- 13 hours ago
This Old House - Season 47 Episode 13 - Needham: Pouring It On
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00:00Today on This Old House.
00:03I'll show you a few tips on removing kitchen cabinets that are going to be reused.
00:07Then we're going to remove this chimney from top to bottom, brick by brick.
00:11You realize there's three and a half stories of brick here, right?
00:13Uh, that's right.
00:15We're going to need a bigger boat.
00:16A boat?
00:17A dumpster.
00:18That makes more sense.
00:19Ah, that's it.
00:49Hey, good morning, Charlie.
01:18Hey, good morning, Charlie.
01:19Hey, Kevin.
01:20Hey there.
01:21Welcome to suburban Needham, Massachusetts, where we're working on this house right here,
01:24built in 1896, and working for a family of five that's lived here for about seven years
01:29or so, and that entire time they've been thinking about the renovation, how to reconfigure the
01:33floor plan, and what addition they could put on.
01:36Well, now that they made that decision, the first order of business was for Charlie to
01:39get some heavy equipment into the backyard so that he could start excavating for a 600-square-foot addition.
01:45We had to move an old river birch tree out of the way and pull up an adjacent brick sidewalk.
01:50That work was done by Jen and Mark and the homeowner's teenage son, Brendan.
01:53Look at you.
01:54Professional.
01:55But today, it's all about demo, so I'm headed inside to see what Pops has gotten himself
02:00into.
02:03Now, you can see down here on the first floor, the original floors were pulled up because these
02:07are getting replaced.
02:10Hey, Tommy.
02:11Hey, Kevin.
02:12How are you?
02:13Doing all right.
02:14Looks like you got started.
02:15Yeah.
02:16The homeowner's had a good idea that they could use some of these cabinets in the new pantry.
02:19Right.
02:20So, the architect took some measurements, and he marked save on all the cabinets that he
02:24thought would fit into that area.
02:26So, I started by taking down this cabinet here.
02:29I took down the hood this morning, and the stove got moved outside out of the way, so Greg
02:34helped me with that.
02:35So, how do you feel about the idea of reusing them?
02:37I think it's a great idea.
02:38Whenever you have cabinets in this condition, I mean, they're a beautiful shape.
02:41The cherry with the birch veneer inside.
02:44No sags in any of the doors.
02:46Everything looks pretty even.
02:47Great.
02:48First time I saw them, I was shocked that they were 30 years old.
02:50Can you believe it?
02:51Yeah.
02:52So, all right.
02:53I'll give you a hand.
02:54All right.
02:55We'll get started by separating these pieces here.
02:56The first thing I want to do is take that crown molding down.
02:59So, we needed a couple of different size flat bars.
03:02A chisel is always good to get in behind the crown molding.
03:05And a couple of hammers.
03:07Pull that right out.
03:08All right.
03:09You got it there, Sonny?
03:10I do.
03:12All right.
03:13I got one nail in this.
03:16Yeah.
03:17I'm going to snap this.
03:18Here you go.
03:19You got it.
03:26All right.
03:27Just screw it right here.
03:35Nope.
03:36Not going to get it.
03:37Right enough.
03:38All right.
03:39So, this cabinet has three screws in it into a stud.
03:51So, when you're taking a cabinet down so it doesn't fall on you, a couple of things that
03:55I like to think about.
03:56First of all, how heavy is it?
03:58If it's too heavy, then I make up a little frame with a leg, which I used over here.
04:02And it's just out of some scrap wood that fits underneath the cabinet.
04:06And you put it in there so it's under the front so the cabinet doesn't fall forward on you.
04:11And then, now what I'm going to do is I'm just going to take the bottom screw out.
04:16All right.
04:21I've already loosened the middle screw.
04:23That way I know it's going to come right out.
04:25Now, I'll go up and take the top screw out.
04:34All right.
04:35Now, because this cabinet is so small and so light, I can just fold it down.
04:41Break that seal at the bottom.
