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This Old House - Season 47 Episode 25 - Walpole ADU: Board & Batten Down the Hatches
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00:00Today on This Old House.
00:01Our homeowners are using luxury vinyl tile in their house.
00:06So I've come to North Georgia to see how it's made.
00:09So I'm in the mud room here, and I'm loving this wainscoting.
00:12So can I get stuck in here and help you today?
00:15Sure, why not?
00:16And we'll show you how to install a smart light switch system.
00:27Ah, that's it.
00:52Hey there, and welcome back to the backyard of our Walpole, Massachusetts project,
00:58where you can see we have gotten ourselves some snow.
01:01A winter blizzard dropped 21 inches on us this week,
01:04but that has not slowed down our general contractor, Jared, Kevin, and their crew
01:08from keeping this project moving.
01:10A project that includes two buildings.
01:12We've got the original house here, a 1970 ranch that is undergoing a remodel.
01:17And then we've got the new build here of the ADU, or accessory dwelling unit.
01:22And this is where one of our homeowners' parents are actually going to move in
01:26and then share this space back here.
01:29So today, Zach Detmore has come back up to help us with some millwork installed.
01:33But first, let's have a look inside the ADU.
01:37So the total square footage for the ADU is 900 square feet,
01:42which is the maximum allowed by the Massachusetts state law.
01:45Now, you can see there's been a lot of progress because last time we were here,
01:49we were at the framing stages.
01:51And this partition wall right here is what separates the ADU from the bonus space
01:56and then the original house behind it.
01:58This has to be a firewall.
02:00So back then we were actually putting in mineral insulation, extra thick drywall,
02:04making sure that we had the appropriate burn time on this.
02:06The uppers and lower cabinets are in.
02:08Some of the full-size appliances are going in.
02:11There'll be a sink right here.
02:12And then on this side, full-size refrigerator.
02:16We're still waiting on the quartz countertops,
02:18but this is going to be a very luxurious kitchen for an ADU.
02:22As you come back here, there is a second door into a...
02:26Hey, Dan, how are you?
02:27Yeah, how are you doing, sir?
02:28Doing all right.
02:28So I was going to say into a mudroom.
02:30Have I got that right?
02:30It's a laundry room and mudroom, believe it or not.
02:32Laundry room, mudroom.
02:33So I see the hookups for washer and dryer.
02:35Yeah, full-size washer and dryer, which is kind of unusual for an ADU,
02:38but it works because I designed it that way.
02:40There you go.
02:41And what's this?
02:41This is a utility sink.
02:43So I have room for both.
02:45When I put them together, I realized I could slide the washer-dryer to the side
02:48and have room for a utility mudroom sink.
02:50So when my father-in-law comes in from the backyard, covered in grass or dirt,
02:54he can put all this stuff here, close in the washer,
02:56and maybe I get some free lawn care out of that.
02:58You know what?
02:59If you make the in-laws work, they should also be clean.
03:01Absolutely.
03:02Smart man.
03:03Thanks.
03:03All right, so tucked in back here is one of two bathrooms, full bathrooms.
03:08This one is going to be a guest bathroom, but you can see that it's got a full shower,
03:12it's got the toilet, and then it's got a nice big vanity.
03:15And that's because the other bathroom is going to be off of the primary,
03:18where you can see the flooring is going down.
03:21Now, all throughout the ADU, they chose the same look, and it is this.
03:26They're using luxury vinyl plank, and this is a birch look.
03:31So we're going to see it installed, but I also thought it would be nice to see it manufactured.
03:35So that takes me on a trip down south.
03:40If you want the look of wood floors without the price tag, one option is a vinyl floor product that
03:47is engineered to look like natural wood,
03:50but with durability and water resistance of vinyl.
03:53I'm in a factory in north Georgia where it's made to get a tour from Daniel Green, the director of
03:59operations.
04:00Hey, Daniel, nice to meet you.
04:01Hey, Kevin, how are you?
04:02I'm doing all right.
