you need to do.

Kevin

Exactly what Tommy needs. Thank you.

Got it. -Tom

Now, years ago, they would put this on with plaster. But we're actually gonna use joint compound. Joint compound will stick to anything. So I'm just gonna butter up each edge -- just like laying a brick. Right about there. Now I just butter it up, put it on. All right, Frank, I think it's set up enough. Let's wash it down and we can dry it off.

Frank

Okay. Is that just water?

Tom

Just water. We want to work all the big pieces out so we can see the detail.

Frank

All right. Wipe it down. Let's put some primer on it and see how it blends in. What do you think? Oh, that's great.

Tom

All right, so now we get the primer on. It blends in pretty good. Now all we need to do, Frank, is when you -- before you paint it, fill the holes with putty, sand off the rough spots, and it'll look great.

Frank

Okay, looks good.

Tom

Okay, now let's get to the other side.

Frank

All right.

Richard

Now, at this point, we have to think about...

Kevin

Tommy and I weren't the only ones from the show to help. Richard demo'd bathrooms and helped design the HVAC system.

Richard

Ah, so there's our new unit going in.

Kevin

Roger sunk a dry well in the front yard, and Mark rebuilt the front steps.

Mark

Alright, so, let me just get you some more brick.

Kevin

Frank, the new steps look great. That is a huge improvement over the old set.

Frank

Yeah. It was a big job, but we had a lot of help. My sister helped. Mark did a great job, and we're pretty satisfied with it.

Kevin

We love the teamwork. As the weeks rolled on and the project started to overwhelm Frank and his family, Detroit rallied to help. Frank's fire buddies helped in the kitchen. Agustin Crookston installed gutters. Roger Dutcher laid a beautiful tile hearth. And Mike Thompson's crew did landscaping, Shane Masters, the electric. But the biggest volunteer of all was Josh Engle. He helped with everything. Which we really appreciate.

No problem. Kevin

You think you and Frank could get on that up there?

Josh

Let's do it.

All right. Let's do it. Tom

Fantastic.

Alert beeping

All right. Let's do it. Tom

Josh

There we go. Thank you. Right there.

Frank

91 1/2.

Josh

91 1/2!

Tom

All right, guys, it looks good. You got it all built out.

Thanks. Tom

Looks great. Ready for the gutter after we get the fascia board on.

Kevin

To help restore the windows was stained glass expert Ann Baxter.

Ann

Hi, Kevin, nice to see.

Kevin

So, what do you think of our window? What's the diagnosis?

Ann

I think the windows are lovely. I think they just need some maintenance, and I think we can bring them back to what they looked like originally. I think the bigger damage has been on the framework itself.

Kevin

So, there's a couple pieces here you're sayin' --

Ann

There are.

Kevin

We've got the glass inside, but then the metal frame out here.

Ann

Yes, the steel frame on the outside is what actually secures the glass in the opening of the house itself. The steel frame shows a lot of rust damage, especially down at the bottom.

Kevin

Well, I'm glad to hear that you're not afraid of that. In terms of leaded glass, what's your process for cleanin' this up?

Ann

First I'm chiseling out all the putty that was holding it in the steel frame. Once I get it out of there, I can put this panel on my bench.

There we go. Kevin

Got it.

Ann

We obviously have a cracked piece in this diamond piece right here. We can look around here and see that there's a lot of putty in here and that this is an undercut piece of glass.

Kevin

"Undercut" meaning too small for the opening?

Ann

It's too small. You can see the edge of the glass. It's not totally engaged in the lead at all. So, somebody has done this as a quick fix, on site. They put the undercut piece in and filled up the track with putty. What that does is, once that putty hardens and dries and falls out, the glass is loose. It also means that everything standing above it has tendency over time to fall down because there's nothing right below that's filling it in. It's not keeping it in plane.

Kevin

So, what is the process for fixing these two problems?

Ann

I should be able to pull the lead open, remove all that old putty, remove the old pieces, put new glass in correctly. Here's part of it. The other part of it.

Kevin

We're gonna cut one of those.

Ann

Yes.

Kevin

Look at that. Perfectly straight.

Here we go. -Kevin

That's a nice fit.

Ann

Okay, so now I'm going to re-bend the lead back.

Kevin

The lead is still soft after all these years.

Ann

It should stay soft. The whole point is that that lead protects the glass because it is malleable. So, before I can re-set it in, I do need to grind them down a little bit to get the oxidation off.

Kevin

So, similar to what a plumber uses -- flux and solder.

Ann

Exactly.

Kevin

Just touch it to that solder and it melts. What's the story with that putty? Is that your own mix?

Ann

It is, Kevin. I make my own putty.

Kevin

What's the recipe, if you don't mind?

