This Old House

Kevin

Today on "This Old House," we go from factory floor to interior finish.

Norm

The homeowners will pick some colors for the walls.

April

My initial reaction is that it might be a little strong for this space.

Norm

And we'll turn a mud pit into a patio.

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

Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor from "This Old House," and welcome back to the North Shore of Massachusetts, where we are building ourselves a reproduction farmhouse. Now, since the last time we were here, we have made a lot of progress. The main house has got a cedar roof on it, but there are a couple of metal roofs. Up on our cupola, we've got standing seam copper, and then down here, this farmer's porch, which comes right off of the kitchen, that is standing seam aluminum. We've also got just about all of the siding up. Those are clapboards. Even a first coat of paint on most of it, except for right here around the front door. We have not gotten the entry doors yet from our factory up in Vermont, but we have gotten the beautiful kitchen cabinets they made us, and those are going in today. -Hey, Erik,

good to see you. -Erik

Hey, how you doing?

Kevin

You guys are making some serious progress outside.

Erik

Yeah, we've got a lot of things going outside, we've even got a lot of things going inside, as well.

Kevin

Including our beautiful kitchen to be. Can you give me a general layout here?

Erik

Yeah, so, essentially, we've got the kitchen sink over here. We've got a stove over here. The fridge is gonna go down at this end.

Kevin

Nice. You know, I was up in the factory a couple weeks ago, watching these things be made. And I got to say, I was impressed with the quality. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

Erik

I'm impressed, as well. We've got full 3/4 cabinets. We've got finished edges. We've also got drawers here that have the nice dovetail on them.

Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Erik

And they're also inlaid, which makes for a fussy cut for these cabinet and lines to come all perfect.

Kevin

Tough detail to get, but they obviously have the manpower and the machines to get all these miters right, to get the doors and the hardware right. So equally impressed, you and I. In terms of getting started in here?

Erik

So what I like to do is I like to take a laser, set it up, shoot my lines across to establish my highest point in my room.

Kevin

Which is where?

Erik

Which is right over here. So what I've done here is I've established this line all the way around the perimeter of the room so that we can bring our cabinets up to that height. I've also marked out all our studs, drilled some pockets in our cabinets, and shimmed up the back corner to where we need to be.

Kevin

Which is dead on that line there. So we're down a little low right here.

Erik

Yep, so what we want to do is get a shim in on that end.

Kevin

All right.

Erik

Why don't we look in down at that end?

Kevin

That's pretty good.

Erik

And one thing we really want to make sure we check after we've got that level is we want to check this end. So nice and plumb there. Let's get some shims over here. We'll put them in behind this screw. I like to fill in this gap here. When we've got a plastered wall, not the entire surface is gonna be exactly straight. I want to make sure when I put this screw in, I'm not gonna end up pulling this cabinet out at another location. So this is where I was talking about that line where you can see it's tight at the bottom, loose at the top. If I don't get some shims in here, when I screw that in, it's gonna pull this cabinet out of plumb. So we want to get them nice in there. Screw in here. Good. All right, so let's start over on this one. Let's get this one in next. Bring this up and over. All right, before we get this shimmed up, I want to attach this block down in between these cabinets right here.

Kevin

It's just filling the gap that's created by these frames.

Erik

That way, you can screw these cabinets together and you don't have to worry about twisting it or turning it. All right, shim that edge up.

Kevin

This has definitely got to come up a little bit.

Erik

I'll get a clamp on here once you get it nice and tight there.

Kevin

All right. Come up a touch.

Erik

Just a hair. Good. I need a long screw to tie these cabinets in here. I'll get one just behind this block. Good. One right in here. All right, I'll drop this shim in here. See where my stud is. Screw this from underneath so you don't ever have to see the screw.

Good. -Kevin

Okay.

Erik

Now let's get over and let's pop this one in. Take those clamps off. We'll be using those at some point. Let's get this over in here. How does everything look there?

Kevin

Actually, the back over there looks nice.

Looks pretty good here. -Kevin

How about these clamps?

