This Old House

Kevin: Today on "This Old House"... Tom: We're working on the exterior siding, starting with the vertical nickel gap.

Jenn: And this patio needs to be fully accessible, which means it needs to be flush at every entryway.

So where's the water going to go and how is it going to go away?

We'll show you our solution.

Man: Ahh.

That's it.

Kevin: Hey, there.

I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House" and to our project here in Lexington, Massachusetts, where we are just about at the halfway point with the renovation of this 1960s mid-century modern.

Now, you may recall that the house is basically taken back to the studs so that it could be reimagined for this family of five, but also to make it more accessible for the family's middle son, Caffrey, who will be in a wheelchair eventually.

This is Caffrey's room here behind me, and the last time we were in here, Heath was helping us out, in fact, making it accessible.

And he did a couple things for us.

First, he lowered the switch boxes down, and he raised the outlets up.

At these levels, it's a lot easier for Caffrey to work them from a wheelchair.

You'll see that the exterior windows are in here.

We've also got the insulation in on the exterior, but, as well, we've got interior insulation -- mineral wool, which is great for sound dampening.

This is the elevator shaft.

In about a month, we're going to have the elevator installed right here.

That will help Caffrey with accessibility.

And you can see the plumbers have been busy at work, as well.

They've laid out the floor for radiant heat.

And Charlie has laid the project out into different phases.

This phase has got all of the rough service in.

So we've got the HVAC in, we've got the plumbing, which you can see in the laundry room, and we've got all the electrical, and that means that it has been inspected.

And now later today, believe it or not, we're going to get board and plaster.

This will help keep the job moving.

So this is phase one, and as we go into the center of the house, we've got phase two.

Now this phase includes the living room over here, the big, wide-open kitchen that we've got with the patio out back.

You can see Charlie's got a template for the island.

Dining room in the far side there.

And, Charlie, you got this project cranking, man.

There's something going on everywhere.

Charlie: Yeah, not bad.

Phases is the only way we're going to get this job done on time.

And the building department has been great.

They're also inspecting in phases.

So when we're ready, we call them, and they show up.

Kevin: Gotcha.

And so we got Heath.

I mean, everyone's working, right?

Plumbers, Heath's running electric... Charlie: Yeah.

As you can see, they're wiring in through the sleepers now.

And the A.V.

wires are already run.

And you see the metal plates on top, and they're actually cut flush with the top of the sleeper so there will not be a hump in the floor.

Kevin: All right.

Well, you got your hands full, so I'll leave you to it.

I don't know what phase Mark's working on, but I'm going to go meet up with him.

Charlie: I'm just reviewing stuff that I have to do with Jenn later.

Kevin: Sounds good.

Thanks, Charlie.

Charlie: Okay.

Kevin: So, in the back here, we've got the original house with the brick right there.

But then, we've got this new addition and some foundation work that has to happen.

Mark, how are you?

Mark: Hey, Kevin.

Kevin: So we've got to get this whole new foundation cleaned up, and I guess there's a little controversy as to what we're doing?

Mark: So... Kevin: Parging, stucco?

Mark: Right?

Kevin: What's the deal?

Mark: I actually have a great example of both over here.

So, this area right here has to match this area, so what we're going to do is put one coat of cement here.

That's called the parge.

And that, after it sets up, we're going to sponge it to mimic this finish right here.

Kevin: So, one coat on flat concrete, parging.

Mark: Right.

Kevin: And then what's stucco?

Mark: So, stucco is actually a three-coat system that starts with a wire lath, which I have right around the corner to show you.

Kevin: Oh, yeah.

You got wire back here.

Mark: So, this is the first step of the system.

What we did before we put the wire on, Kevin, is, we took out all the high spots in the concrete.

I took a grinder, I took a chisel, I knocked all those down.

Kevin: Wow.

Mark: And then, it was ready for the wire.

Kevin: And what is the wire?

What's this material?

