>> phillips: hi, welcome to "the american woodshop." i'm scott phillips, and today's project is all about door treatment. fluted columns, broken arch pediment, turned finials -- well, you just can't beat it. and you won't see it anyplace else, so stay with us. >> announcer: "the american woodshop," with scott phillips is brought to you by... >> delta -- the heart of woodworking for over 85 years. porter-cable -- the soul of woodworking for over 100 years. >> woodcraft -- since 1928 providing traditional and modern

woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen. woodcraft -- helping you make wood work. >> gorilla glue -- for the toughest jobs on planet earth. >> phillips: okay. now, it's time to get busy over at the woodshop and do this beautiful door treatment together out of cherry. and you know what? it's an easy project. you just break it down into little pieces. follow me. before we get started on the project, make sure that you always read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your workshop. work safely. these are safety glasses. now, look at this new table-saw system. see how that guard rises and falls with the blade? well, that's important, because this european-style riving knife is going to be where it should to prevent kickbacks, and there's a kickback pulse as well. plus, there's one other feature that i really like.

this split in the top of the guard -- well, when this guard is locked in place, you can sight straight down the split, and you can see exactly where the cut's being made. now, over here, the planer -- this is a new type of planer. it uses dozens of these knives that are bolted onto the head, and it gives me a cut that is absolutely unparalleled. so, we'll make some cuts here and plane down all the cherry that i need for this project. let me stow these safely out of the way and make those cuts. that's a turning square we'll need later. [ whirring ] now, this is that capital workpiece that's an inch and 3/4 thick, planed on both sides. rough edge here, decent straightedge here, and what i'm going to do is use the jointer to square it up so this edge is square to the two sides, and then i go to the table saw to

rip it down. the other thing, i need a lot of 2x2 stock. i join an edge, like you can see right here, to the two plain sides. then i can take it to the table saw and rip it square. if you go right to the table saw without joining the edge square to the surfaces, well, it just might not be true when you go to put it all together. okay, i'll work it all down. all the boards get planed and jointed before i go to the table saw for this project. and now this is going to be a test. when you rip-cut cherry, it is the one wood that will burn. this is an inch and 3/4 thick. i'll turn on the dust collector. take a look. [ whirring ]

now let that come to a stop, and look at that edge -- perfect. that's what a good table saw will do for you. and i locked that blade in place. now i can rip down my 2x2s with this push sled. but i do want to get all the wood off of the table saw when i do that. so, i'll just make those 2x2 cuts. now, this piece is very important. it needs to net out 10 inches. once i rip it, it will be 69 inches long. it has to be clear cherry, 'cause this is the top of the door casing. [ whirring ]

the next thing i need to do is cut two column work pieces -- these wrap the inside of the door casing -- that look like this when they're done, with those three fluted grooves. that's done over at the router table. but now what i'm going to do is rip these two down to 4 7/8 and make them 75 3/4 long. [ whirring ] here you can see a different trim piece. i need four identical pieces that end up with four flutes in them. and these will wrap the front and the back of each of the columns. and that needs to be 6 1/2 wide by 75 3/4 long. trim that down and then we'll

use the miter sled to cut the base and capital. the 2x2 workpieces for the base and the capital trim pieces need to be miter-cut. i have the miter gauge set at a 45-degree angle, and i bring that up to my layout line. let me show you the cut and how this all works out. hold it securely to the base of the miter gauge. turn it off. that switch is leg-activated. that's really nice. and now i can flip this over while that powers down -- bring the other piece up and on. and here you can see what it looks like. it butts into that frontpiece. a frontpiece is 5 inches on the inside corners, and here it's actually 6 1/2 inches in length on the inside corners on the left and right side.

now, by flipping the workpiece over, i get a complementary cut, and then i have the two inside pieces laid out that come to that 5-inch line. it's very easy to do if you just take your time to make those accurate 45-degree cuts. i'm always trying to figure out ways to make woodworking easier, and you're about to see one great one. now, look at this. this is called a broken-arch pediment. this is a gooseneck style. okay, now, i used this for right on the center of that inch-and-3/4-thick cherry, and this is 69 inches long, 9 inches wide. and if you look right over here, you can see that, well, this has already been cut off. and what i need to do is flip this around and glue that in place so that then i can continue that arch all the way up. in the center, i'll get a finial. but let me show you how i made that cut earlier. this is called a track saw because, true to its name,

there's a track that this saw glides on. it's tied into dust collection. and you can see the blade plunges down, but because i have it on top of foam insulation 1/2-inch thickness, it doesn't hit the workbench. here's a riving knife behind the blade so you get a super-smooth cut. and this edge right here prevents tear-out -- it's supported on the bottom -- so this is a tear-free cut. here's the proof. want to make sure it's clamped on the bottom edge. let's make that cut. [ whirring ] now, that is a perfect tear-free cut. and i can unclamp this and flip this board around, and i'm in business. look at that cut. so, i'll glue this up, and then i'll show you how to cut out the top with the jigsaw.

