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Ask This Old House - Season 24 - Episode 01: NOLA Lantern; Rusty Patio Set
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00:05On Ask This Old House, our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.
00:18Today, Heath heads to New Orleans to install locally made lanterns.
00:23That looks beautiful.
00:25Then, do you know how to stop an overflowing toilet?
00:30Richard gives a few tips on how to solve this problem.
00:33And Morrow shows how a fresh coat of paint can give new life to a rusty patio set.
00:39This looks fantastic.
00:41On Ask This Old House.
00:49I'm on my way to New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy.
00:53New Orleans is well known for a lot of things.
00:56Mardi Gras, jazz music, and a rich architectural history with housing styles like the Creole Cottage, the Shotgun, and the
01:02Greek Revival, just to name a few.
01:05But for me, what really excites me about New Orleans are the light fixtures.
01:09The streets are lined with beautiful lanterns, both gas and electric, that date back a hundred years.
01:14So today, I'm helping a homeowner replace her light fixtures with ones that are more suited to the style of
01:19the city.
01:19But first, I want to meet the local artisan who's going to show us just how those fixtures are made.
01:24Hi, Steven.
01:25Hi, Heath.
01:26Nice to meet you.
01:26Same here, buddy. Welcome to New Orleans.
01:28Thank you. I love coming to showrooms like this and seeing everything that you have on display.
01:31So, can you tell me a little bit about what you do here?
01:33Oh, for sure. So, we handcraft gas and electric lanterns.
01:36We make everything from scratch here and send them all across the United States.
01:40These things are beautiful.
01:41Yeah.
01:41If I understand correctly, you're kind of known for making one particular fixture that's pretty famous.
01:44Is it New Orleans style?
01:46Yeah. So, the New Orleans style, we actually call ours the Bourbon Street fixture.
01:49Okay.
01:49But you'll see it all through the greater New Orleans area and especially in the French Quarter.
01:52I'm pretty sure I have. Some different sizes, some larger ones and smaller ones, but same idea.
01:56For sure.
01:56What makes it New Orleans style?
01:57So, you know, gas lights have been in New Orleans since the 1800s and with the Spanish and French heritage,
02:03this definitely fits all the architectural styles you'll see downtown New Orleans.
02:06That you would have seen that kind of shape.
02:08For sure.
02:08And it looks like you make a little bit of everything, not just those.
02:11Correct. So, although we do a vast business in New Orleans, we ship lanterns all over the country and we
02:16need styles to fit that architecture as well.
02:18Got it. And I understand you're making a couple of light fixtures for our homeowner.
02:21Yes, sir.
02:21And they're not this style or something a little bit different?
02:23No, something really cool though. You want to take a look?
02:25I do want to take a look.
02:25Okay.
02:25Thanks.
02:28All right. So everything comes into our factory as a sheet of copper.
02:31So everything comes in like a raw sheet like this.
02:33Oh, yeah. Every week we get tons of copper delivered just like this.
02:35And this is pretty thick. Do you have different thicknesses you usually work with?
02:38Oh, yeah. We use 16 ounce, 20 ounce, and even some thicker grains.
02:41Depending on the fixture, how big it is and what you're building?
02:42Absolutely.
02:43All right.
02:44And Dennis right now, he's on the foot shear.
02:46We're going to break down some of the sheets into smaller pieces that we can handcraft and get these pictures.
02:50Okay. So he's just making all the parts smaller off of this sheet.
02:53Yes, sir.
02:56Now, Dennis is on the notcher, which cuts small angles into the side of the copper, and that allows us
03:02to bend and fold the metal.
03:03So that notch you're using right now is actually making a 90-degree cut, right? A nice, clean 90?
03:07Absolutely.
03:07Nice.
03:09Nice.
03:09So right now, we have Dennis with the hand snips, and that's to cut out some of the more decorative
03:13tops that we use.
