>> if your old kitchen looks like this, don't touch that dial because today on for your home, we're going to complete our kitchen modernization project. we're going to shape this place up and you're not going to want to miss how it turns out. [ theme music ]

>> jodi and fletcher dreamed of turning this out of date kitch noon a well-functioning space into a growing family. the house was built in 1939. over the years, many owners have added and added to the original size and look of the house. the kitchen was last renovated in 1950 by a local cabinet maker that obviously loved wood. we made lots of progress to this point. positive test results for a lot of required to us have the entire space remediated. once it was safe for us to work

in the area, we pulled together our great fyh team to rewire, replumb and tear down walls. this is karen, and she is our general contractor on this project. how is it going? >> hey, vicky, oh, it's going. >> it looks like it's going. it looks like it's going to heck in a hand basket. what is going on here? >> oh, gosh, it always has to get ugly before it gets beautiful. all the remediation is done and we have gone to work. we have been busy as bees. we have taken it down basically to the studs and rebuilt. we're starting to bring back up our walls. we're starting to fill in and we've done our rough-in plumbing, rough-in electrical and we're getting ready to fill it all in. >> and dry wall. >> so it will start to look beautiful again. >> absolutely. it's always, i think it's always the frightening part to homeowners when a project like this is going on because they're eager to get it going, but then when they walk through here at the end of the evening, they go, oh, what did we get in for? we know how to turn this mess into a beautiful kitchen and you do it with great people like karen.

i'm going to let you get off to the crew, and that thing is being delivered and you can take care of that, and i will check with chris on our pluming. >> this is chris and he's with all about the pipes and he happens to be my own personal plumber. are you sorry that you said okay, i will work with you in. >> not at all. you always bring great stuff to the show and to the house. okay. this is the new area where the washer and drier is going to go into. this all looks new. did you have to replace those because of the different units? >> we did. we did have to replace the different units but once the wall was exposed because we were deleting a utility sink that they decided not to go with, we brought all the plumbing up to code and at that point, it was different types of pipe. we made it all new. >> we're doing stackables here instead of side by sides here. now, we didn't really move a lot of stuff around on this project. >> that's right. >> so you know, sense we were just moving things a few inches, it is as much work as we flipped it all the way around? >> not really. it's a full basement. we had access to everything and

it wasn't that bad. with the kitchen sink, with them opening up the walls here and because of the way the foundation was, we had to offset everything and it wasn't too bad. we brought this up to code. >> this is going to be great. this will make this kitchen function better. >> it will be beautiful. i know you had to clean up a lot of old piping around here, and i really appreciate it. thank you. >> hey, david, how it is going? >> good. how are you? >> david is taking care of all of the dry wall work we are doing and believe me, there is a lot of it. now what are you using on this hole right here? >> these r pre-made sheetrock patches that make it easier for a home owner to repair small patches. especially when you have removable or-- switch plates. >> and so you just stick this on and you stick it on and what do you have to put over the top of that? >> basically what you can use is sheetrock mud. there's a ready-mix kind or use quicker dry powder form. >> which do you like best? >> i like the quick dry.

what it does is it enables to you get multiple coats on in a short period of time. >> okay. >> the important thing is, though, what you do is you use bigger tools each time and make sure there's not a gap so you can use a 10-inch later to judge how far out. one of the mistakes that homeowners make is they don't go far enough out with the sheetrock, and what they'll do is they'll have a hump in the wall. what you want to do is-- >> uh-huh. that's the way to get rid of the hump. >> exactly. >> thank you. that looks great. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> all our rough-in is completed. david patched the dry wall and we're ready for cabinets, countertops and the flooring. while that's going on, i have some important material selections to make. if you ever selected countertops out of granite or maybe out of marble, you probably had to do your selecting from a little 6 by 6-inch square. that's not the way that you really want to pick out your countertops. you want to come to a place like

this. this is a stone yard and there are just tons and tons of beautiful slabs of stone that you can choose from. why is that important? for example, if you take a look at this beautiful countertop material, this happens to be pretty regular with its design and you kind of get a good idea what it's going to look like. but when you get to some of the other pieces that have so much more movement and action and for example, this piece. look at the variations of color from one end to the other end. some of them are even more dramatic than that. you want to be sure that that piece of stone is going to work perfectly for what you need it to be. there are so many choices on the market now. you're not just settling with brown or black or cream. you can go anywhere that you would like. you can also look at so new exotic materials that they have. for example, onyx. it's becoming a popular countertop material.

this piece of green onyx is breathtaking. the great thing about onyx, it can be backlit so you can do a dramatic countertop with lighting underneath it for your kitchen or bathroom or maybe for your backsplash. today's project, for our kitchen, i'm not that exotic. i'm looking for something a little bit more traditional. something in black and white. now is here and she's best to help me out when i'm looking for stone countertop because she knows her inventory. how are you? >> hello. how are you? >> doing good. are you ready to help me pick out stone? >> tell me what you are looking for. >> i faxed over the layout of the kitchen, and you know we will need three slabs of granite and this is going to be an acticoative kitchen. so i want to us try and stay away from marble, but try to get a look like the carrera marble. i want black countertops for the surround area and the island i want to do in something white.

so lead me to my black choices first. >> okay. let's go this way. make a left right here. >> okay. this one right here is called spike black. >> i like this. i like this. it's plain. it's got a little bit of gray in it, though. i think that's nice. it's not just a flat black. >> okay. >> we got a little bit of action. we will need two slabs of that. >> okay. >> what will you find for me that is going to look like carrera marble but perform like granite? >> this is what we have right here. this is call crystalina. >> oh that is really a great-looking piece. this is granite? >> yes. it's granite. >> i love that. i mean, it has that white and the gray like the carera does, but it will have the durability of granite. is this new? i haven't seen this color before? >> yes. we only had it for probably a month. >> wow. i love this. we need to double check the measurements for our island and make sure this slab will be big enough, and i will have you put

this on hold for us. as always, you're a miracle worker. thanks. we can go in and check our dry drawing intl. thank you. if you thought we had a lot of choices at the stone yard, hold on. because we're now looking at tile and this is a great showroom because it has a lot of selections for you to look at and it also has some great displays so you can really see how the tile will all go together. you will see the textures. you'll see the way they mix the cole percent the different materials after you look over everything is to focus on the field tile. what do i mean, come on over. these are the field tiles and they will fill up most of the space. they will be in the backfield. they come in different cole percent sizes and shapes. for us, we're going to do a harlequin design. we want it to be a high gloss and we want it to be in white. now that we know our field tile,

how will we dress it up? we will do that by picking up great border pieces. now almost every design selection will have some dressy pieces to go along with it and if you are working in white or cream, you're going to have a good choice to choose from. let her choose which one she likes best and we will put together a great design for her. we chose oak hardwood flooring with a warm finish. once it's reinforced, the installers put in the new flooring. i think that our kitchen cabinets are turning out absolutely beautiful and what a dramatic change from all the dark wood we had in here just a few weeks ago. you know this is the stage when the homeowner can eelly start to see their new kitch isn't going to become a reality and while it may be quiet in this kitchen, it's not quiet where brian works. right? >> that's right, vicky. our custom cabinet shop we're always busy. >> it takes you guys about eight weeks to do a custom cabinet this size. okay.

so while the homeowner is going what's going on? actually, you guys are doing what? >> we're taking the order that your local dealer has submitted to us. looking athe order, the floor plans, the dimensions, making sure this cabinetry is going to fit like a glove when it gets here to the job site. so that takes bus a week or so to make sure everything is going to fit very nicely to spec when it gets here to the job. the first thing we do after that is we start making our custom doors and drawers. all of our cabinetry is custom made to custom sizes. nothing is in stock. so we start to make the doors and drawers. it's the first part of our manufacturing process. after we make the doors and the drawers, the next thing we're going to do is start cutting parts for the cabinet box itself. all of our cabinet boxes and this is our full access line, some people know of it as-- >> this is like you don't have any frame around here like you would have in a less expensive cabinet door. >> some people refer to this as european cabinetry. we refer to it as full-access

cabinetry. we call it full access because you get more accessory and interior space with this line of cabinetry than you would with the front frame. >> we want more storage. >> everybody needs more storage. especially me. i got a dish thing. i love more space. >> so the next thing we do is we start to cut these cabinets apart. we will then assemble these cabinets to the custom sizes that were ordered by your local dealer that you have been working with. we then start to install the doors and the drawers. we then finish the cabinetry. this is a 7-step enamel process that we do use. >> because a lot of people might ab grade if they're going to use painted cabinet that it's going to chip. you are doing seven steps. >> we're doing seven steps and these steps involve sanding, sealing, multiple coats of primer and then this beautiful dove white low sheen top coat that we put on top. very durable. >> well, i really appreciate all the effort and the care and the time that you put into this

project because cabinetry has got to be beautiful from a designer standpoint. >> absolutely. >> but it also has to function really fantastic and you know, the soft pulls on the doors and drawer. we did a great job and i know our general contractor worked with ann and our carpenter and got the installers and there's a lot of hands that go into this. thank you. i appreciate it. >> another one of our behind-the-scenes partners is stan mills. he's our hvac contractor. hey, dan, how are you doing? >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm doing great because this kitchen is almost finished. >> we're getting that close, there's just a little bit of work to be done and if we don't do it right and get comfortable, nobody will be happy with the project. that's our job. >> what did you have to do on this particular project? >> the first thing we had to do is when the new cabinets were installed, we had to he locate duct work that cape through the floor and wouldn't be able to ventilate. >> that's the heating and air conditioning coming out? >> that's correct. we had to relocate that and it will be assemble and installed under the kitchen cabinet with

