- 2 months ago
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00:00Today on This Old House, after an extended trip down south, we're shipping up to Boston.
00:06Well, 10 miles outside of Boston to be exact, to suburban Needham, Massachusetts,
00:10where for seven years a family has been dreaming of renovating their 1896 historic home.
00:16And that dream will become reality today on This Old House.
00:30What in the heck is going on here, Pops?
00:55Well, you called and you said you needed ham.
00:57Um, Needham? No, I said we're working in Needham. The town, Needham.
01:02It's not Needham, it's Needham, Sonny.
01:05Needham?
01:05Yeah, you've been here long enough, you'd think you'd know that by now.
01:08Listen, growing up in Jersey, it's a tough adjustment. You've got some funny-sounding towns here.
01:12Like what?
01:13Well, uh, Gloucester.
01:15It's not Gloucester, it's Gloucester.
01:18Worchester.
01:18It's Worcester.
01:20I'm just saying. Just because your family's been here forever, they're probably named towns after you guys.
01:25Yeah, like what?
01:25Ah, I don't know. I was thinking Marblehead?
01:29Or Athol?
01:30Oh, that's...
01:31I always thought you were an Athol.
01:33That's hard.
01:34So we don't need the ham?
01:35Maybe we can offer that to the homeowner.
01:37Let's go meet them.
01:37All right.
01:38Sounds good.
01:39Do they know they live in Needham?
01:42There they are.
01:43Hey.
01:44Hey, guys.
01:45How are you?
01:45Liz, Patrick, nice to meet you.
01:47Hi.
01:48Pleasure.
01:48How are you?
01:49How are you?
01:49Nice to meet you.
01:50Patrick, how are you?
01:51Nice to meet you.
01:52Who's this?
01:53This is Baby Ronan.
01:54Baby Ronan.
01:55All right.
01:55One of three, right?
01:56Yeah, three boys.
01:57Three boys.
01:58How old is he?
01:59He's eight months, and he has a big brother, Declan, who's 17, and Brendan, who's 15.
02:03Very nice.
02:04Wow.
02:04That's fantastic.
02:05So how long have you guys been in the house?
02:06We've been here about seven years now.
02:08Seven years.
02:09So what's your goals for the house?
02:11I mean, what's your plans?
02:12So I think the biggest things we'd like to do is update the kitchen and bathrooms.
02:17But in order to do that, we'd also like to add a little bit of space so that we can reconfigure those areas.
02:23And so we're hoping to put an addition on the back.
02:25Nice.
02:26And you haven't done anything yet?
02:27We've done very little work to the house since we moved in.
02:30And, you know, we've been here since 2017, and by the time we really got settled, COVID hit, and then a couple years later, our oldest son, Declan, was diagnosed with leukemia.
02:42So he was in treatment for two and a half years or so.
02:45And so, you know, obviously, we didn't want to do the work then.
02:48Right.
02:48But he's doing great now, and, you know, things are kind of back to normal.
02:52So we're ready to do some work.
02:54Fantastic.
02:55So if you haven't done anything to the house, do you know how long it's been since something's been done?
03:00It's been over 30 years.
03:01Oh.
03:02So it's ready.
03:03Yes.
03:04Sometimes a good thing.
03:05It gives almost like a clean slate, right?
03:06Absolutely.
03:07All right.
03:08Well, I'd love a tour.
03:10Who wants to take me inside?
03:11I'll show you.
03:11Thanks.
03:12I'd like to take a look out back, see what's going on there.
03:14All right.
03:15Dad has the football.
03:16So, Liz, I'll follow you.
03:18Show me what we've got.
03:20So it starts right at the front door.
03:22This is original, and we love it.
03:24But at one point, this lock got broken.
03:26So it's perpetually locked from the outside.
03:28And we've had a couple locksmiths look at it, and they don't know how to fix it.
03:32Even the locksmiths couldn't?
03:33Yes.
03:33Okay.
03:34And then we have an issue here that we need to get underneath to fix, because you can see there,
03:38there's a little bit of a ridge where it looks like the front is sinking a bit.
03:42It's opening up a little bit here at the seam, so it sort of suggests that maybe there's
03:46some sort of support here and not here.