Mark: So, that is just galvanized wire.

Kevin: Okay.

Mark: And you can see these little pockets inside.

That's what's going to grab the cement.

As you can see, we used a collar in here.

That's going to hold the wire for us.

Kevin: Gotcha.

Mark: And then also notice the overlap.

Some people go 2 inches.

We like to go a little heavier.

Very important so you don't crack.

Kevin: And then once this stuff is in, is this what I'm looking at next, on this side?

Mark: Yeah.

So this is a great example of the first coat.

You can see the wire projects just a little bit.

Kevin: And so what's the process?

Are you just pushing it in with a trowel.

Mark: So that's it.

We're going to start from the bottom.

We're going to push it in as much as possible almost to the point where it oozes out a little bit.

Kevin: So, first coat takes how long to set up?

Mark: So, first coat is 24 hours, and I like to wait at least 2 or 3 days for the second coat.

I want it to cure out as much as possible, and then we'll be ready for our second coat.

Kevin: Here, we've got some texture so that can grab your top coat.

Mark: Exactly.

Kevin: And this is our top-coat mix?

Mark: So this is our top-coat mix.

We call this, like, a half batch, and what we did was, we added eight shovelfuls of sand.

We used a half bag of Portland cement -- that gives us our strength.

And then we used a scoop of lime, and that's going to give us a little plasticity and let the trowel move a little bit.

Kevin: So, can this go right on?

Mark: Well, we want to do one more thing, which is add a bonding agent, which also acts as a waterproofing agent that just comes out of a bottle, which you can get started with.

Kevin: Just spray.

Mark: Yep.

All right, Mark, show me how you do this.

Mark: I like to start from the bottom, and then I just turn my trowel into the wall, push in and drive up.

Kevin: Can I try that one?

Mark: Let's go.

There you go.

I like your technique.

Yeah, a lot of the techniques that we're using right now, Kevin, are the same techniques that a plasterer would use inside.

Kevin: Well, now I know why I'm not so great at it, because plaster is not my specialty.

Although I feel good that we don't have to make this smooth.

Mark: Well... the sponge is going to take out a lot of sins.

Kevin: So, what's up with your trowel, Mark?

I got sharp edges.

You've got round.

Mark: Okay.

So, look at your trowel mark.

Kevin: Leaving that edge.

Mark: See, it leaves that edge, where I've trimmed mine.

Kevin: Oh, so you don't buy it that way.

You modify.

Mark: We modify this, but again, it won't leave that heavy edge that is left with your trowel.

Kevin: Yeah.

Hook me up right here.

I left a little... Mark: Yep.

Kevin: There you go.

Make -- Make my work look good, brother.

Mark: That went away.

That went away.

Kevin: Look at that.

Mark: Got one right there.

You can see that one.

Kevin: Low spot.

Mark: Yeah.

Make it go away.

I'm going to use this block sponge.

It's just going to help us even everything out.

Kevin: Trying to get some swirls.

Mark: Yep.

So, Kevin, as you can see, I'm on a high spot right here and a low spot right there.

So that's what this swirling action does is, it picks up that material, and then it'll level it off into that hollow that I have.

So what you're going to do with that sponge is take those swirls out.

And don't forget, Kevin, everything in masonry is rhythm.

Kevin: Is that what they say?

Mark: That's what they tell me.

Kevin: I thought everything in masonry was heavy.

Mark: Ha.

That's the part I ignore.

Kevin: Oh, you weren't kidding, Mark.

Satisfying once you get that rhythm going.

And I love the finished look.

Mark: Yeah.

Nicely done.

Kevin: Yeah, I've got to actually go meet Michelle and talk about kitchen cabinets, so if I could turn that over to Val, I'll leave you to it.

Mark: All right.

Well, thanks for the help.

Kevin: Hey.

Appreciate the lessons.

Mark: Yep.

Melinda: Okay.

So this is the green color that we went with originally.

Michelle: Yeah.

