This Old House

Kevin

Today on "This Old House"...

Richard

It's tin-knocking time here at the project, which means ductwork's going in.

Kevin

We bury a mold problem under four inches of concrete.

Mark

They shouldn't have any more problems that they had.

Tom

And today is Roofing 101. What happened to all this plumbing here?

Richard

I've never seen anything like this before.

Roger

There's already rot going on in that trunk.

Kevin

So what have you found up here?

Tom

Well, a bit of a surprise.

Richard

It's really the classic plumber's lament.

Kevin

Nice!

Tom

This one right here is right on.

Kevin

A family that paints together stays together. Nice job.

Richard

Where will a slab like this be used?

Tom

The money's in the detail.

Kevin

That is beautiful. Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House" here in Newton, Massachusetts, where we are working on this modest house that was built 125 years ago. Now, one of the homeowners, Liz, she actually grew up in this house, and she and her husband have asked us not to just renovate the home, but also to add some extra space over a new garage so that Joe's parents could spend some time here. And when that happens, they'll actually have three generations spending part of the year in this house. It's actually a very tall order, given the fact that they're working on a tight budget. Hey, good morning,

Roger. -Roger

Good morning, Kev.

Kevin

And what are you working on?

Roger

Oh, this tree we said was sick and should come down earlier? Still sick.

Kevin

Didn't get any better?

Roger

No, not at all.

Kevin

So that's gonna come down eventually?

Roger

Yep, and we are gonna build some stone walls out behind the garage to hold in the banking.

Kevin

Yeah, 'cause we actually cleared it out when we built that new structure right there.

Roger

Right. And this is a beauty we tried to save, and we did.

This is our birch tree. -Kevin

So, how did we do it? We fenced it off to protect it? Looks okay?

Roger

Yeah, it looks okay. A couple things, though. With the new addition, some of these branches are actually resting and hitting on the roof. They have to be properly removed. Then, see the three stems? See how this is starting to grow out?

Kevin

Yeah, they're spreading.

Roger

I'm worried about it maybe not now, but in the winter of it just splitting and opening. So we want to take care of that.

Kevin

But you can fix all that, and we can save this beauty?

We can. -Kevin

That, I love to hear. This season on this project, we are promoting the building trades as a viable career alternative. We call it "Generation NEXT," and we have three apprentices who have been working all over this house, although a lot of what they've been working on has been renovating our front porch. And even though we've got a lot of work out front there, this front room right here, well, not a lot changes. The big changes happen once you come into this space. And you can see that the wall here between the old dining room and the new kitchen has come down. That really opens up things, as well as the views to the new family room. Hey there,

Richard. -Richard

Hey, how are you?

Kevin

All right. How are you?

Richard

Good.

Kevin

How are we doing with plumbing?

Richard

Plumbing? Awesome. We got all the rough waste and water for our new bathroom. Our kitchen, good to go. We connected onto the old bathroom here. Everything's there were inspected.

Kevin

Love to hear it.

Richard

Boiler got delivered the other day. Water heater's on site, not quite connected. And today, we're breaking the back of the air-conditioning system, doing proper ductwork.

Kevin

Oh, wow. Can you save some of that for us?

Be glad to. -Kevin

All right. Thank you.

Kevin

So, a lot of work going on inside, but also a ton of work going on on the outside of this house. We are at the roofing phase of this project, and Tommy is passionate about keeping these houses dry. Hey,

Tommy. -Tom

Yeah?

Kevin

Is that passion for a dry house about to rub off on the apprentices?

Tom

Yeah. Roofing 101 today. We're gonna see what they know.

Kevin

All right. I'll leave you to it.

Okay. Bailey

See you later.