03:48Right.
03:48So there's basement under this area, but under here, under the front window, it's just footings,
03:54so it's hollow.
03:55And it also gets kind of cold under here, so we're hoping to insulate that better.
03:59Okay.
04:00Nice room, though.
04:01Yes.
04:01Is it the front living room or parlor?
04:04What do you call it?
04:05I usually call it a parlor, but I guess it's like more of the formal living room.
04:08Sure.
04:08And it's a beautiful room.
04:09We're not really changing much here other than the flooring.
04:12And then this is the only closet on the first floor, which is obviously-
04:16So a closet in here?
04:17Yeah.
04:17Yeah.
04:17There's a closet in there, and we have no idea why there is a stained glass window in
04:22the closet.
04:23Because there was something else there at some point.
04:25We can't figure out the original configuration, but obviously there's something different in
04:30there.
04:30When I see a window like that on an outside wall, I think staircase, but yours is going the
04:35other way, and you are up three steps, down three steps.
04:40Right.
04:40How do you feel about that?
04:41We like it.
04:42You do?
04:42We like it.
04:43I think it's just quirky.
04:44It's different.
04:45Well, that's good because you've got an old house, so if you can embrace a little bit
04:47of quirk, you're going to save yourself a lot of money.
04:50This room in here is-
04:52The family room.
04:53Ronan's domain.
04:54Right.
04:55That's awesome.
04:55The baby room.
04:56And all the kids' books and everything are in the built-ins.
04:59I like the ceiling height, and you've got great light.
05:01Yeah, we do.
05:02It's a great room.
05:03But I just think it's a little odd to have the two living spaces right next to each other.
05:07It's kind of old-fashioned.
05:08It's kind of old-fashioned.
05:09And we also want to, you know, we're taking down the chimney, so what we're going to do
05:14is make this the dining room, bring the wall forward, get rid of the chimney.
05:18So this will be more of a hallway, so people don't have to necessarily go up and over the
05:22stairs.
05:23But also, if you don't go, you kind of have to go far around a corner to try to make it
05:27more cohesive.
05:28So this will be the dining room.
05:29We're going to save the built-ins and kind of build them out to make them look more dining
05:34room-y.
05:34And so you're taking the chimney down because you no longer need it, and you want the space?
05:38Right.
05:38We're going to put a gas fireplace in the new family room in the back of the house.
05:42Okay, so let's go in there.
05:42And I've got to assume that the reason for switching these two rooms...
05:46Oh, this is really nice.
05:48But I guess you want sort of the living spaces close to the backyard.
05:51Right.
05:52Well, like you said, this is nice.
05:53This is like the prettiest room, I think, in the house.
05:55We have beautiful light, but it's kind of a drop zone because it's just the dining room
06:00and you just kind of walk through it.
06:01There's no real reason to sit in here.
06:03But you've got this beautiful piece right here.
06:05What happens to this?
06:06That, we believe, is original to the house, so we're going to save that and move it into
06:10the dining room.
06:11They're going to build it in.
06:11Okay, so this becomes a family room and we get a little extra space by moving the wall.
06:16Right, so we're going to move the wall back so it's a better size for a dining room and
06:20use some of that space for the family room.
06:23And also, we are going to add on out the back a bit so that we can make the family room bigger
06:30and also add a mudroom and a pantry.
06:33So, there's a high chair next to a hockey gear bag?
06:37Oh, right.
06:38You've got it coming from both ends.
06:39Yeah, so you see the one closet is full of hockey equipment.
06:43We've got hockey sticks behind the front door.
06:44We have a hockey bag there because it doesn't fit in our tiny mudroom that we have now.
06:48So, we want to expand the mudroom to fit hockey bags, hockey sticks, and all the other sports
06:54equipment.
06:55So, this wall is going to come down.
06:58This will be a big island and it'll be open to the new family room.
07:02And then, with all of this gone, we're going to use this space for the kitchen as well.
07:07And the mudroom is going to be behind it with a powder room over there.
07:11So, this is a full bath.
07:13So, you've got good room there.
07:15And this is a full mudroom.
07:16You've got helmets, book bags, hockey sticks, maybe a long pole defenseman.
07:23This is crowded.