the toe kick plate so the proper ventilation will come into the kitchen. and now originally in our island here, we had a gas range and it had a downvent. in other words, the fumes were exhausted down and out through the basement. >> that's correct. what we will do now is since you put a nice ielgd kitchen work space here, we're going to have to relocate that. so we disassembled. that sealed it off and now we will work with the new kitchen hood that will go inside the sealing and out the roof. >> okay. so now we're switching from a downdraft to an updraft. >> that's right. it will be an updraft appliance. we made sure that you check the manufacturer's installation instructions with the hood so that we vent it properly and it's done and will pass code. >> okay. because everything has to be inspected in this kitchen, especially your work. >> absolutely. no inspection, no happy homeowners. >> no cooking in here. >> that's right. thanks, i appreciate it a lot. i know that the homeowners can not wait to get that stove going and get the fumes out of here. >> i i'm sure they will have great parties and great meals

here at this home. >> thanks, appreciate it. angie, here's my vision, okay. well this is my field pile. the gray diamonds here and i have these decorative pieces and it's not so plain. i would like to scatter two of these on the splash area back here. >> okay. >> all right. and i know that this is going to be like a little tricky for the cut. >> yes, it is. >> as soon as i saw that, the white porcelain is a fragile tile. more fragile than a tumblestone which already has a rough surface. so hopefully we have a couple extras so we can do some sample cuts. otherwise, i still think it's going to look great. >> okay. over the kitchen stove, over the range, this is the pattern that i want to use. these are 6 by 6s and these large bars i want to frame it out. okay. what are we going to do with the corners of it, though? >> we will have to miter these corners so they can fit together

perfectly on an angle. >> picture frame. right there. >> exactly. which brings me back to this. since these are straight, this pattern, we're definitely going to want to take and accent that. right. i love it. tons of extras so whatever you need, you can do. now for this side, let's go over here. we want to have the-- the roberts want to have some extra area and overhang here so that they can pull up a couple stoles for extra seating for kids. so i don't want it to get out too far in this passageway because these are front load washer and driers, doors open, kids going back and forth. what is the minimum i can have here and still accommodate what they want to do? >> the minimum just with the what this walking busy space, i would do 12 inches. >> from here. >> from here. >> all the way out. >> uh-huh. >> and it's going to leave enough room for a plate and it doesn't crowd your knees if you are sitting underneath it. >> okay.

>> so that will be great. so when you have a kids serving area here. on this section, we'll have white granite here. >> okay. >> all right. we'll have black granite here and over here as well as in the cook area. >> all right. >> white tiles and i just need you guys to have it done asap. >> no problem. we always do. >> thank you. >> no problem. >> you and joe did a fantastic job with this kitchen as always. >> thank you very much. >> you know, i know that it was a challenge for you. other kitchens weren't as old as this one was. the house is built in 1939. what were some of the issues that you got into that we totally did not expect when we started the project together? >> we ran into several issues with the floor for one. it was spongy in places where people had cut stuff out. the amount of flooring that was in here, remediation guys took out was almost two inches thick. >> i know, when we first started out, they kept layering and layering on top of it and now we have new hardwood floors in here. these are red oak floors, pre-finished and the threshold

is totally flush. i'm happy. >> they came out well. >> that's always a sign of an add-on or remodful they're not smooth and level. >> definitely. that's one of the issues you hit when you bring two rooms together. this was an exterior porch. this floor system was totally different than anything we hid in there and that's why we ran into problems with the line. we will cut can lights for the ceiling. we didn't have enough room between the existing rafters and the ceiling to do that so we had to switch these sconces. >> as a decorator, i love that. it let us bring in color and we had plenty of lighting and they're fluorescent lights and it gives us good lighting. now the beam, this was something that i didn't want to have in here. you know, i thought it would be great if we could get the ceiling just totally smooth all the way back. >> right. >> but why not? >> once again, once we got ready to put the beam in and we uncovered part of the ceiling because of the two roof lines, we had the transition area that

we couldn't go up into. we had to bring the beam down in order to get knit to support the weight and everything, but i think overall, it came out nice. gave us a great transition between the two rooms. >> i do, too, and i think with the counter, the service counter across here and with the lights, it was a great place to anchor that. if you had to find one word to say to the homeowner and the viewers out there, if you do a project, old house or new, what is the one word? >> flexibility. we're having to on the fly make decisions and judgments based on stuff we uncovered at the time. plus, the customer needs to help out with the contractor. there's times we won't be able to meet here to meet the inspectors for the different things. if the subcontractor needs to get in, they need accessibility to the house and the project. >> be a part of the team and be flexible and it will all turn out beautiful. >> exactly. [ laughter ] >> thank you. >> from the cabinets to the flooring, everything has to be beautiful and function perfectly when you're doing a kitchen. you know, one of the real work

horses in our kitchen is the sink and the faucets. christy is from blanco and she made the selections for me for this kitchen and i think you did a great job. >> thank you. this is one of our stainless sinks. this is called the supreme. tapes double bowl sink. stainless is really popular right now because it goes with a lot of different kitchen decor, and it's easy to maintain. >> that's what i love. it doesn't stain and very easy to take care of. >> it's got a smooth polished surface which will not keep food particles or anything like that. it's easy to take care of. >> i think a lot of people think that all stainless steels are created equally and it's not the case. >> it's not. you want to get a stainless steel from a quality company like blanco or a trusted brand and you know you will get a quality product that will last. that's very important. you want to make sure that you protect your investment. when it came time for the faucet, you said i got something for this project. >> yeah. >> i don't know how it functions but from the looks of it, i'm loving it. >> this is the calina faws pet

this is brand new. it has this closed coil. it's a professional style faucet. doesn't have a big loopy coil like the typical faucet. it has a magnetic handspray. not a pulldown. >> no. >> perfect. it snaps back into place and it's not going to fall down. >> one hand use, and it's very easy to use and it looks great also. >> i you this you did a perfect job. on the other side, our homeowners didn't want to do the prep sink in the island because they want to feed a lot of kids around here. you made a great suggestion and that was for a-- >> that's great. this is the pot filner a stainless finish. it's great because you don't have to carry a heavy pot of water from the sink to the stove. you can fill the pot on the stove and it helps save your back and not carry that. it's easy to use. >> it fits in beautifully. we had a perfect placement for it, and i appreciate you helping me out. >> no problem. this kitchen is outfitted with

top of the line professional grade appliances. i am just crazy about some of these features. now the movers had just gotten in place and we still have to do unwrapping and get them hooked up, but this is our new dual convection oven. what does that mean? it heats up 30% faster. inside the oven, look how nice and wide. we have multiple racks so for those thanksgiving christmas dinners, you have room for the pie and the turkey, and i love this blue color that's in there. now, for our refrigerator for the project this is a big refrigerator. it's over 21 cubic feet and it's acceptable by four doors. these are our french doors that access the top of our refrigerator and look at all that space we have in there. plenty of room for a party platter and all the vegetables and fruits that you need for a healthy family. now down below this is our freezer and it's accessible by two drawers.

top drawer, that's where you want to put the things you need to get to often. bottom drawer, that's your backup storage. was so great about this refrigerator in addition to its size is it's energy efficient. get out to the refrigerator in your house, it's the number three energy user so if you are looking to replace your refrigerator look for the most energy efficient one you can get and look for energy star. this side of the kitchen this is where our microwave is and it isn't the run of the mill microwave. this is a microwave drawer. if you haven't seen one of these, they are spectacular. you load your food directly from the top during the cooking cycle. if you need to stir it or turn it, you are not removing hot biling dishes. then when you are through cooking, you just push a button, in it goes and walk away with a nice, hot meal. over here, dishwasher. if you are doing all this cooking, you will sooner or later clean up.

this is a true steam dishwasher and what i love about it is it's a big capacity and you have the controlling force. in the top, you can put your wine glasses. in the bottom, your pots and pans and you can set it so it will wash the wine glasses on a delicate cycle and the bottom, lit get those pots and pans clean. it has a setting for half load and that's really important if you have a small family or you know, you're not using your dishwasher as much to fill it to the top. other side of the room, that's our new laundry room. take a look. this is our new laundry room. what do you think? what a great improvement. remember what the old laundry room looked like? first of all, it was two separate rooms and everything was tucked away behind bifold doors that never functioned. now, we still have our washer and drier, but these function beautifully. they also hide it when we're not doing our laundry and then the doors slide right back in and

store themselves. you have complete access to your washer and drier. now these are large capacity, heavy duty units. they're front loaders and my favorite of the two has got to be the drier y is that? because it has a sanitary steam setting on it, which means i can put in throw pillows or stuffed animals. things that you couldn't normally do, it will sanitize them. snazzy, huh? i think all the appliances that we picked out will make it function as beautifully as it looks. well, i'd like to say it's magic to turn a kitchen from this into this, but it's actually a lot of hard work by a lot of talented people. this is karen and she's our general contractor on this project. karen as always, you and your team did a wonderful job for for your home. >> thank you so much. this is very exciting. this portion of the project when everything is complete especially a project this size, it's so thrilling for me.

i know the homeowners are anxious to get in their home, but equal ally as important, a kitchen like this will last for a very long time. >> you know, i know that the roberts are really excited. you know, jodi was overwhelmed with joy for the kitchen. >> yes. she was. i think she was very happy and we were so excited to do this for them. >> whenever you're doing a kitchen update, whether it's something simple like new countertops or a complete renovation, remember, it's one step closer to loving your home. join me next time where i will have more great ideas for you.

do you want to know more about the projects today or our guests, visit us on the web. you'll find great behind-the-scenes shots, streaming video, project ideas and we have an e-newsletter with tips and ideas. it's

kevin: next, on "the this old house hour"... today, we'll show you a new way that we're protecting our house from air and water. and we'll visit a shop and see our historic window sash restored. woman: i'll tell you, this is a great time saver. norm: wow, look at that. that comes right off. tom: and we'll deal with a major discovery in the kitchen. kevin: they cut right through this thing! and also... this heating system's making a racket, but not for long. i'm going to transform this front yard from an overgrown mess to a beautiful garden. and we'll ask, "what is it?" i could get down on my hands and knees, but that would mean commitment. so with this, i can just pump this. this is all i get? so stick around. with your own two hands -- the original power tools.