Erik

Yep. Now, we're gonna do the same thing we did before. We're gonna get that block in between these two. All right, we need a shim in that back corner there. Put this down through here.

Drill whirs

Kevin

Okay. All right, so three set. How long you think we're gonna be at this?

Erik

We're gonna be at this a couple more days.

Kevin

All right, well, let's get a couple more set.

Erik

Let's keep going.

Kevin

Well, a new house means a new driveway, and it's really just in time. You can see all the mud that we've got here, and it's a long space, Erik. I mean, it's a big wrap-around drive, almost 1/10th of a mile.

Erik

Yeah, it is. So what we're doing now is we're actually just rough grading in the driveway. We're gonna end up putting this hard pack down now because we're so late in the season. And we want to be able to give the customer something they can drive on throughout the winter.

Kevin

Okay, so that hard pack there, but what's the final goal here?

Erik

Final goal is gonna be asphalt. We're gonna end up putting down asphalt.

Kevin

And is this one of the layers that would eventually be under asphalt?

Erik

This would always be the original layer that we'd put down under asphalt.

Kevin

So no wasted energy. All right. Well, while you guys do that, I got to go out back and check in on our patio project.

Erik

Sounds good. So come on in here. Let's get this curve right in through here. Good. Take it back.

Roger

Last week, we picked out some beautiful reclaimed granite for our landscape project. Now, it was quite a deal just to get the granite into this muddy backyard, but today, Kim's gonna turn this muddy backyard into a beautiful landscape. -Good morning,

Kim. -Kim

Good morning, Roger.

Roger

So, who do we get started?

Kim

So if you remember, we picked out this great stone. It's reclaimed, it's very irregular, has a lot of color to it. So we're gonna create a very organic, rustic patio back here.

Roger

So how did they prep the base?

Kim

So Manny's put in seven inches of compacted base already right now, and then we're gonna pick the stones piece by piece and set them in. The right-hand side is gonna be a straight line to go along the deck stairs, but the left-hand side is gonna be very undulating and organic.

Roger

Well, let's let them get started.

Kim

Let's go. So I think if we take this one here -- it's about five feet, five inches, let's cut it in half. We want this to look irregular, but I want it to have a little bit of an undulating edge to it. The pieces we had were a little bit too long. So we cut this one in half. Good. Yep, that's good.

Roger

Now, I notice the spacing between the granite pieces -- it is pretty large.

Kim

Well, we want it to be about nine inches or so so that when we put the whelm in here, we have enough space to put the root falls with the ground cover in between there.

Roger

With the last piece of granite going in, the patio looks good. I can only imagine it will look great once it's planted.

Kim

It really will. So we're gonna back-fill these joints with loam and then put in moss and other ground cover. And then we have stairs coming off the deck right here, going down to the lower level.

Roger

And I imagine that this big area in the back here, that's gonna be all grass?

Kim

All open grass. And then we have a fern grove coming up the woodland edge here, up the hill.

Roger

And what about up top here? What's going on?

Kim

Yeah, so two feet off of this outer concrete wall, we have an 18-inch height seat wall, and we have ornamental grasses planted between the two as sort of a buffer. And then right here, we've got brick patio for their seating.

Roger

Well, we're off to a good start. I can't wait to see it finished.

Kim

Me, either.

Kevin

Erik, this is gonna be a nice room -- our study. It's got a nice small scale, we've got the fireplace and the beautiful millwork that's going up.

Erik

Yeah, I got to get this wood paneling up today.

Kevin

Okay, and the process, have you had to fabricate and install this on site?

Erik

So what we ended up doing is we actually had to manufacture all of these rails and stiles along with this raised panel work here on site. So I have a bunch of guys here on site actually creating all of these rails with these dados and these rabbits and this stile to get this wood paneling to work out correctly.

Kevin

So a lot of work, a lot of time. But we actually don't have to do that 'cause we've got a factory where this stuff is all pre-fabricated. And, in fact, they did these panels about two weeks ago. And there's not much left for us to do with these.