04:03So tell me about this product, luxury vinyl tile.
04:08What goes into it?
04:08Well, it starts with PVC, which is vinyl, such as in siding, windows, doors, PVC pipes, everywhere.
04:16Okay.
04:16And the next ingredient, which is about 50%, 60% of the makeup, is calcium carbonate, limestone.
04:22So mix those two back there through a series of hoppers or whatever, and we end up with, you know,
04:26our plank?
04:27Yes, Senator.
04:27This is a waterproof, impact resistant, very, very stable, doesn't move, doesn't need much acclimation before you put it on
04:35the floor.
04:36Right, except we don't want it to look like this.
04:37We want it to look like this, and how do we get that?
04:39Well, we go through our second process, where we direct digital print right onto that substrate and emboss it, and
04:46then we'll finish it in the last section.
04:47And is all that going on back there?
04:49Yes, sir.
04:49Let's do it.
04:51So what do we got here?
04:52This is the actual extruder itself.
04:54Here's where we blend and heat up the PVC, run it through the slot die to make it out into
04:59a sheet good, and then we start controlling the gauge through these two nip rollers.
05:03This is a four-millimeter product that we're making, so we start at about five, and we compress it down.
05:08That helps with impact resistance and density.
05:12So as it comes down the line, this is a cooling area.
05:14We've got many stages of fans, and as you can see, by this point, it's already gotten a lot harder.
05:20We trim the edges, so we've got about an eighth of an inch tolerance that we've got to get it
05:24to where it makes exactly seven boards when it goes into the finishing area.
05:28So this is how you get that dimension. This is waste.
05:30Yeah, and we take that, grind it back up, and we put it back in the actual formulation.
05:35They're going to get cut into a roughly four-by-four square.
05:38And no one has to touch it or lift it.
05:40Nope. When it's time for that pallet to go away, a bell goes off, and they come get it.
05:47We're here at the printer line, so you can see behind us, we are unloading two boards at once to
05:52come down the conveyor.
05:53This first station is our cleaning station, just because any dust or debris off the boards.
05:58This is our first primer. This is just to ensure we get good adhesion where nothing flakes off the boards
06:05at all.
06:05And primer being what, paint or ink or?
06:08Paint.
06:08Paint.
06:09Okay.
06:10And this station here?
06:11This is our putty station.
06:12So this is where we fill any imperfections that may come out of extrusion to get the board good and
06:16smooth.
06:17And is this what you're essentially dropping on to that plank?
06:20That is.
06:21Okay.
06:22And now it goes underneath what?
06:24These are UV lamps, so this is all solvent-free, UV-cured, very, very low VOC.
06:29Nice.
06:30And what do we got behind us here?
06:32This is our printer processor.
06:34This is our digital printer.
06:35That's what makes us unique.
06:37Traditionally, it's been what's called offset printing, and basically you have a roller of a certain circumference that lays a
06:43particular color down.
06:44And that, basically, you're limited by the circumference of that roller.
06:48Here is more of the inkjet, laserjet-style printing where heads are actually spraying down, you know, each individual pattern
06:55as they come through.
06:56So therefore, if I have a roller, how much do I get?
07:01Typically, seven boards.
07:02So one slab and then that pattern repeats itself, we're making 35 unique planks, which is about 80, roughly 80
07:10square feet before you see that board again.
07:12So it's going to look more authentic because wood doesn't have repeats.
07:16Right.
07:16And it comes out looking like wood over here?
07:18Yes, sir.
07:22Oh, yeah.
07:23Here's a first look of it coming out of the printer.
07:25This is one of our rustic pine looks.
07:28And you're telling me that that knot right there, I'm not going to see that again for how many boards?
07:33Well, you won't see it again until the fifth board after that, but that turns into 35 planks once we
07:38profile it on the other side.
07:39Because you're cutting each one of these into seven?
07:42Yes, sir.
07:43No kidding.
07:44All right.
07:45So now we're starting to do our buildup of our wear layer.
