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00:05on ask this old house our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house
00:17today Morrow teaches a homeowner how to paint their ceiling and you're gonna get
00:22really close to the crown now you go back and you spread the paint then Nathan discusses the
00:29options available in home siding and do your floors squeak boy that floor has a lot to say
00:36there doesn't it Tommy helps a homeowner make his floors nice and quiet all that on ask this old house
00:51hello hello welcome nice to meet you come on in nice house look at this yeah this is
00:59our little home we've been working really hard to finish the kitchen over the last year so you
01:04renovated all of this it's pretty good yeah job here looks nice thank you and then now we're
01:11focused on finishing up our living room all right so what are we doing here in this room so we're
01:17trying to finish the ceiling when we painted the walls we put tape up to do the molding and
01:22when we peeled it off we took away like a lot of the old paint so it's all chipped in
01:26the corners you
01:27didn't paint the ceiling we did not paint the ceiling came already done yes all right and then
01:31when you pull the tape off some of the paint came right up that's right we can fix that all
01:35right
01:36great so do we have a color for this ceiling already I'm thinking just like white nice and
01:40clean right that's a good idea because you're gonna brighten up this place a lot yeah all right
01:45so you're ready I'm ready I'm gonna step out get some materials what we need and we're going to
01:50work okay thank you okay Melissa before paint preparation has to be done and one part of the
01:58preparation is for us to remove as much of this furniture to the next room okay well couch is
02:06protect floors protect and I like to find out what's up there so I want to pull this leg down
02:13and let's
02:13find out what we have well what we have here is like this blown-in insulation that makes a huge
02:26dust
02:26when you open this yeah pull the lights down so in this case we're gonna put this light back we're
02:32gonna have to cut around with the brush nice and easy just like that okay and then we roll the
02:38field
02:39great but before we do that we have to protect all the walls so what kind of tape are we
02:45using
02:45we're using what we call painter's tape okay it comes in different colors and different thickness
02:51so this one here is like a medium adhesion yeah you can go on the surface really well but you
02:57have a
02:57limit time that you can keep the tape on the surface okay and then you have to pull the temple
03:01probably
03:02this is what happens over there wrong kind of tape or you wait too long to pull out yeah we
03:08when we
03:08moved in we left it on there and so I bet you we just left it on yeah I know
03:12you have time to put
03:14on and yeah you have to respect the limit the time for you to take it off all right let's
03:21go to work
03:21all right time for you and I to do our cutting lines okay what I like when a cutting line
03:30on ceiling I
03:31like the angle brush okay because I can see everything that I'm doing because that angle there and you're
03:38going to get really close to the crown okay really with this tip here okay and then you spread the
03:46paint and we don't need to use primer or anything before we do this well if you have like a
03:51raw plaster
03:51never painted before then you use a primer got it okay and another situation and when you have like
03:57glossy paint and you want to turn into a flat finish yeah then you put a coat of primer on
04:03it okay all right
04:04but other than that this has been done with the flat interior paint so we're going to go with the
04:09white on top got it okay okay cool so here's where we go and go like this okay and use
04:15the front tip
04:16yes and then you drag around then you spread the paint just like that you want to give it a
04:22try sure
04:23I'll try it here we go let's see how much paint do I put on the brush just enough just
04:28don't don't dig too
04:29much yes nice and easy go really close just don't need to go fast so it's nice and easy yeah
04:36okay now
04:39you go back and you spread the paint do we have to use ceiling paint in specific or can I
04:44use wall
04:44paint as well you can use whatever you want it's about preference sometimes you have like the wall
04:49which is most popular finishes eggshell yeah you want to see eggshell on the ceiling but I like the flat
04:55because the flat doesn't attract so much light got it I don't see any paint on your hands on yourself
05:02pretty good that's a pro would I get an a get an a plus well when you paint me uh
05:11-huh three important
05:12things for you to uh to know about so number one the correct amount of paint on your brush number
05:19two
05:19speed number three consistence mmm throughout then the paint job will fly when it's time to roll right
05:31same thing again the three steps are how much paints on your roller speed consistency beautiful great job
05:40and you go just like that not a lot of pressure just enough to release the paint from the roll
05:46I feel
05:48that you're holding it at an angle am I supposed to do that or doing you are well number one
05:52you
05:53don't want your roller to be right on top of your face like that usually how I do it because
05:57you're
05:57going to take not only the same about yourself also right you're gonna have an angle like this so
06:03you can see better what you are doing okay when I give it a try all right I'll do my
06:09best all right
06:18this is quite the arm workout oh it is who needs a gym
06:27first coat is done let's let it dry we'll come back and we put the second and final coat on
06:34it is the same process as we did before cut in the edges and then we can use the roller
06:56what do you think look at the ceiling looks so much better better brighter yeah the room
07:02actually looks finished finally and even the walls looks much better now with that ceiling color yeah
07:06complete well we did it so it looks great now you know how to do it yes I know you
07:12have more