the home depot is proud to support "this old house" and do-it-yourselfers everywhere. when the unexpected happens, state farm is there to get your old house to a better state. it's a parade float. can we lose the parade float? thank you. gmc. lending "this old house" a helping hand since 2002. retailer of hardwood flooring. their wide selection includes bellawood prefinished, bamboo, laminate, and vinyl plank flooring. lumber liquidators is proud to sponsor "this old house." much of the work on our renovation is going on out back here. this is a new family room addition,

and it is about 400 square feet of new space. now, last week, we raised the gable end wall, and then, after that, tommy and his guys were off to the races. they brought up the other side walls, and then he laid in a huge ridge beam, and on top of that, he framed himself a roof. and this addition was built pretty much the way tommy's been building for decades. except there's one thing different -- it's green. and i was wondering why, so we asked joe lstiburek, a building science engineer, to tell us why. joe, why is our addition green? keeps the water out, keeps the air out. but we've been doing that for centuries. oh, but we've been doing it differently over 300 years. we're getting better at it. how did we used to do it? we didn't do anything 300 years ago. we'd build out of thousand-year-old pieces of wood and it's okay for them to get wet as long as they dried, and they did, because these walls were completely uninsulated. then the big improvement was that we should put rosin paper over the cracks. so just putting the paper over these seams meant the air didn't blow through your house and that increased comfort?

amazing. that is true. and that change happened about a hundred years ago, the turn of the last century, around the 1900s. and then, in the 1920s and 1930s, we began to add insulation into the cavities and eelgrass and straw. even saw the early fiberglass products, and we reduced energy flow, and people realized, "we have to start focusing on rain as well." so the next innovation was to treat the rosin paper with asphalt, so we ended up inventing or developing old-fashioned tarpaper. that's the black layer we're looking at here, impregnated with tar. and so the tarpaper served two functions -- air control and water control. but remember, it was the air control first and the water control second. but today i see house wrap on buildings. it looks just like this, goes all around the building. what is this doing for us? 1980s, it was a fabulous improvement. it was doing exactly what the tarpaper did, but did it better. fewer joints, and we could actually tape these materials together,

and so it was doing what it was supposed to do, but doing a better job than the old tarpaper. so if it's doing it well, if it's keeping the air and the water out, why are we getting rid of it and turning our houses into green where there is no house wrap? well, it's even better now. we've saved a step. we've gotten rid of a layer. we don't have to go around the building more than once now. kevin: so this is like the paper right into the sheathing. lstiburek: that's correct. we've taken a more dimensionally stable osb, with more resin content, and then we have a facer, or a lamina. think of a facer as being ultra-thin mosquito netting impregnated with latex paint, that happens to be green in color. kevin: so, we impregnate it right into the osb, and this makes it watertight. the water can get on this, no problem. and we have to do the joint detail, so we have to tape the joints to handle both the water control and the air control. so a seam like this, and you're saying that we put a tape over it, it looks like this.

the facing actually helps the tape stick to do its job. kevin: so this is keeping out the air and the water, just like we used to, but in one step. and this technology is pretty much the death knell for the traditional house wrap. really? no more house wraps, we're building green? we're going to be starting green, but could be pink, could be brown. thank you, joe. our new family room addition has a completely different feel than the rest of the house. while the original part of the house is sort of squat and low-ceilinged, in here, we are talking about a lot of open space. we have got views through a bunch of windows. we're going to have a modern gas fireplace slide right into here. but most distinctly, i think, it is the 15-foot cathedral ceilings that jump out at you. tommy, you framed these up pretty quickly after all the side walls went on. i guess it all starts with this big beam that you put in. that ridge beam is carrying this roof

and keeping the walls from bowing out. that ridge is resting on this structural post right here, and it also continues on, on top of the old roof. that's called an "overframe." very similar to what we did in the front of the house. so this is the back of the house. this is where we are, in this addition here. this is the new roof, and the beam, you're saying, runs right along here. right, that's the ridge, and you notice how it travels up on top of this roof. just sits there, and that's what i'm looking at in this corner here? tom: right. if you look up here, you can see that this post is carrying the ridge, but the center section travels right through and carries the rafters that are sitting on top of the old roof. kevin: so that's how it's built, but let's talk about the effect. we can see that if we start taking this model apart. there goes the roof. i'll take off the second floor. tom: now, you can really see inside, what we have. kevin: we are standing in this little addition right here. there's collar ties -- are you going to add these? tom: these are strictly cosmetic, so we're going to find some old beams and insert them. kevin: then you'll be looking right through to the kitchen

because we got a wall coming down. tom: this is the old outside wall that's still existing. we're going to take that wall down. that's going to have a big effect when this whole space goes away. what of this wall stays and what of it goes? tom: obviously, everything above this lvl stays. these two-bys, all right, that make up the wall are actually supported now by this new lvl. and obviously your new post right here stays, because you just added that. so we're talking about removing the windows, getting rid of the wallboard and these two-bys. it's going to make a huge difference. and we're opening up the kitchen to a new pantry, and the homeowners are going to love this space. they've got a window in it. they're going to have cabinets and countertops for all the storage of the dry goods. great space. ready to go. gonna take this down? not so fast, sonny -- i ran into a problem yesterday when i opened up a wall in the kitchen. we have to deal with it now. what's that? well, you know that this old part of the house right here is actually a post-and-beam frame. which means there are vertical posts that run up and they carry the horizontal beams right here.

and these beams carry all the weight. right. what you don't want to do is cut those beams. what do we have right here? oh! plumbing stack and a cut right through this thing! right through, right off! there's nothing there! a plumber, obviously, made way for a plumbing stack. and that's why this beam is sagged down. and let me guess, the stack goes all the way down... there's another beam in the basement right there. let me show you what he did down there. over here, kevin, see this right here? oh! this is our pipe that comes down from above. unbelievable! look what i have -- i have an 8x8 beam. no, you don't. you got a fraction of that. they cut it, they drilled a big hole in it. i've got about 1 1/2" of beam left. look at the crack in the beam. how do the plumbers get away with this stuff? now this has to be fixed, too. this absolutely has to be fixed. the guys have set up the jack. now we're going to jack up the beam. but i only want to jack it up about 1/4" to 1/2" because i don't want to do any damage to the rooms above. we've got finished plaster on the second floor we've got to keep intact. exactly. so the first thing i want to do is take a measurement from

our footing to our beam to see what we're going to start with. we have 69 1/2". all right, guys, start the jack. what i want to do is i want to see if i can get this beam even with this beam. see that space closing up right there? kevin: it's moving slightly. tom: bringing it right up. keep going. all right, that's even right there. now, the next thing i want to do is get a length for our new lally. hold my tape measure on top of the plates so i can deduct for those. all right, 69 11/16". now i'll take that measurement and transfer it to the column. we've got a lally here, so we've got steel filled with cement. that's right, and what we're going to do is we're going to cut the steel using a pipe cutter. big pipe cutter. line up the wheel with my mark. tell me when to tighten it.

give it a little bit of tension. okay, now we just start turning it. chris has got to hold it with the pipe wrench. keep spinning it around every time. give it a little turn, half turn every time it comes around. turn. now, what's going to happen is, when we get through this, it's going to snap the concrete. oh! there it goes. there it is. give it another turn. there you go. look at that! all right. nice and clean. tom: i've already attached the plate to our beam up top. now, we want to hold the lally column against the plate at the top. slide the other plate on the bottom, under the lally. now what we have to do is slide it in. okay, put a two-by against it, and then tap that in gently with a sledgehammer.

kevin: ready? tom: yeah, nice and easy. tommy, looks like you did a little work on the floor down here? right. we actually cut a hole in the floor, right under where the lally column's going to go, and poured a new footing. looks pretty good that way. let me check it this way. and it's good that way. now we can take this jacking post out of here. grab that with him, joe. okay, good. now, our damaged beam is supported by this lally column. certainly is, and then on the other side of our plumber's hole here? on the other side, we have no problem. we have the foundation holding it. so we're all set there. kevin: all right. upstairs we go. tom: all right, now, the fix-up here is pretty much the same we did down in the basement. we've got to put a post on each side of the cut, only this time we're not going to use a lally column, we're going to build our post using 2x6's. now, i could put a post right here,

but this is the middle of the wall, and the kitchen, there's going to be a big range here and a hood. we need to vent that hood to the outside. so we're going to run an 8" round duct pipe down here and into the basement and then outside to vent our hood. so you're going to move your post over one bay? going to move it over one bay. this guy will get in here, and this is right over the corner of that foundation. tom: all right, that's good. now get the other one against it. just make it flush with the other one. now we just nail those two together. all right, it's flush up here. right. tap this together.

all right, this problem is solved once we get that nailed off. hopefully we won't find any other structural problems to deal with. why don't you keep the plumbers away from this? don't worry! here in the old part of the house, we haven't had window sash in these openings for several weeks. that's because we're getting all of the old windows restored. and norm went to check in on that process. norm: so, alison, how did you get into this business? well, i've owned a series of old houses. i got tired of people telling me, "just replace the windows." i thought, they should be fixed, they should be fixable. so i started doing my windows. i started doing my neighbors' windows. and eight years ago, i started this as a business. norm: and you specialize just in wood windows, right, but of all styles. of all styles, of all periods, really. we have in here one that is from a house nearby, in salem. it's a fanlight that goes over a front door.