07:48So we're putting down multiple layers of aluminum oxide.
07:52And what's the magic to aluminum oxide?
07:55It's the second hardest mineral on earth.
07:57Oh, that'll work.
07:58So what is it like, literally like behind diamonds?
08:00Right behind diamonds.
08:01And what does that get us in terms of toughness?
08:03It doesn't scratch.
08:05It doesn't wear through.
08:06I like that.
08:09This is where we put our final coat on.
08:11So this is our ever tough top coat.
08:13So that gives us our stain resistance, chemical resistance, fade resistance.
08:17And so as it comes through here and is cured, is this now ready to be cut in the planks?
08:22Yep.
08:22This is ready to move over to profiling and packaging and be cut in the planks.
08:27So how are we going from four by four sheets down the planks?
08:31We rip it down the long ways and from there it goes over into the profile machine.
08:35That profile machine has a series of six blades as you would think of it like a router
08:40that routes out each individual edge.
08:42So here's the female edge and then here's the male edge on this side.
08:47Because this is a click down product.
08:49We're not putting adhesives necessarily.
08:51We can just click it together, lay it.
08:52Click it together, lay it.
08:53The pad is already attached on the back.
08:55Sound deadening.
08:57Sounds like real wood in your floor.
08:58And then what are we, boxing it up and shipping off?
09:00Boxing it up and it's ready to be installed on your floor.
09:04Well, I know I very much appreciate the tour, but our homeowners really appreciate it having
09:07it in their house back at Walpole.
09:09So thank you for both.
09:10Pleasure having you.
09:11All right, Daniel.
09:11That's terrific.
09:32The flooring install in the ADU is almost done.
09:35Compliments of Jay and his crew.
09:36Jay, how are you?
09:36Good, Kevin.
09:37How are you doing today?
09:38All right, thank you.
09:39So LVP all throughout the ADU.
09:43Yes, and in the basement of the ADU.
09:45And in the basement, okay.
09:46And then in the main house, we are talking about this?
09:50Yes, this is a six inch flat sawn white oak, engineered with a plywood backer.
09:55It's got a four millimeter wear layer.
09:57A lot of sanding left on that floor.
09:59So that's interesting because this is not pre-finished.
10:02So this goes down and then you guys give it a light sand and a top coat.
10:05Correct.
10:06There will be three coats of a water-based poly on top of that.
10:08Beautiful.
10:08So hence the square edge.
10:10And as you say, engineered.
10:12But that means that we've got a layer of real wood.
10:14Yes.
10:15And then we've got the stability of that engineered core right there.
10:18All right.
10:18Yeah, that's handsome looking stuff.
10:20And then LVP back here, also handsome.
10:22Yes.
10:23This floor here, the luxury vinyl plank, very durable, cost effective, easy to maintain.
10:30Put it in, click, float, and you're done.
10:32Yeah, right material sort of in the right place, right price point and all.
10:35We saw the little edge being made for the click.
10:38What do you think about on the install?
10:39Can you show me what you want?
10:40It's a very simple install, click floater.
10:42I mean, I know that's just a sample piece or whatever.
10:44But as simple as it sounds, just click it in, tap, tap, nice and snug.
10:51And that's it, right?
10:52So you get the seam and alignment that you want right there.
10:54And if it was not a scrap piece, we'd have a click connection there on two sides.
10:59And other than that-
11:00On our butt ends, it's all locked in.
11:01Goes quick.
11:02All right.
11:02Well, I'll get out of your way because I know you guys are going to be moving, but I appreciate
11:04it.
11:05All right.
11:05Thank you very much, Kevin.
11:06Take care.
11:27Hey, Kevin, good to see you.
11:29Good to see you.
11:29So looking for a quick update on all of your progress.
11:32And here in the primary, fill me in.
11:34So we had the his and her closet here, which is now just going to be for Dan.
11:39So no longer sharing that.
11:41He gets his own.
11:41And then over here, we have Jill's closet that was a couple months ago.