Kevin: Hey, Michelle.

Michelle: Hey.

Hi, Kevin.

Kevin: Good to see.

Michelle: Yeah.

Good to see you.

Melinda: Hi -- Melinda.

Kevin: Melinda.

Melinda: Nice to meet you.

Kevin: Terrific.

Ooh, and who's this?

Melinda: Oh, this is Maisie.

Kevin: Excellent.

Hello, Maisie.

Melinda: Shop pup.

Kevin: So, we are picking kitchen cabinets today?

Melinda: Yes.

Michelle: That's right.

Kevin: All right.

And do we have a plan for the entire kitchen yet?

Melinda: We already have a design.

I actually have a rendering I can show you right behind the screen.

Michelle, if you can grab that door for me.

Michelle: Oh, wow.

Kevin: Oh, yeah.

Modern kitchen right there.

Melinda: Very modern.

Michelle: That looks great.

Kevin: Two different color cabinets.

Same material for both?

Melinda: Yes.

Michelle: Yes.

Kevin: What did you guys choose?

Kevin: It's an MDF core with a melamine skin.

And it's actually finished on both sides, so every time you open the door, you'll have that same finish on the inside, as well.

Kevin: Nice.

And in terms of colors, are we there yet, or are we still thinking about them?

Melinda: So, we're there on this green.

Michelle: Yep.

We've picked this a surprise Melinda: I have a surprise 'cause I have bigger sample for you.

Kevin: And just so I'm clear, the green is for underneath the island and up around the range hood.

Melinda: Exactly.

Kevin: And that's what you're going with right here.

Michelle: Yeah.

That looks great.

I love it.

Kevin: That's a nice, rich color, huh?

Melinda: And it's a matte finish.

Kevin: So that's for underneath the island, around the range hood.

And everything else is white, so... Melinda: Yes.

And what Michelle needed to decide is if she wanted to go with a matte white or in this shiny white.

Matte and shiny.

Kevin: What do you think, Michelle?

Michelle: So, I really like both, but I actually really prefer the contrast of the two different textures.

So since we're going with matte on the green, I think that the glossy on the white is going to look really sharp.

Kevin: So, two different colors, two different sheens.

Melinda: Yes.

Kevin: So, we often are doing solid wood cabinets.

This is a bit of a divergence.

Why'd you go with that route?

Michelle: Well, I mean, as you know, we're going with a bit of a modern aesthetic, so we wanted to take that type of look.

You can also see that there's a lot of natural wood already throughout the house, so we wanted to balance out those materials.

And when Melinda told me about this product and the durability of the product, this was something that we thought would really work well with our family.

Kevin: Okay.

So, what is the durability story here?

Melinda: One of the amazing things about it is fingerprint resistant.

So especially for Michelle and her family on this wall here, where there's not any handles, they're going to be touching a lot of these doors and drawers to open them.

And I have a sample here for you.

Michelle: The touch-open was really something that we wanted to have because, from an accessibility perspective, ease of opening and closing for my son, really important.

Kevin: Yeah, I would imagine so.

Melinda: The other thing that this material is really good with is magic marker or light scratches.

Easy to repair.

Like, Michelle could even do it herself.

Kevin: Well, can you prove it?

Because that's a lot of white.

Melinda: I actually can.

Kevin: All right.

Melinda: Michelle, if you hand me that marker right there and that sponge, I can do a little demo.

Michelle: Sure.

Here you go.

Melinda: Okay.

So, this is a permanent marker.

And if the kids were to miss their paper and go on the cabinet... Michelle: Not unheard of.

[ Laughter ] Melinda: I would just take this sponge.

Michelle: Wow.

Kevin: Ooh.

Michelle: That's coming right off.

Melinda: Mm-hmm.

Kevin: Don't tell the kids it can come off.

Melinda: Yeah.

Michelle: Trust me, I won't.

Kevin: All right.

So, that's a marker.

