This Old House

RICHARD

It's move-in day at our century-old Victorian.

TOM

We're rushing to complete the finishing touches.

KEVIN

And our homeowners are about to take a look at the transformation.

KATHERINE

It's better than we ever could have imagined.

MURAT

Yes, thank you, Tommy. You guys have done an amazing job.

TOM

Looks pretty bad right here.

NORM

Are you kidding me? Is this place really worth saving?

RICHARD

We can do better than this.

TOM

Time to get to work.

KEVIN

Nice and easy, nice and easy. Everybody together.

Grunting

KEVIN

Oh, yeah!

ROGER

The right plant in the right place.

KEVIN

Good!

RICHARD

It's state-of-the-art, perfectly square. All in all, a good day's work.

KEVIN

This is a day that we have been working towards for seven months. Hi, there, I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to "This Old House" here in Belmont, Massachusetts, where we are wrapping up the restoration of our 120-year-old Victorian, and it has been a huge transformation. Hey, Norm, Roger, good morning, guys.

NORM

Hi,

Kevin. -ROGER

Morning.

KEVIN

Big changes out in the front yard, huh, Roger?

ROGER

Yeah, well, it was an interesting one, Kevin, because we took plants out, took care of them. Six months later, we brought 'em back in and installed them. The other day, we brought in three pallets of sod, and we laid it down in two hours, and it's green and it's beautiful. And there's a phenomenon that happens every time we put down the grass. Everyone comes up and says, "Great job, Roger, great job." Tommy's been working on the house for seven months, and I've been here for two days.

KEVIN

Nobody can compete with sod, Roger, right?

ROGER

You can't beat it. It's green and it's beautiful.

KEVIN

It is beautiful. And it's gonna be hard to compete with this new porch, Norm.

NORM

Right. Well, new porch is the defining statement of this restoration. I mean, now that this is back on the house, it truly feels like a Victorian. It's all about the details. I mean, the brick piers to support the deck, and then to support the columns, you have these nice bases. They're shingled all the way around. They have that nice flair, but that corner is woven. That takes a lot of work. It took one guy an entire day to do each one of those.

KEVIN

It's nice that we've got some lights in the columns, as well. We've got this beautiful mahogany decking down here, and look at the ceiling right here, right? So, that's a varnished fir, just a real quintessential look for this house.

NORM

It's classic. Look at the railings, the drop rails. You could have just put a straight rail there, but no, we stayed true to the design, make it a pure Victorian. It's all about the details.

KEVIN

Love the addition of the porch. I'll catch up with you later.

I gotta go inside. -NORM

All right.

KATHERINE

Hi,

Kevin. -KEVIN

Hi, Katherine.

Welcome back. -KEVIN

Thank you. Big day, right, as everything comes together?

KATHERINE

A lot's happening, and I'm eager to move back in here.

KEVIN

Yeah, I bet you are, and look at your new entryway here, huh?

KATHERINE

I know. It's fabulous.

KEVIN

So, the big change here is that we had a wall right here as you came in.

There was a door right here. -KATHERINE

That's right.

KEVIN

You guys wanted to open it up.

KATHERINE

And we did, and now you can see my stained glass right away.

KEVIN

That's terrific, right? And your newel-post, which we saved.

KATHERINE

That's right. And we were able to have two new ones custom turned and carved to match.

KEVIN

And it's a perfect match, right?

KATHERINE

That's right, it is. It's magic stain.

KEVIN

So, you wanted a formal entryway.

KATHERINE

Yeah, and we certainly got it.

KEVIN

I think so.

KATHERINE

Yeah, you can see the wainscoting that we added. And we took the profile from the door,

the original door here. -KEVIN

Inside and out.

KATHERINE

Yeah, that's right. And we added this sweet chandelier that we salvaged.

KEVIN

Oh, that's nice. So, you guys really salvaged a lot of stuff.

KATHERINE

We did, yeah.

KEVIN

So that's not from the house, but much of it in the house we did salvage, right down to the floors.

