This Old House

Nothing is as Easy as it Looks - The Concord Cottage (25x3)

Data de estreia: Out 25, 2003

Host Kevin O'Connor arrives to find the newly issued building permit affixed to the building, and work is finally getting underway. Architect Holly Cratsley is officially on board, and Kevin pays a visit to her office to see the first pass at floor plans, elevations, and a scale model of the cottage. Zoning laws only allow for a modest increase in overall volume, so the new one-bedroom cottage will be less than a 1,000-square-feet when it's done. Master carpenter Norm Abram and general contractor Tom Silva prepare to brace a bowed wall, but find a completely rotted sill that needs replacing before they can proceed. They put Kevin to work building two temporary walls, and then driving them into place, taking the weight off the compromised outside wall. The rotted sill comes out, and a new, pressure treated sill goes in. Then, Kevin visits a converted carriage house in Winchester, Massachusetts, that's full of great ideas for the project. Unexpected rain postpones the excavation for the foundation of the new addition.