What about, like, the dings and the dents and such?

Melinda: Okay.

So, scratches.

I had a ke-- oh, there's a key right there, if you pass that over.

Michelle: Okay.

Here you go.

Melinda: Thank you.

Kevin: You're going to key your cabinets.

Melinda: Gonna key my cabinets.

Michelle: Okay.

Melinda: Michelle's cabinets.

Michelle: Yikes.

Melinda: And I did have to press pretty hard to get that.

Those scratches in there.

It is pretty durable.

Kevin: Little tiny ridges in there.

So how would you fix that?

Melinda: So, I have to get my handy-dandy iron over here.

Michelle: All right.

Melinda: Okay.

The other thing you would need is a paper towel and some water.

Michelle: Okay.

Melinda: Spray a little water on here.

Kevin: Mm-hmm.

Melinda: And then I take my hot iron.

[ Sizzles ] Kevin: Whoa.

[ Laughs ] Melinda: Yeah.

Kevin: Have your cabinets done with starch, too, by the way.

Melinda: Yes, for sure.

All right, let's see.

Okay.

So you can see there's still a little bit of residue from the key.

I'll just take my sponge.

Michelle: Oh.

It's all gone.

Melinda: Perfect.

Michelle: Wow.

Kevin: So this was the matte.

Will both of those work the same way on a high gloss.

Melinda: Yes, absolutely.

Kevin: So you feel good about the decision?

Michelle: I do.

I think they're going to look really good, and I love the function and the durability.

Kevin: Very nice.

All right.

Well, thank you, Melinda.

Appreciate it.

Melinda: Yes, of course.

Kevin: I got to head back to the job site.

Melinda: Okay.

Sounds good.

Bye-bye.

Kevin: Our original house from the 1960s had a nice modern look.

Now, that was obscured thanks to an addition in the '80s.

Well, now, with the progress made out front, that modern look is back in a big way.

Check this out.

So, you can see that the plate-glass windows are in.

We've got this nice overhang being held up by a steel I-beam and post, and that is going to protect a ramp that will go here from the driveway up to the main entryway.

This is going to be built into the landscape, so it is very discreet.

That will go to this front door right here.

Another development that has gone in is a new retaining wall that will hold back this steep front yard from the rest of the house.

And Billy and Michelle have chosen to cap the wall with bluestone, and then they are going to put on the face and the backside a granite veneer.

So that's going to be the look right there.

And these two materials are going to be used on the house, as well.

Hey, Tommy.

Tom: Hey, Kevin.

How are you?

Kevin: All right.

Look at that blue stone sill.

That's awesome right there.

Tom: Yeah, that's a nice cap that's going to go over the granite down here that's going to be on the foundation.

Kevin: Very nice.

Tom: And we capped that off with a piece of nice, heavy-gauge aluminum.

And you notice that it's painted on both sides, which is always nice, because you don't get any reaction from the stone.

But, also, I like the weight of it.

And you notice we have our counter-flashing tape over it.

So if any condensation or moisture should form behind the wall, it will run down on these little pads right here, allowing the air to get in there and circulate.

The water will run down, or the moisture will run down, and out onto the sill.

Kevin: Beautiful.

And what are we using?

Tom: We're actually going to use this right here.

Same material we used on the trim.

It's that poly-ash material.

Kevin: Yeah.

Tom: The biggest problem with this is, you want to make sure, like a lot of the problems today with the manufactured material, you want to make sure you use a HEPA vacuum.

Kevin: Right.

Really dusty stuff.

Tom: It's very dusty, but it paints really well and it holds up to the weather great.

Kevin: Okay.

So, you got a little rabbit on one side and one on the other?

Tom: Right.

And the two rabbits are set because this would normally go horizontally, and it's called nickel-gap siding.

But the architect calls for it to go vertically, and you'll still see that little nickel-gap space between each joint.

Kevin: Gotcha.

All right.

It looks like you're well into it.

I'll give you a hand.