it's taken two hours for the glue to cure out, so i can cut these patterns out now, but the trick is using a 5-inch-long jigsaw blade with a woodcutting tooth on it. don't use the short blade, because the length of the stroke would jam into this thick wood and would break it and give you a rough cut. that would be unsafe, too. now, when i make the cut, it's important to hold the base flat to the surface of the wood as i make the cut, and that gives me all the control in the world. and it's a really good idea to wear a dust mask here. [ whirring ] and that, as they say, is that. if you look at that arch, the

broken arch, that's just perfect right there. i'll do a little bit more sanding. this is a new type of sander. it has a computer chip in it that senses a load, no brushes and it chases electrons around a metal ring, and that drives the armature. well, it's a phenomenal sander with great built-in dust collection and velcro. i love this tool. now... look right here. see how this corner is glued together? that's not coming apart. and here's the trick. use an excellent wood glue. good dollop on the end. this is end grain. this is end grain. growth rings are going this way. the grain's running this way. so, when i put these two end-grain cuts together and rub that glue around and size the joint -- that just means working glue into the joint -- nd a little bit more on the top to get squeeze-out here. and no clamps required for this type of rub joint.

just want a little bit of squeeze-out right there. and then, as far as getting everything lined up, you just keep it flat on a flat surface. and i'm not worried about glue getting on the workbench. it's a workbench! so, when it starts to dry, about 20 minutes in, i just use a hand scraper and get rid of that. now, i'll come back, put more hand pressure on that in three minutes, let that dry, and that's how we do both the base and the capital for the columns. now, let's head over to the router table, and i'll show you how to flute the columns and also profile all the edges using one multi-profile bit. now, turn the router off. let me get the dust collector here. and look at this 2x2 molding. this was made using a multi-profile router bit and a router table, and, essentially what it does -- you match the height of the bit to the profile

that you want -- very versatile bit. and this ball bearing isn't used. i just use a fence to cut this in. there's a cove, which is a cave. there's a bead, which is a bump. that's always on top. and you can see the router bit behind me, protected by the guard. and by moving the fence in and out, you can take lighter cuts. make two cuts to get this profile when you're running the length of the grain to get away from burn-free cuts. but ultimately, if you look down here, you can see the router motor is a 3 1/4-horsepower router, variable speed. and you dial in the speed. in this case, for cherry, 16,000 rpm with that large bit is the way to go. and look at the router table. these are called featherboards. they're fingers that hold this thinner workpiece down to the table and against the fence to safely work with thin stock like this. now, here's the other thing that i'll do. i'll take the featherboards off by loosening them, moving them out of the way -- safely -- and bringing up a miter gauge to put

in the miter track. now, it helps to hold the workpiece if you put a bit of peel-and-stick abrasive there. that's 100-grit silicon carbide. and now what i'll do is bring this stock up, bottom-up again facing me, and i'll make two passes -- one, a light cut, and then push it against the fence hold it against the miter gauge, and then make the finishing cut to trim the wrap. so, let me do that. turn everything on. [ whirring ] here's the first cut. that's all there is to it. it's always a good idea to wear side shields whenever you rout because it could throw chips up, even a router table, and also, when you use a pneumatic nailer, wear 'em. now, look at this. see these grooves with the flutes? that's the bit right there. it's a 1/2-inch-diameter carbide

router bit that's up 3/8 of an inch, and i can make these flutes in one pass. i have the fence locked in with guard in place so that the cut -- the first cut's right in the center, and then i can just move the fence out incrementally to balance the other flutes. the solid wood is 1 inch from column to column, just for a dimension there. now i'll get this on -- safety gear. and good face is down, and the featherboards will hold the workpiece to the table, and i'll use a push block. let's get the dust collector on, and away we go. [ whirring ] now, that is a perfectly fluted workpiece. now, i repeat that for all the fluted columns. just move it out for the wider ones, and that's an easy way to do it. finish the rest of 'em.

