This Old House

Kevin

Today on "This Old House," we finish the house that we started 7 months ago.

Jenn

You remember what it used to look like?

Tom

Oh, yeah.

Jenn

We switched that up a little bit.

Tom

I think you're right. You did.

Kevin

Guys, happy, excited?

Scott

Absolutely. It's been an incredible experience.

Kevin

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! How excited are you guys to see that?

Extremely. Kevin

Right? You're gonna have to choke down some dust first, though, before you get into that part,

Scott

Oh,

yeah. Kevin

along the way.

Tom

The money's in the detail.

Kevin

That is beautiful. Hi, there. I'm Kevin O'Connor, and welcome back to a special episode of "This Old House." Special because today, we finished the house that we started 7 months ago. Now you may remember the original 1949 ranch that was here. It was one story, lived in by the original builder and homeowner, and it had very few upgrades, and look what Jeff Sweenor and his crew have built for them. They popped it up to a second story. There's that sweeping gambrel roof, and that's because our homeowners asked for a shingle-style home in the Dutch colonial style, something that they thought would fit in nicely here in their seaside town of Westerly, Rhode Island. Looks beautiful out here, let's have a look inside. Jeff!

Jeff

Kevin!

Kevin

Congratulations.

Jeff

Oh,

thank you. Kevin

Holy mackerel. You and your team did an unbelievable job.

Jeff

Thanks.

Kevin

It looks phenomenal on the outside.

Jeff

Oh, well, thank you. Well, let me show you on the inside. We're almost ready to turn it over to Scott and Shayla.

Kevin

Alright. Where do you want to begin?

Jeff

So let's start in the original section of the house. Remember this long, dark hallway, dark knotty pine? Even on the ceiling it was like a bowling alley.

Very dark. Jeff

Nice now though, huh?

Kevin

Yep.

Jeff

So this bathroom got a little bit of an upgrade.

Kevin

I'd say a little bit more than a little upgrade.

Jeff

So Shayla's office, she really wanted some big heaping barn doors there, which we gave her.

Kevin

This used to be a bedroom, right?

Jeff

Used to be a bedroom, so now she's got a nice view out to the backyard.

That's great. Jeff

We got some built-ins, open shelving, a little bit of accent light and some nice self-closing drawers, and across the hall, remember there used to be a bedroom here.

I do. Jeff

Well, we turned that into a laundry.

Kevin

A really nice laundry room, look at that. Stone countertops, sink, cabinets, that's nice.

Jeff

And so remember that green carpet room?

Kevin

Oh, man, this was a nasty little room.

Jeff

Yeah, I got a surprise for you here.

Kevin

Wow!

Jeff

Yeah, huh?

Kevin

What a difference so kids' playroom...

Jeff

Yep.

Kevin

...television if you need it, lots of light...

Jeff

Yep, and remember that knotty pine?

Kevin

Look at that, huh, so you brought back the knotty pine. What is that, a whitewash or something?

Jeff

Yeah, yeah, so Norm and I installed that. We milled it all down, installed it, and Mauro came in, did a whitewash on it.

Kevin

Beautiful.

Jeff

And then we got this little desk area for the kids.

Kevin

Very clever, right? Bulletin board.

Bulletin board. Kevin

Shelving, I love it.

Jeff

So we ended up adding a bathroom here, so now this could become a master suite if need be on the first floor.

Double vanity here... Jeff

Yep.

Kevin

...toilet tucked around the corner...

Jeff

Shower here.

Kevin

...nice glass doors, I love it. Place is looking terrific, Jeff.

Jeff

We're getting there. Tommy, how are you?

Tom

Good, Jeff. How are you doing?

Jeff

Good, down to the wire up here. We got one last detail on this bathroom.

Tom

Yeah. We're going to hang this glass door here. It's a pretty interesting door, too.

Jeff

Yeah, so it's just one piece, so it's kind of a splash panel, but it's got hinges, so it's a door.

Tom

Yeah,

exactly. Jeff

We got 1/4-inch glass. We got holes for tall bar, a handle.

