This Old House | Pruning 101 (S43 E18) FULL EPISODE

An open floor plan is the major change on the first level. The inside has been demo’ed. Several beams are installed to replace a load-bearing wall. The homeowner gets a lesson on pruning back an old willow. A high-tech, self-adhesive house wrap is installed. The homeowners select kitchen cabinets and countertops. A wider window opening is created in the location above the new kitchen sink.

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Products and Services from this Episode:
General contractor
Alpha Smart Builders

Front

Landscape contractors
Frank Walsh Landscaping
http://frankwalshlandscape.com/

Siding manufacturer
GCP
https://gcpat.com/en

Kitchen countertop manufacturer
Caesarstone
https://www.caesarstoneus.com/

Kitchen cabinet supplier
The Gallery
https://www.worldwidecabinetsgallery.com/

Design assistance
The Gallery
https://www.worldwidecabinetsgallery.com/

About This Old House TV: This Old House is America’s first and most trusted home improvement show. Each season, we renovate two different historic homes—one step at a time—featuring quality craftsmanship and the latest in modern technology. We demystify home improvement and provide ideas and information so, whether you are doing it yourself or hiring out contractors, you’ll know the right way to do things or the questions to ask. Our experts including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor give you the tools you need to protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.

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This Old House | Pruning 101 (S43 E18) FULL EPISODE
https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/