03:14So you still actually use a template and cut that by hand. It's not all machine done.
03:17Oh, yes. Yes, for sure.
03:19So much of what we've done is really using hand snips for the fine details.
03:25And it looks like you've got rows of parts waiting for other lights as well.
03:28Oh, yeah. After the parts guy's done, he keeps them on the shelf, ready for fabrication.
03:59Nice.
04:01Really cool. Let's take you there.
04:02And that's where we get the finish?
04:03Yes, sir.
04:03I want to see that.
04:07So, Heath, we're over at the oxidation tank now, where Vince is going to submerge the fixture in the potash
04:12solution.
04:13And what that's going to do is help give us a nice 10 to 15-year aged finish.
04:18So he's going to dip it several times. He's going to work it in with some steel wool.
04:23And in a matter of an hour or two, you'll see that beautiful finish.
04:27And that's all it takes? A couple hours, you can get that aging on it?
04:29Correct.
04:30All right. So after we're done dipping this and getting it to the point we want, last step is the
04:34final assembly?
04:35Oh, yes.
04:36Perfect. Let's take a look.
04:37Okay. So we're here at the finishing station, and we have Steve putting in the electrical components.
04:42So he's finishing up the socket now. He's got the wires through, has the ground on the back. Everything looks
04:47good.
04:47But if the customer wanted gas instead, it would still be done in this spot?
04:50Oh, absolutely. Everything would happen at this station.
04:52Okay. And the last step would be the glass.
04:55Oh, yeah. Glass will go over there, and at that same time, we'll put in our signature hurricane globe.
05:00Great.
05:02All right, Steve. Is that the final product?
05:04Yes, sir. Here's your lantern.
05:05I'll take it. That looks beautiful.
05:07Love the work you put into these. I can't thank you enough for making this, and the homeowners are going
05:10to love it.
05:10Oh, man. I'm glad to have you guys by.
05:12I appreciate the tour of the shop. Love seeing the process, and we'll get this installed for them, and I'll
05:16talk to you soon.
05:17You're very welcome. Good luck with your project.
05:24Hi, Heath. Welcome to New Orleans.
05:25Hi, Roxanne. Thank you. Nice to meet you.
05:27You, too.
05:27This neighborhood is great. I love these houses.
05:30So what style is this one?
05:31This is a traditional New Orleans double shotgun, about the turn of the 20th century.
05:35Okay. So I've heard of the term shotgun, but double shotgun, it was split down the middle. It was a
05:39two-family originally?
05:40That's correct.
05:40And you've converted it to a single-family?
05:42Yes, we have.
05:42Oh, that's great. But I saw that you wrote in about changing some light fixtures.
05:46Yes. We put a lot of work into the exterior to make it look better, and the light fixtures at
05:49this point just don't go with it.
05:51They're outdated. They're not very attractive.
05:53Makes sense.
05:54Well, the good news is I saw the light fixtures that you chose being made, and they look amazing. I
05:57really think you're going to love them.
05:59Now, the one thing is I'm not licensed in this state, so I'm going to bring in a local electrician
06:02that's licensed and knows the local rules and regulations better than I do to kind of help us go through
06:07the whole process.
06:08But in the meantime, I like to turn the power off and climb up and take one of these down
06:10and take a look and see what's going on behind there so we know what we're dealing with before we
06:13go and install them.
06:14You okay with that?
06:15Absolutely.
06:15All right.
06:17It's always interesting coming to places down south where we see the electrical panels outside. Not used to that up
06:22north where we are too much.
06:29All right, so we're going to take those off, and let's see.
06:36Just our fixture bar secured to the house with some wood screws, no junction box, and just a wire sticking
06:43out.
06:48All right.
06:50So let's take this one down and see what we have behind it.
06:58Oh, look at that.
07:02So this is one of the reasons we want to seal these fixtures up.
07:05I don't know if you can see this, but all kinds of stuff stuffed in here.