KATHERINE

Right, yeah. Well, take a look. When Tommy took up the linoleum in here, we discovered the parquet just continued straight on.

KEVIN

Hey,

Tommy. -TOM

Hey.

KATHERINE

So, we took some of the flooring from upstairs, and Tommy patched it in and shined it up,

and it looks fantastic. -KEVIN

She likes your patch.

TOM

That's good. This is all from, like Katherine said, the flooring upstairs. We cut the strips down, cut 'em to fit, and made new squares.

KEVIN

Terrific, and so covers for the HVAC?

TOM

yeah, this is the last one right here, snapping this in.

KATHERINE

And how'd you get it to look like the floor?

TOM

Well, you can actually buy wood covers, but they're very expensive, and you know, this time of the project, every little bit helps.

KATHERINE

Good thinking.

TOM

So what I did is I actually grained them for now. -You want to see how I do it?

KATHERINE

Yeah, sure.

TOM

All right, let's go outside.

KATHERINE

Tommy, I really love this trellis.

TOM

Well, the trellis, you'll never have to worry about it rotting because it's made of solid PVC.

KATHERINE

Oh, that's good. And I see that Roger's planted some vines.

KEVIN

yeah, so that's gonna completely fill in 'cause that is climbing clematis, and it's actually got a flower that comes out in the autumn.

KATHERINE

Oh, that'll be gorgeous.

KEVIN

So Tommy, how'd you pull this off?

TOM

All right, so the first thing I do is I scuff up this surface. I'm gonna take a little piece of sandpaper, just sand it up the edges, all the way around, a little bit on the inside. I want to wipe away the dust, make it clean. Now the next thing I've done is I've actually taken some stain and I've mixed it with some urethane,

creating almost like a paint. -KEVIN

Okay.

TOM

So, the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna lightly spray it to create a base. Just spray it lightly, a light coating. Cover it up. All right, so now I have my base coat on it, and now I have to let that dry. Once it's dry -- I have one right here. The base coat is on it. It's dry. Now I need to put the topcoat on. All right, so now I put the top coat on, and while it's still wet, I just take a paper towel and bunch it up. And I want a rough edge there. And then just wipe it across, creating a grain.

KEVIN

Whoa.

TOM

Once that's dry, we'll install it.

KEVIN

Very clever,

Tommy. -KATHERINE

Really beautiful.

KEVIN

Work is wrapping up here on the second floor, and our designer, Amanda Reid, has chosen a special finish for the walls here in the master bedroom. -Hi, Amanda, how are you?

AMANDA

Hi, Kevin.

KEVIN

So, what is this? What have you chosen for us?

AMANDA

This is a hand-designed and hand-painted wall pattern.

KEVIN

Very cool, okay. And the inspiration for this pattern?

AMANDA

Well, we wanted something a little bit Victorian-feeling but totally contemporary and updated.

KEVIN

All right. So why not wallpaper? When I see a repeat like this and something elaborate, I think wallpaper is the right choice. Not here?

AMANDA

Well, a lot of people can have a wallpaper. This, we wanted something totally custom and unique

for Katherine and Murat. -KEVIN

Beautiful.

AMANDA

Something special for their bedroom.

KEVIN

And the process for getting it up on the wall is what?

AMANDA

Okay, well, that's the artist, Pauline, and she can tell you about that.

KEVIN

Hey, Pauline, how are you?

PAULINE

Hi. Good. How are you doing?

KEVIN

Well, thank you. So, we have you to thank for this beautiful work. What's your process for getting this up there?

PAULINE

So, I start out with creating a drawing. So, I freehand this, and I figure out what design elements we want to incorporate. We wanted something fairly ornate for the Victorian, but I like to blow things up really big. So then I finalized the drawing and sent it to Amanda.

AMANDA

And I loved it, so then we talking about colors and how many colors and where they would go. So, it's really custom. And these are the fabrics for the bedroom, so we wanted to use colors that coordinate with these. And since it's totally custom, we can, you know, use as many colors as we want for the different elements.

KEVIN

And so from this, you're taking it to where?