today on This Old House new house wrap will help keep the house warmer and drier our 1890s house is now wide open front to back fall is a great time for dividing and relocating plants and that’s exactly what we’re here to do today and it’s time to make the final choices for the kitchen [Music] [Applause] design that’s it [Music] [Music] hi there I’m Kevin oconor and welcome back to This Old House and to our 1890s Victorian here in West Roxbury where work is underway well you can see that the siding was not in great shape so a lot of it is coming off in fact all of it is coming off most of it off the side is down already and as you wrap around to the front you look up top you can see the paint damage and some of the siding damage up there so that’s why that is coming out here as well hey good morning Rodrigo so in the front uh we’ve got our work cut out for us Jen’s got to do something with the Landscaping something with these trip points points and the hardscaping right here and the porch would say is get saved it’s going to get an update uh the homeowners want sort of more of a modern look so maybe some cable rails but a lot of this will go but the porch will stay now inside is where most of the work is going on and you can see some of the things that we are saving so this beautiful staircase has been protected cuz that’s staying in place a lot of the windows are going but not all of them this staying glass one here in the foyer stays and then as you come into the front room here you’ll see that we’ve got high ceiling decent moldings the homeowners love this so this room pretty much stays the same but then as you go to the back of the house you can see they’re going for the open floor PL so just a couple weeks ago there was a wall right here with sort of a twodo opening that has come down between living room and what was the dining room and then back through here there was a solid wall and this separated the dining room from the kitchen that is gone as well so the kitchen will continue through this entire space this will be walled off so that room’s entered from another place and then it’ll open up into here good morning delandro hey Tommy you guys have been busy huh a lot of work going on yes yes uh guys are busting in um you know we’re getting all all everything ready for our LVL to go up and and walls are coming down Tommy so we got that open flaring walls and non-bearing walls I mean right here we have a temporary wall that actually is carrying the load that this wall was carrying these other walls that came down weren’t bearing so you notice there’s no temporary walls so what is going back up what are you guys thinking about in ter bearing Wall comes down we got to support it right yeah we got to support it so we we have a a triple beam LVL it’s going to go across picking up a load right from that point uh you know so it’s going to come up over there picking up the load of this joist and it’s going to tie into a second beam that’s going to go from the outside wall into this point over here so this will be our second point of load gotcha so not a post here cuz you want everything opened up yes so it’s got to hang off of something right well down below there’s a bearing Beam with L columns in the basement gotcha and because there’s no l column over there we’ll have to put one L column or a beam or a post in the basement to support the load of that beam so this is obviously our material for the new beams going on we got lvls yes exactly so so for that matter we’re going to have a a temporary post that’s going to be right over here holding up this beam until we get that Lolli column in the basement install all right well you guys are ready to work I’ll join you great awesome go up want to go out [Music] [Music] down yep we go [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all right take the claw of your hammer and put it around on the nail push up to make them even up just a hair right there it’s [Music] [Music] good whaty what a difference huh yeah it looks great right already wide open I like it it’s beautiful nice work boys [Music] fall is a great time for dividing and relocating plants and that’s exactly what we’re here to do today the homeowners wanted to tidy up the front yard a bit and they would also like screening in the backyard but the budget is tight so I had my crew dig up the old raded dendrons from the front yard and put them all the way in the backyard hey Derek hey Chen what do you think of the blank pallet I think it’s uh it’s changed a little bit yeah right yeah you never know what you’re going to find underground too that was uh underneath one of the road ofendan does that say Department of the Navy United States of America cool yeah and a religious artifact so that aside what do you think of this whole news space of what are your plans well I think we’re going to have a much better view of the porch now having some color in the landscape is going to be really important because the house is going to be a gray color so yeah those pops of color in the plantings are really going to make a difference right to offset that so we will pick shrubs to complement the color and help it all tie and flow together while not covering the deck and letting it be breathable there’s one plan at back that I want to show you I think it’s going to be perfect to Anchor right here sounds good okay Derek here are the red dendrons from the front this one’s already found its new home this one is awaiting its new home but I think it’s going to be going back here in this corner where I found this really beautiful Japanese thread leaf maple can you tell me about this it never really had the opportunity to grow much more than uh it has in the last nine years since I put it in along with these couple of high drainages on either side what I think is the how the Sun rotates around this gets absolutely no sunlight so if we pull it out and Transplant it to a new home and then I think these can be an addition to the back property line the two Hy ranges it’s like moving furniture around but in a safe way so I’m going to have the guys start to dig this one up and then we’re going to work on the willow yeah that’s good I I think this this color is going to look really good up I think it’s going to complement what you picked great idea you know my wife and I really love this really hairy bushy tree or shrub or you know it’s actually a shrub um it’s called a dappled Willow and it’s in the seix family so it’s not a willow tree but it’s a