and it was in really rough shape when it came in. so now you're going to make a couple new pieces and bring it back to life again. indeed. every single piece of glass in this window was broken. but luckily we have this inventory of windows that have already been ripped out, that we can use for glass and parts. so you salvage glass from these old sash. correct. so this is one of the examples of one of the oldest sash we have in here. this is probably from 1730s, 1740s. yeah, look at how thin that sash is, only about an inch. it's about like your windows. and it's a nine light over a six, which is a little unusual. correct. and the upper sash is fixed. it was never designed to move. this window here is probably from the 1870s, 1880s. it's a double-hung. both the upper and lower sash would work, but this one's been fixed in place. obviously, it needs a bunch of repairs to it. and this is an even newer window. probably 1930s, 1940s. it is a working double-hung window, and this is a two-over-two window.

now, you removed all the sash from our house in bedford. they're not in the greatest of shape, but you're going to fix that for us, right? we are. here's some of your window sash, here. we've worked on a lot of window sash over the years at "this old house," and this is typically what you find. thick buildups of paint all around the sash. glazing that's either inadequate or it's too big, and glazing that just pops off. and you never know the condition of these joints until you strip away the paint, and that's a chore, because we've stripped it with chemicals, we've scraped it, we've even sanded it. it's a tough job. it is. we have a new tool we use called a steamer. norm: a steamer? a steamer specifically designed to work on window sash? hardy: yes. the windows go in, in pressurized steam, about 220 degrees. and they're in for about 15 minutes and then they're ready to scrape. so one of the first things we do is take off the glazing putty. we try to save as much of the antique glass as possible.

norm: wow, look at that. that comes right off. hardy: i tell you, this is a great time saver. norm: so are you worried about the wood of the sash absorbing moisture when it's in the steaming box? hardy: it's not in terribly long. if we do find that the wood fibers are rather soft, we'll just set the window aside and work on it when it's drier. norm: okay, let it dry. wow! look at that, the glass pops right out, too. hardy: the glass comes out really easily. norm: are you able to save most of the glass or do you get a lot of breakage? hardy: we do. it depends on the type of glass and how old it is. sometimes it breaks easier than others, but most of the time, we get it all out. and you're working on a downdraft table here, so that absorbs any dust so it protects the workers and keeps your shop clean. hardy: exactly. norm: i noticed that some of the glazing appears to be red. yes. we often find the glazing was tinted depending on what the interior finish of the window was. so if it's red glazing, chances are the window was originally varnished on the inside. we often find black glazing if the window was black or gray on the inside. norm: so you're just matching the glazing to the interior finish color -- makes sense. so, once all the glass is out, then we can get to work

on scraping some of the other surfaces. norm: ah, look at that! that's amazing -- no dust, no smell from chemicals. hardy: and it does a very clean job. norm: goes right down to the bare wood. and you're right, the wood doesn't have any moisture feel to it, it's very dry. hardy: and you see slight evidence that it had a varnish finish on the inside before. so, once the window's stripped, we bring it to the next phase, which is repairs. and what's the most common repair that you have to make to these sash? this one here -- muntin bars. really? this piece. it's the exterior of the sash, so it gets all the weather. they're very thin little pieces. they tend to get damaged very easily. norm: like this one's broken off, and if you don't have that restored, it's very difficult to glaze the window. hardy: exactly, these bars do function. they hold the glass apart and they give us a line to glaze the window, to make that nice beveled edge. norm: so you're just using an everyday piece of nice, good quality pine. hardy: yep. it's just there for structural reasons. it's not the most historically significant part of the window. so here we're putting a bead of glue on

so that it gets a firm adhesion to the original sash. norm: and today's glues will hold up really well. hardy: right. norm: looks great. all right. hardy: tape holds the muntin down nice and tight to the wood, so that when it cures, it's a good seal. can't really put a clamp in there. norm: no. and when it dries, it will be just like new. hardy: it will be. so once the windows are repaired, they come in here and get a final sanding. we make sure all of it's smooth and clean and ready to go. they get primed from here and then they go on to glazing. so as you can see, kathy is fitting the glass. 'cause we've taken it out, we've cleaned it, and now we want to make sure, before we start glazing, that it actually does fit into the openings. norm: and those fit beautifully. hardy: and again, most of this is the original glass. if there was a piece broken, we'd take some out

of our inventory, cut it to fit the windows. so now we need to bed the glass. norm: right, first step. hardy: it's an oil-based putty. we like it because it's very easy to work with. and it cures very quickly, so we can move on to the next stage, which is painting quickly. norm: that's relatively soft. hardy: so once the putty is all in, we're going to put the glass onto the bedding. now, from here, normally, we would push down to get the glass all the way bedded onto the glass. but we have a slightly different way of bedding our glass here. we're using a palm sander with no sandpaper on it. we put a piece of cloth on to protect the glass and let the vibration of the sander push the putty away from the glass. [ sander humming ]

that's a great tip! the bedding is nice and even, the thickness of it. i'm always afraid that i'm going to break the glass as i'm trying to push it down into place. i'm going to be using that. hardy: so now we're ready to point the window. and we use very small points because these are obviously very delicate windows. now we need to set the points so that they are back and away so we don't see them on the other side. for that, we use a glazing hammer. so the next step is, we'll put the final glazing in. again, we put it in fairly heavy because we're going to tool it off. what we're looking for is to get this nice angled bevel so that the water can sheet off the glass, and we also want it to be narrow enough so you don't see it from the other side. this is often the most difficult step of the process. norm: it's the most difficult to learn and do really well.

hardy: luckily, we have lots of windows to glaze here, so we get pretty good at it after doing it over and over again. norm: very nice work, kathy. you make it look so easy. kathy: thanks, norm. hardy: so, once we're done glazing, you can see there's a lot of fingerprints and oil on the glass. we use whiting to clean it off. norm: what's whiting? hardy: whiting is calcium carbonate, or ground limestone. it's used in a lot of industries for cleaning things, such as gun cleaning, which are also very oily. it's just a light brush. we don't want to disturb the glazing compound. we just want to get the oil off the glass. so, the last step in our process here is painting. as you can see, we like to paint nice and clean. the homeowners have given us both the exterior and the interior colors, and there are three different interior colors, so each room will have its own paint. norm: so the sash will not leave the shop until they're painted both inside and out.

and the job is beautiful. our homeowners are going to be pleased. but your work doesn't stop here. no. when we bring them to the job site, we then fit them to the openings with weatherstripping and make sure they are both weathertight but still operable. we're going to catch up with you when that happens, but thank you for today. you have a great crew, and it's nice to see our historic sash being restored. thank you. kevin: tommy, i'm getting sick and tired of wearing these white suits, but i am looking forward to taking down this wall. well, i'm getting sick and tired of wearing them, too, but we have to take this wall down. i had it tested for lead -- the window trim has lead in it, so we have to suit up. let's get it out of here. tom: now we've got to wrap this up so that we can take it outside and put it in the trash.

pass that off into the clean area. the sash, we're going to save it for the homeowners. i'm going to start cutting the studs. why don't you guys knock off all the drywall? tom: what do you think? kevin: let me have a look here. oh, yeah, tommy, i'll tell you what i think. i think it looks awesome! remember how small and cramped that kitchen used to be? now it is wide open. what a difference, huh? homeowners are gonna love it. well, until next time, i'm kevin o'connor. and i'm tom silva. for "this old house."

today we'll add insulation to the oldest part of the house. and we're going to build and plant a raised garden bed. woman: roger, this looks amazing! i am so excited. and we're going to show you the right way to make a roof waterproof. kevin: i love it -- a watertight edge and a watertight roof -- nice job! thanks. kevin: that's next time on "this old house." and a watertight roof -- nice job! thanks. throw on a fresh coat. and finish with a big splash of style. the home depot is proud to support "this old house" and do-it-yourselfers everywhere. when the unexpected happens, state farm is there to get your old house to a better state.

man! what we need is some elbow grease. [ laughs ] yeah, you can -- are you kidding me? gmc -- lending "this old house" a helping hand since 2002. retailer of hardwood flooring. their wide selection includes bellawood prefinished, bamboo, laminate, and vinyl plank flooring. lumber liquidators is proud to sponsor "this old house." where you can watch entire episodes any time. tune in on video.pbs.org. this old house magazine, the companion to the television series, provides advice from our experts that you've come to know. you can use your credit card to order 10 monthly issues for $10. just call 1-800-221-5900.

my name is don hoag, and i'm an artist. years ago, my wife decided she wanted a sculpture garden out in front of our house, so i began to learn how to weld. and that developed into learning how to create different kinds of creatures that come out of imagination. i find it tremendously gratifying to create these things. i feel creative. what i usually do is i find

an old tool, and i look at it, and it may suggest something right there. or i may wonder, like, here's a length of pipe, i wonder how i can bend that and make it curve around. and that will suggest an animal or a shape of some sort. you never know where it's going, but it develops as you proceed. i get raw materials from scrap, from things that have been thrown out on the street. one of my greatest joys is rescuing items that other people feel have passed their usefulness, and finding new uses for them, creating something interesting and perhaps even beautiful.

it's all in the, as they say, eye of the beholder. it's great. ♪

with your own two hands -- the original power tools. the home depot is proud to support "ask this old house" and do-it-yourselfers everywhere. or a do-it-yourselfer at home, stanley bostitch is always ready to help you meet your how-to projects head on. stanley bostitch. proud sponsor of "ask this old house." it's a parade float. can we lose the parade float? thank you. gmc. lending "ask this old house" a helping hand since 2002. kevin: roger, i really like it when you decide to work with these small plants. they're much easier to get up into the loft. well, they may be small now, but consider them like puppies.