Erik

No, they've already measured them. They've actually given us slots to join our biscuits in there so the wood joins to itself. Really all we have to do is glue up these stiles and rails, and we're good to go.

Kevin

All right.

Erik

Hold onto that. I'll get the glue going here. We're gonna glue the stiles and the rails. We're gonna leave the panels loose to give them a little bit of freedom to move around. Bring this around. -Ready?

Kevin

Yep.

Erik

Slide this up and come down to me a little bit. Glue in this joint here. All right, give it a little shove down here. That's good. Let me get a couple tacks in here.

Kevin

Glue.

Erik

Bring it over to me a little bit, Kev. Good.

Hammer tapping

Erik

Looks good.

Kevin

All right, so that's it for this wall.

Erik

Yeah, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna caulk, sand, and paint this. Over on this wall where you're at now, we're gonna have two built-ins over on here. But we're good to go.

Kevin

Gonna be a beautiful room.

Erik

It will.

Norm

Now that our house has plaster interior walls, the design elements start to come together. Our homeowners are with interior designer Kristina Crestin today to look at some paint colors. So this is always an interesting process because paint colors can be easy or difficult. And a lot of it, April, has to do with your own sense of color.

April

Yeah, so in the living room, here, we really want to go for a neutral palate.

Norm

Mm-hmm.

April

Sticking with gray tones. But we also wanted to have a pop of color. And this is the color we selected.

Kristina

Yeah, so we went with a mossy green that we wanted to bring some of those colors from outside inside. And now that we have all these neutrals and we have the green, we needed a nice backdrop. So I've narrowed it down to two grays for you guys to take a look at, and the samples are up here today. So what do you think?

Bill

As I look at these colors here, I like both colors, but when I contrast it with the white that's gonna end up being our trim, it pulls out a little bit more of an aqua shade to this color here. And as a result, I'm leaning heavily towards the more traditional gray.

April

Yeah, I like the contrast of the dove white with this gray owl color.

Kristina

Right, I think the palate's just enough, there's enough color, but it's not too much to get too dark in here. So let's hold our opinions, and then we've got some mock-ups in the dining room I'd love for you guys to see, and then we can come back in here.

Bill

All right,

great. -Kristina

All right. All right, guys, these are the other two samples I've pulled for you guys. And we have two options. We can do the same color we did in the living room and bring it into this space, or we have an opportunity to differentiate if we want. So these are two new samples.

Norm

Oh, that could be a challenge because there's not a lot separating the living room from the dining room. You could go with just one color, but then again, you might want to make it look different with the paint.

Bill

I really like the idea of differentiating the two spaces by picking a different color in what's going to end up being our dining room. And of these two colors, I favor the more traditional gray, which is this one at the top. I'm seeing some beige in this, and I definitely favor a more traditional gray color to go with what we chose in the living room.

Kristina

Great. April, what do you think?

April

I agree. I like the gray tone in this color, and I also think it will go nicely with our drapes.

Kristina

Yep. The contrast will be good.

Yeah. -Kristina

All right, wow.

Norm

Sounds great. Everybody's in agreement here.

Kristina

All right, so you picked my favorite two colors, as well. And I hope you like my third, 'cause I have a treat for you in the entry. Let's go.

Oh. -April

All right.

Kristina

All right, guys, so our last big decision for today to look at is the foyer. So what I've done is we've taken the two colors from the living room and brought them out here. That's what we would potentially expect is some nice consistency in the house. And then, because I'm a designer, I went ahead and pulled a third option for you guys. This is my treat. With the drapes, I wanted to think about how we repeat this color. So the idea that bringing that color from out there in here could be really amazing. So what might you be thinking?

April

So I think my initial reaction is that it might be a little strong for this space. It's gonna be a fairly dark space. The only light we have coming in is through this little transom. So it might be a little bit too dark, and it might be a little strong. I do appreciate pulling in that green color somewhere else in the home. I'm just afraid this might be too much here.