PAULINE

From here, I take a piece of acetate, and I trace the drawing with a Sharpie, and then I cut it all out by hand with an X-Acto knife.

KEVIN

Look how beautiful and intricate that is, and again, all by hand, so really custom. That looks like an exact match to what I'm seeing on the wall. The other pieces of acetate here are what?

PAULINE

Those are the different layers to incorporate the different colors in the fabric.

KEVIN

Oh, so like a printing process, every color gets its own layer?

PAULINE

Exactly.

KEVIN

Are you in a position to do one of these for us now?

PAULINE

Absolutely.

I'd love to see it. -PAULINE

All right. So, I use spray mount so that the stencil sticks to the wall, and then Chelsea helps me carefully affix the stencil, touching the edges to make sure they're completely sealed. Then I use a roller to paint the first coat of paint, which I mix with glaze. We use paintbrushes to create a stri effect, which is a defined line texture running through the glazes. So, we've finished the first layer on this one, and then we can work on the second layer on the one above it. So, what we're doing is we're just aligning it with the pattern below. And I like to offset it a little bit, see, so it'll give it a little shadow, like antique print making. So now we're just sealing all of the edges of the pattern to make sure that the glaze doesn't get behind the acetate. So, the second coat is now done drying on this print, so we're ready to layer the third coat.

KEVIN

That really is a lot of work, isn't it?

PAULINE

It is, but it is worth it, adding it the handmade feel to the room.

KEVIN

Okay. Big reveal here. -Oh,

boy. -AMANDA

Oh, it's beautiful.

KEVIN

It is, huh? Look at how gorgeous that is. So clearly, a piece of custom work there. Definitely not wallpaper, now that I see it. Awesome. Well, thank you, Pauline. And Amanda, nice choice.

AMANDA

Yeah, well, Pauline's an artist.

KEVIN

So, what is the process for this room? All the walls, two walls?

PAULINE

No, we're actually just going to do that accent wall, and then this wall that wraps around to the closet wall.

KEVIN

Awesome. I'll leave you to it. But it's beautiful work. Thank you.

Thank you. -AMANDA

Thank you.

RICHARD

Up on the third floor, the main story is about hidden windows. There was once a big wall right here that obscured these beautiful windows. They are back. -Hey, Murat, how are you?

MURAT

Hey Richard.

RICHARD

What do you got?

MURAT

So there are interior storm windows that Tommy ordered for us.

RICHARD

I love it. Round to match the rounded window, beautiful.

MURAT

Yeah, and they're really easy to put in. So, you just push them right in.

RICHARD

Even I can do it?

Chuckles

MURAT

Give it a try.

RICHARD

All right. So, they feel like they're acrylic, so we got to be careful to make sure you use the right cleaning material. They'll look brand-new forever. Wow, look at that. My favorite window is not these. It's the little one we found. This room was some half-baked kitchen, as you remember, and we started to do demo and looked in through here and saw this beautiful window that had been obscured completely. I'm so glad you brought the light back in.

MURAT

I know. This is going to be a great guest room for us.

RICHARD

And then we had an awful little bathroom here. Had that back-supplied toilet. Now it's all been completely re-piped, new toilet, new sink.

MURAT

And remember, that sink used to be right in this room?

RICHARD

Yeah, I think it's way better

having a sink in the bathroom. -MURAT

I agree.

RICHARD

And a full-size shower right here. This is really a great guest room.

MURAT

I hope so.

KEVIN

Katherine and Murat asked for a treehouse back here, and everybody was willing to throw in. All the trades contributed something, and in fact, the electricians came back just a couple days ago and put some lights up there. Now, when those kids went up that ladder for the first time, the expression on their face said everything. It was a huge hit. So, Tommy, a new porch out front, and a new porch out back.

TOM

Right, a side porch, really, next to the driveway so when they bring their groceries in, they can walk right up the stairs, nice and easy. Nice, wide stairway, and a covered porch.

KEVIN

Yeah, this is gonna be good protection from the weather.