Tom: All right.

So we already have this piece cut that's going to start at the window right here.

We've mitered the outside corner.

You can see it right here, how it's mitered.

And this notch right there, this notch over goes in up top for the piece that goes above the window.

And we have a 6-degree cut to follow the pitch of the roof.

All right?

So, now, what we need to do is, we want to make sure that it sits flat.

And I also want to have a slight gap against the window, again, all for letting the air move.

So I'm going to use a square.

It works out perfect.

I'm going to put my first screw in.

But notice where I put the screw, Kevin.

I'm going to be about a 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches in from the edge.

I'm going to line it up with the batten strip, and I'm going to drive it home.

[ Drills whirring ] All right.

So now we're going to measure from the long of that 6-degree angle.

So you put your tape up there at the long point.

I'll measure down to the bottom here.

And that'll be... 109 and a strong three quarters.

So I have 109 right there, three quarters.

And I want that angle to go that way.

Now we have our short and we have our long, but that also gives us the short for the next piece.

So, before I even bring it over, I can measure on the other side.

And that's 110 1/4 for the next piece.

[ Saw whirring ] Kevin: Are they all cut at 6 degrees?

Tom: You got it.

Now we'll just cut a bunch of those and put them up.

All right.

So let me show you what I did.

So, we measured the pieces on the wall, and we measured to the long of the pieces on the wall, which gives us the short of this piece.

When I measured the long of this piece, it gives me the short of this one, and so on down the line.

So then when I put them up, I have the lengths and the angles for all of my pieces.

Now, the nice thing about this wall is, we don't have to be exactly right.

It is nice to be, but there's going to be a soffit that's going to go on the overhang, and it's going to hide all those joints.

All right.

You ready to install?

Kevin: Yep.

Tom: All right.

I'll get up here.

Kevin: You take that.

I'll head up.

Okay.

Tom: So now you can see why we didn't screw this side of the board.

We now have a gap that I can slide this in behind just like that.

And I can pull this down where I want it to be.

Just -- oop.

Up a hair right there.

I have my air gap.

Now I'll put a screw in it.

[ Drill whirring ] Because that piece is on, I can do this side.

[ Drill whirring ] That pulls it in nice and tight.

[ Drill whirring ] To fill these holes, we're going to use these bungs right here.

And they actually match the color of the product, but it doesn't really matter because it's all going to get painted, and the holes will disappear.

All right.

That looks pretty good.

Kevin: Okay.

Bungs are in.

Tom: Now we have to make a return around this corner.

Once I establish the back side of the miter with the face of this piece here, I can then take the next piece and put it on.

And we now have a finished corner, just like we did around the window.

Kevin: I like the system.

I mean, the material's okay.

I like the fact that the screws set themselves, the bungs cover it all up, and the vertical is great.

Tom: It does a great job.

Like I said earlier, once this is painted, you won't even see a fastener.

Kevin: All right, let's get this thing ripped and mitered.

Jenn: Okay, Charlie, I know we're here to finish the drainage for the patio today, but I just want to recap my design plan for this area.

So, this entire area is going to be patio surface.

There's the outdoor kitchen.

Charlie: Yep.

Jenn: And then there's going to be a seating area.

Over here we have the fire pit and then ending with the therapy pool.

So, what Billy and Michelle have decided on for a paver is thermal bluestone.

And it's got this grit.

It's thermally cut.

So a torch is applied to it, and it adds that grit to the surface so it's not going to be slippery.

Charlie: That's a perfect choice.

Jenn: I think so, too.

Charlie: So, our problem here is, we have three different walls with three different doors, one on this side and then two on the other side over here, one being Caffrey's door.

Jenn: Okay.

Charlie: And we wanted the bluestone to be flush with all three sides, and in a heavy rain, if we don't pitch this, it's going to come right back into the house.

Jenn: Right.

So the water needs somewhere to go.

Charlie: It does.