07:11All right, Roxanne.
07:12So we picked up the lights, and here's the finished product.
07:14What do you think?
07:14It's incredible.
07:15I think they look great.
07:16So we took the old ones down to see what we had going on behind there, and we found kind
07:20of what we thought we'd see.
07:21There's no junction box behind there, just a bare wire coming out of the wall.
07:24And to be honest, we had a couple of little critters forming nests back there, which is okay.
07:28We've cleaned it up, and we can go forward.
07:30So we want to put a junction box in, and the easiest way to do that with your siding is
07:34to take something like this.
07:35This vinyl block we can slide over there.
07:36This has the built-in junction box.
07:38The wire will come through.
07:39But the nice part is we don't have to cut any of the siding.
07:41It's designed to go right over the siding and over the lap, so it fits over that tightly.
07:46Screw this in, pull the wire through, and we have our junction box nice and easy.
07:49At the same time, we can then take some silicone and seal the top and bottom of this to get
07:54it sealed to the house,
07:55so no water is getting in there, no critters anymore.
07:57That way that's done, waterproof, and we're good to go.
07:59But you can see the fixture is kind of bigger than this, and I want this to sit very well
08:04in the house.
08:04So we're going to take this extension, slide it over that box.
08:08We can see lines up with the screw holes, but then we have the white against this.
08:11It doesn't look great when you have this beautiful new fixture.
08:13So the shop was nice enough to make this.
08:16Oh, beautiful.
08:17Once that's over, fixtures on, it's going to look perfect.
08:24So now it's time for the fun part.
08:25Ready to get to work?
08:26I'm ready.
08:26All right.
08:29A locally licensed electrician, Troy, is here to help.
08:42So we're just going to take that connector and pop that right in the back.
08:47So now the wire will come right through there.
08:58Oh, that's good.
08:59I don't want to touch the vinyl.
09:00Let's see how that looks.
09:03There's this.
09:04Pretty good?
09:05So now we want to seal up all the way around that.
09:10All right, Troy, you want to slide that over?
09:13Keep that lined up.
09:14And next, we have a metal plate to hide that vinyl block so it matches the fixture.
09:18Drilled it for a bushing so when the wires pass through, they're not running against the sharp edge.
09:22All right, so now we're actually ready to finally wire the fixture.
09:25So we're going to go ahead and tie the ground wires together first.
09:28We've gone ahead and put a bonding screw into this plate since it's metal.
09:31We'll make sure it's mechanically bonded to the fixture and to the wire.
09:34So on the house, we have a black and a white.
09:35Our black is the hot.
09:36The white is the neutral.
09:37On the fixture, we have two blacks.
09:39So how do we know which one goes to the black and which one goes to the white?
09:41You can see the neutral is usually identified.
09:44So you can see the ribbing on the outside of that jacket.
09:48And on this one, it's smooth.
09:50The ribbing, the identified one, will go to the white wire of the neutral,
09:53the smooth one to the black.
10:08And now we're just going to repeat the process that we just did for this second light.
10:37All right, Roxanne, so thanks to Troy's help.
10:39The lights are in.
10:40What do you think?
10:40I love them.
10:41They could not be more perfect.
10:42Troy, I can't thank you enough for the help getting these in.
10:44These things look amazing.
10:45They fit the house well.
10:46It looks like they've always been there.
10:47One last thing is for the bulb, we chose a 2700K color, soft white.
10:52It's nice and warm, kind of mimics the incandescence.
10:54It looks a little bit like the gas flame, a little closer to that color of the gas lanterns.
10:57Yeah, thanks.
10:58I think it looks great.
10:59Thank you both so much for being here.
11:01Troy, thank you for your help.
11:02Hey, thanks for coming to New Orleans.
11:03It was a great project.
11:04I'm glad you called.
11:05Thank you both so much.
11:06All right, we'll see you later.
11:07Have a good one.
