The This Old House Hour

Chimney Down and Walls Up; Nursery Paint, Record Stand (18x2)

Air date: Oct 10, 2019

At the old Westerly Ranch House, the roof was disassembled to add a new level, but the original chimney is going to be in the way of the open floor plan concept on the first floor. Jeff works with mason Mark McCullough to take down the center chimney brick by brick. A major addition also means new windows and that’s a big investment. Scott and Shayla meet with architectural designer Lori Foley for a window-shopping spree at a local showroom where they consider price, material, color, grill pattern, and door hardware. Back at the house, the original exterior walls were made of 2x4 framing material and were only 8 feet high. Instead, Jeff wants to use 2x6 manufactured framing lumber for strength and added insulation and raise the new ceiling to 9 feet. The old walls get sliced into sections and pushed out. As demolition continues at the house, Jeff is thinking about purchasing building materials. Richard joins him at a convention in Las Vegas to check out the latest plumbing fixtures. Meanwhile, at the house, the foundation is squared off and ready for framing. Kevin finds Jeff’s crew as they start to frame the main part of the house. Jeff uses manufactured framing stock, but the original rafters were in such good shape they decided to rip them to a desired dimension to repurpose for interior wall framing. Mauro paints a baby’s nursery using zero VOC paint; Richard tests out a new dryer that uses a heat pump to dry the clothes; Tom and Kevin build a record player stand out of oak plywood.