The This Old House Hour

Beam Me Up, Tommy; Prairie Grasses, Solar Flower (17x17)

Air date: Apr 06, 2019

The foundation on our Mid-Century Modern house has no footings. Kevin finds Mark McCullough fixing the problem by pouring a buttress along the foundation. As part of our 40-year anniversary, we are revisiting some of our most memorable projects. Kevin travels to Manchester by the Sea in Massachusetts to check out one of our largest restorations. Back in Brookline, Richard shows how a Mid-Century Modern open floor plan with high ceilings means there is very little space for HVAC ductwork. New technology will help solve that problem. Like most Mid-Century Moderns, ours has deep soffits. Kevin finds Tommy and Charlie fashioning them out of PVC. Tommy explains the need to compensate for expansion and contraction based on the weather. Inside, our homeowners want an open kitchen so Tommy, Norm and Charlie show our apprentices how it’s done. Jenn partners with an ecologist in Cheyenne, Wyoming to learn about different types of prairie grasses and how to care for them; Kevin learns about ways to make a home more resistant to wildfires; in Future House, Ross sees a robotic, ground-mounted solar array that mimics a sunflower.