04:43I got it.
04:44Carry it away.
04:45The wire comes, feeds right into the back.
04:53These are really tiny screws, so this can be right out.
04:57The lights are going to, aren't going to be reused.
05:04The power is off, so we can just cut the wire.
05:09Here you go.
05:10If you see a flash, then the power's not off.
05:20Wire cutter.
05:21You run, I run.
05:24And nippers.
05:25Fantastic for pulling nails.
05:27All right, so I'm going to put the wire in the back.
05:28Now, I'm going to put the wire in the back.
05:30All right, so we got that out of the way.
05:31It shelved out.
05:32So now I got my temporary leg and put it in here, probably about a third of the way it
05:38back, because if the weight comes down, if I put it back here, it could pivot and then
05:44roll right far.
05:45Put it here. Helpfully keep the cabinet at the top against the wall as it comes down
05:49Then we can just roll it off of that and carry it away safely
05:54Time to pull out all the screws
06:02Got it
06:04All right, that's free
06:09All right now
06:11There we go
06:15Good
06:21It's just gonna come up
06:24So I'd like to get it up, but then I got to get it that way I get to get it out from under the tile
06:29So let me get let me get this bottom row tile up
06:45Pick it up just a little so I can get under it here
06:51There it is, man
06:53Okay
06:55There it is, man
06:57There it is, man
06:59Okay
07:01Hey, why don't you just put it right up on top of the cabin
07:15And we can put that in the barrel
07:17Okay, we can put that in the barrel
07:19Okay
07:23There it is, man
07:25That looks pretty good, you can definitely reuse these
07:29Absolutely, clean them up, paint them, whatever you want to do, but they'll look brand new when they're in
07:35All set
07:37Come on
07:39Come on
07:41Come on
07:42Come on
07:43Come on
07:44Come on
07:45Well, that's it
07:47Come on
07:48Wow
07:49There it is
07:50Yeah
07:51That looks pretty good, you can definitely reuse these
07:52Absolutely
07:53Clean them up, paint them, whatever you want to do, but they'll look brand new when they're in
07:58Well, the architect's plan calls for this chimney to come all the way down through the
08:19first floor.
08:20Okay, so Charlie, the first thing I noticed is this is actually a rebuild, and the way
08:25I can tell is I can look at this brick, it's called a 53DD.
08:29It's only been around for 40 or 50 years.
08:32And another thing, I see some things I don't like.
08:34You can see these head joints, they're a little bit too wide, they let water in, that's a problem.
08:40You can see the moss that's actually growing all the way around the chimney, another indication
08:44that we're taking in way too much water.
08:46Alright, when do you get started?
08:47What we're going to do is we're going to start with this cap removal.
08:51We're going to use some unconventional tools.
08:53You can see this is a railroad spike.
08:56But the reason I like it is because it has a flat part right here, and that bevel is actually
09:01going to help me get under the bed joint and under the brick.
09:04I'm going to be able to pry it up off of that bevel.
09:06I'm going to work myself all the way around and then down.
09:09Alright.
09:10The next tool that I'm going to use is a flat chisel.
09:13This is going to help me get under this metal cap, pry that up, and that's the first thing
09:17that we're going to do is remove this.
09:18Alright, why don't I hold onto it and you hit it.
09:20Okay.
09:21It's on there.
09:22Good.
09:23Yep.
09:24Coming up.
09:25Coming up.
09:26There you go.
09:28Here we go.
09:29Alright.
09:30Got that, Charlie?
09:31Yeah.
09:32So there's two flues here.
09:35One was for the heating?
09:36Yes.
09:37Other fireplace, right?
09:38Exactly.
09:39Way to go.
09:40Let's get them out.
09:42Alright.
09:43So let's make a trip down and come right back up.
09:46Sounds good.
09:47Alright.
09:48For some of these we can drop down through the flue.
09:49Sure.
09:50You know what?
09:51Let's see how it works.
09:52Ha-boom.