07:24I can see why you want to make some improvements back here.
07:26Right.
07:26So, this is going to become actually a half bath, which will be here.
07:30So, get rid of the full bath.
07:31Get rid of the full bath.
07:32We're adding one upstairs.
07:33And then, we're going to make this area a much bigger mudroom.
07:36Okay.
07:36And you're going to push off the back.
07:38You said how many square feet down here?
07:39Yes.
07:40We're going to add about 230 square feet on the back.
07:42And then a little bit up top as well.
07:44And match it upstairs as well.
07:46Okay.
07:47So, on this side of the kitchen, which has got your sink, your corner windows, your big old stove.
07:52What's the plan for over here?
07:54This area is going to be a pantry.
07:56So, we're going to have a utility sink in the pantry.
07:58And we're going to reuse these cabinets in there and add some lowers and some shelving as well.
08:04When I walked in here, I was thinking, you said the house hadn't been touched in 30 years.
08:07This does not look like a 30-year-old kitchen.
08:09This looks pretty good.
08:09You didn't do this.
08:10No, we didn't.
08:11It is a 30-year-old kitchen.
08:13Actually, more than 30 years.
08:14But they did a great job, you know, picking really high-quality materials.
08:19And all we did in here was we changed the backsplash to update it.
08:22And it was a little dated.
08:24And then we added this island.
08:26And you're telling me that they did this too?
08:27I was thinking like a four-burner white stove.
08:30But this thing?
08:30Right.
08:31Yeah, they did.
08:32They put in a commercial-grade stove.
08:34And the issue with it is that it's too powerful for us.
08:37Wait.
08:37So, too powerful?
08:39Yeah.
08:39So, you can't simmer anything.
08:40You're a hockey family.
08:41You don't simmer anything anyway.
08:43Sounds like you've got a plan down here.
08:44How about upstairs?
08:45Okay.
08:51So, are you excited about getting started?
08:53Absolutely.
08:54Yeah, it should be a fun project.
08:55Hey, Jen.
08:56Good morning, guys.
08:57Where's the baby?
08:59No baby with me right now.
09:01He was getting a little tired, so we had to put him down for his morning nap.
09:03Aw.
09:04Well, next time, I can't wait to meet him.
09:06But I've had a little bit of time to look around your yard.
09:09It's a great space.
09:10But I know there's a few changes you'd like to make.
09:12So, what's your wish list?
09:14Yeah, definitely want to make some changes.
09:16I think the biggest thing is lowering the maintenance.
09:19Okay.
09:19For me.
09:20Yeah.
09:20You know, so we have a lot of plantings that, while they're beautiful, they grow very aggressively,
09:25require a lot of pruning.
09:27And so, I'd really like to cut back on that.
09:29And I understand that when we put the addition on, we're going to have to take up this brick
09:33walkway, which we love.
09:35Yeah.
09:35When we dig for the foundation, you have to over-dig for the guys to get in there and work.
09:39And so, all this brick will have to come up.
09:41But we could save it, put it on a pallet, and use it for a patio.
09:45That would be great.
09:46So, are you talking about over here at all with the brick?
09:49Yeah, that would be great.
09:50And having less mulch would also be great because this washes into the driveway when it rains.
09:54I'm not a landscaper, but my eyes said, this is a problem right here underneath the brick
09:59patio.
09:59That would just lift the patio right up.
10:01You're absolutely right, Tommy.
10:03I mean, this is a river birch, and it's just, it's a very aggressive tree.
10:06It'll buckle the patio no matter what.
10:08So, I think it needs to go, unfortunately.
10:11So, that brings me to the rest of the yard.
10:14What do you think of this space?
10:15Yeah.
10:15So, this is all landscaping that we inherited.
10:18First of all, the frog pond should really go.
10:21It's just a lot of maintenance.
10:22Oh, yeah.
10:22And it takes up a ton of space.
10:24Mm-hmm.
10:25So, what we'd like to do is tear all this out and put in some grass so that the boys
10:30have more room to play.
10:31I think that sounds like a great idea.
10:33And this pergola, this thing has seen better days, I think.
10:36Oh, yeah.
10:37I mean, it looks like somebody tried to fix the rotted post by wrapping PVC around it.