then it's on to biscuiting these together. i just used a biscuit jointer to make elliptical cuts, and i put biscuits in this center workpiece. let me swing it up -- flutes up, just like that. those are 5 3/4-inch-long blocks. swing this around. already have glue on it. and i line it up so that my marks that i laid out earlier line up. i like to put a biscuit about every 18 inches. and you can put a drop of glue in there if you want to or not. i've done it both ways, and, truth be known, both work. and those blocks -- see, this allows for lateral adjustment, to tap the biscuits around up to 1/8 of an inch to get a perfect fit on the end, make sure the ends are flush. and those blocks were an idea of

a good friend of mine, which really makes gluing this up a breeze. now, just clamp this up, and i form the u-channel on all columns exactly the same way. once that's done, i glue the capital and the bases on, and it's on to trimming out the pediment and turning the finial. i've just done a little bit of sanding on the capital and the base treatment. they're all the same. see how that profile wraps all the way around. and i want the back profiled shoulder to be on the back edge of the column, overhanging about 1/4 of an inch to balance it front and back. the easiest way to join this onto the bottom of the column is just a little bit of glue on center and pocket screws. this is called a pocket drilling

jig. now watch what happens here. i drill this until the bit hits that collar. that's the stop. nothing could be easier. you open that up, and that is a pocket. and if you look down here, you can see there's a pilot hole all the way through. now put the screw right in there like that. and i use a driver, a long extender, on the drill and lock the base on there. a spot of glue on there helps to lock it all in place. the type of glue i like to use is a cyanoacrylate adhesive. it will help to tack it in place. and i want a high-quality cyanoacrylate. okay. now, i center that up like so... shift it down, balance it left and right... and line it up on the center and fasten it in place.

this is called an oscillating spindle sander. it has 100-grit abrasive on it. and whenever you have a curve that you're trying to sand down, as long as you keep the material moving, this is the best way to sand those curves. it's a real time-saver, and it has built-in dust collection. now, two other sanders -- this is called a compact belt sander with dust collection. watch what this does. it really goes to town. and remember where i glued those pieces together? to make that go away, that glue seam. and then a little bit of random orbital action at 220 grit. and that's the way i like to sand all the parts that i need

for this project. this is called a classic profile router bit with ball-bearing guide, and what i can do with this is bring this down. now watch what happens. now turn it off. let that come to a stop before i raise it. but if you look closely, look at that wonderful profile that that creates. okay, that's the accent on the inside curves of the broken-arch pediment. and i'll also use it to profile this trim board that's 3 inches wide by 38 inches long. i'm working this from left to right to work with the rotation of the cutter. taking my time. [ whirring ] everything's routed and sanded now, and i have this piece of

2-inch-wide-by-36-inch-long top stock, and this is a piece of milled egg-and-dart molding that's cut to the same length. and i let it overhang an inch on each end. and then to really cap this off, here's that 3-inch-wide board that has that classic profile routed, and i stagger that just like that, and that will be tacked in place. now, i'll use a nailer to do that, a pneumatic nailer, but, boy, you do not want to tack that and then use the garnet shellac. you do all the pieces separately, and then you tack them in place and glue them. but look at what happens when we use garnet shellac. and you've seen me use this before. and why do i use that? see those burn marks right there? i leave those as accents. that garnet really just blends in and makes it look old and rich. so, i'll get this all shellacked out, and i'll put three coats on, and i'll use a nylon pad

between coats to really make it smooth. and this is a pound-and-a-half cut. i have three coats of shellac on all the workpieces, and now i'll just nail the trim in place. i'm using a brad nailer, which is just a fine-wire, 18-gauge nail, and it's an inch and 3/8 long, and i have it on an air compressor. i just tack it in in three places. i do not use glue for this because down the road, if i'd ever need to take it apart and repair it, i can do that. i just make sure this is butted against the surface to the flat board underneath, and i'm in business. and one other thing i want to show you is there are slight indentations where i nail, and this is a wax that you just meld in just like that, and you fill those nail holes, and they have all these different colors -- a wonderful way to make it go away. just buff that out, and it's

done. now, let's head over to the wood lathe to turn this beautiful finial. turning is so much fun. now, here's my workpiece that's squared out, the grains running the length. it's 3 1/2 square and 7 inches long. and to turn a finial like this the accent to the broken-arch pediment, i first start with a pattern that i've drawn. and i'll use that to lay in the diameters of the key dimensions. now, the grain's running this way. i lock it between the drive spur up here and the live ball-bearing center on this end, and i have the wood lathe set at 350 rpm. now, i haven't knocked the corners off because i'm going to use a very special tool to do that professionally and safely. it's called a roughing gouge. now, at the speed of 350, here's how it goes. just ease the edge in, hold it to the tool rest, and in less than a minute, this will be round. nice and safe. keep your fingers well away from