11:47You and I removed this wall.
11:49I threw it here.
11:50Added 10 feet to accommodate her primary closet.
11:53Yeah.
11:53And then also over here, we had an odd bathroom that we infilled here.
11:59Little half bath, right?
12:00Little half bath here.
12:01And then over here, we added the linen closet.
12:04So you use that half bath space for right there.
12:07And look at this.
12:08Luxurious, huh?
12:09Yeah.
12:09Beautiful.
12:10Beautiful.
12:10We have a double vanity here.
12:12That's going to be great.
12:13And your shower, double shower actually back in here.
12:16Two shower heads.
12:17Dual shower heads, radiant floor.
12:19They are, they're styling.
12:20They're not going to share anything anymore.
12:22No.
12:34So we're here in the addition.
12:36And there's this amazing mud room, laundry room off this side.
12:40And at the end there, there's a nice powder room.
12:43But you'll notice one thing, this door is missing.
12:46The bad news is this has been delayed.
12:49So they were holding off on installing this amazing wainscoting, which not only looks better, but it's a lot more
12:55durable in a high traffic space.
12:57But we were just told this door was delayed further and the painters need to wrap up their scope of
13:02work.
13:03So I'm here with Adrian, our amazing carpenter.
13:06So what's the first step here to sort of get this moved along?
13:09Yeah, the first step is to figure out where our casing of that door is going to end.
13:16Okay.
13:16And then from there we can measure our styles and divide it equally.
13:19Alright, let's do it.
13:20Okay, let's go to it.
13:22So this is our rough frame and then we're going to be an inch over the rough frame to give
13:27us enough space to put our jam.
13:30Right here we have our casing.
13:31It's going to end up right here.
13:33And this right here is where our rail is going to start, like four inch rail.
13:38Got it.
13:39So we want to, because this is three, the jam is three quarters and you want a quarter of shim,
13:43you want to basically hold this one inch out from there.
13:46Exactly.
13:46Yes.
13:47Okay.
13:47That's exactly right.
13:49Alright, so I can hold an inch for you.
13:54That's right there.
13:56Okay, so that's the end of the rail.
13:58And this is where the casing ends.
14:00Okay.
14:01Yes.
14:01Got it.
14:02And then you're going to work in there.
14:04Alright, where do you want me to get this? Against the two by four?
14:07I think we cut it up to 75 would be excellent.
14:09Alright, so should we get cutting?
14:11Yes, let's go for it.
14:13Alright, I asked Dan to help us so he really appreciates what goes into this.
14:17Okay, let's get him.
14:18Alright, let's do it.
14:21Hey Dan.
14:22Hey, what's up Zach?
14:22How are you doing?
14:23Good to see you.
14:24Good to see you too.
14:25Hey, how are you?
14:25How are you sir?
14:26Good to see you buddy.
14:27Good to see you.
14:27So are you making everything out of MDF?
14:29Yes, everything out of MDF.
14:31It's a nice move because this moves about half as much as wood.
14:35Exactly, and it's good on paint too.
14:37Yeah, it looks like frizz.
14:38Looks like glass, kind of.
14:40Alright, so what do we need to do to get our cutlass going?
14:43Okay, to get our cutlass going, we're going to lay out our panels.
14:48Okay.
14:48Lay on some style.
14:49Want to use this again?
14:51Yes, we're going to, like we did earlier, we're going to hold that an inch.
14:54That's going to, where our jam is going to be.
14:57Okay, got it.
14:58And then mark where our casing and rail is going to be.
15:02That's our casing and the rail.
15:06Alright, we do that on the opposite side too.
15:09And then from there we mark our center.
15:11So we know our board is 75 inches long.
15:14This is our center.
15:15We're going to measure two inches on either side.
15:18So we got two inches in here, and two inches in here.
15:22Now we got, this is our center style.
15:24And we also have to see where our baseboard is five and a half.
15:31And then four inches, which is our rail for the bottom.
15:36Now we just have to transfer those marks all the way around.