shrub and it’s at least 50 years old look at the base of it yeah and it’s provided great screening for you but it needs a little love we need to we need to take off these suckers a lot of them it’ll give more energy to the tree so and it also clean up the appearance expose this bark and then contain it pull it away from your house cuz you don’t want any squirrels to be able to jump over on your new place so you know tuck it back a couple feet and just give it a nice shape because I’m sure it’s a great screen between you and your neighbor sounds good here’s what I brought for you some gloves to do a little pruning sounds good got some pruners okay so basically what you do I want to take a lot of these suckers off to expose this bark and give a little more energy to the tree so just get as close as you can as close to that and then you just snip it right so there’s a nice clean cut so just go like this and we’re going to do this all around the base of the tree great and I’ll just clean it up should I grab like uh this one here or yeah go for that one excellent good nice angle on that cut that was great thanks all right and then want yeah just keep on going there’s tons over there yeah it’s important to have nice sharpened prune when you’re pruning nice clean pruners as well so you don’t transmit any diseases this is the uh most attention the shrub has received in the entire time we’ve owned this house okay Derek let’s take a step back to look at the overall shape the suckers are out it’s got lots of air circulation below we took it back from the house and you know what I think when all the leaves emerge in the spring it’s going to be nice and tight and clean all right so this is the location for the Japanese maple from the back and look how happy it is going to be it’s not jammed up against the fence there’s air circulation got the sunlight coming in and I really think it’s a good spot for it yeah plus it gives us that pop of color that we’ve been talking about here in the corner of the house with the neutral house the gray color behind it I think we’re off to a great start here see you in a little bit Yeah I appreciate all your work no worries [Music] all right so the guys are ripping off all the siding on the house it was really in bad shape you can see it up there the paint’s peeling the boards are rotting but look here underneath the siding what we’re uncovering we’re uncovering different types of paper so right here this is a rosin paper and this is a lightweight felt paper and what these do is this is actually a separation from the face of the sheathing to the the backside of the siding so Deandra what’s your plan for covering the sheathing before you install the siding so we have this state-of-the product that we’re going to be putting up on the walls uh it’s self his material so it has a very good thickness to it uh that way we can put it without Staples or anything like that uh it’s a vapor permeable material right and it’s also air sealed so basically it allows the house to breid uh so keeps it nice and tight perfect yeah exactly and the type of insulation that you have you want to make sure that those cavities are kept tight because you don’t want the air to move in there and lessen the R value of that insulation and that’s important I also like the fact that it is stuck to the face of the sething because the more Staples you put in it the more penetrations you can create so that that’s good and it’s also nice and tight against the wall also yes yeah exactly so that way also eliminates all the need for for all those Staples right right so you want to hand getting the rest of this siding off yes yes uh we we’ll get to it right now okay sounds good [Music] [Music] so you’re going to nail off all of the sheathing yes that’s good because it tightens it back up to the structure it does a couple of things it actually makes the house stiffer because the nails are moving away with time they’re sitting here the wood expands and contracts the nails loosen up the bullets come out you’re pushing them back you’re making it flatter but that that strength that you’re giving back by nailing it helps with the vibration the movement the wind and everything else from a house going back and forth so you’re really stiffening up the structure it’s a good thing awesome so should we keep it up [Music] absolutely it’s time for Derek and Robin to make some final decisions on their kitchen including countertops and cabinets and no better place to do it than at a kitchen showroom hey Robin hey dcka nice to meet you very nice to meet you so decision time for you guys which is uh exciting is this part of the inspiration this vignette here it is when I walked in and saw it and fell in love and immediately called Dereck and said you have to come see this we’ll take it all Marissa so so what’s going on here um explain sort of me the layout what you’re trying to get uh what’s the effect so what we did in this display we actually created a framework around the back wall to set all of this centerpiece um back so that it kind of pops and moves forward so by framework you’re saying sort of the left side pushed forward forward across the top and the right as well correct and then here being inset so this creates the frame yes okay how do you guys feel about framework does that work for you we we love that idea we’re opening up the the kitchen to the living and dining area so the kitchen can’t just feel like utilitarian cabinets on the wall it’s got to feel like actual Furniture in the in the Living Spaces okay and and they’re Sleek I mean this is this is a modern this is a very contemporary look um for an older Victorian that’s what you guys are going for as well yeah we’re going for a little contrast here you going to have H traditional elements and some really really Sleek new elements in this very flat sort of recessed as well and and the other thing that I notice is the the band of light underneath here which is very cool sort of sleek throw some light on there and then we’ve got more here more there yes so this is a a metal Channel That’s incorporated into the construction of the cabinet you’re able to not use Hardware so it will help keep everything kind of clean and modern and minimal as well cool you guys like the lighting that works for you I love the lights and they can go from really cool to really warm so depending on our mood we can change it up oh heavens all right I’m settling the mood we have framework we have lighting it looks like materials