So our solution was a center drain.

Jenn: Yep.

Charlie: And you really can't even tell, but if you look over here, this is the height of the wood floor here.

And the top of this drain is about 1/8 inch per foot pitch.

Jenn: Okay.

Charlie: And that's perfect.

All the water on both sides will come to the center drain and go all the way out to the end.

Jenn: Okay.

Which brings me to this.

So, this is a trough that has a galvanized-steel top.

This orange line represents the level of the patio.

So the level of the patio, steel grate, bluestone all have to sit like this together.

Correct?

Charlie: Correct.

Right on both sides.

Perfect solution.

Jenn: So we have that steel grate that runs level all the way down.

And below is a polymer concrete trough.

And so each of these come in increments of 3 feet.

And each 3 feet, they pitch 1/8 inch.

Right?

So if you're going to stick a golf ball in at the top, it would run all the way down, shed this way to this pipe, and then this pipe is connected to the drainage system that you installed previously out back.

Charlie: That's right.

But before we can even install drains, we have to get our total length, and in this case, it's about 38 feet.

We give that information to the manufacturer, and they give us a numbered set.

You really can't mess it up.

So it's numbered 1, in this case, all the way to number 14.

And we only have a couple more sections to put in.

So let's get them done okay.

Jenn: Okay.

Number 11's in.

Number 12's up.

Charlie: All right.

These actually lock together.

Jenn: Yep.

Charlie: And it's a dry fit, 'cause concrete will actually be around the entire drain.

And these are mechanical fasteners that are sitting on piers that were set earlier, and starting at number 1 all the way down to number 14, each pier is a little bit shorter than the one before it.

Jenn: Got it.

Charlie: All right.

Fred's going to come in behind us and start locking these together, and we'll set the others.

Jenn: Sounds good.

Charlie: All right.

There's number 14, which was cut to length.

Jenn: Last one.

Charlie: And then we glued, adhered a end cap on that a 4-inch piece of PVC elbow will go into, and it will connect into our drain system.

Jenn: Perfect.

Charlie: So we'll get this in place.

Jenn: You got that?

Charlie: I think so.

You got that one?

Jenn: Yep.

Charlie: Perfect.

All right.

I think our work is done here.

Jenn: Perfect.

Charlie: Let's see if this works.

Jenn: Yeah.

I've got something for you.

Charlie: All right, let me see.

Kevin: Hey, guys.

What's going on?

Jenn: Oh, we just finished up our drainage trough.

You want to see if it works?

Kevin: I hope it works.

Yeah, sure.

Tom: That's not going to roll down there.

Jenn: Tommy, have a little faith.

Kevin: One putt, one putt.

Jenn: You ready?

Tom: Go ahead.

Kevin: Ooh, there she goes.

Charlie: Not bad.

Tom: See?

I told you.

Jenn: It's going, it's going.

Charlie: A little more.

Kevin: That's awesome.

Tom: That's perfect.

Kevin: This is going to be a great patio back here.

All right.

Well that's a lot of work so far.

What have we got coming up next time, Charlie?

Charlie: Well, believe it or not, we're going to be prepping for tile.

We're going to putting a sliding glass door in that hallway area.

Tom: And more of the siding will be going on.

Kevin: All right.

Well, a lot of work getting done now and a lot more to come.

So, until next time, I'm Kevin O'Connor.

Charlie: I'm Charlie Silva.

Jenn: I'm Jenn Nawada.

Tom: And I'm Tom Silva.

Kevin: For "This Old House" here in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Kevin: Next time on "This Old House"... Richard: Before the tile goes in, we'll make this bathroom waterproof with an all-in-one system.

[ Drill whirring ] Charlie: And we'll install the final glass slider and show you how this door is different than any other door in the house.

Man: All right, lift.

And get it into that slot.

There you go.

Drop it onto that outside track.

Excellent.

All right, let's pick it up and bring it in to the jamb.

Kevin: That's next time.