TOM

Yeah, and this panel right here will really protect you against the wind-driven rain when you're trying to get that key into the lock. Now, if you notice, the porch floor and the inside floor are the same level. Now, what that does is allows us to have an out-swinging door. So, when the cold wind blows against that door, it actually pushes it tight against the weatherstripping, sealing it better. The other benefit is there's a bench here. So, you come in in the winter. You take your boots off, you're bending over. Someone comes in, they won't open the door and nail you.

KEVIN

Tight little space, so make the most of it.

TOM

Tile floor, so if your boots are wet, the wood floor won't get wet. We're also able to reuse a lot of the interior doors. We actually found this one with the glass in it, which is really nice for this new half-bath. A marble floor. And remember, this marble top that we took out of the second-floor bathroom?

KEVIN

Boy, did that clean up nice, huh?

TOM

Came out nice. They took the stains out, but they also put a new edge on here to match the front and the other side. Took the old top, mounted it on some new legs with a new faucet.

KEVIN

So, the stained-glass window isn't original to this house, but it is a salvaged window. And you see that little design on the bottom, the heart shape?

Yeah. -KEVIN

Well, they actually picked the wallpaper to match, play off it a little bit.

TOM

I never picked up on that.

KEVIN

How about that, huh?

TOM

Very nice.

KEVIN

Two small spaces, Tommy, but they're gonna get

a lot of use. -TOM

They sure are.

NORM

Well, Murat, your master suite now takes up four rooms on the second floor.

That's right. -NORM

And this is one of them. This used to be the sleeping porch. And there's improvements here. You have heating and cooling, nice, tight windows. And because it was originally a sleeping porch, there was a roofing material down here. Tommy ripped that up and found the original roof boards, and he refinished them. I think they look great.

MURAT

I know. Isn't it beautiful? We're really excited about this space. it's just gonna be great to just sit here and enjoy the seasons.

NORM

Now, the sleeping area is about the same size, but boy, look at these walls. They appear to be wallpaper, but they're actually painted on.

MURAT

Isn't it great?

NORM

Now, originally, there was a door in this wall for a closet and a couple wall sconces, and the wall ran all the way through, and you exited the bedroom from a door right here. Now you've opened it up.

MURAT

And look at these sconces. These are the ones we got refurbished.

NORM

Right. Those turned out very well. Now, you have a nice, big walk-in closet, and this is part of what used to be a large bedroom. And you have plenty of hanging space and plenty of compartments to store just about everything.

MURAT

We love it. let me show you the master bath.

RICHARD

So, quite the transformation here, Murat. So, Norm, you remember this tub.

NORM

I do. I helped move it. It was very heavy.

RICHARD

We took it out, had it refinished. It's 100 years old. It looks brand-new. Look at it. And a brand-new fixture here. And down the hall, where that old tub came from, is now the kids' bathroom, with new tile and modern fixtures. I got to tell you, I love what Amanda's done in this room, don't you? I mean, it feels much bigger than it is.

MURAT

She really did a great job, yeah.

RICHARD

I love the toilet being tucked there, a little bit out of the way. Look at this here, a big, beautiful shower, perfect marble tile. And look at the shower head. The shower head, it looks like the old rain water -- They called it a deluge head, but that's no longer code. This thing actually mixes air and water together so it still meets code, only it uses -2 1/2

gallons per minute. -MURAT

Wow.

RICHARD

And when that's on, there'll be plenty of steam, so there's a fan here, but nobody ever remembers to turn the fan on, right?

MURAT

We never remember.

RICHARD

This has a humidity sensor to come on automatically.

MURAT

Oh, that's great. Okay.

RICHARD

Twin sinks, marble top. Which one is yours?

Left. -RICHARD

All right, good. Well, I love it. Marble, beautiful fixtures here. You're gonna love it, I tell you.

NORM

Well, Murat, seems that you and Katherine now have the perfect master suite.

MURAT

This is exactly what we wanted.

KEVIN

Amanda, we just saw what you did with the master bathroom.

Nice job. -AMANDA

Thank you.

KEVIN

Nice job on the whole house, actually.

KATHERINE

Yeah, I love everything.