07:12things to do around your house but if you just need some help let me know of course thank you
07:17so
07:18much I really appreciate your help thank you oh look at you guys with your meters you're serving
07:29coffee with this conversation if you want some what am I looking at so you're looking at kind
07:33of the history of electric utility meters that we'll see on homes that we have so one of the first
07:37ones that we used to see was the analog meter this glass case mechanical yeah mechanical you see
07:42the rotating dial in there right and you look at it the more power you use the faster that one
07:47the
07:48you do clock up you know you'd see it and then someone have to walk by your house for the
07:51utility
07:51company write down the meter number write down the total amount of kilowatt hours you used subtract
07:56it from what you used the previous month and send you a bill right so that was the old school
07:59analog
08:00style analog indeed this guy digital so there's a push to go on to these and most of us probably
08:05have the digital versions now the nice thing about this it's a little more accurate but it also has the
08:09ability to have one-way communication meaning they can remotely read the meter nobody walking by
08:14nobody has to walk by you can drive by or it can go back to the utility so then what's
08:18that so that
08:19is smart meter 1.0 these offer a little more information they start to monitor your energy usage these
08:24have the ability for two-way communication and the thing for the two-way is you have the ability to
08:29remotely shut those off so if you have an issue at a house you have first responders coming you have
08:34a gas leak a fire going on the utility company can know before anyone arrives disconnect the power
08:39so the house is sending information to the utility one way but the utility sending direction back that's
08:44the second correct that's right and this is gonna happen every 15 minutes it's gonna ship that data
08:47every 15 minutes so they know what's going on but it's not true real time what's coming though is smart
08:52meter 2.0
08:53so the next version of this will be real time so we're talking about a lot of data high resolution
08:59instantaneously so they can see exactly at any moment if you lose power in that house they know it if
09:03there's an outage in that area they can see exactly which houses are affected so it gives them a lot
09:08more granularity
09:09the other part of it for the consumer is that they're allowed to log in from their computer and
09:14see how much energy they're using real time right excited he gets with that excited well you get to
09:19use you know an actual app versus seeing the dial spin right and then you can affect energy behavior and
09:24hopefully reduce the load in that house he loves this he does i do you know what i do now
09:28too thank you for
09:29the information i don't even need coffee to get through this conversation it's actually pretty interesting
09:37hey nathan hey kevin how's it going it's going all right looks like we got some siding discussion going
09:41on yeah i'm getting a lot of phone calls about siding jobs right now so yeah i know i know
09:46it's
09:46i love doing it it's a good job but people always have questions i presume they're asking you what
09:51should they use and what's the best for them and it all is driven off of their budget of course
09:55but i want
09:55to go over some of the most basic ones especially the ones we see here in new england to start
09:59with the
09:59most cost effective one is vinyl siding yeah it's a good product this is a double four here
10:04nice white color double four meaning you're going to get four inch exposure four inch exposure so
10:09you're almost you're running two courses at one time right it goes up nice and quick okay and people
10:14love it they can go over their old siding with it which we see a ton yep you're going to
10:19see this a lot
10:20on new construction jobs you're going to see it a lot on siding remodels again easy to put in easy
10:25to
10:25maintain just a good product i actually like the way it snaps in you know you get a nice tight
10:31joint
10:31right there so your installation is going to go quickly and from the homeowner's perspective
10:36satisfaction is going to be instant and they're never going to repaint that no no pressure wash it
10:40once a year and you're good what i like too about vinyl siding is if they're replacing a window or
10:44a
10:44door i can go unzip everything do the job and then just zip it back up we see it everywhere
10:48although
10:49not our first choice for historic homes but a cost effective option very good we are very partial to wood
10:55and i am too cedar is my favorite material to work with i like cedar shingles i like cedar clapboards
11:01they have a timeless look you see them in a lot of houses in the area these ones have got
11:05primers on
11:06them and you know natural material tapered which is key for you so i can adjust my coursing i can
11:11adjust my exposure so i can take my cedar clapboards here traditionally it's going to be a four inch
11:16exposure exposure being this dimension the face to the weather and then as i get close to maybe the top
11:21of a door or window i can adjust this ever so slightly to hit the top to keep that clean
11:25line
11:25so that is not something that you can do for example you know with vinyl whereas you can make
11:30the coursing like that you get what you get with the vinyl exactly once you set your first course down
11:34below that's driven all the way up the wall in terms of cost you got a sense of you know
11:38the
11:38difference between vinyl and wood wood's going to be the most expensive right now and then vinyl is
11:43going to be the cheapest okay and then in terms of maintenance as i said never going to repaint
11:47that how frequently you're going to repaint this let's say every seven to ten years yeah you know
11:51and it may be some sanding too so there's a little bit more maintenance with that okay so probably in
11:56the middle yeah in the middle we're going to go with fiber cement siding you can get it primed you
12:00can