sooner or later, they grow up to be big dogs. is this plant going to become a big dog? this type of arborvitae can get 10 or 15 feet tall. wow. and what about the rhododendron? some species of rhododendron will get up to 15 feet also. so we really got to think about where we're going to plant these. we have an expression in the business -- put the right plant in the right place. too often, homeowners go to a nursery, they find this nice, cute, little plant, they bring it home, plant it right next to the foundation, and before you know it, it's growing up over the windows or even up to the roof. well, then what do you do? well, let me show you. woman: my family and i moved into this beautiful colonial in the fall. there's so much character with this house, it's charming. the problem is this mess that i have here. when we first moved into the home, we had to actually cut back these shrubs. they were completely overgrown, covering up the stairs. it was a hazard. there is a window somewhere back in there. we don't know what to even do with this. and i really do need help. today, we're going to transform

the front of your house. what we have here is a globe arborvitae. left on its own, it's going to get up to maybe 10 or 15 feet tall and almost that wide, too. oh, that's too big. too big for the house. and look here. it's been pruned on the outside. there's no growth at all on the inside. we can't even prune this back. so we're going to remove this one. what are we going to replace with it, roger? we're going to replace it with some plants that are appropriate for the front of the house that aren't going to get too big. this is going to go, too, and this little one in here. so we're removing some plants to make way for a proper garden for the front. we can't keep this one? no, there's nothing to save here. it's not worth spending any money on. but here, here we have a specimen we can save. this is a rhododendron. you can look here on the end of the branches. you see these flower buds? they're going to be big, purple flowers that are going to cover this rhododendron in a couple of weeks. it's actually a beautiful plant, and it anchors this corner of the house. it's just a great plant, but it's gotten really big. it is very large. but rather than cut it down and take it away, we're going to rejuvenate this by a serious pruning,

real hard pruning, bring it back into scale with the house. okay, that's great. let's get some tools and get to work. all right. to prune our rhododendron today, we're going to use bypass pruners. now, if you look, it has a sharp upper blade, so when you close the handles, the top blade bypasses the lower blade, making a nice, clean cut. now, when we're pruning, we have to consider a couple things. now, if you look at a stem like that, when you prune, you always want to have the sharp blade towards the tree to make a nice, clean cut. if you turn the bypass pruners this way, you're going to end up getting a crush injury on the stem right there, and it's not going to heal well or grow out for us the way we want. the other thing is where to prune. you don't want to prune in the middle of a stem like that. we want to make our cut just above a live leaf, like right here. now, that'll heal nicely and put out new growth. okay, let's go to work.

now, that's how much i took off the top of the plant. that's almost three feet we're going to be lowering that down. roger, should i go further in on this one? absolutely, you cut it back even harder than that. so to about here? yep, much better. great. roger, is this a good time of year to prune? well, if we were pruning the plant lightly, just shaping it a little bit, i would wait until midsummer, when these flowers had gone by, and then i would come in and do my pruning. but, today, we're cutting this plant back hard. that's why we're doing it this time of year, before the flowers come out, so that the plant can fill in with all new growth. it's the perfect time for that type of pruning. so, what do you think? i can't believe how much better this looks. yeah, we just took a little bit off it. oh, just a little? but we got to remember, in two of three weeks, this is all going to bud out and start filling in. now it's time to attack the arborvitaes. with hand shears? oh, no, no.

we have something much bigger for that. i'm going to cut the branches, and i'll toss them out to you. don't you come in there. all right, you stay right here. well, now you can see we're left with a stump. we could come in here with a shovel and a grub hoe and dig like crazy and get this whole thing out. it's really a lot of work. or we can just come in with a saw and flush cut it, let it decompose, it won't sprout out. we'll just work the planting around it. all right, let's cut it.

roger: i think we can work around that. let's get the others done. i brought you a few of my favorite plants. what i love to do is lay the plants out in the bed and get the spacing just right before we do any planting. i love the colors. now, if you look on the front of the bed here, we're going to have to cut the grass out, make the bed bigger so we can get the plants in and some mulch. the color is the key to a good planting. to have color all season long. for us, it's going to start with this vinca. early spring with these blue-purple flowers on it. it's going to form a nice ground cover mass for us in the front of the bed. then we'll be looking at the azalea. this is azalea delaware valley white. beautiful clear, white color. a medium-growing plant. it's never going to get up 8 or 10 feet tall. then we can look for the knockout rose to be blooming. isn't that beautiful? that is a beautiful one. and it's going to re-bloom all season long.

now, not all our color is going to come from flowers. this is heuchera, and the reason i plant it is this beautiful chartreuse and probably wine red on the bottom of the leaf. it has a little flower, but i love this color. that's why i put it in. it is great. in early summer, peonies. see these buds? we're going to have huge, big, red flowers on this that last a pretty long time. that's great. next to it, we have something special. this is a double-blooming daylily. it'll flower once in three or four weeks, and then, two or three weeks after that, it's going to have the flowers on it again. what color? yellow. it's going to be really interesting for this garden. and way here in the back, miscanthus. this is a great grass that's going to grow up here, and in the fall, it's going to be spectacular with all the seed heads it's going to have on it. and over here, we have a holly. now, this is going to be nice because it's going to grow up and get big and balance off with the rhododendron to give us evergreen on this end of the bed. do we have to trim this back? no, we're going to let this grow up into a tree.

now, if you look right here in the front, see these little white flowers that are coming out? they're going to be berries, so you're going to have berries on this in the fall. it'll be really pretty. and then you have these beautiful green leaves all winter long. you ready to get planting? i am. all right, i'm going to go along and cut an edge on the bed, and what i want you to do is take your square shovel and just scoop that grass out -- just the grass -- and put it in the wheelbarrow. now, this is one of the most important lessons i can teach you about planting. you always want to dig the hole twice as wide as the root bulbs, but you don't want it any deeper. you want that plant to sit at level or maybe a little above the existing level, okay. so the first thing we're going to do is we're going to pop this plant out of the pot.

and then this is what we call a plant that's root-bound. it's been growing in that pot for so long that the roots, instead of growing out, they're now growing around in a circle. what we have to do is we have to tease those roots out so they'll grow out into the existing soil. so i'm just going to take this claw and rip away at it. is this going to hurt the plant? no, it's not going to hurt the plant at all. in fact, it's going to help it grow. if we left these on, the plant would just grow around in that one area, and it could dry out very easily. this way here, the roots are going to grow out into the soil, and the plant's going to be healthier. but you can see, it just takes a little work to get them broken up. and that root ball is so hard that there's no way that any water could get in there either, so we're really helping the plant. roger: now, if you look, you can see how we've already got these. they're starting to pull away from the ball a little bit. that's what we want. we want them to start growing out. all right, that's how i want it to look

before i put it in the hole. one thing i'm going to do before i put it in the hole is to add a little starter fertilizer to the bottom and to the backfill. i'm just going to mix it in here. one of the things i always like to teach people is to look for the face of the plant, which is the best side, and present that out. in this case, we want it to be out where you're going to walk in and out of the house. so i think it looks pretty good like it is, so we're just going to take and set it in the hole. height looks good. now we'll just take the shovel, use the shovel or your hands, whichever you prefer, mix that in, and we'll just backfill it. the most important thing for you to do this year is water. at least once a week, give these a good drink, 'cause that's going to determine the success of our plant. okay. now, when you have something that's balled in burlap like the holly is, we got to treat it a little different. the first thing i do is i cut a little hole in the burlap up in top here, 'cause i want to find out where the root flare is. very often, we get these plants, and they actually have a lot of soil on top of the trunk.

yeah, just what i thought. there is a lot of soil on top of this plant. so what we're going to do, instead of planting it this high, we're going to raise it up, and we're going to take it and plant it this high and take that excess soil off the top. okay. so right now, i'm just going to put a little more of this good soil back in the hole. i've already got the fertilizer in there. how's that look like that? looks pretty good. okay, i'm going to take and cut some of these strings off so that i can get at the cage. so you just take and slice those from me all the way around. i'm going to pull the cage out and then, using bolt cutters, i'm going to cut it off. all right, now, what i'm looking for is called a root flare. see how we're starting to get a little wider right there? that's where i want the soil to be. you can see how high this is? so i have to take that down? we're going to take it down. now, if you look, you can see how compacted

all this soil is on the side of the plant. so we're just going to take the claws and loosen that all up. now, this is a really important step. we're putting down a two-inch layer of pine bark mulch. that's going to hold down the weeds, and it's also going to hold moisture in your soil. that doesn't mean you can't water. you have to water this new planting twice a week for the first two weeks and then once a week after that. oh, it's great. thank you so much. it's such a transformation from the shrubs earlier. covered up my whole house, you couldn't even see it. now i'm going to be the envy of the neighborhood. roger: all right, guys, here we go. it's plastic, it has a long handle, and on the end, it has a green funnel. and what you do is you stand it up, and you pump it in and out. what is it? tom: i know what it is. no, no, no, i got this one. long handle's the giveaway. you guys are going to want one of these, okay. now, let's see. i need a toilet seat.

oh! toilet seat. there we go. tommy, hold this for me, would you? now, listen. if you're the guy to back the toilet, and you've got to plunge it, something like this is fine. right? yeah. but if somebody else backs up the toilet and you've got to plunge it, you're going to want to put a little distance between you and the victim. you want to get in there with a long handle. father-in-law. wow! don't get him in trouble. it's the guest plunger. take that off your nose. you know when you got an annoying little bug flying around your house? you can wrap up a newspaper, and you can whack him with a newspaper. you can even take a towel -- boom, get him that way. well, i've always used a hammer. i found a hammer, it works really well. but i found it did a lot of damage to the wall. you know, you can't reach up, but you can get it with a hammer, but you just... you'll put a dent in the wall. anyways, this is a kinder, gentler bug catcher. go up to him nice and slow, put it on there. a couple of pumps, it sucks him right up. oh, puts him in. well, yeah, it sucks him right up into this little can so you can see him flying around.