the spinning workpiece and safely on the tool rest. next, you can see that it's round now, and what i've done -- the four maximum diameters i've laid in with a pencil, and when it's turned on, you can go in there and brighten it up, and those are the diameters that i need to turn down to. now -- isn't that neat? -- look down here. this roughing gouge is the next chisel that i'll use to create the long taper to the inch-and-1/4 diameter point. make light cuts. once that's done, i'll use the diamond parting tool to define the deepest cuts that i need to make. there are four of those. go straight in on edge and make those nice cuts. and then i can use the 3/8-inch bowl gouge -- like a cereal bowl -- and i'll lay that bevel to the wood, roll the handle and, magically, the wood just floats away. that adds detail. then, to define the beads or the

bumps, i'll use a diamond-shaped tool that's called a beading parting tool. and i can lay in those beads to define it. and then i just use a 1/4-inch spindle gouge to add the delicate details. so, that's all there is to turning the finial down. we made everything at the woodshop. now it's time to head to the jobsite to piece it all together. the first thing we install is the top jamb with the notched ends. first, i fit those notches around each side of the wall and then brace it in place. from there, what i do is i simply use the columns that were pre-built, wrap those around each side of the door opening, and then make sure they're plumb. then i nail those in place with a 15-gauge nailer. now, of course, you wear safety glasses, and once that's done, i tack the top jamb to the top of the column, and then i place the

pediment on the side that i want on the ledge, and i tack that to the wall. and that's how we end up with beautiful door trim. well, this is how all the pieces come together. you know, if you take a look at this, this is an easy project to do. just take it one step at a time. turned finial, the broken-arch pediment, the egg-and-dart molding, and this cherry with the shellac makes it look old. it truly is a classic form, well worth accenting any pass-through or doorway. well, that's it from "the american woodshop." hope you join us next week for a shaker-inspired worktable. god bless you. >> announcer: "the american woodshop," with scott phillips is brought to you by... >> delta -- the heart of woodworking for over 85 years.

porter-cable -- the soul of woodworking for over 100 years. >> woodcraft -- since 1928 providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen. woodcraft -- helping you make wood work. >> gorilla glue -- for the toughest jobs on planet earth.

kevin: today on "this old house," we're going to let you in on some trade secrets. and we'll think globally about our neighborhood and our design. we found this great light fixture that's made in denmark. kevin: what a statement it's going to make when you walk through that front door. tom: it looks pretty bad right here. kevin: are you kidding me? norm: is this place really worth saving? richard: we can do better than this. roger: time to get to work. tom: nice and easy nice and easy, everybody together. kevin: oh, yeah. roger: the right plant in the right place. good. richard: it's state-of-the-art. norm: perfectly square. roger: all in all, a good day's work. kevin: right here on "this old house." "do it yourself" doesn't have to mean "do it alone." at the home depot's how-to community you can watch videos read tips, and get advice from fellow doers. we're proud to support "this old house"

and doers everywhere. ♪ [ wind howling bird squawks ] [ thunder crashes, car alarm blares ] when the unexpected happens, state farm is there to help you get your old house to a better state. proud sponsor of "this old house." [ grunting ] 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. funded in part by lumber liquidators 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." the project we're working on here in cambridge, massachusetts is just four blocks from porter square and

lots of people every day walk, bike, take the train and drive right through this area. this is a busy melting pot -- hey! and apparently there are surprises on every corner. check this out, kevin. look at this beautiful art deco building right here. it was once a major old-line department store. now it's lesley university. but you're never going to believe what's inside this old building. can't wait. so, when the department store moved out, a series of small shops moved in. welcome to what the locals call "japantown." really. come on in. no kidding, look at this little gem tucked away in here. series of shops with every kind of japanese cuisine. look at it it's always packed. wow, look at this little alleyway, huh? it's like you've transported us straight from japan right here to cambridge. that's right. so, look at this. here's my kind of menu right here. i can sort of say, "oh, yeah i think i like that one and this one" -- i like 'em all, actually. you look like a beef pho. richard: a beef pho. how 'bout this? teriyaki chicken bowl. great choices here. you getting hungry? hungry? am i breathing? of course i'm hungry. there's some great ramen