11:14Look at you, Richard, starting a new season strong.
11:16A toilet and a cutaway.
11:18I'm so glad you noticed.
11:19I thought we were talking about something that is a nightmare, overflowing toilets.
11:23It wrecks your day.
11:24It wrecks the house.
11:25It's terrible.
11:25And I thought if we could get people a little more comfortable with what's going on inside
11:29the toilet, it might change behaviors.
11:31Okay.
11:32So you've got a tank and you've got a bowl.
11:34In the tank, there is two gallons of water.
11:38Here's one gallon.
11:39Here's the other.
11:40So when you hit that tank lever, that water comes down here through this flush rim.
11:45Here's what represents the bowl.
11:47And two things happen.
11:48One is water comes here and it creates a siphon.
11:51It pushes water up here.
11:52But also the weight of the water coming into this bowl also helps push it up through the
11:59trap way.
12:00This is like 16 pounds.
12:01Correct.
12:01Okay.
12:02And so now you'll notice also this trap way gets smaller.
12:06Do you see how it gets smaller right here?
12:08Okay.
12:08So let's create a stoppage.
12:11Okay.
12:11This could be toilet paper.
12:13This could be solid waste.
12:14It could be a variety of things.
12:16The ease with which you just stick your hand.
12:18It's just water, Kevin.
12:19This is for educational reasons.
12:20This is education.
12:22Unsettling.
12:22So now, so we hit the toilet flush.
12:26Okay.
12:28So the water's coming out of the tank into the bowl, but now it can't evacuate the
12:32bowl.
12:32Right.
12:32So now they come along and it's filled up to here.
12:34And what do they do?
12:35They're going to just hit that lever.
12:37That's when you know you have a teenager.
12:38Right.
12:39I know that teenager.
12:40And this is what he would do.
12:41He would go like that.
12:42And he'd say, oh, I can't believe this, Jim.
12:44Stop it.
12:46I can't.
12:46So the lesson is if it's already filled, you just don't go for a full flush because it's
12:53two more gallons, right?
12:54That's the worst feeling.
12:55That is the worst feeling right there.
12:57So you come along and somebody still thinks they can do it again.
13:00No.
13:00No, they hit the flush, right?
13:01And now that water's gone down through the first floor, down to the basement.
13:04Yeah.
13:05It's gone down through floor upon floor.
13:06Okay.
13:07So now, so now sometimes I want to, I want to let you know though.
13:11Sometimes when you add a little bit more water, it actually will indeed clear it.
13:16This is heavy.
13:16Right.
13:17It's heavy.
13:17And so say, you see this trap way.
13:19So say there's too much toilet paper or something right here.
13:22Sometimes it's just enough.
13:24And it always happens at least once.
13:26That's right.
13:26To encourage you to do that.
13:28Exactly.
13:29So then all of a sudden it might clear and you say, you're okay.
13:32But there are other times when it gets down and it gets impacted.
13:35You have no other choice but to try and mechanically clear it.
13:38So everybody knows the plunger.
13:40Yeah, yeah.
13:40It's often misused.
13:43What people do, they come like this and they get sealed onto the opening right here at
13:47the trap way.
13:48And they'll say, I'm going to just push as hard as I can.
13:51Yeah.
13:52Give it everything you can.
13:53And so what happens is, you actually can impact and make that tighter and harder.
13:58So what you want to do is actually go just the opposite way.
14:01Get a seal right here.
14:02Get some suction on it.
14:03And pull the other way, hoping that you'll release it back up here and then thereby let it
14:08go down.
14:08So you're pulling it from the narrow to something wider.
14:10That's right.
14:11Which might do the trick.
14:12That's right.
14:12Yeah.
14:13All right.
14:13Oh, boy.
14:14So the other thing is, if it's just solid waste, you know, it often will be clear with
14:19a plunger or we have some other tools that can clear it.
14:22But sometimes you'll have a toilet.