take him over, you open the door, and pshoo! so catch and release. catch and release. so he can come back to bite you on another day. that's right. he'll never see the neon green thing coming at him. give me that thing, you. aah! now, we all should know cpr, right? but a lot of people don't want to commit to cpr, you know. shouldn't you commit to cpr? no, no. so have a heart attack, go ahead. me? you'd like that, wouldn't you? that's right. you want me to lie down? ohh, ohh! so, with that, you know, kevin is now in trouble, man down. so, with this i could get down on my hands and knees, but that would mean commitment. so with this, i can just pump this. this is all i get? hi, can you send a car? yeah, one with the little bubble on the top, the siren. if the go on by, see if they can get me a black coffee. no sugar. guys, guys, i'm dying down here! we're all dying down here. shut up. how about a little mouth to mouth? not a chance! guys, what this actually is used for -- by the way, that's some of the worst stuff you've ever come up with. this is a weed killer applicator. usually, when you get weed killer, it comes in a bottle like this with a spray nozzle on the end,

and you go around and you spray. well, not only do you get the weeds, but you get your plants and your lawn, too, and it kills them. this, you just put the weed killer inside this cylinder, put this over the weed, and then pump it, and it sprays just the weed and doesn't get any other plants or grass all the way around it. that actually makes some sense. yeah, it does. hey, fellas, any chance that ambulance is coming? are you still around? get out of here. tom: i hope so. i'm waiting for the coffee. we'll call you. we'll call you when it comes. here. so, richard, this is our master bedroom, and it used to be my daughter's bedroom for, like, 30 years. and she would wake up in the morning, and she'd say, "mom, i couldn't sleep. the noise in that heating system is terrible." and you thought she was crazy. i did think she was crazy. and now she thinks you are. she thinks we're both crazy. so what's the sound that you hear? well, in the morning, like, the water will rush in along the front wall here, and the fins would tingle, and then it'd hit the corner in a bang.

make a big bang? yeah. all right, i got to hear that for myself. why don't you turn the thermostat up in the hallway. all right, so this is copper fin baseboard. it goes right around, it looks like, all the walls in this room. and let's just sit quiet and see what we hear. [ tapping sound ] i can hear the bang here. good. you're not crazy. thank you. little bit of a ticking sound right here. and i actually hear a creak, too, right here in the corner. have you heard that before? yes. that's in there. so why don't we do this -- can you turn that thermostat off again, and, judy, i'm going to get these baseboard covers pulled off, see what's going on here. okay, guys, what you've got is a pretty conventional copper fin baseboard system. you can see there's two pipes that start way over in the corner, and they come this way. this is copper pipe that's heating water in it.

and here's the fins, and that's going to heat up the air. now, this water goes through the pipe, all the way to an elbow right here, goes all the way down that side of the house, it turns, it comes back, and then it comes all the way back this way. now, what happens is, when this got installed, it was a certain length, but when you heat up a pipe, it wants to get longer. how much can it expand to? 100 feet of baseboard, if i raised it by 100 degrees, it would get almost an inch longer. so there's really no place for this to go. it's fixed in that corner, it's fixed in this corner, so look what happens -- you see this right here? see how this pipe is bowed. so now it's bowed out, and it's trying to hit this cover and making a banging noise. so what i need to do is give this copper pipe a place to expand, and i got a couple ways to do that. we'll do that here and the other corner. but it starts by me going to the basement, turning off the heating system, and getting the water out of these pipes. judith: okay. all right, roy, what you've got here is an oil-fired cast iron boiler. here's the burner right here.

heats up water inside this boiler. here's the circulator pump that pushes the water through the zones. now, you've got four zones. you've got first floor, you've got laundry. here's our second-floor zone right here, and here's your patio. i only want to get the water out of this zone. so i'm going to close off all the other zones right here. this one's open, and now i'm going to drain down the water from just that one zone. [ water running ] now, the other thing i like to check is the water temperature on the boiler, and you can see that you're over 200 degrees, and that's really too hot. what should it be? well, i don't think you ever need any more than 180 degrees, so what i'm going to do is turn this down, all right. and that actually means that that pipe won't expand as much as it used to either, 'cause the hotter you make it, the more it wants to expand. let's go back upstairs. now, the baseboard from the master bedroom continues right here into the adjoining office,

and this is the point where i told you it returns back on itself. so look at this. this has actually been cut so long that it's actually touching this back wall. that means it's got no room to expand. so what i want to do is actually shorten the baseboard. i'm going to take about one inch of the pipe away and one inch of the element away and actually give the baseboard room to grow. all right. so i could cut it with this. this is a mini hacksaw. but i've got a great tool for this job. it's called an imp. it's a cutter designed to get into tight spaces like this, and it gives a really clean cut. okay. just grab me a rag, roy. thank you. to give myself a clean place to cut the pipe, i'm going to remove some of these fins

from the heating element. and i use aviation snips to cut the aluminum. all right, i'm going to cut the bottom pipe by the same amount that i cut the top pipe, and i'll mark it and cut. to join these pieces of pipe back together, i'm going to use a pair of couplings. these are 3/4 copper couplings. i'm going to apply some flux and solder them together.

all right, so at the end of this run, there is now plenty of room. i can actually stick my finger right in there, so it can expand perfectly. but we have more work to do in the master bedroom. all right, roy, by shortening that baseboard over there, we've taken care of this whole wall. but on this wall, it's something different. these pipes are pinned in this corner. they're pinned in that corner. so i really can't shorten the baseboard like i did in that room. so for this one, we're going to do something different. these are actually flexible connectors. they can work like a shock absorber. so as the pipe wants to expand and contract, this can absorb it and make sure there's no expansion noise. for this, we're just going to cut the pipe, we're going to clean it, we're going to flux it and solder it just like we did the couplings. i want to show you one more thing that can reduce noise. now, these are called carriers, and they're a plastic piece that's designed to sit at the bottom of the fin right there. and what happens is it can allow that fin to expand and contract backwards and not have that ticking noise that you heard before.

all right? so these will clip right here where the hanger bracket is. now, i also discovered something else. you want to see your noise, roy? look at this. roy: love to see it. look at the backside right here. see how that baseboard, for the last 50 years, has been expanding so much that it's scraped every bit of the paint off. it's just been pushing right here and jamming into that corner. all right? so we're going to fix that. all right, flex connectors are in, system's refilled, covers are on. that baseboard should be nice and quiet. thank you, richard. we are looking forward to a great night's sleep. and you deserve it. now, if you have a problem, make some noise. drop us an e-mail. maybe we'll come and see you. till next time, i'm rich trethewey for "ask this old house." all right, these covers are just about buttoned up.

kevin: next time on "ask this old house"... i'm going to take a crack at fixing this walkway. tom: so, ron, your team is going to be removing all of this mold on the underside of the roof. how are you going to do it? well, we use pelletized dry ice. comes out of the gun at such a high speed. it explodes into a vapor. that energy blows the mold right off the shingle. and we'll ask, "what is it?" that energy blows the mold right off the shingle. throw on a fresh coat. and finish with a big splash of style. the home depot is proud to support "ask this old house" d do-it-yourselfers everywhere. or a do-it-yourselfer at home, stanley is always ready to help you meet your how-to projects head on. stanley. proud sponsor of "ask this old house."

man! what we need is some elbow grease. [ laughs ] yeah, you can -- are you kidding me? gmc -- lending "ask this old house" a helping hand since 2002. to see entire episodes any time, just go to video.pbs.org. this old house magazine, the companion to the television series, provides advice from our experts that you've come to know. you can use your credit card to order ten monthly issues for $10. just call 1-800-221-5900. to order ten monthly issues for $10. from masterpiece mystery!... the complete inspector lewis is now available on dvd. this is inspector lewis. i'm sergeant hathaway. cool! in the seemingly perfect academic haven of oxford. i'm trying to think like morse. does that mean we're going to the pub?

now you can find all the inspector lewis mysteries at shoppbs. you can also download episodes at itunes. looks like they're all in it together. start your collection at shoppbs.org. now we've built you a new book. our favorite finished homes like you've never seen them before. a new book from "this old house." [ knocking ] i'm jim anderson, and i'm a stained-glass artist.

when i first started doing this stuff, it was the '70s, and for a long time, stained glass was still in churches, people hadn't thought about it in residential buildings. but when i was in it in the '70s, we were more experimenting with color and texture and glass and light and all these theories, and it was just a whole new world. it was just -- it was lit-up artwork. these look good. they look perfect. not too much, not too little. i had bought a building on the south end, and i started making stained-glass windows, started putting them in my house, and i happened to be right in boston at this sort of monumental rush of all those people coming back into the city. i remember the first window i ever made in stained glass, and when it illuminated, boom! and it lights up. or, like, when you're in the house during the day, boom! and just color just pours through your hallways or lights up your stairwells. what i love about it is there is so much to learn from this medium constantly. 'cause it's not just about stained-glass windows.

like, a stained-glass window is attractive, but when you put it in a house, it can become like a screen to another room. it gives you an introduction to other spaces, it brings you into someone's front door. it gives you a feeling. it's like a marriage of art and architecture. and it's so permanent. it's like it becomes part of a city, part of a street scene. it's for the whole community, so if you did your front doors in stained glass, everybody gets to enjoy it when they walk by at night. everybody gets to appreciate it. i would say it's like jewelry on a woman, it's like embellishment on a house, it's like -- it's the creme de la creme, it's the final piece before you put your furniture in. it's like...perfect.

it's the final piece before you put your furniture in.