10:41Yeah.
10:42That'll come down in about two seconds.
10:43Yeah, I better move.
10:45If that's gone, this patio doesn't belong anywhere now, then you have your playing field.
10:50Yeah, we would love that.
10:50All right.
10:51And then, if we go all the way to the back, you know, we could reuse and repurpose some
10:55of your shrubs and plug in some empty spots.
10:58That all sounds amazing.
11:00So, you're going to put an addition off the back.
11:02It's going to be two stories, bumped out about eight feet, correct?
11:05Correct.
11:06I know the original plan was to take all the windows and all the siding off and change it.
11:10Well, we definitely want to replace all the siding and all the windows when we can,
11:14but whether or not it's in the budget remains to be seen.
11:16Yeah.
11:16I mean, you could say probably in this project, 20% if you didn't do it now and did it later,
11:21because that can always be married in to the new siding that you choose out here.
11:26And this is an aluminum siding.
11:28You can tell the aluminum siding by sound, but also when you take your hand and you rub it on it,
11:37white like that, that's called chalking.
11:38And it's designed so that dirt and dust that forms on the building, when it rains,
11:43it washes off because it can't stick to the chalk.
11:46That's why they do it.
11:47But it would be interesting to see what's underneath this siding.
11:51This is all going to get stripped off here.
11:53I could take a little piece off and see the shingles.
11:56I know the shingles because I looked at a different spot, but let's look right here.
11:59See if I can bend this back and take a piece off.
12:03I'm going to bend this a little bit.
12:09The problem is, is when you take this siding off, you have a whole new issue to deal with.
12:16Because of the age of the house and because the type of paint that was used,
12:21it's probably going to be lead paint.
12:23That means that you're going to have to have a certified person strip off all the lead.
12:33All right, so they put this foil on here because that's a radiant reflector or barrier.
12:53Keeps the heat from the hot sun out of the building in the summer.
12:57So you have a four-and-a-half, five-inch reveal.
13:03You can see that paint is really flaking and chipping.
13:06And it's probably lead paint, so we'll have to have that tested to verify.
13:09But to me, that looks like lead.
13:11We got our work cut out for it, that's for sure.
13:13And you have a few decisions to make.
13:16Oh, yeah.
13:16Yes, we do.
13:17Can't wait to get started.
13:22The staircase to the second floor.
13:23So there are three bedrooms on this floor and two upstairs.
13:29Okay.
13:30And this is Ronan's room.
13:32Oh, the little man's got a good room.
13:33Right, yeah, it's a big room, and he's got that separate little study area.
13:37The only thing that's changing is he's going to get another closet.
13:40So you keep him right next to you guys, right next to the primary, right?
13:44Yes.
13:44Oh, this is nice.
13:45Wow, a lot of light, high ceilings.
13:47Yeah, it's a big room.
13:49Yeah.
13:49That's the closet that's going to be closed off and given to Ronan.
13:53Turn it to face the other way.
13:54Right.
13:54Any other changes in here?
13:55Not in this part of the room, but the big change is going to be through there.
13:59Okay, well, I can see why you wouldn't change this, but go ahead, lead on.
14:03I'm going to follow the black cord going back to wherever.
14:06What's the story with this?
14:07The only cable outlet was here in this sort of dressing room, closet, quarter bath?
14:16Wow.
14:16So it's carpeted, not a bathroom, but it's got double sink vanity, so it is a bathroom.
14:22Right.
14:22And Ronan gets to hang out.
14:23I don't know what it is.
14:25It's weird.
14:25Yeah, it's interesting.
14:26We weren't really sure what was going on here.
14:28It was an improvement over our last house, for sure, because we have a lot more counter space
14:31and vanity, but we are looking to make this into a full bath and closet area.
14:37So you're going to bump off the back.
14:39It's on this side, right?
14:40So you'll pick up space off the back.
14:43On the addition on the back, we're going to turn that area into the primary bathroom and closet.
14:48Okay, so you pick up all this space.
14:50And then you've got a shared bath in here that you guys were taking advantage of?
14:53Right.
14:53This is the only full bath on the second floor, so we share it with the other two bedrooms.
14:57Yeah.