Tom

So this is a self-sealing membrane right here. There's a couple of different types out there. This one has a granule on it. That allows you to walk on it, but it also allows it to stay out in the sun a little longer. We like to run it over and up the wall, so it's added protection as a flashing, but it still has to be flashed. Now, in areas where you get heavy snow, it's important that you bring a self-sealing membrane from the roof down onto the fascia board, sealing that gap. Now let's talk about flashing. This is actually a drip edge. The first big problem that I see roofers do a lot of is they take the drip edge and they gently put it against the fascia board and then they nail it. Then they take their shingles and they put them on top and they make it flush with the edge here. Those are two no-nos. I'm just gonna tack it. Again, I'm gonna do it wrong, so I gonna place it flush with the edge. Okay, so now you can see that it's all flush with the edge, and the drip edge is touching the fascia board. Now, depending on wind and rain conditions, when the water runs down the roof, let's watch what happens as it comes to here. Now, a driving rain, the water's gonna run right off the roof. See? But when it starts to slow down, see what happens? See how it's sticking -- going right under and hitting that drip edge right there?

Yeah. -Tom

Getting pulled right in. That's surface tension pulling the water against the surface. The bubbles will grab the fascia board, run down the fascia board, and shorten the life of it. So that's a no-no. All right, let me show you the way I like to do it. First of all, we're gonna take the drip edge and slide it out, keeping it tight to the roof. I'm gonna slide it out enough so I can put my fingers in there, okay? Pull my fingers out, and I have a space. All right, so, what I want to do is we want to nail it. We're gonna keep the nail in about the center, right here. That keeps our flashing laying flat. And nail it about every 16 inches. All right, this is an architectural shingle. There are also what is called 3-tab shingles, where there's two slots for individual tabs. Architectural shingles are spaced a little different as they go up the roof. This manufacturer makes a starter course. The starter course has this tar right here. It's activated by heat. I don't want the joints to line up, so the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna take and cut something off of this. Okay? Lay it down. Put it on the roof with the sticky side down. I'm gonna place it, bring it in so it just touches my flashing, and I'm gonna pull it down a half an inch. Now I'm gonna take another starter. Again, flip it upside down. Now what I want to do is I want to gently bring it against that shingle. I want to eyeball it so that it's even, tack it...

Bailey

How low? Right here?

Tom

...make it flat. That's good, yeah. And one more right here. Make sure the nail's down tight and flat. Okay, the next thing I need to do is add another piece of flashing right here on top of the courses as we go, and that's called step flashing. I'm gonna nail it high. Okay. Now we're ready to start our coursing as we go up. I only need one nail. Now we take the next shingle that we cut, lay it in place. Now a small piece of shingle. Okay, so, now we get our next shingle. Okay, so, now let's see what happens when we pour the water on the edge of the roof when it's away and overhung. Ready? So, you can see how the water's just going right away and falling off of the edge. It's not being sucked down and around. All right, guys. Did you learn anything?

Yep. -Bailey

Yeah.

Tom

All right, good. I want you to get this roof done, and I'll come back later and check on you.

Kevin

On one of the first days of construction, we discovered a major problem that we would have to deal with -- mold in the basement. The cause of the mold was a concrete slab that didn't have any vapor barrier, so our mason, Mark McCullough, and his crew are going to solve that for us today. Hey, good morning,

Mark. -Mark

Hey, Kevin.

Kevin

So, they put down wood framing all over the old concrete floor. Tons of moisture came up and we got tons of mold and that's a problem.

Mark

That is a big problem. So, what we're going to do to rectify that is we're actually gonna pour

a slab on top of the floor. -Kevin

Okay.

Mark

And we're not gonna forget our vapor barrier this time. That's what the plastic is. So you can see that.

Kevin

And so, what's the thickness of this?

That's a thick 6-mil. -Kevin

Okay.

Mark

Yep, and that'll create a nice vapor barrier.

Kevin

Got it laid down everywhere, and I even see that you came up the wall a few inches all the way around the perimeter.

Mark

That's right. We wanted to make sure we had great coverage, so that's why we brought it up all the way.

Kevin

What's your formula here? You've got sand down on top of this?