15:40Alright, and then you're going to add the baseboard and the chair rail after this is done.
15:44That's exactly right.
15:45Alright, so let's get cutting.
15:46Let's get cutting.
15:47Hmm.
15:53Our rail is going to be 42 and 5 eighths.
15:55Right here.
15:59These two outside styles are the right dimension, so they can basically be finished.
16:05But we've got to cut the bottom, the top rail, and then this.
16:09And then this rail in the middle.
16:10Okay.
16:11Let me grab this box.
16:12Poke it through.
16:16Oh, beautiful.
16:20So now the left and right styles are going in.
16:24Now we can measure for the bottom and top rails.
16:33Now we are fitting together the top and bottom rails into those biscuit joints with some glue.
16:41That will really keep those joints from opening up and being seamless.
16:50And now we're installing the chair rail.
16:53Okay, now we just have to clean it up and send it in place.
17:07Underneath our ranch is a full basement with part of it used for finished living space
17:12and then part of it sort of a utility room that adjoins the basement under the ADU.
17:17Sean, good to see you.
17:18Kevin, how are you?
17:19I'm doing all right.
17:20So a little bit of electrical back here.
17:23Service for both buildings or just the one right here?
17:26This is just the one.
17:27So it's a 400 amp total service.
17:29This is just the 200 amp panels serving the main house here.
17:32We got another 200 for the ADU.
17:33We do, correct.
17:34Beautiful. All right.
17:35And why do we have two panels here?
17:38So there was additional circuits needed over here for additional kitchen appliances,
17:42the garage, the condensers, things like that.
17:44Would have filled it up.
17:45Would have filled it up.
17:45So we got two.
17:46Okay.
17:47And we're talking smart lighting right now.
17:49Are we talking smart breakers or no?
17:52We are not.
17:52So the breakers don't really have anything to do with it.
17:54The smart lighting system basically gets wired like a traditional system.
17:58So the breakers obviously power that.
17:59But this here is the brain or the hub of the smart lighting system we're installing in this home.
18:04Power and ethernet it looks like going to where?
18:07You just got to find the router, get it plugged in the router.
18:10Okay.
18:10So in this instance, the router is down here.
18:12Oh.
18:13But if you were to do this in somebody else's home where the router was upstairs, it could live upstairs.
18:17So this is just your traditional router that gives you Wi-Fi through the house and all of that.
18:22That's correct.
18:23Okay.
18:23When I hear smart lighting, I'm thinking about like remote control for my phone.
18:27What else is sort of on that laundry list?
18:29There's lots of stuff.
18:30I mean, you can set scenes.
18:31You can set schedules.
18:33You know, coming home from work, having lights on.
18:35You no longer have the ticking time clocks in your basement like people used to have.
18:39So this little device through radio frequency basically communicates to the switches, right?
18:45And is this a smart switch that you're holding?
18:47This is a smart switch.
18:48So as you can see, it looks like a traditional switch.
18:50Yeah.
18:50I mean, it looks almost identical.
18:51So this is a paddle style switch.
18:54Correct.
18:54On the front, same size.
18:56I presume it's got all the same conductors as there's one extra there.
19:00So you can do a three way here.
19:02And these smart switches actually do require a neutral connection to where your standard switches don't.
19:06Right.
19:06But you have a neutral in your box.
19:08So you'd be okay.
19:09So that explains the conductors.
19:10So if this is just traditional wiring and the communication is wireless, can I pull out any traditional switch and
19:17replace it with one of these?
19:18You could.
19:19You could go in anybody's home and retrofit these switches, take out the standard switch, put in the smart switch,
19:24and now you're onto a lighting system.
19:25Beautiful.
19:26Have you put any of these upstairs yet?
19:27We have.
19:27We've done some by the front door if you'd like to see.
19:29I'd love to.
19:30All right.
19:30Come on.
19:30Come with me.
19:32So wired by the front door.
19:33This is you?
19:34This is us.
