Season 7 - Shingle Style
Cambridge, MA
This project centers on the remodel of Bob's own gracious Shingle Style home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Carpentry and restoration projects abound. Details from the built-in hutch in the dining room are used to create a wall of elegant mahogany bookshelves in the library. The kitchen is updated with modern appliances, and original details are restored.
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| Bob and architect Greg Rochlin tour the exterior of this season's project, Bob's own 100-year-old shingle style home in Cambridge, Mass. Bob notes the various features of the existing house ...
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| Bob explores Harvard Square with architectural historian Brian Pfeiffer, vice president of building conservation for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
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| Work gets started as Greg Rochlin presents architectural plans and demolition begins, revealing an old pocket door.
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| Bob joins Brian Pfeiffer to tour the neighborhood in Cambridge and check out other historical homes including the Cooper-Frost-Austin House - the oldest dwelling still standing in the City of ...
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| Bob goes over plans for the second floor with Greg Rochlin and then joins Ryley as he undertakes the meticulous demolition of a nineteenth century door casing and disassembly of ...
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| Structural engineer Rene Mugnier explains how to fix the kitchen ceiling and two floors above, which are found to be dangerously unsupported, with the addition of a new load bearing ...
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| Bob meets with Ryley and the crew to begin installing the built-up structural beam made of Maxi-lams.
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| Bob meets with plumbing and HVAC contractor Frank ladarola, to look at a 40+ year old converted gas from oil furnace that needs to be replaced with a more efficient ...
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| Bob works with contractor Bob Ryley and carpenter Chris Clark installing new wood-shingle siding. Bob demonstrates a few of the pry bars used to remove the old shingles and the ...
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| Bob travels to British Columbia and tours the Waldun Forest Products Company shingle manufacturing plant with Jack Davidson, manager of the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau.
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| Bob meets with Gregory Rochlin to discuss the third floor structural redesign. Additional supports will be added to the existing roof to allow for snow load resulting from the improved ...
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| Bob meets Mike Walker the concrete finisher who is pouring a concrete floor. What is very interesting about this project is that the concrete will be pumped into the house ...
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| Bob visits a Georgia-Pacific lumber mill and goes on a tour with Randi Bonanni. Randi outlines the harvesting and mill processes.
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| Bob meets Ryley who is adding a third floor dormer to an existing home. Ryley will be recreating a shed dormer with a hip dormer above to the third floor. ...
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| Bob visits the Historic Mid-Georgian Vassal Craig Longfellow house with National Parks Service representative Jim Shea. Bob describes the home's unique history and notes the many architectural features.
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| Bob meets Denny Ruffini to see how a metal stud wall is built in the basement. Bob explains his decision for choosing metal, inculding water damage and termite prevention. The ...
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| Bob, Ryley, carpenter Danny Ruffini, and copper work specialist Fred Mitchell install custom fabricated copper-lined wood gutters on Bob's home. Bob reviews the special cuts used to optimized the gluing ...
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| Bob Vila joins Brian Pfeiffer of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities and tours a 1887 historic home in the Avon Hill neighborhood.
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| Bob, Ryley, and roofer Jay Sargent install fire-rated wood shingles. Bob discusses the treatment applied to the wood shingles to render them fire-resistant. An ice and water barrier is applied ...
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| Bob meets Brendon Driscoll, the electrician who is installing the new wiring. The initial wiring stage is called the "rough in" where Brendon will plan circuits, layout the design, ...
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| Bob checks in with Ryley as he lays out and begins to frame for the deck. The original deck was removed and new concrete footings have been poured. Pressure treated ...
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| Bob meets with Ed and Lisa Zywusko, a husband and wife masonry team and sees how they are going to refurbish the old brick chimney. Ed demonstrates the techniques used ...
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| Bob and Ryley meet with Michael Roche to install a Marvin Palladian window, which has a round arched-top with a flanking flat top window on each side.
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| Bob watches the crew from Anderson Insulation as they insulate an attic space that's being converted into a teenager's room. Owner Eric Anderson shows Bob the Owens Corning products used ...
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| Bob helps Ryley build a redwood deck. Bob emphasizes the use of stainless steel nails when working with redwood due to the wood's acidity. Then, Danny Ruffini installs a custom-made ...
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| Bob meets paint-stripping expert Bob Sharon and looks over his air filtration system. He also observes the Dumond Chemical's patented, environmentally safe Peel Away paint removal system.
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| Plumbing and heating contractor Frank Iadarola meets with Mike Kaufmann to look at the high-efficiency System 2000. The low mass unit will be used to supply both the heat and ...
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| Bob meets with the plumber to look at the air handler and then goes upstairs to check out a bathroom floor heated with radiant heat.
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| Bob meets Barry Driscoll, the electrician who is wiring a third-floor sub panel. The panel feeds air handlers, bedrooms, bathrooms and an entertainment area. At the time the house was ...
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| Bob discusses "fenestration" which is the placement of the windows and then meets Bob with Ryley to install a Marvin thermopane window with true divided lights (tdl). Ryley explains the ...