Ann

No, I don't mind at all. It's a mix of boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits, calcium carbonate, which is chalk or whiting. It's common in the paint industry, and I add lampblack paint tint to take it down to this dark gray so that you don't see a bright white stripe.

Kevin

And you got the color matched spot on.

Ann

Oh, thank you. I do like that better than that bright white stripe. Okay, so what we did with this little piece, Kevin, that was broken, we're gonna do the same thing with the undercut pieces. And that way, all the old putty is out, new putty is in, the whole piece gets done.

Kevin

Ann, you're an artist. I can't tell you how glad we are that you're gonna save these windows for us.

Ann

Well, thank you, Kevin.

Kevin

We'd love to see them going back in.

Ann

I'm happy to be part of saving windows. Thank you very much.

Richard

They call Detroit the Motor City because the auto industry thrived here for most of the 20th century. But there's another industry that made its mark here, and it still reverberates.

Motown music plays

Richard

Detroit will forever be associated with Motown, a sound that caught the country's imagination back in the '60s. At a time when the civil rights movement was in its infancy, Motown taught a new generation that it was cool to have soul. These neighborhoods are where it came from. If you're drivin' through this neighborhood back in the '60s and you went by this house right here -- That's the home of Stevland Hardaway Morris, better known as Stevie Wonder. He signed his first Motown contract at 11 years old. Belmont Street -- it's holy ground to Motown fans. Miracles happen here -- Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Smokey grew up on this street, and he's one of the first artists signed by Motown. In 1960, the single "Shop Around" became Motown's first million seller. And just down the street from Smokey lived another Motown legend, perhaps the most famous of them all -- Diana Ross. She and The Supremes were the most successful Motown Act with 12 number-one singles. And if you're a Motown fan like I am, there's one more neighborhood you gotta see. This was the world headquarters for Motown Records in the '60s. Berry Gordy, Motown's founder purchased these two houses as office space, studio space, and living quarters. These two houses helped generate the sounds of the '60s. Today, it's the Motown Museum, and it's a must-stop for any tourist in Detroit.

Woman

So, in 3, 2, 1.

Richard

At the end of each tour is a visit to right here, Studio A. And I get to sing one of my favorite songs.

Humming

All

I've got sunshine

Woman

There we go.

All

On a cloudy day

Richard

I got no rhythm.

Laughter

All

It's cold outside

Woman

There we go.

Richard

What beats this? Singing "My Girl."

Humming

All

My girl, my girl My girl, talking 'bout my girl

Humming

Kevin

Detroit is a city that has a lot to be proud of.

Tamiko

This is my favorite part of...

Kevin

And we're proud to have helped in a small part of getting Frank and Tamiko into their new old house.

Frank

Looks like we have a strong base for the tub and the shower.

Richard

That tile's not gonna crack.

Tamiko

Yeah. Good job, Christian and Monet.

Kevin

A big improvement right here.

That's beautiful. Tamiko

And my beautiful sink!

Kevin

You're happy with that?

Tamiko

I am ecstatic.

Richard

Hey,

there. Tamiko

Hi. How are you?

Kevin

The crew, look at them all coming in. So, Frank and Tamiko, I think the smiles on your faces say it all, but are you happy with the way everything turned out?

Extremely happy. Frank

Very happy.

Tamiko

Yeah, couldn't have done it without these guys.

Kevin

Oh, that is true. A lot of help

in this room right here. Tamiko

Family, friends.

Tom

So, Josh, you, along with all these other wonderful people, helped bring this house back. What's some of the challenge that you have to deal with in bringing these houses back here in Detroit?

Josh

Well, I'll tell you the biggest problem we have is starting. And the decision that we've made is to start and to start revitalizing these neighborhoods, and more are joining us every day.

Tom

That's great.

Richard

Frank and Tamiko, what has been six, seven months of hard work, long nights, you had to suffer us and be a TV star -- was it worth it?

Very much so. Tamiko

Yeah.

Tom

Would you do it again?

Frank

Not anytime soon.

Laughter

Kevin

Well, you're not gonna have to do it again because this is now your house. So, Josh, we could not have done it without your help and the help of everyone in this room. And, Frank and Tamiko, a pleasure working with you guys and your entire family. And with that, we are wrapped in Detroit. So for "This Old House," I'm Kevin O'Connor. Until next time. And that's a party, guys. All right.

Cheers and applause

Kevin

Paradise, site of the worst wildfire in California history.

Woman

Heavenly Father, please help us.

Sirens wailing

Calin

I didn't know if the rest of the world was ending, but this world that involved Paradise was ending at that time.

Kevin

Over 18,000 buildings were destroyed. 85 residents did not make it out. "This Old House" joins the fight to rebuild Paradise.