here. oh, i love noodles. big bowl of noodles? richard: so, what do you feel like? i don't know what are they serving? well, pick what you want. what are you doing back there? i'm going to help, i'm not going to cook. seriously? he'll cook. all right, um... how 'bout a little bit of pork all right, and some eggs well, and ramen, of course. all right, so here's the noodles. you're making it. well, i'm going to do this much. and give it a little stir. yeah, give it a good stir. i don't want it sticking. [ laughs ] all right, kevin here is your house ramen. look at that, the pork and your egg right there. i like the fact that you're cooking for me. you washed your hands, right? you're a plumber after all. look at yours! a little hot and sour. so what's the story? is there a big japanese population here in cambridge? you know that's the funny thing. there really isn't but peop-- this is always packed, and they come from miles around to visit. well, you know what, it's great to know it's right down the street from the job site. aren't you supposed to get back there? oh, no, it's still early in japan. you're going to go on japan time!

if down the street it's all about japan here on the job site it's a little bit about italy, and that's because the plasterers are here. you know, there's not a lot of guys that still do blueboard and plaster, and this is a little bit of an old-world art, and we have got one of the best crews working for us. it is bucco and sons. bobby, how you been? good, you? all right. so you've actually worked with us on a couple jobs over the last couple of years. yes, we have. and it's actually a family affair? oh, yeah, it's me, my brother my brother in law, and my father, vito, who i'd like to introduce you to. vito, nice to meet you. thank you, nice to meet you. so how long have you been doing this? oh, 1950 this summer 1950. 1950! 60 years. yeah. unbelievable. now, you grew up in italy? i grew up and i came here when i was 14. and got right to work? my uncle wanted me to get out of the house, so he said, "i'll send you to work with a friend of mine mr. batista clemenzi." mm-hmm. and then i was with him for 19 years. and what types of jobs were you doing back in the 1950s?

well, you know, regular flats, but not like this. we used to put the -- you know, plaster three coat thick. yeah. your sons were telling me some great stories about you working. they said you used to take the train to work. train, the bus everything. there was a lot of time -- we didn't have much competition like you do today, and we used to have a suitcase like this and then we -- you know when we changed jobs we put everything in a suitcase, go on the bus. you're still using a suitcase today? why? yeah. you have all your tools, you tie them up here and everything's in there. your clothes, your shoes everything was in here. i enjoyed every day i went out. i never said once i hated it. i always enjoyed it. good. made a good living out of it. i'm not rich, i'm happy. [ laughs ] you know and it's a nice family. we've done okay. so, vito, tell me, what did you think when your sons decided to go into plastering? i thought they were crazy, because i had to do it but they didn't have to do it, but they like it. they enjoy doing it, and they're doing a good job and that's what counts.

i always told them i said, "don't worry how long it takes, you do a good job. you do a good job and don't worry about nothing else." nothing else. yeah. and i said "mistakes are made the mistakes are fixed." if we make a little mistake you pick up the phone, "we'll be there next day try to fix it up for you." how come a lot of guys don't do this anymore? how come it's all drywall these days? it's faster. you're doing the house in a day, they're done. this way maybe takes a week. ain't much different in the price either, compared to drywall to this. but there's a big difference in the final product? oh, yes. tell me about that. well, it's just a harder of a finish of coat. with drywall you can get your finger and go right through it like this. you can never do it, and then we put the brown coat. see that's a brown coat on the seams? that's because this has got sand in there. that's what gives strength. but the sand and the joint never snap on you. if it's done right you can't beat it. can't beat it. no, you cannot beat it, no. you're a plasterer at heart. [laughing] yeah. all right, well, you and your case, we're glad you guys are here

and your boys are here as well. thank you. you guys do great work. thank you. norm: well, progress on the exterior of our house continues to move right along. we replaced all the windows, but we also managed to keep a lot of the exterior trim in place and it's very simple around the windows just a flat casing that goes up and around the window and on this bay above the windows there's a nice detail, a really wide board that's divided in half by this half-round molding, and then there's another molding up here that comes out just under the soffit and we wanted to replicate that detail to tie everything together. so over on this wall where everything was replaced -- new framing, new windows and new trim -- you can see above the window that same detail so it's a nice connection between the old work and the new work. now, the trim was installed. the next order of business are the clapboards and that's what dan's working on now. now, the clapboarding