09:53Success.
09:54Well, hopefully we don't even have to use the buckets.
10:01Now as we know, Charlie, the lead flashing is only up here to protect the counter flashing.
10:07That's right.
10:08A lot of people think that the lead flashing is meant to keep water out, which it does partly,
10:28but its main function is just protecting the roof for its flash.
10:34That's right.
10:35Yeah, I can play for the Celtics.
10:37So, Mark, this is a piece of flue from the two sections we've already taken out.
10:41This is clearly in great shape compared to the existing flue.
10:44Right.
10:45What do you think?
10:46Alright, so it's just more indication that this chimney at one point, probably in the 80s,
10:51came down to the roof line, and that's where they started the new flue right here.
10:55You can see the decay indicating age, and then as it came back up with the new brick,
11:00we put new flue tile in, and that's what you have in your hand.
11:03In my eyes, I do see 40 or 50 years worth of soot and grime on that new flue.
11:09Alright, that makes sense.
11:17Alright, Charlie, look at this.
11:19That's just a chunk of mortar of what we've just taken out.
11:22You can see how gray it is.
11:23Yeah.
11:24That's actually Portland cement mixed with lime and sand.
11:28But as we got lower into the roof line where the old work existed,
11:33but look at the stuff that we've taken from the 1800s.
11:36Clear difference.
11:37Clear difference.
11:38This is a heavy lime-based mortar.
11:40The advent of Portland cement was probably 1920.
11:43And it was in good enough shape to add on to it.
11:45Exactly.
11:46You didn't have to bring it all the way down.
11:47Exactly.
11:48Exactly.
11:49Great point.
11:50We're going to go through the roof line now.
11:51Okay.
11:52We're going to work our way through the little attic space and down in through the other floors.
11:55Alright, Charlie.
11:56So what's the plan?
11:57Typically, we would build a wood box and you'd veneer it.
11:59Yeah.
12:00But not in this case.
12:01It's not in the budget.
12:02Okay.
12:03But I have bigger plans for this access point.
12:04We're going to use it to get in here to insulate this whole roof line of the attic,
12:09because our heating system is going to live in this space.
12:12And that way you can keep it temperature controlled.
12:14Alright.
12:15Well, I hate to say it, but another chimney bites the dust.
12:17Yeah, but it did have a good life.
12:18Sure did.
12:25Oh, whoa.
12:26Alright, look.
12:28A chocolate bar from the 1980s, which is typical.
12:32A mason such as myself will put keepsakes into a rebuild.
12:36And when something like this happens.
12:39Very cool.
12:40They're going to find them.
12:45Alright, let's head inside.
12:46Let's go.
12:51Alright.
12:52Well, we've made quick work of coming through the attic and now we're in the third floor bedroom.
12:56We have, you can see, Charlie, that we still have the same water, so it's making it pretty easy for us.
13:01We're just going to keep cracking and we'll be done.
13:03Alright.
13:04Let's go.
13:05Alright, let's go.
13:06Alright, let's go.
13:07Alright, let's go.
13:08Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor, we'll move down to the second floor.
13:09Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor, we'll move down to the second floor.
13:10Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor.
13:12Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor.
13:13Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor, we'll move down to the second floor.
13:16Now that we've brought the chimney down through the third floor, we'll move down to the third floor.
13:30You know, Charlie, I thought we needed a bigger boat, but I think we need bigger buckets.
13:46We do, we need a lot of them.
13:48You know, this is going to add about four extra square feet in the laundry room on the second floor, which means you're going to be able to put a sink in here now.
13:54Okay, that's good.
13:55Alright, let's get moving.
13:56Alright, let's get moving.
13:57Let's keep at it.
14:02Hey Charlie, we hot enough yet?
14:04Hot enough. I will say one thing, it looks like we've had a good day's work.
14:06Right. Guys like us love to work like this anyway, so check this fireplace out though.
14:10We do. So the homeowners told me this fireplace was redone about in the 90s.