Mark

That's right. This sand is actually gonna help the concrete set up once we do the pour, so the sand will absorb any moisture,

any water that's excess. -Kevin

Beautiful. And then your guys are working on the perimeter around there. What's going on?

Mark

That's right. That is just a foam material that we're gonna put all the way around the perimeter of the foundation. And that will allow for expansion, contraction.

Kevin

All right. Let's get to it. What's next?

Mark

All right, well, Krysten and I are gonna start throwing the sand down and then we'll throw the wire and then we're ready for concrete.

Kevin

Mark's apprentice, Krysten, is part of our Generation NEXT initiative. "This Old House" and the mikeroweWORKS Foundation are promoting the building trades as a viable alternative to college for thousands of people. Krysten has worked with Mark for over a year, and she took an unusual path to masonry.

Krysten

I always enjoyed building things when I was younger. It just -- being able to do it in real life as a job is kind of a dream.

Kevin

So, how did you get into masonry?

Krysten

Sitting behind a desk isn't for me. I learned that the hard way. Went into the medical field in the office for a year and just wanted to be outside and building and here I am.

Kevin

Didn't like being behind a desk?

Krysten

No. Just wasn't me.

Kevin

Tell me about what you're doing day-to-day.

Krysten

I started out laboring, which is pretty much attending to the masons, bringing them all their material, their mortar, brick, block, et cetera.

And then... -Kevin

That's hard work, right?

Krysten

Yes. It is. And then, eventually, jumping on the wall. The masons help me. They teach me everything and kind of the basics, how to read a level, laying it straight.

Kevin

What do you like about the brick and the block?

Krysten

I like that it actually takes a little bit of skill to be able to lay. You can't just throw it down and expect it to be perfectly straight, plumb, in range. So it takes a little skill to be able to do that.

Mark

See the wire? Get a hook. Make sure you pull that wire up into the middle of the floor. It's gonna help with the reinforcement. And just make sure you do it all over the floor.

Kevin

What do people say when you say, "I'm a mason"?

Krysten

A little bit shocked. They don't -- I don't think they really believe me at first.

Kevin

And they don't believe you because you're a woman? They don't believe you because you're young? They don't believe you because anyone's a mason?

Krysten

I think it's a little of all. A little of everything. I think being a woman is a big change being in the masonry field.

Kevin

But you're doing it anyway.

Krysten

Yes.

Kevin

Do you think there's a stigma about going into the trades?

Krysten

Yeah, I believe right now everyone's thinking going to college is to get a better career, but you don't have to have a desk job to make money, to be happy.

Kevin

So, Mark, I'd say you're lucky to have Krysten working on your team, right?

Mark

Well, we sure are. As you can see, she gets right at it when she comes in, so that's all we're looking for.

Kevin

So, what are her prospects, or I guess anyone like her's prospects in your company, in your profession?

Mark

Well, lucky enough, we have endless brick, not only in Boston, but all over the country. So our prospects are very good, yeah.

Kevin

That's awesome. All right. So, we have got a new slab going down with a vapor barrier. That should solve the problem.

Mark

So, that'll eliminate the moisture problem. Any time they frame on this floor now, they're going to use pressure-treated. Again, we've put that vapor barrier down, so they shouldn't have any more problems that they had before. Finish the pour today, walk on it tomorrow?

You got it. Kevin

All right, thank you.

Mark

Thanks, Kevin.

Kevin

There are a lot of options for railings, and here at our idea house in Rhode Island, our builder wants to make a big statement with this main staircase. So he's actually building a railing system that was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson. This is Jeff Sweenor's workshop, and the railings he's making for us are called "Chippendale," named for the famous cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale. It's also a railing system that was used by Thomas Jefferson on his house in Monticello, and we're hoping that they're gonna make a big statement for us. Hey,

Jeff. -Jeff

Hey, Kevin. How are you?

Kevin

All right. Nice shop you've got here. This is great. So, Chippendale today, huh?

Jeff

Chippendale.