Tom

It's got a nice little curve on it there, too.

Nice. Tom

So that makes sense.

Alright. So... Tom

Alright. So we got to mount that hinge first.

Jeff

Okay. We're going to put the hinges on the outside.

Tom

Yeah, we'll put the main part of the hinge sticking out.

Your side... Tom

Yep. Alright. See if you can get that screw in one of those holes.

Jeff

Okay. That one is set. Your side...

Tom

Now we can drill the holes. Alright. We should be able to get the screws in those holes. Alright. So now we'll cover all those plates and screwheads, so this shower door only goes halfway, but...

Jeff

Well, it's perfect for the tub, the two young girls, so you got full access to get in the tub, and...

Tom

Right, and if you want to take a shower, you're going to get some protection there.

That's perfect. Tom

Alright.

Jeff

Alright, Tommy. Let me show you the girls' rooms.

Yeah. Jeff

Oh, remember this door, hanging this door, how heavy that was?

Tom

All these doors are inch-and-3/4. They're really made well, but they're heavy.

Jeff

Oh, they glide like butter with those ball-bearing hinges.

Tom

Well, that's why you need a ball-bearing hinge, or other than that, it would wear out.

Jeff

Yeah. Yeah, so love this cottage window centered on the bed there.

Tom

All the natural light coming in...

Jeff

Oh, this is beautiful. Scott says this is the best view in the house.

Tom

I think he's right. You can see Block Island and the ocean.

Jeff

Yeah,

yeah. Tom

Lucky girl.

Jeff

I'd say. Alright. So, Tommy, let me show you Emily's room.

Tom

Yeah, this is a nice space, too.

Jeff

So remember we had all of that reclaiming flooring that we took up from downstairs. We had it stacked in that closet.

Tom

Yeah.

Jeff

And it was so dark and patined, and look how nicely it sanded out. It matches the new stuff.

Tom

People don't realize, you sand it and put a finish on it.

You bring the wood back to life. Jeff

Yeah, I'll say.

Tom

I love this wallpaper with all of the butterflies.

Jeff

Yeah. It's a nice accent wall.

Tom

Very nice, kid's are going to like it.

Jeff

Yeah. Alright. So out here in the hallway, we've got a nice custom built-in that features in the center of the wall here, and Riley did an awesome job with this in the shop.

Tom

Yeah, he did, and I like these circles, really sweet.

Jeff

So this area is really just a quiet reading area where the girls can hang out and read a book, play on their computer.

Tom

Play on their laptop, yeah, whatever, and these balusters, I like the thickness of these, nice and heavy.

Jeff

Yeah, inch-and-3/4, yep.

Tom

Newell post with the recessed panels...

Jeff

Yeah, another thing we did in the shop.

Really sweet. Jeff

Alright.

So let me show you the master. Tom

Okay.

Jeff

So I really like the high ceilings in here with the crown molding.

Tom

The high ceilings really give the whole space

a different dimension. Jeff

Yeah, yeah.

Tom

It really feels bigger, you know?

Jeff

Yeah, and I love the gambrel accent.

Tom

Oh, yeah.

Jeff

Remember standing this wall up?

Tom

Oh,

that was a big wall. Jeff

It was a heavy wall.

Tom

All this natural light again, and you know what? I think it's a toss-up on who's got the best view here.

Jeff

Yeah. Molly might have a little better angle of Block Island.

Tom

Yeah, but you can still see the ocean.

Jeff

Yep, so let's check out the bath.

Tom

Alright.

Jeff

So we got pocket door here...

Yeah. Jeff

...his-and-her vanities with natural light in the middle.

That's great. Jeff

We love to bring

natural light in. Tom

That's great.

Jeff

So we got walk-in closet on this side.

Tom

Yep, lot of storage there.

Check out the shower. Tom

Big shower.

Jeff

All that light right in here.

Tom

Plenty of drain in the back, so the whole floor pitches back.

Yep. Tom

Those are nice.

Jeff

Yeah, and look what we did here with that gambrel. This is what I love about the gambrel. You can tuck these little nooks in there

and make it look custom. Tom

A lot of storage there.