14:14So what do you think the backstory is?
14:15So the backstory is kitty corner fireplaces back in the 90s, for whatever reason, became very trendy.
14:21But I'll tell you what grabs my eye, Charlie, is this big lump of stucco right here.
14:26Beyond that stucco is all the mechanics of a fireplace.
14:28So you have your smoke chamber, your smoke shelf, your throat, everything's involved right here.
14:32And they just stuccoed it like crazy because they didn't want any smoke to leak out.
14:36And it looks like it worked.
14:37Looks like they did a good job because I don't see any smoke coming out of this stucco.
14:41It is in front of us right now, it's the last one we have to demo, the last floor, so we might as well get at it so we can get out of here.
14:46Alright, let's do it.
14:47Alright, let's do it, Charlie.
14:51Alright, let's do it.
15:19Marcus, nice to meet you.
15:28Kevin, how are you?
15:29Well, thank you.
15:30So, architect of record for us.
15:32And I also am told that you had a hand and a decision to have the old chimney taken out?
15:36Yes.
15:37Working with Patrick and Liz over the last six months has been exciting.
15:41Creating the new vision for their house.
15:44This had to go.
15:45This gives us 40 square feet across the whole house by doing this.
15:49And so what is it that they asked you to do, the things that were on their list?
15:53So less crowding in the small rooms around when they're entertaining and just generally.
15:59They wanted to create a new formal dining room over here.
16:04So this was the old living room.
16:05The old living room.
16:06We're making it a more formal space.
16:08They're not going to use it that much.
16:09Right.
16:10But we will, even though we took that fireplace out, we're going to put a new one here which vents directly to the outside.
16:16So you're creating a wall right here you're basically saying?
16:18Roughly, yeah.
16:19Yeah, yeah.
16:20Roughly there.
16:21This then allows us to create a new living room through here.
16:24Wall comes down, correct?
16:25This wall comes down.
16:26Yep.
16:27Opening up this space.
16:29So this was the old dining room.
16:31Yes.
16:32Now it's the living room.
16:33Switcheroo.
16:34We're going to take this wall out as well.
16:36She very much likes this piece of the house.
16:39Can't blame her.
16:40We're going to use that over there in the formal dining room.
16:43Right.
16:44And you're putting a beam in?
16:45Yes.
16:46Which runs from the rear of the house to the front.
16:49The wall is 22 feet long, 17 inches deep.
16:52Very significant.
16:53Weighs a ton.
16:54But it can carry all the way to both.
16:56It'll carry the load of the house.
16:57Okay.
16:58So now this sort of new family room is open to the kitchen.
17:02Because you said that wall comes down.
17:04We did a little work in here this morning.
17:06We're going to save some of the cabinets.
17:08It was a pretty nice kitchen.
17:09I mean the cabinets looked great.
17:11And the only knock was too small and not very open.
17:14So we can't expand on either side.
17:17Can't go this way.
17:18Due to setback issues.
17:19Okay.
17:20So our opportunity is out back.
17:23That's our addition.
17:24We're making a three-story addition.
17:25But out back we're adding 200 square feet on this floor.
17:28So it allows the kitchen to be much bigger.
17:30We'll have an open plan and an island here as a division between the living room and the kitchen.
17:35Opens everything up because that's the way people live today.
17:38Correct.
17:39So final question.
17:40Are these quaint?
17:41But we know we could fix that.
17:43Why are they still staying?
17:44Well, we did try and convince Liz and Patrick to get rid of that.
17:49No one really liked it.
17:50It was kind of a barrier.
17:52But Liz likes it.
17:54So they're part of this old house.
17:56So we decided to keep them.
17:57You had me at that.
17:58Marcus, I appreciate it.
17:59Look forward to working with you.
18:00Absolutely.
18:01Absolutely.
19:07Charlie.
19:08Kevin.
19:09Looks like we got some concrete work going on, huh?
19:13Come on down here where the action is.