Kevin

You know, when I look at this design, it actually feels very contemporary, even though it's got a much older history.

Jeff

Yeah, it sure does. It's ancient Chinese history, and it was brought to England by Thomas Chippendale, a cabinet maker. And then he sort of modernized the patterns. And we think it's gonna make a great statement in our idea house.

Kevin

And let's talk about the pattern, because it's sort of what makes a Chippendale a Chippendale. You see these very distinctive rectangular shapes.

Jeff

Correct. Yeah, everything works off of the center. So, you have a diagonal cross in the center, and then everything works outboard of that.

Kevin

And then as you say, on those diagonals, whereas normally we're doing these balanced rod and they're either vertical or horizontal,

but not in this case. -Jeff

Right. Correct.

Kevin

So, how did you lay all this out?

Jeff

So, we start with -- We've laid it all out on cardboard.

Kevin

So, you're doing this by hand?

We did it by hand. -Kevin

Wow. Okay.

Jeff

So, we've got a post-to-post measurement. So, at the house, we've set our newel post -- one here and one here. We take our measurement, and then we transfer the whole thing onto the cardboard, so that way we can get the layout correct.

Kevin

And then we can see that there is a perimeter frame, which we saw built over there. And then you literally start with these diagonals?

Jeff

Yep. The first piece, the most important piece,

is the main cross. Kevin

Okay.

Jeff

And the way that it is fastened is with a half-lap joint. So that gives the railing strength, and then gives us a point of attachment for all of the repeating legs. And that's when the in-fill starts.

Kevin

Correct.

Jeff

So, what have you got here for in-fill?

Kevin

Yep. So, we've got all the different pieces. I labeled them so that we can put them in. Oh, I got a "C" right here.

Jeff

We got a "D," a "C"...

Kevin

Oh, check that out.

Jeff

Uh, and a "B."

Kevin

Look at that. So, you've got more of these to do?

Jeff

Yep. Okay, we're gonna start with the small one first.

Kevin

So, you just left these long.

Jeff

We left them long, and then we'll trim the whole assembly off on the table saw.

Kevin

This one coming in. Got it.

Jeff

All right. Now we need to cut the overhangs off. So, what we've done is we've cut a piece of 3/4-inch plywood that fit exactly in our frame, and then we're gonna mount, temporarily, the railing to it. And that's gonna act as our sled, so that way we can run it through the table saw to trim off the edges.

Kevin

Look at that.

Jeff

And we're gonna dry fit it first.

It's gonna be snug. Kevin

It is.

Jeff

It goes pretty nice, though, huh?

Kevin

Boy, doesn't it? That's awesome.

Jeff

So, we can blind fasten all of these into this sub-rail.

Kevin

Nice. All right.

Jeff

Let's get it to the house. And this is gonna go on this horizontal balcony section.

Kevin

All right.

Jeff

I got some blocks in there to set it on temporarily.

Kevin

It's good, though. It's a nice fit. Sharp. Look at that, huh?

Jeff

So, how we're gonna finish it is we've got rail cap plowed out. Rail cap's gonna fit over that sub-rail.

Kevin

Yep.

Jeff

Tie right into there, and then we've got a decorative cap that matches the profile of this rail.

It's gonna go around it. -Kevin

Beautiful.

Jeff

So, that's the horizontal section. Now, the vertical section, we've got to set two newel posts, and then we're gonna build the same panel

on the same slope as the stairs. -Kevin

Wow. And this is gonna be painted off for finish?

Jeff

It's gonna be painted.

Kevin

Well, if you were looking to make a statement,

you're gonna make one. -Jeff

All right.

Kevin

That thing is beautiful. Our brand-new HVAC system is going in. The heart of it is down here in the basement, Richard, and for the first time in a while, just the old, traditional ductwork.

Richard

Right. You know, we see nowadays more and more people using the flex and assemble it like an erector set. This is the classic way it's always been done. Perfectly installed ductwork. You can see here supply going out. Here's the return coming back to our air handler.