14:57And right now there's only a shower, so we have to put a little baby tub in there for Ronan.
15:02Oh, yeah.
15:03No tub up here.
15:04No.
15:04Now you need one.
15:05Yes, we do.
15:06All right.
15:07We also have a little bit of a mold issue that's just started recently.
15:11Yeah.
15:11So we need to deal with that as well.
15:13So changes to the bathroom coming?
15:15The bathroom's going away completely and being moved over there.
15:18Ah, so you're going to, what, flip it with a bedroom and you've got extra space?
15:21Right.
15:21The addition goes off the back of the house.
15:22Yeah, so the bedroom that's here now is going to get pushed back,
15:25and the bathroom is going to go here with a bathtub,
15:28and that's going to be shared for the two bedrooms.
15:30And laundry up here, which you must like, right?
15:33Right.
15:33We love having laundry on the second floor, but because the chimney's going away,
15:37we're going to have room for a utility sink and a bigger laundry room.
15:40So a nice laundry room gets even nicer.
15:42Yes.
15:43That's good.
15:43And it's one fewer room that Richard has to replumb, so that's good.
15:47Although, trust me, he's going to have other things to say about your house.
15:50I'm sure.
15:51Nice.
15:51Hey, Richard, here's your favorite place.
15:56Oh, another basement, Charlie.
15:58And behind this wall here is a finished playroom, the only finished space in the basement.
16:02Okay.
16:03This is mechanical and storage in this space.
16:05Okay, good.
16:06And the other side of these bookshelves and stone foundation is going to be our new foundation.
16:10We're going about eight feet out, 30 feet in width,
16:13and that'll be our new exercise room in the basement.
16:15So on the other side of that wall is all this new space right there, the new foundation.
16:19And you would think a straight line coming down here,
16:22we'd cut an opening through this stone foundation to make it access.
16:25But you're not going to?
16:26Not going to.
16:27Budget concerns.
16:28Access is going to be right around the corner where that window is.
16:31Okay, I see that window, and you just, what, you just cut the stone away right there?
16:34And that saves some money?
16:35It does.
16:35It's already headed off.
16:36Okay, cool.
16:38All right, now, will this place ever become a finished basement?
16:40Do I have to worry about modifying any of this ductwork?
16:42No, it's staying mechanicals and storage only.
16:45Okay.
16:45Well, I did a little history hunting, and look at what I found.
16:47This is actually the outline of the original coal-fired furnace.
16:52Coal chute would have come in over here, and you can actually see the remnants of some of
16:57the old connections.
16:58This would have been a floor register, and it would have been before electricity, so it
17:02would have been coal-fired, and it just would have come up through the first-floor registers
17:05and the second-floor registers.
17:07Well, somebody did a really nice job with this system where they tied onto those, not to the
17:13ductwork, they probably ran new ductwork, but they ran onto those registers, and they
17:17zoned the system two zones, one on the top floor and one on the bottom floor.
17:21So now they come down to here, there's a damper up in here, and then look at this.
17:26This is about 10, 12 years old, and it's a gas-fired furnace.
17:30It's super efficient, direct vento outside.
17:32Efficient, it heats up the air.
17:34It also has air conditioning with it, modulates it, and a two-zone system with really good
17:39filtration.
17:40I know, we come to these houses all the time, and we always just say, let's blow it up.
17:43I'm not sure we really need to.
17:44Do they complain about any operating costs or comfort?
17:46Nope, no complaints.
17:47All right, I think we just sort of keep this out as a budget item for now, unless somebody
17:51comes along and wants this all to be finished, and if we start modifying this ductwork enough,
17:55then maybe we change it all out.
17:57But for right now, I'd say leave it, okay?
17:58Good with me.
17:59On the third floor, I want to show you something, though.
18:02Up here on the third floor, we have two bedrooms, a full bath, and really no plans to touch this
18:06space.
18:07All right, well, this original ductwork never came up here, so somebody added a separate system.
18:11You can see the thermostat here.
18:13Here's the return.
18:14I was up here snooping around a little earlier, and what I did was I looked at the air handler
18:20that sits up here and checked out the installation, and what I also did is I stuck a thermometer
18:27up in here.
18:29So, what do you see?
18:31120?