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hey. hello again. welcome to "the woodwright's shop." i'm roy underhill. so glad you could be with me again today, because we have with us our good friend, author and editor of "popular woodworking" magazine, christopher schwartz. christopher. hey, roy. you have done so much for woodworking. but here now you're trying to introduce a class system of sawing? what is this about? yeah. here i'm doing a second-class saw cut on this to produce a tenon cheek. a tenon--all right. so what is this, though? american--come on now. american sawing-- we live in a classless society here, and the way you saw is you roll up a barrel. sure. you put your wood down, you get your saw, you cut your wood, and there you go. all right. now, that's american. now, what's wrong with that? why do you need to introduce classes of sawing? yes. well, robert wearing, who gave us the 3 classes of saw cuts, would say that, you know, there's the third class, which is rough, but i think you've found the fourth class.

all right. ok, mr. smart sawyer then, why don't you take us through these stages? i'll let you use my barrel here. you can pull up and... yeah. why don't you roll out that barrel? oh, all right. you want to.. oh, i see. i see. we're going...we're going upscale here. what a beautiful, beautiful piece here. now, this is a sawing bench. is that right? yeah. this is a proper english saw bench. that is pretty, i've got to say. that is great. and it has a flat top so your work will rest nicely on it. and the real important characteristic about it is that it's kneecap height. and what that allows you to do is it allows you to use your knees to secure your work instead of some clamps. so you can put one knee down and use pot-roast power to hold it down, and you can use your other knee to restrain the work. as you saw, it pushes into your knee. you just cut this by eye, then? is that a third-class cut? no, no, no. well, third-class saw cuts are for rough work, and so really,

a square would be fine, but we can use the reflection of the work in the saw plate to strike our line. that assumes you have a shiny saw. yes. it assumes that you remove the rust from your saw, roy. and so we're going to here adjust it, and as soon as the reflection of the work looks like the work, then you can just run a pencil. so it looks like it just goes right on through, and that's a dead-square line. dead-square. that's wonderful. all right. and so we simply put the saw down on it, and we start at a really low angle, and like a low-angle block plane, the low angle makes it easy for us to cut. and we do a few draw cuts. and then as soon as everything works fine, we can let the saw fall, come up to our working angle of 45 degrees for a crosscut. and there we are. and then we're done. all right. bob's your uncle. that there is your third-class. and that's as funky as you should get is what you're saying. yes. that is as funky as you should get.

but, you know, that is for rough work. uh-huh. now, if you're at the bench, we're going to go to the second class of saw cut. we've got to be sophisticated now. all right. yes, yes, yes. so that was your tenon you were working on there. yeah, yeah. and what we are going to do with a second-class saw cut is that we're going to be concerned about accuracy but not so much about appearance. ok. ok. so a good example of that would be, you know, a tenon cheek. it doesn't have to look good because it's going to be inside a mortise, but it does have to be accurate to be strong. it has to fit good. exactly. so when we switch to a second-class saw cut, we're going to switch to knives. no pencils. so here i have a cutting gauge. boy, that's beautiful. look at that thing. it's got a knife blade, but in a circle. yeah. it's a knife on a stick. that's the technical term. and we're going to use that to scribe the shoulder. and then we'll just use a second gauge here to scribe the cheeks. uh-huh. oh. ok. so we've done everything with a knife.

and you can run a pencil in there if you want, if it makes it easier for you to see. but you don't use a scratcher? no. you don't use a scratcher. you use a knife. use a knife to lay out your cuts. yeah. i can see it pretty good. yeah, you can see it pretty well. that's pretty deep. so you just start sawing--you don't? no. the problem here is that we're going to saw diagonally, just, you know, pretty standard tenon procedure. but the problem is is that we're going to start the cut right on that corner. and when you have a triangular corner, starting on a sharp corner, it's kind of hard to start right where you want to. so you've got these triangular teeth trying to hook on that corner there. absolutely. so what we're going to do is you're going to move your finger, and we're going to take a bench chisel, and with the bevel facing the waste, we're going to drive it in right on the knife line, and then we're going to come back, and we're going to pare out a little triangular piece of waste with our chisel. ok. very nice. and what this does is it makes a nice little trench. now, the flat side of the trench, right up against the tenon we want to keep,

prevents the saw from leaping over the fence and getting into your tenon. and the sloped part of this little cut keeps the saw plate moving towards the place. forced down in there. yeah. it's like a little ramp. it's almost too easy. what happened to just slammin' and jammin'? but no. all right. go ahead. we have to make it easy. and then most importantly, it gives us a flat spot to begin on. all right. ok. so you get more teeth engaged with the saw, too. absolutely. so we're going to start the cut by trying to take all the weight off the toe of the saw, which is the end facing here. and then we're just going to gently push, and we're going to start very nice and smoothly. now, robert wearing says what you should do is first work across the end grain, which is what i'm doing here. i'm tipping forward, working along this end-grain line just a little bit, and we're going to go about 1/8-inch in. so you really do try and cut the full width of the end grain? absolutely. and then we're going to start tipping the saw, and we can focus on the cheek now.

we can focus on this line that i'm looking at, and the kerf up there on the end grain is going to guide the saw in the right direction because the saw will follow the path of least resistance. ok. so you've already established one line. so you only have to follow the other line, the line down this side. all right. so as soon as we hit our baseline here, then we can turn the work around at another diagonal, and we can use the kerf we've established. oh, and it's already down an eighth on this side towards you. yeah. and i can almost do this part blindfolded because it's guiding-- there you go. and...that's my finger. no. all right. that's pretty good. that's great. it makes it very easy. it's almost like being on autopilot. this is the way he taught in his book? that must have had a big influence on you, because you're pretty sold on this. absolutely. this makes it so much easier to get real accurate work and work right from a saw.

so you're not having to pare and pare and pare when you're working. so when you're teaching sawing,g, you don't start people with dovetailing. you'd try and get this out of the way first. oh, yeah. if you can do this and you can do that, then dovetailing becomes a lot easier. so that's a second-class saw cut. second-class. all right. so now there has to be a first-class saw cut. a first-class. i can't even say it. yes. yes. it's an underbite. underbite. so what we do with a first-class saw cut is we need to be concerned with accuracy and appearance. and a good example of that would be the tenon shoulder. oh, ok. so what we have right here, this shoulder that's going to go into the other wood. and that's a showing surface right here. it's a very showing surface, and you know, you want that joint to be really tight. people will judge you by that, how tight that goes into the mortise there. absolutely. and so what we're going to do is we're going to do a couple of other tricks that will help us do that accurately. there's always a trick. everything's a trick, or a dodge, as the english call it.

now, the first thing is that you want to secure the work to your bench with some kind of clamp or holdfast. you've got that-- now normally-- you've got this bench hook here. i'd be holding it like that and working on it, but you've got it under the holdfast. yeah. well, this is one less thing for you to worry about when you're sawing the most critical part of the joint. i like it. ok. then you get the widest chisel that you have. i think this one is about an inch and a half. and again with the bevel towards the waste, you drop it into that knife line and give it a couple sharp raps to deepen your knife line even further. and then you come back with the same chisel, bevel up, and pare away a triangular piece of waste right here, and what that does is it creates another little trench. a little trench, just like we did before. and that's what your saw is going to ride in? absolutely. so we'ree' just going to drop the carcass saw here. the carcass saw? yeah. this is a crosscut file saw

and used for steaks and other lunchmeats. why is it called a carcass saw? it's called a carcass saw because the bones of casework is called a carcass traditionally. so doing your mortise-and-tenon work for the frames of furniture. absolutely. so that's the carcass, and then you have the dovetails that join the... you'd use a dovetail saw for that. absolutely. but this is sharpened crosscut. so it goes across the grain. all right. and there you go. very fine teeth, you know, about 13 or 14 points per inch. and there you go. it came right off. no question about that. and you just keep at it, and you end up with your tenon. let me knock that out there. all right. so there we go. we've got the classes. you cut it to length, and then you do the cheeks here, and then the final shoulders. so that's first-class. very, very first-class. very nice. all right. well, i think i'm going to grab my piece here. let's see what i can do here. so i've got me a piece,

and i'm ready to start sawing. ok. this is oak, so i'm going to work right on down into it. how am i doing? let's stop right here for a second, because you're committing, like, at least 6 of the 7 deadly sins of sawing. at least 6. oh, no. come on. so we're going to save you from your sins here. oh, please, sir. and so let's walk through, like, everything you're doing wrong. well, i got it in my hand. that's good. no. you've got it in the wrong kind of grip. what you want to do is you want to point your index finger out. mr. pointer. no, other index finger. and this index finger pointing out is an ergonomic cue to your brain to do this activity straight. ok? ok. so just like you're pointing it. all right. i like that. your mr. pointer. and so also, you won't crowd these fingers. it makes it easier to control the saw. so 3 fingers, and your pointer on that side. absolutely. all right, and then is it grip down on it and get it a good push? absolutely not. now, the next thing is, it's like i can see all over your hand you're got these purple and white spots. you're gripping it too hard. you've got to hang onto it, yeah. no, no, no, no. you want to hold it like a baby bird.

you want to think of it like a baby bird. you don't want the bird to get away. you don't want to crush its little skull. ok. so we've got this little baby bird in our hands. now, the problem is, if you grip too hard-- i'll show you. hold it up in the air and then grip. what happens is that the saw teeth want to cut straight-- crush the bird. yes. poor bird. but you've crushed the bird, and you've gone off-line-- 2 sins. look at that. what it does is it kicks you right. it goes to the right. so it really does swing over that way. that explains a lot, because i do have folks who, when they're nervous about it, they'll go to the right. absolutely, yeah. your saw teeth want to cut straight. you just have to take yourself out of the equation. ok. all right. so now i'm light, and i bear down, and i get this light grip-- yeah, yeah, yeah. ok. stop, stop, stop. you don't want to use a lot of downward pressure when you do this. ok? once again, you use downward pressure either with this hand or if you-- you know, you never put another hand on there. is that you are going to introduce muscles that are going to take you off-line again.