Jeff

Yeah, I think Scott and Shayla are really going to be happy with it.

Tom

I think you're right.

Kevin

The old front entryway was right here but very different. It was a narrow door with a closet right here, and then the space was choked down by a wall to the den right here. Now we've got the door with the glass panels and the side lights wide-open, and this wall is gone. We've got the open staircase. These were actually prefabricated in Jeff's shop, installed in sort of one piece, and, I mean, look at this with the oak treads, the balustrade and the oak handrail look spectacular. Now, right down here, there was a door separating the kitchen from the rest of the house. That is gone because, Scott and Shayla, you guys wanted an open floor plan, but first off, are you happy? Are you excited?

We are very happy. Scott

Very much so.

Kevin

Awesome. I think the smiles say it all. How about show me around?

Shayla

Definitely.

Let's start with the mudroom. Kevin

Okay.

Shayla

So we took out the original washer and dryer and added these floor-to-ceiling pantries

with some built-in cubbies. Kevin

Very nice.

Shayla

We wanted to have a bench seat for the girls with some storage in there.

Kevin

That'll get filled up in no time.

Shayla

Definitely. Then when you come through the door, there's this nice what we like to call kind of the drop zone for some keys.

Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Shayla

Put up the monthly calendars.

Kevin

Beautiful.

Scott

And then over here on this side, we had a closet that ran the full length of this wall, so we've eliminated that to gain that room back in the kitchen.

Kevin

Nice entryway leading onto a beautiful new kitchen, and what a difference from what used to be here, that small space with the Formica countertops, the old pine cabinets which were built by the old homeowner in place but dated for sure.

Shayla

Yes, so we removed those pine cabinets. We went with just a crisp white cabinet. We raised the ceiling up an extra foot, went all the way up to the top with the cabinets.

Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Shayla

We added a nice gas range.

Kevin

Six burners, and you guys actually had

to add propane for this. Scott

That's correct. There's not city service up here, so we had to put a 1,000-gallon tank in the lawn here.

Kevin

Nice. Big island to replace the old peninsula...

Shayla

Yeah, so on the island, we have a drawer microwave, some extra drawers for storage, added the prep sink on the island because I'm envisioning prepping food and vegetables here while everybody is out in the open space playing.

Kevin

Right, and plenty more work space on the perimeter cabinets...

Mm-hmm. Kevin

...a big double sink, and look at the light pouring into this kitchen.

Scott

There were three windows here before, but we've expanded them and then opened up the dining room into the kitchen area.

Kevin

Right because there used to be a wall separating the two rooms but with that down, one big wide-open space.

Scott

Correct.

Kevin

So this corner used to be an entryway.

Scott

Yes. This was inside corner previously with a Dutch door, and we've removed that and turned it into an outside corner to really add some space to the dining room.

Kevin

Square it off, gives you plenty of room for a dining table and I guess sort of an informal look.

Shayla

Yeah, that's exactly what we were going for,

just a nice big white table... Kevin

Mm-hmm.

Shayla

...just kind of for everybody to gather. We went with a bench to keep it casual.

Kevin

Nice, very crisp and clean.

Mm-hmm. Kevin

So Dutch door is gone, but new doors are in place and just a wall of glass.

Scott

Right, so we have a 13-foot opening here, and we have double sliding doors.

Kevin

Love that, no more small, little deck. I mean, you guys got a whole separate room out here.

Scott

Right. The deck was very small before, and we've expanded it significantly.

Kevin

Nice, lots of light, I like it. Over on this side, low partitions

between the two spaces... Shayla

Yes. We added a white oak countertop with a clear finish, some additional storage cabinets, and a beverage fridge.

Kevin

Who doesn't love a beverage fridge? On the other side of that the new family room, and I mean, this is incredible. There always was a step down into the old family room, but other than that, I don't think there's anything that's the same.

Scott

Right. We had that massive fireplace here that was two-sided.

Right. Scott

It was 10 by 6.

Yeah. Scott

So we removed that, and it's really opened up a lot of room in the living area.

