ASK This Old House | Preventing Plumbing Disasters

Richard explains how, where, and why plumbing systems fail. Richard gives a deep dive on when and how plumbing pipes and connections can be repaired or replaced. Ross explains and demonstrates how to prevent plumbing failures with new technology. Preventing Water Damage Kevin O’Connor and damage prevention specialist Michael Milligan toured a home to identify ways to prevent plumbing leaks and other flood damage. How a Frozen Pipe Bursts Richard demonstrated that pipes, when frozen, expand in volume, which exponentially increases the water pressure and forces the pipe to burst. In these circumstances, shut the water off at the main and immediately call a plumber. To prevent the pipes from freezing in the first place, Richard recommended keeping cabinet doors open and insulating the pipes with pipe insulation. This can be found at home centers. How to Replace Polybutylene Piping with PEX Richard travels to Richmond, Virginia to help a homeowner replace her polybutylene piping with conventional PEX. Where to find it? Polybutylene pipes are no longer to code and need to be replaced by a licensed professional. Richard was assisted by Capital Mechanical. The tools and materials required to replace the pipes, including the PEX lines, fittings, and the expansion tool, can all be found at home centers and plumbing supply houses. The PEX piping for this project was supplied by Uponor. Future House | Smart Automatic Water Shutoff Valves Ross travels to Los Angeles to learn about innovations being made to automatic water shutoff valves.

Large 1930's semi renovation - What did we do to this house? (Part 2)

Welcome back to this little mini-series about past renovation projects. Watch part 1 first if you haven't already where I explain a bit more about this property. In this video I'm condensing a 2.5 year renovation down to 40 minutes-ish. Sorry, couldn't make it any shorter and believe me I tried! So what did we end up doing to this large 1930's semi? Did we swap the living room and dining room around? Let's find out...

Gosforth Handyman

Gosforth Handyman

This Old House | House Fire Reclamation

The back porches are brought to code. Ice blasting is used to get rid of the fire odor. New vinyl siding gets installed. Homeowner Carol considers new accent colors to match. Framing begins inside.

A lingering smell is one of the biggest problems faced by victims of a house fire. Kevin finds our demo expert Ron Peik addressing that problem with a unique solution—ice. The old siding dates to the early 80’s and finding a match has been difficult. Carol has decided to put new vinyl siding on the entire house and change the color. Tom works with Charlie and siding installer Diogenes Porto on the side of the house that received most of the damage. The new siding color gives Carol a chance to change accent colors on the exterior. She meets with Mauro Henrique to pick new colors for the columns in front. In the second floor apartment framing has begun. Kevin finds Russ and his crew erecting a new wet wall between the kitchen and bathroom and moving a bathroom wall to make space for a laundry room.