Kristina

All right. So keep in mind the reason I'm pulling this wasn't to scare you. It was the idea that we have all the shiplap under the stairs that's to be painted trim color. We have white up the stairs. And then we're going to have that great family gallery wall all the way up the stairs. So I was thinking about layering of the different tones and materials. So, Bill, what do you think?

Bill

I don't know. I'm a little bit concerned about having this color all the way up the wall. It's just a very large wall, and it's a lot of green. It's gonna concern me that it's gonna look like the green monster or something like that. But I'm trying to keep an open mind about it. We've got a little bit of time. And we're gonna think about it and deliberate.

Norm

Well, you better get working on it, 'cause, actually, you don't have a lot of time. Things are moving real fast here.

Bill

All right, all right.

Norm

Let's take another look at it.

Kevin

A few weeks ago, I saw our finished staircase being made in our factory up in Vermont. Up there, they pretty much have one guy doing nothing but beautiful finished staircases. Now, a couple days ago, they shipped it to the job site. You wrestled it into the garage. And, today, we gotta put it in and take this guy out. Now, if you had to build that finished staircase on site, what's the process?

Erik

It's gonna take me three or four days to get that thing built. I'm gonna cut all my stringers, I've gotta trim it out. I've gotta put the treads down, all of that.

Kevin

And then our job today is gonna take how long?

Erik

About 15 minutes.

Chuckles

Kevin

That's it? All right, so we start with pulling this out?

Erik

Yeah, let's get that done.

Drill whirs

Kevin

Okay.

Erik

Ready?

Man

Yeah. I'm good.

Erik

Let's roll it to your left.

Man

Yep.

Erik

Take this all way, straight all the way back in.

Kevin

Coming up on your steps.

Erik

Yep. All right, let's sit this down. All right. Take this bottom edge, slide it over to the hole there, Kevin. You might want to get out of the way.

Man

Maybe one more. It's a little sloped.

Erik

There. Roll it down. To me, yep. All right, you guys are gonna pick up that end, take it up in to Chris. I'm gonna follow it down here at the end. Go.

Man

No, no,

no. -Erik

Little bit back. Now up to Chris.

Chris

Okay, good.

Erik

Come down to me.

Chris

I gotta come up on the right side.

Erik

Yep. How much?

Chris

A little more. Good.

Get a screw in it. -Chris

Yep.

Erik

Check that it's level, front to back here, Kevin. -It look good?

Kevin

Oh, yes.

Erik

I'm looking side to side. Looks like we can come up a little bit on this side.

Let's grab a 2x... -Kevin

Here's this.

Erik

Down underneath here. Get me a screw. Let's get one set in the ground here. All right. Let me check this for level, left to right here. Come up just -- up -- down a hair. Down a hair. Good. Here you go. I got this.

Kevin

Got it?

Erik

Hold on. Down a hair. Good, right there. Let's put a shim down below. I'm gonna get this down in here, attached to the wall. Bring it in line with the stud. Get my screw set in here. And I'll get one more up in here. Right there. Put a screw in it.

We're all set here. -Kevin

All right. So, obviously, this goes away eventually.

Erik

Yeah, we're gonna have a short paneled wall here following the basement down to the door.

Kevin

Nice. All right. So it looks like it took about 13 minutes -- even faster than you predicted.

Erik

Yeah,

pretty close. -Kevin

That's remarkable. And such a good-looking staircase.

Erik

Yeah, it's really, really nice.

Kevin

All right. So we are moving along here. What do we got coming up next time?

Erik

I got the countertops going in, and I've got a lot of interior finishing to do.

Kevin

Good. All right. Well, until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor.

Erik

I'm Erik Kaminski.

Kevin

For "This Old House." Next time on "This Old House"... Just blink your eyes, and something new shows up here in our reproduction farmhouse on Boston's North Shore. All right. Here we go!

Erik

Looks great.

Roger

We'll add some green to our mud-filled front yard.

Kim

I'd say we have a really nice combination of foundation shrubs going in, starting with this Delaware Valley white azalea.

Richard

And there's no town water here, so how do you get the water to this house? From 500 feet below my feet.

Norm

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