KEVIN

Good. So, how are you guys gonna use this room?

KATHERINE

Well, this'll be a casual space,

kind of a family room. -AMANDA

Right. So for the family room, we went for a neutral color palette, and we accented with yellow that we pulled from the stained-glass window.

KEVIN

Oh, yeah, a window that you got us.

KATHERINE

That's right. I salvaged it.

KEVIN

Terrific. Well, it's nice that a stained-glass window replaces the old water stains that used to be in this corner.

KATHERINE

Absolutely right.

KEVIN

Hopefully, the ice dams are completely fixed.

KATHERINE

Yes, that's what we've heard.

KEVIN

So, stained-glass window is new, but the rest of the windows are original to the house. Are you happy with the decision to save them?

KATHERINE

So happy. I mean, you would never know that they're 120 years old. They look brand-new, and they work like a dream.

KEVIN

Nice, good decision. So, if this is the casual space, what is the formal space in here?

KATHERINE

Yeah, so we wanted a grown-up space where the kids are not allowed to jump on the couch, and this is what we got.

KEVIN

Wow. And what a change from just a couple days ago when you were hanging the drapes. Look what you've done with the place.

AMANDA

Right. So, remember when we first talked about the living room design, and just the design concept for the home? We wanted to respect the architecture of the house, but reintroduce some of the Victorian charm and elements, but make it feel fresh and updated.

KEVIN

Okay. Well, this is clearly a reintroduction of Victorian right there, right?

KATHERINE

Right, this is a piece I salvaged, and then we had it fitted with a gas fireplace.

KEVIN

Right, a new insert that's working, so that vents right to the outside. And we used that chimney chase there for plumbing and wires, so that was a good use of that space.

AMANDA

Right, so that's a Victorian element, but a traditional Victorian interior might feel a little cluttered by today's standards, so we wanted to make it feel more updated and contemporary, and we did that through the use of furniture. While some of the furniture has some Victorian styling, like the gentle curves and the light tufting, and also the overscaled floral pattern of the drapery.

KEVIN

Right, and that's a pattern that you continued throughout to the second room. I mean, this used to feel like one big, long room, but Katherine, you wanted some separation, so you got these little wing walls here.

KATHERINE

Right, and they look fantastic.

KEVIN

Good. Glad you like 'em. And so, Amanda, here in the formal dining room, I have to say, when this dark paint first went up, I was skeptical, but now that I see it, it totally works.

KATHERINE

And it's something that Murat really wanted.

AMANDA

And it works because we've balanced it with the white wainscoting, molding, and we've also introduced these French-style light-finish chairs.

KEVIN

So, the chairs are new. How about the table, Katherine? Is this yours, or is this new?

KATHERINE

So, this is something that I salvaged, and I also salvaged this mantel.

KEVIN

Yeah, so this is a great fine. We had a woodburning fireplace here. That came out and a working gas insert went in. That brick mantel, that came out, and we're left with this beauty.

KATHERINE

And this is much more appropriate to the house.

KEVIN

Absolutely.

KATHERINE

And we were able to open up these medallions, too. We took off that really close, high glass shade and put in this gorgeous chandelier.

KEVIN

Yeah, we got a couple medallions in this house that we saved. Nice. So, Amanda, I gotta say, great job on the entire house.

Thanks for all the work. -AMANDA

Oh, thank you.

KEVIN

And Katherine, we got to check out this kitchen. So, you've had a little bit of time to sort of take it all in. What do you think?

KATHERINE

It's gorgeous. Tommy did an amazing job.

TOM

Well, thank you. It did come out pretty nice. You know, this part of the kitchen is actually an extension of your new back entry, so it's like a mud room. We had a blank wall here at one time, and it hid the two stairways -- one to the second floor and to the basement. Took those two stairways out. Got a couple of the salvaged doors from the basement, made a double door, and a big closet

so you can store your clothes. -KATHERINE

Great.

TOM

In the island right here, we've built a nice cubby on both sides to pour a lot of stuff in there, store a lot of things. Nice columns. Beautiful beam with nice crown molding.