Kevin

Yeah, you come through the front door. You see this, but you also see right out the back through another wall of glass.

Scott

Right, so it's another 13-foot opening with a double slider door.

Kevin

Beautiful, and so you did keep fire, though, or I should say you brought it back in place with the gas unit.

Yes. Kevin

That's great, and the fireplace and the surround, that's a whole new aesthetic from the old knotty pine.

Shayla

It is, and we brought the white oak into the living room space with these floating shelves and added shiplap with a nickel-gap detail, brought the same blue in from the kitchen into these cabinets.

Kevin

Terrific, yep, and so for the furnishings the blue couches, sort of a beachy feel, right?

Mm-hmm. Kevin

Be nice if I had a little place to put my feet, though. You got anybody who can build us a table? Oh, look at this, right on cue!

Scott

Oh, wow.

Norm

This was a fun project. I can tell you that especially because it was an ellipse.

Yep. Norm

And we spent a couple days on it, Jeff, Riley, Peter, myself, and Scott came and worked on the finish.

Kevin

And you've actually got some connection to the wood.

Scott

Correct, yeah, so the wood came out of my great-uncle's barn. It's probably been in there for 70 years. He was a carpenter, and, yeah, we were able to salvage some of it and make a table out of it.

Kevin

What is the finish?

Jeff

So we used a golden oak stain to pick up the white oak, and then we did a polyurethane finish on top of that.

Kevin

Durable enough so that you can put your...

Norm

Ah!

Kevin

Oh, just kidding. So, Scott, Shayla, what do you guys think? You like?

Shayla

I do. It fits the space perfectly.

Scott

I think it's fantastic.

Kevin

Nice job, guys.

Tom

Hey,

guys. Jenn

Hey, Tommy.

Tom

Landscaping looks beautiful.

Jenn

Thank you, so what we're doing down here is hydroseeding. We have sod all up around the house area, but coming down the hill, we don't really need to use it back here, and it can save us a little bit of money.

Tom

Well, that's important.

Jenn

So hydroseeding is going to go all along this whole back area where the guys are raking out, and the prep is the same as you prepare for sod. You rake it out. You incorporate loam and compost, and what this hydroseed is, is a combination of mulch, seed and fertilizer.

Mm-hmm. Jenn

Like that mix?

Tom

Yeah, oh, yeah, it's basically a paper product or a cellulose that holds everything together, and then the seed is mixed into that along with water.

Jenn

Right, so when you spray it down, it keeps the seed in place, and it also helps keep moisture in to germinate.

Tom

Right. Now is that the same seed that this sod is?

Jenn

Yep. They are both fescue, so where we got the sod from, they gave us the exact seed from there to match.

Tom

Oh,

perfect. Jenn

In a couple weeks, you're not going to even know the difference.

Tom

I know you've got all of the plantings in. I'd like to see the hardscape. Let's take a look.

Jenn

It's looking spectacular.

Let's check it out. Tom

Alright.

Jenn

You remember what it used to look like?

Tom

Oh, yeah. I remember the driveway going straight with the garage down under.

Jenn

Yeah, it was, like, just a tunnel straight in, so we switched that up a little bit.

Tom

I might say. Yeah, I think you're right. You did.

Jenn

Yeah, so we have this whole new parking area.

Yeah. Jenn

And what we're going to do is travel up this beautiful walkway. So we made it do a nice curve, and it's centered on this parking area, so it's more of an inviting entry.

Tom

Well, it is an inviting entry. It's like the edge of a photograph right here, but the lot is back because of the curve of the street.

Right. Tom

So you brought this curve down around and into the driveway. What I really like about the bluestone here is the joints that you've kept. I notice that you've kept them parallel with the house.

Mm-hmm. Tom

They don't cut each stone first before they lay it down.

Jenn

No, we lay the dimension pieces, and then you take point A and point B, mark it and then cut it with a saw.

Tom

Sounds easier to me.

Jenn

Okay, so this is the pathway to the front main entrance.

Tom

Yeah, I like it. It's nice and wide. It's welcoming, and it draws us right into the front door.