is nearly complete but there's some details that i want to point out that tom and his crew use that are very important. first of all, the siding comes pre-primed both sides and the edges and that will help prevent paint failure. secondly, there's a lot of details on the installation. you have this soft flashing that goes under the window casing here and under the sill. now, the next course of clapboards is going to go right here. you can see the felt paper comes down over this clapboard which has already been installed. should any water get in there, it's going to run onto the felt paper and out onto the clapboard rather than going into the building. they also have this matrix which gives a little separation between the clapboard and the structure. now, if any moisture should migrate through the house into this area it'll have a chance to dry out and prevent rot and paint failure. and another very important detail when the siding is installed these joints will be caulked as well as where it meets the casings or the sill. that's all going to get caulked. that will ensure no water is going to get inside of this building and it'll be totally protected. now,

in addition to clapboards we have some wood shingles to install and we're going to do that up on the third floor. now, there's a band of shingles that runs around the perimeter of most of the house and you can get a look at it right here. there's a scallop shingle at the bottom, and then several courses of shingles, and note that they don't go straight across. they're all staggered in the height and they're very random, and that's a nice detail that we thought we'd bring in to our new deck area. right. now, remember the deck that was up here before had an open railing system. well, now that it has a wall we thought it would be nice to replicate that detail over there with the shingles. now, what we're using is these shingles right here. they're red cedar. they're square and butted shingles and they're primed on all six sides. it looks like you've got a start but i can give you a hand finishing it off. okay, great. first thing we did is cover our wall with this matrix right here to get a bed of air under our siding. then we installed the cellular pvc trim right here, but

we ripped it on a bevel so that when the water comes down off of the wall, it won't run up and behind it, it will run out the front. we installed our starter course and then our first course finished course. then we want to make sure that none of our joints line up with the first course so that the water won't get between them. now, each course is 4 5/16 apart so i've got a line here, norm put a line on his side, and we'll snap a line and put our straight edge on it. got it, norm? yep. and for a straight edge, we're going to use a clapboard because they're nice and straight. now, on this inside corner we have to weave the shingles to get a nice, tight joint. now, this shingle lays over this shingle, so i'm going to start on this side first and as you can see doesn't fit very well yet. if i take my scribe, i can

follow that contour and i'll take my utility knife and shave off most of it and then finish it off with my block plane. all right. now we'll finalize it. check it. that's good, now a bead of caulking.

okay. now i want to do the exact same thing on this wall. set it, scribe it, and fit it. all right, now we can work our way out from the corner with the rest of the shingles. so when you look at this pattern you think it may be complicated but it's actually pretty simple to do. what we've done is we've cut a gauge block, and we're going to set the gauge block on our straight edge. i take a shingle a random-width shingle and i want to just make sure it doesn't line up with this joint here because that will leak. so now i just put it down like that, norm can nail it in place. i take the gauge block out we'll take another shingle that's random, again making sure that it doesn't line up drop it on there and nail it in place.

we just finished installing our last row and it stops right here at the top of the wall so now what we want to do is cut off our shingles, and we want to cut 'em straight. to do that, we're going to use the straight edge that we used for our rows, and we're going to use it as a guide for our saw. with our wall cut, we'll remove our straight edge and what we're going to do is we're going to actually cap this wall on the top with a piece of cellular pvc, but the homeowners really haven't decided on what detail or profile they want for the railing yet. of course, these shingles are

going to get painted to match the shingles on the house and i think it was a really good idea to do this detail on the inside of this deck. i think it looks nice. it does. norm: while we're working on our house here in cambridge, there's another team working on it as well over in boston's south end. well, this has got to be the place. there aren't a lot of mill buildings that look like this on the inside. clearly some designers have been at work. dee, andrew, you guys back here? andrew: hey, we are, how you doing? all right, good to see you again. good to see you. boy, you guys take this whole working as a team thing real seriously right down to a single office? yeah, this set-up works really well for us. we always face each other like kind of an inversion of a partners desk, so we can kind of show each other ideas that we both have, and it works well. all right. well, you helped us out last year on a nearly 300-year-old colonial, and we're doing something completely different this year -- scandinavian modern. are you guys up for the challenge? we are, we loved the bedford project, but we

feel like this cambridge project is a little bit more in line with our personal style. perfect. we'd love to show you what we have working. i'd love to see it. let's go. the design studio. this is where it all happens. all right, and we've got a schematic of our house. so this is really where we're doing most of our work. so the front street side of the house with the porch and entry foyer we've got the bay window in the front that's got a -- going to have a pair of really great chairs that sally's excited about. the kitchen is being designed by kathy marshall and this part of the house is mostly built in. we have a dining room table, a great window seat, but most of our furniture, we're really focusing here in the family room. great, okay, and so from this look, it's pretty crisp and clean, and i know that our homeowners wanted scandinavian modern. we've heard from the architect what that means, but what does it mean to you guys? i mean, what do you do when a client says "scandinavian modern"? well, sally was really great about collecting images that spoke to her as far as what scandinavian modern was. here, you know you see