19:15What's the scope of this whole thing?
19:18So the other day we poured our footings.
19:20There's nine yards of concrete in the footing and a lot of rebar.
19:25Then they set our foundation forms and are pouring them now.
19:30After that sets, tomorrow they will strip all of these forms.
19:34And you see what we discovered here during excavation.
19:37This is not in good shape.
19:38It can easily fall in on us.
19:40So we cannot leave it like that.
19:41You knew it was going to be rubble stone, but you didn't think it was going to be this bad?
19:44It was great shape inside and it's but as bad as you can get on the outside.
19:47So what do you do about it?
19:48So all the rebar is in the footing and we're going to pour a 10-inch wall up to the bottom of this window here.
19:5410 inches thick all the way around and that will retain it all.
19:57So basically form on this side and let the concrete push into this?
20:01That's right.
20:02Oh, very nice.
20:03So this is for the addition, 600 feet, right?
20:06Yeah, 200 in the basement, 200 in the first, 200 in the second.
20:09Which means that if this is basement, do we want to connect it to the old basement?
20:12We do.
20:13And we've always planned on using this basement window opening because it already has a header in it.
20:17And we saw cut it.
20:18We would have saw cut it first if the stone was in good shape.
20:21If we saw cut this, it's just going to fall in on us.
20:24Yeah, I mean you can see when I came up that it's basically, you can look right through there.
20:28Oh yeah, it's in bad shape.
20:30So once this is poured, we're going to get our friend Ben in here and saw cut right down and then that will be our new opening.
20:36Ben with the big blade.
20:37Ben with the big blade.
20:38I love it.
20:39Okay, well Chuck is here so let's go see how this is going.
20:41Sounds good.
20:42Let's see how this is going.
20:43Sounds good.
20:44Turn the plane back.
20:45Okay.
20:54We'll see you soon.
20:56Let's go.
20:57Let's win.
20:59Okay.
21:00Let's go.
21:01This is the kitchen.
21:02You're ready.
21:03Let's go.
21:05You're ready.
21:06You're ready.
21:07You're ready.
21:08You're ready to change.
21:09I'm ready to change.
21:11After the one-sided concrete pour against the existing foundation was set, it was time
21:31to saw cut through both the new concrete and the old foundation to create a doorway that
21:36connects the basement with the new addition.
21:39The stone cutter then used a series of four different sized diamond blades ranging from
21:4532 to 54 inches.
21:53Once the opening was complete, Mark came in with mortar and hand tools to fill in any
21:58gaps for a smooth cohesive finish.
22:02Alright, nice to finally have this project underway, right?
22:07Oh, it feels great.
22:08And this makes a huge difference.
22:09Taking it down.
22:10Makes a huge difference.
22:11All the floors all the way up.
22:12You should have saw what we looked earlier.
22:14Mark and I got filthy doing this, but change of clothes, good as new.
22:18You look marvelous.
22:20Alright, so what's coming up next time?
22:21Well, now that we get the kitchen cabinets started to clear out, we're going to start
22:23removing some of these interior walls and really open up this first floor.
22:27Nice.
22:28And we'll be framing the new addition.
22:29Alright, well, all that next.
22:30So until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor.
22:31I'm Tom Silva.
22:32And I'm Charlie Silva.
22:33And I'm Charlie Silva.
22:34For this old house here in Needham, Mass.
22:39Next time on This Old House, home owners decide to change the aluminum siding and I'm going
22:46to be honest with you.
22:47I'm not sorry to see it go.
22:49Then we'll see what happens at that siding after it leaves the job site.
22:54And we're installing a new I-beam.
23:01It's about 3,500 pounds.
23:02We're going to jack it up and bolt it in place.
23:08That's next time.
23:24We'll see you soon.
23:25Bye.
23:26Bye.
23:27Bye.
23:28Bye.
23:29Bye.
23:31Bye.
23:37Bye.
23:39Bye.
23:41Bye.
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