14:24We've read stories, upon stories, that we'll have a toilet that'll act fine for six months.
14:30And then it won't.
14:31It just gets clogged mysteriously, like a little ghost toilet.
14:34Two stories.
14:35What?
14:36What, what, what?
14:36Cold cream container.
14:38Okay.
14:38Gets flushed down the toilet.
14:40The trap way gets smaller.
14:42What does it do?
14:42It gets stuck this way.
14:44Oh, yeah.
14:44We come with the plunger.
14:45We clear it and it goes like this.
14:46And it stays like this for six months.
14:48Water comes through.
14:49No clog.
14:49Then it goes like this.
14:50Goes back.
14:51So too with women's bracelet.
14:52Drives you crazy.
14:53And it goes here.
14:54The only way you fix that, take the toilet out, smash it into a million pieces, find the
15:00cold cream and get them a new toilet.
15:01We're going to have to talk about your morning routine.
15:04Cold cream?
15:05Well, it wasn't me.
15:06I didn't do it.
15:06We only fix it.
15:07All right.
15:07So starting off the season with a nightmare.
15:09Yeah.
15:10Hey, let me flush it for you.
15:11Don't do that.
15:13Please.
15:26Hi, Maureen.
15:27Hi, Mauro.
15:27Nice to meet you.
15:28Nice to meet you.
15:29So you have a project for me?
15:31I do.
15:31We have some outdoor furniture that's in desperate need of your help.
15:34All right.
15:35Let's take a look at it.
15:35All right.
15:38Wow, Maureen.
15:38Look at this backyard.
15:40Look at the grass.
15:40So green.
15:41Yeah.
15:41My husband really is the green thumb.
15:43That's his domain.
15:45But maybe you can help me with the table and we can give some more life to this.
15:49All right.
15:50This is a very nice table.
15:51Look at this.
15:52The design.
15:53And you got the table.
15:54You got the chairs.
15:56Lots of rusty going around.
15:57Well, it is 15 years old, but they don't make them like they used to.
16:01They're all boxy and, you know, this intricate design we really like.
16:05So I'm hoping you can help us give it a new life.
16:08Absolutely.
16:08We can help you out with that.
16:09Awesome.
16:10We're going to need to do some preparation and bring this table back alive again.
16:15Any color in mind that you'd like to paint?
16:17We'd like it to match the fire pit furniture.
16:19Black.
16:19Black.
16:20Ready or go to work?
16:21Ready.
16:21Let's get some tools and let's do it.
16:23All right.
16:24All right.
16:25All right.
16:26First thing that we're going to do, we're going to protect everything that we are not
16:31painting.
16:31In this case, it's going to be the slats, okay?
16:33So we're going to use this green tape.
16:35We're going to protect everything, top, sides, and the bottoms.
16:40A good painting job comes from a great preparation.
16:45All right.
16:55Here's what we're going to do next with this flexible pad.
16:58Just like sanding to remove any loose debris that's on the chair right now.
17:02Okay.
17:02So not sandpaper.
17:03Not a sandpaper, but it's a scrub pad.
17:05It's really good.
17:07It's flexible, and we can go around the curves and everything.
17:10Okay.
17:11Perfect.
17:12All right.
17:22We're going to vacuum to remove any of the residue that stays there.
17:34Now it's time to wipe off all the surface with denature alcohol.
17:38So, Moira, why denatured alcohol?
17:41Because it dries faster and cleans better.
17:45All right.
17:51Look at this, Maureen.
17:53Oh, my goodness.
17:55Okay, Maureen, look.
17:57Nice and clean.
17:58Now it's time to spot primer all the rusty spots that we can have, all right?
18:03Okay.
18:03Only the rust rust?
18:04Yeah, we're not going to prime the whole thing with this primer.
18:06Okay.
18:07We're going to take care of all the areas that we sand with a lot of rusty.
18:10Okay.
18:11That's the air sand.