Jenn

That said, you want to go check out the patio in the back?

Tom

Alright. Lead the way.

Jenn

Okay, Tommy, so here are a series of outdoor rooms. This is a great place to sit, sun, read on the deck.

Tom

Plenty of sun, but this is an area here I really like.

Jenn

This, I love how it's just a couple steps down. It's a little nook. So, in the original plan, we were going to take the patio all the way

to the end of the house. Tom

Right.

Jenn

But there were also budget constraints, so we said, "Why don't we shrink it instead of changing what it is?"

Tom

Nice. Now this is the same bluestone basically that's in the front, but it has a different texture.

Jenn

In the front, we have thermal bluestone. This is called natural cleft. It has the texture and a variety of color.

Tom

Yeah, and a beautiful pergola to sit under also.

Jenn

There's so many great spaces to entertain back here.

Absolutely. Jenn

So if you remember, these are what we got from the granite quarry.

Tom

Mm-hmm.

Jenn

So these are very comfortable.

Tom

They are wide tread with a low riser, very comfortable.

Jenn

So when they come in with groceries from the garage after they build it, it's going to be easy access in and easy access out for the kids.

Tom

Right. Well, you did a beautiful job on the landscaping and the hardscaping.

Jenn

Thanks. It came together pretty well.

Tom

It sure did. I got to go meet up with Jeff.

Jenn

Alright. See you at the flagpole.

Kevin

Big changes down here in the basement, right?

Richard

Yeah. If you remember, this was the garage. The car used to pull in here, and there was a big oil tank here. That's all gone, usable space here. Look at this, the door that our apprentice Kathryn made.

Kevin

That's nice.

Richard

Now we had that big heat pump, water heater out here that takes the air from the room.

We put it into this room. Kevin

Yeah.

Richard

And this is great because it can actually gather that heat, make it officially into the water heater. It saves a lot of electricity. This is the base of operations for hot water going out to the building but also cold water. Cold water main here comes up to a nice, organized manifold. Here is cold water manifold with shutoff valves. We'll label these before we're done,

hot water right here. Kevin

Okay.

Richard

Also have one full-size line of cold water

that comes out here... Kevin

Oh, yeah.

Richard

...and goes out to irrigation. Really important, on the outside of the house will be a back-flow preventer because we want to make sure that nothing that happens potentially with lawn chemicals or anything can go backwards into the water supply.

Kevin

So we went through the foundation for that, but we also went through the foundation for these windows. Those were cut into the concrete.

Richard

Yeah,

yeah. Kevin

We wanted a little bit of ventilation and light in an otherwise dark basement.

Richard

Right, and then they put a partition here, but we added these louvers right here so that some of the heat in the basement can be used for that water heater.

Kevin

Terrific, and the main operation?

Richard

Right here. So this was the original part of the basement. Remember there was a big old boiler here.

Kevin

I do.

Richard

We had the wide-open joists, those beautiful, phenomenal lumber joists that would span this way. They've all been covered and insulated now.

Kevin

Right, and the reason we had to cut those new windows in on the other side was because we covered these up. The deck sits right over them now, so we wouldn't get much air or light.

Richard

Now it's a place for Ping-Pong.

I'll take you on later. Kevin

Game on, baby.

Richard

It's my game. Perfectly installed, insulated, sealed ductwork coming back to here to this mechanical room, we have another one on the top floor for the second floor.

Kevin

Kathryn's doors are everywhere.

Richard

Right. Now, here is a really well-designed comfort system. Everything communicates with each other. Here is the motorized dampers right here, and that talks down to the fan that's going to modulate and the burner that can come on and off. It's a gas-fired burner. When it needs it, it's going to have humidity. There's a steam humidifier that's going to put steam

right into the airstream. Kevin

Cool.

Richard

And that'll make the air humidified. And then in a building this tight, we always have to have a thing like this, an energy recovery ventilator, so stale air goes across the core inside here. Fresh air goes in the other direction, and now it'll go into the airstream, and so by the time it comes out here, this air will be properly heated, cooled, humidified, and it'll have fresh air in it.