18:31120.
18:32It's not even the heart of the summer yet.
18:34It's unbelievable.
18:34So, think about it.
18:36Somebody put this air handler in up here, and they put it, and they put it above the insulation,
18:41so it's sitting with no insulation outboard of it.
18:43So, now that means it's trying to cool today.
18:46It wants to make 60-degree air.
18:47It's sitting in 120 degrees.
18:49It's working twice as hard as it should.
18:51In the winter, it's even worse.
18:52I see it all the time.
18:53So, you thought you had no work up here.
18:55There's a little bit of insulation.
18:56A little bit of work.
18:57Just a little bit.
18:58We can handle it, though.
18:59It's going to make it better.
18:59Okay, Mark, this is Brendan, and he's here to help us today.
19:09Not sure if it was his idea or his parents.
19:12It was mine.
19:13It was him.
19:13It was him.
19:14All right.
19:14Great answer.
19:15Good answer.
19:15Good answer.
19:16So, we're going to lift all this brick, put it on a pallet, and we're going to incorporate
19:20it into a new patio.
19:21Okay.
19:22Excellent.
19:22Reuse.
19:23I always love to get started.
19:25I have my brick hammer.
19:26That's going to let me get in, and it's going to be easy to peel these brick back.
19:30We're just going to keep going until all the brick are on pallets.
19:34Brendan, you'll get a brick tong.
19:36Clamp that brick.
19:37Walk it over to the pallet.
19:38We're going to stack them.
19:43You don't have to go to the gym today, you know?
19:45You're going to go the opposite way on the second tier.
19:51All right.
19:52I think this is as heavy as we can get this pallet.
19:56And we are done.
20:22Now the bricks are out of the way.
20:24We can start removing this deck, because this is where the new addition is going.
20:27Right.
20:27I was looking at these railings, and they may be able to repurpose them.
20:31All right.
20:31Here's the first one.
20:33All right.
20:37Ready?
20:38I'm going to give it a little bit.
20:39Got it.
20:41If we can't use them here, I'm sure we can find a home for them.
20:44Oh, I have no doubt.
20:45Got it?
20:54Yep.
20:58I think we should just cut it up in sections, a couple of floor joists at a time.
21:05We'll use the machine to take each section and throw it right in the dumpster.
21:08All right.
21:09We'll use the machine to do less than T-shirts.
21:18And we're getting to see if we can get it on.
21:21It's not as if we can get it.
21:22That's an amazing
21:23energy in the dumpster.
21:24I've got here with me.
21:25Look at that.
21:26Good...
21:27It's new here with me.
21:28Look at that.
21:29You know what?
21:30It's a different.
21:30They are better position.
21:31You know, we don't give us a chance
21:32to take us away if we want this new honour.
21:34We have to do much damage in the moment.
21:34We wait on it, and we lose that much longer.
21:36We can't be vcome.
22:07Well, we made some pretty good progress out here today.
22:11We really did.
22:12So a little bit, some more selective demo to go on the porch.
22:15We're going to bring an excavator next and excavate this entire area for the new basement.
22:18That's going to be great.
22:19And we got a lot of demo to do inside.
22:21What we really want to do also is take out all the kitchen cabinets, save some of them for a pantry area.
22:26So I think we've made some great progress and looking forward to that.
22:29So till next time, I'm Tom Silva.
22:31And I'm Charlie Silva.
22:33Here in Needham, Massachusetts, for this old house.
22:36And that's need them, not need ham.
22:41Next time on This Old House.
22:43I'll show you a few tips on removing kitchen cabinets that are going to be reused.
22:47All right, you got it there, sonny?
22:49I do.
22:49And we've got not one, not two, but three concrete pours to form the foundation for the new addition.
22:56Then we're going to remove this chimney from top to bottom, brick by brick.
23:00You realize there's three and a half stories of brick here, right?
23:03We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:04A boat?
23:05A dumpster.
23:05That makes more sense.
23:35We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:36We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:37We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:38We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:39We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:40We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:41We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:42We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:43We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:44We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:45We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:46We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:47We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:48We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:49We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:50We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:51We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:52We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:53We're going to need a bigger boat.
23:54We're going to need a bigger boat.
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