and so what you want to do is let the saw do most of the work. a little downward pressure is ok. ok. another couple of other things is you're only using the middle part of the teeth there, and so you want to use longer strokes. think that the saw is longer than it really is. all right. now, this is pretty good. but let's wor wk your elbow here. ok? my what? your elbow, elbow, elbow--all wrong. what's wrong? ok. what a lot of people do is they bring their elbow up against their body. yeah. so it's supported. to brace themselves and support themselves, or they've got a lot of body. but what you want to do is you want your arm to swing free, sort of like a locomotive. ok? so you never want it to touch or brush your body. and you want to think of the forearm as an extension of the back of your backsaw. be the saw. be the saw. yeah. everything-- be the saw. let the saw be in charge instead of you. oh, i see. i can feel it. i can feel it! oh, my goodness. ok. so i've got it now. yeah. only other couple of little things. yeah? you always want to work so you can see your line.

and you always want to work either by splitting the line or by working right next to the line. you don't want to be off of the line by a 16th because it's harder to judge a gap than it is to actually hit the line. oh, i think i've got it. so i think we've got you corrected, man. i think you are going to sawing heaven now. oh, it's wonderful. thank you, doctor. thank you so much. all right. all right. so, wonderful. again, we're doing this kind of rip, though. this is... this is not your... this is not manly ripping, though. it is not macho ripping, no. no, no. so i've got my--here it is. this is my favorite saw right here. all right. an old disston d-9 there. yes, sir, buddy. and this is about 1876, [boing] ah, that sounds good. yeah. and i rip like this, but you say there's different ways of ripping? absolutely. there are 3 different ways to ripping. i'm going to just show you the american way. yeah, let's start with the american way first. so i've got my nice board here. i've got a line

right down the middle of it. and i'm going to rip one out. here we go. so i got it started, and i'm just... right on down there. and just stop when you hit the barrel. so what's wrong with that? well, absolutely nothing. that is one good way to rip. but the problem is is you're bending over a lot. well, yeah. you bend over your work, and you get down on it, and you rip it out. well, absolutely, but your back is going to give out someday, and so a proper cabinetmaker would learn how to stand and rip. and so that's what we're going to do here. this is called overhand ripping, and it's done at the bench. and what you can do is you can secure it between dogs. mm-hmm. and that helps, but it really helps even more to get a holdfast on there. i think we've got it there. so the line is overhanging the bench a little bit. yes. otherwise, the ripping's much harder. yeah, i would think. you'll rip into your bench. harder on your bench. and then you merely put the saw into the work,

and you stand at the bench... how about it? very easy to control, and no bending over. man, oh, man. let me see the grip on that thing. so you've got one hand on top. and the other one through the hole, like this. and you rip away from you. yes, always rip with the teeth-- in this configuration, with the teeth pointing away from the operator. oh, man. all right. so that's--i've done it the american way. and here's the british way. and you say there's... there's the wrong way and the right way. what's your next way? the french way. oh, good. ha ha ha! now, the french way-- we'll use your barrel for this. pretend it's filled with nice french wine. excellent. and we'll use my saw bench. you need this? all right. and if you could fetch my ripsaw there, that would be great. now, with the french method of ripping, you begin like you did. ok? you get the cut started, but then... you get to sit down.

oh. oh. very nice. ha ha ha ha! so, once again, teeth facing away from the operator. oh, man. i hope so. yes. very key. do face the teeth away. but your boss, he can't yell at you for sitting down on the job. gosh. so you cut away from you and just keep feeding it backwards. yep. or towards you. yes. just move your rear. that is strange. yeah. well, no. no, it's not. it feels very natural. and use basically the same grip. and this appears not only in france but in germany, where they'll use bow saws for this, but also in a lot of the colonies that those counturis established. they'll use this kind of saw. thank you for de-barreling me. is that going to work? can you do that out in space there? i don't have enough in the trunk. you're there. you're there. you're there, and...ah! excellent. excellent. all right. so that's ripping with the panel ripsaw,

these kind of western style the in. but, you know, if you're continental like that, you're going to be using-- all right. let me get my ripsaws out. now, this is my favorivoteere. this is the one i wanted you to see. very nice. very nice. yes. all right. this is, of course, sharpened, like all of these ripsaws, with the... with rip teeth on it, because, you know,ow you're cutting out curves, and if you're going to cut out a curve in a piece of wood, you're going to want to have the grain in that piece of wood. so if you're doing a leg or something going down here, you're going to be cutting down the grain of the wood, not across the grain. so that's why these always have rip teeth. so we'll tighten this guy up. let me trade places with you here and see what you think of this one, because i want to show you another one that follows after this. so there we go. so this can cut that curve very nicely. yeah. there you go. but what i like here-- i've got a bunch of these now.

i am into euro-sawing. well, in fact, here's another one. this will cut that same way. but this i want you to try. this is--well, you recognize that. that's a felly saw, or... you know, i've seen gunsmiths use this for cutting out gunstocks and stuff like that. but this one has the big wide rocker on it. here. give that a go. absolutely. there you go. yeeha! ha ha ha! wonderful. wonderful. yeah. so that'll cut out good curves. it's a felly saw because it cuts out those sections of the saw. but again, sharpened rip. all right. and here. see, we're moving on up now. we're getting to a big one here. i'm going to see if we can-- well, i'll just work this way. but let me use-- can i use this piece here? absolutely. all right. because i want to cut some thick stuff. so i'm going to cut thick stuff here. so, see what's happened? you went from a british to...

i went from american to british to french. and as soon as i get to the french, i'm kind of back home again. this wonderful saw, although it needs a little tightness up there, a little bit slack, which... and you see this. just like that. yeah. yeah. so you can rip real heavy pieces on a little bit bigger and finer saw like this, and you'd be sawing out veneer, and this kind is illustrated a lot in the fellow you've done a lot of work with, andre roubo. in his books, you find all these. all those saws everywhere. all right. it looks like a lot of work. well, you think that's work. i have my pit saw here. oh, yeah? yeah. let's get these guys out here, because i have an english pit saw. this is the kind we're going to use at blighty, we'd use this.

the continental ones are going to be framed like that, but you can see again the giant rip teeth that this thing has-- big old chisel-cut teeth. and then these for crosscutting-- they have the fleam. they've got that knife. now, you use that word-- that fleam, that's the angle on there that you're talking about a lot. yeah. that's the bevel on the front of the tooth that turns it into a knife cut, instead of more like these filed straight across rip-cut tooth that you have here on this pit saw. so these are like chisel teeth. well, let's look-- you know, i've got a broom here. let me show you something here. a broom? yeah, because this is the way i try to understand grain, is with the broom, because the broom has fibers. all right? and i want you to help me through this here, because--well, here. let's do ripping again, because we were ripping, and you were ripping when you started out on your second-class saw cut. i can't do anything. if we had a knife, as we saw-- used a crosscut saw. yeah, used a crosscut saw, which are sharpened like knives.

correct. so if we had this knife here, and here's the wood fibers, and we're trying to cut like that-- you're getting nowhere. no, not doing very much, because the knife just kind of rides down between the fibers, so we're not making much of a cut. but if we change out for chisel teeth like this that are square across, and then start working, we are going to make-- we're gonna hurt that broom. we're going to make a kerf. well, there we go. that's what we have to have, though, is a chisel tooth for ripping. so i've got all that. you know, we do this just fine. if, however, we take that same saw... mm-hmm. with no fleam and go across the grain... yeah. all right. so here we go. now that's just not going to work. no. it's actually going to tear out if you pull up. we really have to turn it and in fact configure that blade like a knife. all right. so i've got that situation. here. there's the fleam. now we've added in the fleam. that's the angle, the knife-like cut.

and we're starting to work our way in. but there are other factors. yeah. we actually have 2 teeth. let me get you another knife here. let's see if i can find you one. i may have to give you your marking knife, striking knife if that's sharp.ar so 2 sets of teeth, actually, and they cross one another. so half the teeth go one way. half the teeth go the other way. this is called set, and set is what gives us the clearance. all right? all right. so you cut on one side, and i cut on the other side. so if we do that, those 2 teeth following each other, we're now really crosscutting very well here. yeah. absolutely. all right. but i have another problem. see, that's not as simple as that. what else have we got? well, here. for example, in green wood... all right. say we have green wood here. now here's a broom that's been soaking in water. i get in there, and the fibers don't give, and they grab against what i'm trying to work on. so what do you do?

well, you definitely want to increase the set, which is-- here's a knife. there's that other knife. let's try that one. yeah. and you want more set. so you want the knives farther away from each other. so we're crossing bigger here. so that makes the teeth stick out like that. and that makes a bigger opening. absolutely. and that means that when the moisture and the heat from sawing try to pinch on your saw plate, it won't pinch, and you'll get clearance. so when you...that's great for wet wood. well, if...now, when we do this, though, what if we add too much set to the saw? oh, then you get drunken saw. "drunken saw"? yeah, drunken saw, and that is where you have so much set that the saw plate could wander around, and you'll never hit your line. you'll just go back and forth and back and forth. this poor broom. i'm into this. i'm into this. yeah. well, this is looking pretty good. so you just add more set, and that will allow you to cut into wet wood like that. absolutely. yeah. that looks pretty good. so, you know, you've got your different classes of saw cuts.

what would you say this one is here? how would that fit into your scheme of things? yeah. i think we've found the seventh-class saw cut. don't you think? perhaps so. all right. well, anyway, christopher, thank you. this has been most enlightening. i sure appreciate it, christopher schwartz. thank you. thank you, roy. and thanks for joining us both here in "the woodwright's shop." we'll see you next time. so long. learn more about "the woodwright's shop" and traditional woodworking on our website. you can find us online at pbs.org.

major funding for "the woodwright's shop" is provided by... roy underhill is the author of "the woodwright's guide: working wood with wedge and edge," as well as other books on traditional woodworking, all published by the university of north carolina press and available at bookstores and libraries.