KEVIN

Boy, and I love this, Tommy. What's this species?

TOM

This is solid walnut, and I did was polish the walnut and put a couple of coats of wipe-on finish.

KATHERINE

It's so smooth and so beautiful.

KEVIN

You're gonna organize your kids' activities

all on this area right here. -KATHERINE

That's the hope.

KEVIN

So, you had asked for a big, open floor plan, and that's what you got, but you have to remember how many walls used to be in this place. The old kitchen was tucked back in here with a couple walls here. Then there was a bathroom with a wall right here. And there was another wall coming right through here with a doorway into the formal dining room. And when all of those walls came down, up went a few beams.

TOM

Up went a few beams 'cause we're carrying a lot of weight, that whole second part of the house. We had flitch beams here, flitch beams there, flitch beams there. We had beams and restructured the floor here 'cause the house was all dipped. And beams down here. But now we have a beautiful open floor plan.

KEVIN

So, a little extension of the mud room there, a little seating area here for you guys.

KATHERINE

Yeah, that's right, and you might remember that we picked this table up at Brunfields. And these are my old chairs, but we had them beautifully re-covered.

Nice. -KEVIN

That's great.

KATHERINE

And we went up to Vermont and saw this floor cloth being made.

KEVIN

Check this out, Tommy. Canvas with a beautiful coat of paint on it. -Floor cloth,

it's coming back. -TOM

Pretty nice.

KEVIN

But this is where you're gonna be spending most of your time. What do you think of your kitchen?

KATHERINE

Oh, I love it. It's gorgeous.

KEVIN

So you picked marble for the slab on top of the island. That's a beautiful piece of stone. And how do you feel about your cabinets? You got the soft-close drawers there.

KATHERINE

Yeah, they work beautiful, and we put the salvaged hardware on that we had cleaned up.

TOM

Looks great.

KATHERINE

And one of my favorite details is this little air switch that Tommy hid up under here.

TOM

Well, I like to hide 'em. I don't like to put 'em up on the countertop where you can see them.

KEVIN

Why would you mar this beautiful stone with a switch? This is a dark granite, and then they made a farmer's sink out of the same material.

That's a cool feature. -KATHERINE

Yeah.

KEVIN

And then on the backsplash, you got this great blue tile. Got a little bit of a wave and a crackle, but I mean, this is awesome. Where are the outlets?

KATHERINE

Allen hid them up under here.

KEVIN

Which is terrific, right? So, instead of looking at three or four white dots right there, all you have to look at is that beautiful tile.

TOM

You really get to celebrate the tile that way.

KEVIN

So, a professional range with the oven down below. You got a second wall oven right here.

KATHERINE

I'm all ready for a dinner party.

KEVIN

Nice.

TOM

Well, I have one more thing to show you

out on the front porch. -KEVIN

All right.

TOM

We have a plaque for you.

KEVIN

So, this was made by the Belmont Historical Society, and they wanted to remind folks of the original owner of the house, but they also wanted to thank you guys for bringing back so much of that original charm to the home.

Wow. -KATHERINE

What an honor.

KEVIN

So, enjoy that, and come on over and enjoy the party because it is a wrap on this project.

TOM

And we hope you both enjoy your new old house.

KATHERINE

What a transformation from six months ago. It's better than we ever could have imagined.

MURAT

Yes, thank you, Tommy. You guys have done an amazing job.

It was my pleasure. -KEVIN

All right. Well, for all of us here in Belmont, Massachusetts, and until next time, I'm Kevin O'Connor for "This Old House." All right!

Cheers and applause

It was my pleasure. -KEVIN

KEVIN

Coming up soon on "This Old House," we looked everywhere for the perfect house with authentic period details, and we found it in a catalog. And is this the one you guys settled on right here?

Woman

This is, yeah.

KEVIN

We're gonna build a brand-new farmhouse based on a timeless design, and most of it's gonna be built with cutting-edge technology right here in this factory. Join us as we tackle a project unlike anything we've done before. The North Shore Farmhouse. That's coming up soon on "This Old House."