12:00get it painted with a finish coat we have a cedar mill face here and a smooth face okay you
12:05can even
12:05get it for different exposures we're talking about so here this is a four inch so we have a nice
12:10four inch exposure here we have a seven inch exposure this one's raw no primer paint on it this is
12:15a
12:15man-made material man-made the name pretty much tells us all we need to know fiber cement it's
12:19a cementitious material cement sand and wood pulp really yeah what else yeah huh well despite the
12:27fact that might have some wood pulp it really stands up it is rot resistant it is pest resistant
12:31it's a really good product and if you're gonna have to repaint cedar let's well vinyl never see
12:37ever say every seven years how frequently do you have to repaint this 10 to 15 years so that's a
12:41big
12:41bonus yeah yeah definitely do you enjoy working with it I don't mind it I like snapping it I get
12:45a nice clean cut you don't get as much adjustability with your exposure to hit your tops of your doors
12:52and windows so this one's set up for four inches four inches you're good if you try and shrink it
12:57a
12:57little bit you get a little bit more rock so as you crawl up your sidewall as you look up
13:01you would
13:01see a little bit of a shadow line there which you don't really want to see so so so less
13:05adjustment
13:05there maybe choose a different fiber cement product if you want different exposures or you have to think way
13:10ahead you need to be pulling measurements to the tops of your doors and windows making sure you're
13:14adjust you're running your courses perfectly to hit and in terms of cost where does it fall I would
13:20say it's right in the middle I would say most expensive right in the middle vinyl is going to
13:24be your cheapest but then even within each type of siding there's you know more expensive options good
13:29well it's nice to see the options here in front of us thank you good
13:39hey Tommy hey Anthony how are you thanks for coming oh my pleasure wow looks like you've done
13:44some work in here yeah kitchen extensive renovations last year very nice this is by my grandparents house
13:52oh really my wife and I bought it last year we have a two and a half year old son
13:56and uh how long did
13:59your grandparents own it over 70 years so wow yeah it's been in the family and we're lucky to have
14:04another generation come through well it's a keeper absolutely well it really looks good so but what did
14:09you call me for oh we have one persistent problem upstairs upstairs yep all right we'll lead the way
14:14let's see what's going on there's always something yeah the stairway is really nice I like the metal
14:20ballisters and the flat handrail kind of contemporized it thank you yeah we replaced the treads
14:25and then we pulled up the carpet because we love the flooring underneath and yeah it's beautiful yeah
14:29it's existing to the house and then um this is my son's bedroom here oh it's nice and bright and
14:34we
14:34we run into some issues when we're putting him to bed at night with this floor right outside of his
14:40door
14:40boy that floor has a lot to say there doesn't it yeah it's very hard to be discreet yeah I
14:46can see
14:46right there that somebody tried to tighten it up by nailing it right down through
14:51well I've made a mock-up and I brought it with me and I can show you exactly what's going
14:55on with
14:56the floor system and the structure below awesome let's take a look it's downstairs all right Anthony
15:02this represents your floor system so you can understand what's down below the floor start
15:07off with the finish floor a subfloor and the structure the subfloor would be nailed to the
15:13structure with a nail like that and what happens is your house expands and contracts all the time with
15:18humidity and dryness in some cases if the nail isn't into the structure nice and tight or if
15:24there's a void or a knot or something like that when the structure expands it gets bigger and it can
15:31actually pull the nail up as the board is swelling and then when it dries the nail is left up
15:37ever so
15:38slightly now you have something that's loose right here and when you step on it this structure and the
15:47and the subfloor is squeaking on the nail itself so what we need to do is we need to tighten
15:54all these
15:54up like they took the nails upstairs and they drove nails down through the finish floor through the
16:00subfloor into the structure and put it down ever so slightly bringing the sandwich all down and making it
16:09nice and tight okay okay but we don't want to see the head to the nail but they actually make
16:13a kit that has
16:14this attachment here and a special screw that goes through the attachment like that and you drive
16:22the screw and it goes through both pieces with this tight to the top of the finish floor goes through
16:27the finish floor through the subfloor into the structure pulling all of this sandwich down nice
16:33and tight all right so now if you look at the screw and I take it out of the attachment
16:38right here you can
16:39see the smooth part of the shank and where the thread begins there's a little line that goes all the
16:44way around the screw right there and that is designed so the torque of the drill driver snaps the head
16:51off
16:51and you'll end up with two pieces and the screw has broken off right below the finish of the floor
16:58and
16:59the floor won't squeak anymore and we'll never see it that's right first thing we need to do is find
17:05a
17:05a joist down below and the joist should if these nails are into the structure right here that helps
17:11us unfortunately I don't think the house is framed 16 on center it's probably random framed so if I just
17:18lay my tape measure up like that and I say well okay there should be a joist here another one
17:25over
17:25here well I know there's got to be one there by this wall but let's say if I take and
17:30I try to find it
17:31by sound that sounds that sounds a little hollow right so I'm looking for a sound change or a more
17:46solid
17:46sound sound let's put it that way. Hear the change in the sound? Yeah.