19:35So this is a four-gang switch box and this box consists of one traditional switch and then three smart
19:40switches.
19:41So which is traditional and which ones are the smarts?
19:43So we have a traditional switch controlling the inside lights here.
19:46We've got a smart switch here which will control some recess on the front porch.
19:49A smart switch here which will control sconces.
19:52This one is one of these remotes.
19:54All right.
19:55Well, before you get to that though, let me just get to the wired.
19:57Sure.
19:58So you said this is sconce.
20:00May I?
20:00That's sconce, yeah.
20:01And I can also do that via the app.
20:03Correct.
20:04We can do it from the app.
20:05So on your app, same thing.
20:07We can turn this light off.
20:08We can turn the light back on or you could even dim it down.
20:11And then you can obviously in the app set a timer, create some scenes, all good to go.
20:18Correct.
20:18Okay.
20:19So pretty straightforward.
20:19Now what's this wireless you're telling me about?
20:21So this wireless one is basically a remote with the plate on.
20:26It looks like a standard switch.
20:27But what this one is controlling is some landscape lighting he's going to have on the stair treads as he
20:32comes up the front of the steps.
20:33Why did you do that wireless?
20:35So you need a low voltage transformer to control those lights because they're low voltage.
20:39So we chose to house that down in the mechanical space.
20:42So with that being said, it's wired down there and it's controlled through the radio frequency up here.
20:47Pretty smart.
20:47It is pretty smart.
20:48Okay.
20:49And I presume I can choose what I connect the wireless switch to.
20:53You can.
20:54So this one in your hand actually we are currently programming this to do all the outside lights.
21:00So Dan has asked us that with one click of the button he can turn all the outside lights on
21:04or he can turn them all off.
21:05Such a dad move.
21:06It is a dad move.
21:07If he hears a bump in the night, he wants to flood light the whole place up.
21:11Or if the car comes home too late with the daughter, it's a boom.
21:14That's true.
21:14Oh yeah.
21:15Oh my gosh.
21:15Okay.
21:16So then you just go around, you pick your circuits, you program this, and then that wireless gives you control
21:20over those.
21:20Yep.
21:21Awesome.
21:21Okay.
21:22So even though this is new because we were down to the studs, this is a perfect example.
21:27These could have been retrofit into an existing.
21:28They could have been retrofitted, yes.
21:29Just pull those out and slap these smart ones in.
21:31Yeah.
21:32Or even stick a wireless next to existing.
21:35How many smart switches are you wiring for us?
21:37We have a total of 12 in this house and I actually have two left to do in the basement.
21:41Well, I'll let you do those.
21:42I won't hold you up anymore but I can put this back on for you.
21:45I appreciate that.
21:45Thank you, Sean.
22:10All right, Kevin.
22:11Looking good and some good progress, although you still got a little ways to go.
22:14How are you feeling?
22:15Feeling good about it.
22:16We've got a few weeks left here.
22:17Yeah.
22:17All right.
22:18You can't rattle the guy, huh?
22:19Do you believe him?
22:20Yeah.
22:20He's totally going to get it done, right?
22:21Right?
22:22I don't have a choice.
22:24You do not have a choice.
22:25All right.
22:26Well, that is all coming up next time.
22:28So until then, I'm Kevin O'Connor.
22:29And I'm Kevin Smith.
22:30Kevin O'Connor.
22:30And I'm Kevin Detmore.
22:32Kevin's from Walpole.
22:34That's it for all of us at This Old House.
22:36Looking good.
22:37I'm excited to see this one.
22:41Next time on This Old House, after nine months, it's moving day in Walpole, Massachusetts.
22:46And for the first time, we have a double homecoming.
22:50With the renovation of a 70s ranch and the addition of an ADU, or accessory dwelling unit,
22:56a former active duty military family, and the grandparents are home.
23:01This place turned out fantastic.
23:04So, I gotta ask, do you guys have any challenges about this whole project?
23:08That's next time.
23:11That's next time.
23:11You may look—
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