natural wood white on white, clean lines. so i'm looking at some painted wood here which is white, but then some sort of bleached wood as well, so sort of monotone. exactly. i mean, it could run the risk of getting a little boring, right white on white on white? well, no, i mean, you have to look at the textures of it. so this is a hand-painted cabinet. those are going to be in the kitchen. some very, very slight striations here from the brushstrokes, i can pick those up. and then the backsplash tile is really cool. vertical and horizontal running lines. it's an oversized tile 5 1/2 x 22. oh, wow. so this actually is pretty long this way. it's going to be run all along the back wall of the kitchen. and then we have the southern yellow pine and that's going to be on the hood and in the bays of the windows. so the hood above the range, and then those window bays. and i guess, you know, white on white on white is a little bit of a misnomer, 'cause you look at this, there is some contrast there. yeah, there's a lot of texture. it's very sophisticated.

okay. and then, kevin, in the dining room sally really loves the slabby modern wood table that can expand, so that's our plan for the dining area, and above that we've got this great light fixture picked out which happens to be from danish design so it'll fit right in. definitely going to make a statement with an item like that and then in terms of a living room, what are you guys thinking there? the sofas we're looking at have a really nice comfortable, family-friendly look which we're planning to do in a nice, neutral fabric like this linen here. and where we're bringing color in, kevin, is we're using these fabrics here on the pillows on the sofa, so it'll be bright splashes of color on a neutral background, something that sally can change up all the time and really keep it fresh looking. so the color just comes in though, as accents. little touches. something else we're excited about is the powder room. sally found this great wallpaper that has a really fun, fluid movement that has almost a water-like feel. we're painting the vanity cabinet this great blue, and i think it'll be a real surprise when you come into the house. cool.

and not everything is new. do you recognize these? uh, you know i think i do. weren't these holding up a porch on our house that's no longer there? exactly. you guys collectors? is that why you're hanging on to them? well, they're beautiful pieces and we really wanted to work them into the design somehow. mm-hmm. we decided that we're going to use them in the entry foyer. as you come in there will be a table, so we're going to get a piece of wood to go over it, and it will just be a great place to drop something off or drop keys off as you come into the house. oh, that's great. it's nice to bring some of the old stuff back into the house. john and sally are going to love it. let me show you what else we're doing in the entry. we're going to do this pendant light. hangs from the ceiling. and what is this, a big, heavy piece of blown glass? exactly. we're using a local cambridge artist and she's going to apply her beautiful little stencils to the glass. so this pattern right here goes on this piece of glass? yeah. oh, wow, that's going to be cool, and what a statement it's going to make when you walk through that front door. it's going to be fantastic. all right, well, it sounds like you guys have really got our homeowners figured out and

know what they want, which means i guess the next time we see you is when you're at the house starting to install stuff, right? yeah, we're looking forward to it. all right. thanks for coming by, kevin. hey, my pleasure. see you, guys. bye. hey, richard, you know what, you make a good plumber, but you make a better noodle. thank you very much. one of my many talents. now, last time you and i were down here together, do you remember there was a big boiler right here, there was a chimney right here went up through the building. all gone. look what's here -- a great playroom for the kids. yeah, and this is going to be very nice finished space when it's done but is it going to be conditioned? absolutely. we're going to have heating and air conditioning both down here and the floor above using this two-inch outlets right here so when it's finished out, it's going to look like this against the plaster. great, okay. so, now, to power this we've got air handlers. we've got one down here and another one up on the top floor, so it's got a hot water heating coil air blows across it. there's a cooling coil right here and then there's a blower. so the air is either heated or cooled it goes into this trunk

right here, and look what we did though. we actually transitioned this round trunk to this. this is 3/4 x 14. look what it allows for. enough height to actually fit down here. which the kids may not need over in the playroom but this is going to be john's workshop, so he is going to appreciate that. that's right, so we have heating and cooling, but we also have a thing called floor warming. we've used this super plastic called pex and we're going to have warm water circulating through here. if you look up here, we're going to have a little bit of floor warming. that means we're just going to heat the people's feet just enough to be comfortable, but not enough to actually heat the building. so that's not a primary heat source at all. no, no, it's just a back-up for comfort. nice feature to have, right? now, doing all our mechanicals this project is abe bilo and his gang. hey, abe. hey, guys. now, take kevin through the installation of the floor warming would you? well, the first step is applying this aluminum track to the underside of the entire first floor. kevin: we've seen these before. the tube obviously tacks right up into there, and then when that is on the underside of the floor we're just going to radiate heat out? richard: yep, absolutely. once that's all up we'll take the tubing, pull it down the base, and