17:57So right at the 24 mark. Let's try one right there. So what I'll do is I'll take this bit
18:05with a very small amount of
18:07thread on it and a smooth shaft so when I drill through the floor with this part of it I
18:13get through the floor into the
18:14subfloor if there's no structure underneath I should be able to push this right down if there's structure
18:21underneath it will pull the drill down with it so we'll give it a try let's try I'm going to
18:26try on the
18:2724 number so let's see what happens
18:46no structure there
18:53nothing there
18:54nothing there all right so I'm going to try right here
19:05there's one right there
19:07so that thread is into the joist I can feel it pulling down if I put the drill in reverse
19:12and I try to hold the drill
19:14down if there's no structure there I will be able to hold the drill if there is structure there
19:20the thread will push me out
19:23so it pushed me out a little bit
19:25so there is structure there so let's put a little piece of blue tape right there
19:30shows where the joist is
19:33now if I take a measurement let's go from the edge of the floor in here over 12 inches
19:4112 inches here
19:44you get 12 inches that lines up with that
19:47so what I'm going to do is we'll try and drill a screw
19:51and see if it grabs
19:54is there anything we want to listen for or you'll feel it
19:57well you'll actually hear it you should hear it snap or pop
20:01okay
20:02and if I do it right and it grabs into enough structure it'll snap right below the
20:06finish level of the floor
20:15all right
20:15why don't you stand on the board right there
20:18push everything down tight
20:20ready
20:21yep
20:24didn't snap
20:30okay let me try one more right here beside it
20:33this is old framing structure could be a little bit too soft
20:44oh
20:45that's right there
20:46okay so we're into structure right there
20:49let's try one more right here
20:51I'll just push down and pull the trigger full blast
20:57there you go
20:57there we go
20:58pull it up
21:00all right now let's try stepping on that again
21:02okay
21:05all right let's try one more right beside that one
21:10full blast
21:14boom
21:16all right so walk in from the hall
21:17okay
21:20that's pretty quiet
21:21I'll walk out
21:24so much better
21:25so much better
21:26yeah
21:26yeah
21:27so it doesn't sound too good
21:29or it sounds good
21:30the lack of sound is good
21:32all right
21:33so now what we got to do is we got to fill the holes
21:35okay
21:35so we get some wax sticks
21:37three different colors
21:38you see there's different tones in the floor
21:40so you just pick one
21:41go back and forth
21:42work it into the hole to fill it up
21:44not going to match it exact
21:46but we want to try to blend it
21:48so blend the colors together
21:50a little bit of this
21:51a little bit of that
21:54keep working it in
21:55working it around
21:56come back to this one
22:00go back to this one
22:06buff it
22:10looks pretty good
22:11cleansed right in
22:12yep
22:12all right
22:13let's see how it looks
22:14now that it's all cleaned up
22:16whoa
22:16I think it looks pretty good
22:18can't even tell we're up here drilling holes
22:20give a little test
22:21oh wow
22:22what a difference
22:22don't even hear anything
22:23that's so much better
22:24well hopefully all you hear is your son snoring
22:26thank you so much for coming Tommy
22:28my pleasure
22:29so if you've got questions about your house
22:31we'd love to hear from you
22:32until then
22:33I'm Tom Silva
22:34for Ask This Old House
22:42next time on Ask This Old House
22:45Ross discusses the advancements
22:47in water tank technology
22:50and works with a homeowner
22:51to install a solar thermal unit
22:54then
22:54do you have problems
22:56with house plant pests
22:57Jen gives advice
22:59on how to get rid of them
23:01and
23:01Nathan helps a homeowner
23:03get better access to their attic
23:04by installing
23:05pull down stairs
23:07all that
23:08on Ask This Old House
23:10on Ask This Old House
23:40you
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