and surfaces are laid out here what have you brought us so I put together two options both include a matte smooth material Incorporated with some wood grain as well so in order to create a framework we can use a matte texture and maybe the matte black and then do your wall cabinets in the wood grain to create a lot of D both like that what do you guys think yeah we really love it because we want to create a a simple black frame and I think that matte black really accomplishes that and then having this warm recessed uh Central Cabinetry right above the uh the backsplash I think is going to make a a big pop and impact all right framework and materials we seem to you know be coalescing on layout well I have a couple schematics laid out for you so why don’t we go to the conference room and take a look sounds good sound great well I’m excited to show you your layout today so we talked a lot about framework and creating a furniture look a built-in element where you’re very open to your dining area so we took the matte black and created your frame here and then introduced your warm wood element for your recessed wall cabinets and then tied it back down to your Island as well it’s nice and open to your dining living space and so we created an oversized Island so that you really have that uh use of both spaces kind of as one so this is where I see that big pop the contrast for the first time does seeing it here sort of affirm your guys’ decisions for you yes and very clean I love it all right well you guys keep making decisions so we can get the cabinets ordered and then install but it’s great work with homeowners we’re one’s an architect and both are decisive so thank you for that and Marissa thank you very much my pleasure all right thank you thanks Kevin [Music] so is this the new window that’s going to go in here yeah uh that’s the new kitchen window okay so it’s actually going to be wider and shorter uh so let’s look at this this is a basically starts with the interior you have a wood extension Jam right here that the Finish trim will go against the casing for the window is is fiberglass it looks like and that’s better than vinyl because it doesn’t move like vinyl the exterior of the window is a painted aluminum clad so no maintenance on the outside yeah that’s it yep no maint is not on that new window right and this looks like a new window cuz it’s going onto a nailing flange yes yeah so that’s a new construction window uh we still have to prep to opening for it so we’re going to cut the studs to height y uh I’ve marked over here this is where the window starts um and it goes that way and this will be the bottom of the window uh on top of the kitchen counter top so it’ll be a counter top here so this is really being closed up but you’re really doubling the width of it yes all right let’s get this [Music] out nice [Music] [Music] all right we’re going to use an old clad board that we took off the house he’s thicker on one end than the other so it actually has a taper we’re going to lay it on this seill that’s level this way and and this way we’re going to pitch it down like that a thin part will be out so if any moisture or water should collect in behind here it will run out not in all right let’s go outside and put the wrap on normally what we would do is would cover this whole wall with the house wrap but we get some bad weather coming in this week and we want to get this covered up so we don’t get water inside so we can cover just this section the good thing about this house wrap we can install it it will stick to the house do what we want want and then later we can put another piece right over it and it will stick really tight all right so now we’re going to run this tape around the perimeter actually we’re going to do the bottom and the two sides and then later we’ll do the top now we’re using this tape because this is the tape that the window manufacturer recommends and we don’t want to avoid the window warranty all right now before the window goes in we have to run a bead of cocking behind the nailing flange so what I’ve done is I’ve drew a line about 3/4 of an inch in from the rough opening on the sides and the top all the right there not too far okay so now I want to slide it all the way that way push it all the way that way push me there you go okay so with the window tight against the rough opening on that end I’m going to put a pencil Mark right there now we’re going to slide the window all the way back this way okay good I put another Mark now we slide it back a little bit there it goes so I can see that first Mark now here’s the original Mark and here’s the new the mark on this side so if I divide that in half I put a mark right there we now Slide the window back oh okay good okay now is a level window level all right we’re good y all right so now that we have the window set in the rough opening and it’s level and centered we’re going to take a nail on each side of bottom close to the bottom as we can get it and drive One Nail in on each side okay so now the next thing I want to do is I want to check the windows to see if it’s plum I have 67 and one qu so now if I go up I want the tape to hook right in the center of the tape and right at that same position that I measured from on this side the number is 67 A4 that tells me not only is the window square but it’s plum all right so the next thing we need to do is we need to check the exact measurement at the top of the window outside okay 51 and a 16 now we’re going to check the exact measurement in the middle of the window it’s 51 and a 16th that tells us that the window is exactly parallel all the way down and straight all right that looks good now the window is nailed off it was centered in the opening it’s cocked behind the flange on each side and across the top it’s Square level and Plum all right so what have you got for us next time so next time we just going to be finished with the house wrapping uh pop the windows in and finish and start on the exterior window trim all right that’s great so until then I’m Tom Silva I’m DeLand Diaz for This Old House next time on this old house now the biggest problem with an old house is they’re out of level level if we climbed the walls with the water table being level this siding would hang down about that much nothing says Boston City living more than a nice shade tree along Ong the sidewalk and that’s exactly what’s missing from our project and this lwh hanging pipe is a menace but we have a solution [Music] a [Music]