put it in. [ hammering ] kevin: whoa, wait a second abe, hold on, now. a tool he's got to have. look at this. what is -- i have not seen -- better than swinging a rubber mallet. a pneumatic mallet. wow. isn't that something? makes it a lot easier in tight spaces. yeah, i bet, right? i love it. he's going to steal that. keep your eye on that. after that, little bubble wrap to keep that heat up. so that's going to direct it to the first floor as opposed to having it come down here into the basement. you're just going in with staples? richard: yep, try to make that heat go where it's supposed to where the people's feet are. well, we took out a huge boiler, richard so we've got to replace it with something. right, so the modern boiler is this. this is a condensing boiler, super efficient, and it's going to vent to outside through plastic venting out here. we're also going to bring combustion air into it from outside and this is going to do three things. it's going to heat water and the three functions are -- start right here. you've got a circulator pump that's going to send supply and return water out to the air handles the things i just showed you one in the basement, one in the second floor. that's the conditioned space throughout the

house. and that's going to heat the air coming out through the small outlets. we're going to have a mixing station right here, again with the pump, and that's going to be for the floor warming. we want milder water temperature for the floor warming. and finally, we're going to use the boiler's power to make hot water for faucets. inside this stainless steel tank there's a coil like this. boiler water goes through, heats up the tank, so we have water for the faucets of the bathtub. so one unit making all the hot water for three different uses. that's right super efficient. super efficient, and i like the fact that it is super compact and the three functions in the one right here. that's right. so our guys are so far ahead that we're going to stay ahead of your schedule. you're going to have to work hard, because we are making some serious progress outside. richard: well, the heavy equipment has arrived. it sure has, and you can see the progress we're making on the house here. painters have worked themselves around to the front, and they're still doing some prep work some scraping and some sanding but they are starting with the primer coat here on the porch. that is a good sign, getting the paint. and roger's guys continue working on the hardscape here in the front yard, which is nice, and tommy tells me that this is the last load of blueboard for

the house. you know, we've seen this machine before and this is really a labor-saver. you're not kidding and you know what? mark ferrante knows all about it, our tiler? he saw this machine show up and he immediately jumped on it and he said, "hey, guys, can you get my cement poured up to the third floor?" he's getting smarter as he gets older. so they brought it up there for him. now they're going to unload a couple loads of this board through this window, then a palette of the plaster, they'll get all the materials in there and then we're off to the races. they've got to just plaster and board this first floor. that means the finish line is just over the corner. and we're going to start doing finish carpentry next time. all right. all right, so, until then i'm kevin o'connor. i'm rich trethewey. for "this old house." kevin: coming up next time on "this old house"... john, i'm told that this is the only item you insisted on having in your new house. that's right. norm: we'll turn up the heat on our cambridge project. kevin: look at all the ladders and the scaffolding, trailers and guys everywhere. norm: and mauro and his crew have been hard at work for the last couple weeks getting prepped for a brand-new

paint job. kevin: they've got good technique and that makes all the difference with those sprayers. that's next time on "this old house." one pair of overalls a few cans of paint. add a dash of doing and mix together. that's a recipe for a kitchen you can't wait to cook in. the home depot is proud to support "this old house" and doers everywhere. ♪ [ wind howling bird squawks ] [ thunder crashes, car alarm blares ] when the unexpected happens, state farm is there to help you get your old house to a better state. proud sponsor of "this old house." [ grunting ] 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. funded in part by lumber liquidators

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." kevin: for more "this old house," go to video.pbs.org, 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 ten monthly issues for $10. just call... i am a chef; i cook for a living. and i think of pbs as a window to the world. that kind of place where you feel you are part of the story. i want to be part of every possible

world that's out there. that's when things become really amazing. and when you are able to see stories that make you wonder make you think that's what really makes pbs so meaningful. and that's the kind of tv we need to be supporting today. this old house books, including "easy upgrades: kitchens," are available in bookstores nationwide. "easy upgrades: kitchens" -- featuring more than 200 pages of kitchen before-and-afters including photos, tips and advice from the experts at "this old house."