18:11But first, you've got to do a very good shake on that bottom.
18:15Mine's not making the same sound as yours.
18:16No, go strong.
18:18Like you're doing, like you're mixing a good martini.
18:21Ah, okay.
18:21All right?
18:22Just like that.
18:24All right.
18:24And then you go like this.
18:28Just for the rust spots, just like that.
18:31On there.
18:34On here.
18:38The primer that we use for the rusty areas is completely dry.
18:42Now we're going to use a different primer for the rest of the chairs,
18:46which is good for everything except for the rusty areas.
18:50Okay.
18:50So that's done.
18:51Now let's use this primer.
18:52But what if I hit this primer on top of the rusty primer?
18:55If you hit just a little bit, it's totally fine.
18:57Okay.
18:57But just don't go over.
18:58Okay.
19:06You're going to be about a foot away.
19:09Okay.
19:23We're going to let it dry for about 30 minutes and then we can start applying the first coat
19:28of paint.
19:29All right.
19:30It looks like everything's dry.
19:31What's next, Mauro?
19:32Okay.
19:32We're ready to apply the first of two coats and this is called DTM.
19:38DTM.
19:39What does that stand for?
19:39DTM stands for direct metal.
19:42It's a specific paint for metal surface.
19:45Okay.
19:46Excellent.
19:46I can't help but notice the paint looks like it's not black.
19:52I thought we'd do it on black.
19:52Looks like a little green.
19:53It does look a little green.
19:55Well, DTM paint looks like green.
19:56Once you apply it, you turn black.
19:59Oh.
19:59All right.
20:00I will trust you in science, Mauro.
20:02Okay.
20:02Okay.
20:03We'll do the roller first because I want to see this color right away.
20:11And we're also using a 3-8 roller nap.
20:14For metal, I like to use a short nap.
20:18Okay.
20:18Which will give us a nice and smooth finish.
20:23See?
20:24That's the roller.
20:25That's the roller cover.
20:27And this is the 3-8 of an inch.
20:31Which you'll see here.
20:32Okay.
20:32I understand.
20:33All right.
20:34Which is very thin.
20:35And that works better on metal?
20:37That works better on metal or a very nice flat surface.
20:44Now I'm going to use the brush for some hard areas from the roller to reach out.
20:51Okay?
20:52Just like that.
20:53We cannot get done with the roller, but the brush works really well here.
21:01Let's start prepping the table the same way we did with the chairs.
21:06Here we go.
21:08Click on the other sprouting on the arabdom.
21:08You two times.
21:11I'm going to use it.
21:18Legs of the Giulies.
21:29I assert that it Vielen, you're going to call her too hard.
21:30I'm going to call her harp skate, but...
21:31You've got lots of painting nice little times.
21:32It's esos vai, you'll crawl out a couple of small hours.
21:54Wow.
21:54Wow, Mauro, this looks fantastic.
21:57It looks beautiful.
21:58I've seen it before and after.
22:01It looks amazing.
22:02The chairs, the table, everything looks so good.
22:04Oh my goodness, I hope we can get another 15 years out of it.
22:07You can, so I'm suggesting for you get some waterproofing covers for table and chairs
22:13and if you have space where you can store it during the winter, this paint job is going
22:16to last a long time.
22:18All right.
22:18Thank you so much.
22:19You had an old table, now you've got a new table.
22:21Yes.
22:22We couldn't have done it without you.
22:23It was very good to meet you and do the work with you.
22:26Enjoy it.
22:27Have a great day.
22:41Next time on Ask This Old House, Lee gives a driveway a coastal makeover.
22:48Over time, this is going to bleach out in the sun.
22:50Beautiful.
22:51Beautiful.
22:51Then, we challenge our crew with a game of, what is it?
22:56And, are you concerned with radon levels in your home?
23:00Ross helps a homeowner test and mitigate the problem.
23:06All that, on Ask This Old House.
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