Kevin

And our fuel source in this case is propane.

We upgraded that system. Richard

Right. It's propane, and for that, we've got this flexible supply, stainless-steel supply to each of the devices that are here, but there is one new mechanical system that actually resides outside the building. Kevin, we first got here. There was that old cesspool, that brick chamber. It had outlived its usefulness. It was time to go. It's gone. We got a lot of stuff under the ground you don't see. You might remember we put a 1,000-gallon liquefied propane tank right here.

Kevin

Anchored to the ground.

Richard

Right, and then we got the main drain now coming out here to this subgrade septic system. It starts with that 1,500-gallon tank that works conventionally, but it takes some of that water and pumps it up

across these sheets... Kevin

Right.

Richard

...that sit here bacteria-rich, and what it does, it breaks down the nitrogen to make the nitrogen go that way out through the roof instead of going into the aquifer.

Kevin

And we're going to these lengths because of the surrounding water.

Richard

Right, and we got the ocean, too,

so we got to worry about both. Kevin

Right.

Richard

The last step is to take that water from here and go down to this leaching field, and by the time it gets down there, it's just about clean enough to drink. I'm not going to drink it, but, you know.

Kevin

Good for another 70 years. Alright. This is a good way to wrap it up, huh? So, De'Shaun, you actually helped us clean it up. How'd that go?

De'Shaun

Yeah, just scraped it down, sand it and gave it three coats.

Kevin

Alright. So this is the end of the road for you guys and your apprenticeship. Kathryn, did you enjoy it? What'd you learn?

Kathryn

I loved it. It was an amazing experience. I learned everything from general carpentry to interior design, a little bit of HVAC, electrical. I loved every minute of it.

Kevin

You think you're going to keep with it?

Kathryn

I am definitely going to keep with it. I'm thinking about going to building.

Kevin

Look at that, Jeff. You've converted one, huh? And how about you, De'Shaun? What did you take away from the experience?

De'Shaun

I took away so many great skills. I learned so much from great people and also the teamwork.

It was the best experience ever. Kevin

I love to hear it. Well, I know that you two are going to be leaving us, so thank you for working with us and good luck.

Thank you. Kevin

And, Ryan, you're sticking around. You're going to stay with Sweenor Builders. Tell us about your experience.

Ryan

It was an awesome experience. I came in with little experience, but I learned from a lot of experienced carpenters, and I learned the most important thing is to care about the little things because it'll come back and bite you in the end if you don't.

Kevin

You're going to keep him, Jeff?

I'm going to keep him. Kevin

Of course. Alright. So you got a plan for getting this thing up?

Jeff

We do. We're going to do a little bit of pushing, a little bit of pulling, and we're probably going to need a few more hands.

Kevin

Well, we've got hands, so we can bring them in.

Alright. Kevin

Come on in, guys!

Jeff

Okay. Ready to go? Let's go up. Alright, Scott. You do the honors.

Scott

Oh,

yeah. Kevin

Alright!

Cheers and applause

yeah. Kevin

Well, Scott and Shayla, many happy years in your new house. Jeff, thanks to you and your entire team for a job well done. And for all of us, we are wrapped here in Westerly, Rhode Island, but we will be back next week with a special four-part series as we follow the people who rebuild after the worst wildfire in California history, so next week, we're coming to you from Paradise. Until then for "This Old House" and everyone, I'm Kevin O'Connor, and that's a wrap.

Cheers and applause

yeah. Kevin

Alright! Good job, Jeff. Well done. Good job. Nice job. Congrats, Shayla. Well done. High five. Yeah! Beautiful home. Yeah!

Kevin

With wind gusts approaching hurricane strength, the fire raced from canyon to canyon. Local authorities started a chaotic attempt to evacuate.

Woman

Heavenly Father, please help us.

Man

We had a gas station directly next to us, ammunition depot south of us, propane field north of us. Man #2: All traffic on Pearson needs to be stopped. Woman #2: I really wasn't sure if we were going to be making it out.

Siren wailing