Kevin

Not our small ones. We've got plenty of room in this house to put this stuff in. But the way it comes to us is not as assembled duct. It comes to us the way it's always come, which is in two halves. This is either rectangular or square, and those pieces will join together. And then there's a series of tools to shape metals, you know? This would be a little brake to bend in a clean way. There's all kinds of shears -- left and right shears for cutting it. This is for crimping. If I needed to put an edge like this to crimp a round duct, okay? And then all kinds of methods for connecting them. I thought Obie and Sarah could show us how it's done. Each piece has a male and a female. Have to just get the male lined up and then just snap it in. He's got the little hammer going. And that's why they call it tin-knocking. All right, so now, he has to notch all four corners so we can prepare the metal to actually allow it to mate to another piece of ductwork. Now, using a tool called the brake, he can actually bend that piece of metal in a clean, beautiful, straight line back on itself. And now he has to do the same thing on the direct opposite side. So, the unbent pieces of metal, the next thing we install is an "S" clip. You can see one on each side. And that's gonna allow the male piece, the straight piece from the next piece of ductwork, to key right in to that "S" clip. So, sometimes these don't go in this well, so, Obie, show the tool to just roll those together. It gives you a little leverage, you know? If you had a long piece of duct, you wouldn't be able to get it in. And now, there's a thing called a drive cleat, and you can see that it's bent in such a way that there's a perfect place for both of these bent pieces. And it protrudes over, and then he can bend it down -- go ahead. Now we're gonna do the same on the other side. He's got to put zip screws on all four corners. Yep. So, now we've got a connection, but it's not tight enough, you know? It's not gonna pull apart right now, but it's not tight enough to hold back air. So we've got to seal all the longitudinal seams and everywhere we butted two pieces together. And for this, we're gonna use mastic tape. That really sticks on beautiful. And for the butt seams, we're gonna use a special elastomer mastic. Now this, you want to be liberal with it, and just create a rubberized seal. It's gonna be messy, but it's the most effective by far for all those little cracks and seams. All right, so, it goes on gooey and it hardens, but it still stays rubberized, so it keeps a tight seal. It doesn't flake off afterwards. So, we've sealed all the longitudinal seams. We've put a little tape even over that wet mastic, but now we're not done yet. We still have to insulate, all right? So, this is a 2-inch insulation, okay? You want to pull it so it's snug. I got it here. And we've essentially fiberglass on one side, foil on the out?

Richard

That's right. Okay. Got it. Then he's gonna staple it.

Kevin

Hm.

Richard

We're trying to get all the fiberglass...

Kevin

Look at that. He folds it sort of in on itself.

Richard

Yep. This is an acquired skill. All right, so Obie, that finishes that one just about. Why is the insulation important?

Oberlan

That keeps the heat or the cooling inside of the ducts, so make sure it distribute in the right place, not inside of the attic or in the basement.

Richard

The money you paid for it stays in the duct, right? All right. Terrific. All right. What do you got left to do here?

Oberlan

After we do this ductwork, the last piece there, installing the handler in the garage and the condensers outside and then...

Richard

Perfect. Well, great job.

Kevin

Nice job, Obie. Thank you, Sarah. -Thanks,

Sarah. -Sarah

Thank you.

Kevin

So, what have you got for us next time, Richard?

Richard

Next week, actually, we're gonna run some gas piping with a new connection

that doesn't have any threads. -Kevin

I like that. And I know your apprentices, they're gonna get a window lesson from Tommy as we replace all the old windows.

Cool. -Kevin

All right. Until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor.

I'm Richard Trethewey. -Kevin

For "This Old House."

Kevin

Next time on "This Old House"... The exterior of our house is clapboards on the first floor, and it's gonna be shingles on the second floor. And our architect has called for a flare detail to separate those two.

Richard

This tool takes the drudge work out of gas piping. That's not going anywhere.

Tom

And our new carpenters learn new window replacement.

Kevin

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