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| Bob takes us to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to tour Naumkeag, a wonderful example of the grand Shingle Style by Stanford White. Bob studies the ornate detail of the house and discusses ...
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| Bob explains how the blue board is attached, shows how the cornerbead is attached, and talks about factory edge seams. Bob interviews Carlos Londono, a plastering contractor, who shows how ...
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| Bob meets with landscape architects Rick & Nancy Lamb to discuss the existing landscape. In addition, arborist Charley Cummings trims some Hemlock trees.
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| Bob looks at what goes behind the walls before putting on the blue board: wiring, light fixtures, heat ducts, water lines and a pocket door frame.
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| Bob meets with Brian Powell, an architectural conservator from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Brian helps Bob determine the original 1897 exterior color scheme and then ...
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| Todd Allen builds an elaborate staircase in the kitchen. Bob discusses this type of "housed staircase" and reviews the plans and techniques used to build it.
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| Bob heads to the library to discuss the plaster patchwork in progress. Plaster buttons are installed to hold the new metal mesh to the existing lath. StructoLite and DuraBond are ...
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| Bob visits with Ed Zywusko who is installing ceramic tile in guest bath. The tiles are from Spain, Portugal, and Italy lending a very Mediterranean feel to the stall. Ed ...
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| Bob Ryley installs a chair rail and replaces the glass in the doors of the dining room hutch. Ryley cuts the necessary pieces of railing using a coping saw to ...
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| Bob helps Ryley create an elaborate five-piece cornice molding in the dining room. Ryley has created a raised working environment and begun cutting the many pieces need to create the ...
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| Bob takes us on a visit to the Isaac Bell House in Newport, Rhode Island, for a look at one of the finest examples of the Shingle Style to be ...
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| Bob checks in on the finish carpenters who are installing wall paneling in the entranceway. They are using a medium density overlay (MDO) and 1/2 inch poplar slats to create ...
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| Bob and Ryley oversee the installation of a select white oak 18 inch herringbone floor in the library. Bob describes the advantages of this type of flooring and discusses the ...
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| Bob meets with Neil Sugarman to check out the water conditioning system and then goes on a tour of the Kinetico plant in Cleveland to see how the water conditioning ...
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| Bob meets with Bob and Sheila Smaltz from California Closets to review the layout for Bob's walk-in closet.
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| Bob looks at a large exterior color sample on his home in Cambridge, Mass., and watches the paint crew pressure wash the house. Bob describes the tools involved in prepping ...
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| Todd Allen and Jim Shiels explain how they deal with the idiosyncrasies of a 100-year-old house as they install the first of the Heritage cabinets in Bob's kitchen.
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| Bob meets with architect Greg Rochlin and expert carpenter Danny Ruffini to restore old double-hung windows and replace lead sash weights with new springloaded balances.
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| Bob looks at some of the unique Victorian design elements on his front-corner porch.
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| Bob meets with trim carpenter David Ives to discuss the staved columns he is installing to visually break up the vestibule and front hall.
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| Bob looks at the half-bath under the staircase with its tumbled marble mosaic floor and then watches plumber Ron Iadarola attach the "tender gray" Kohler sink to a marble vanity ...
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| Bob tours the Kohler factory in Wisconsin with the founder's great granddaughter, Laura Kohler. Laura shows off several new products and reproduction pieces.
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| Bob checks out the elegant mahogany paneled California Closet storage system designed for the master bedroom suite and then looks at a more traditional white melanine system in a smaller ...
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| Landscape architects Rick & Nancy Lamb discuss their landscaping plans. Rick outlines the drawn proposal and explains the various benefits of the chosen plants.
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| Bob visits with Beth Kaufman at the Country Floors tile showroom in New York City. Beth highlights several of the styles on display and explains the tile design process.
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| Bob visits with Ed Zywusko who is undertaking a tricky tile installation in a shower area, and then joins plumber Frank Iadarola in a flashback.
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| Bob talks with Mike Nasti of All Island Supply as the crew installs the Allen block retaining wall for the backyard terrace.
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| We visit Fairsted, the Brookline, Mass., home of Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect responsible for most of this country's great public parks.
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| Bob meets with Mark Marini of Schumacher Landscaping to discuss the installation of the bluestone pavers on the lower terrace. Bob helps lay several of the stones and watches as ...
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| Bob discusses the new kitchen soapstone countertop with Todd Allen—how to care for it and how it was installed to create the reveal—and then shows how easy it is to ...
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| Bob visits the Burpee Trial Gardens in Ambler, Pa. with George Ball, Burpee president and CEO. George explains the objectives of a "trial" garden and shows off several new plants ...
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| Bob meets with Mark Marini to discuss implementation of the landscaping plans and plant a Thunder Clod Plum tree in the bluestone terrace. Bob talks through the process and learns ...
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| Bob meets electrician Barry Driscoll, who is retrofitting an old gas light fixture into a modern electrical light fixture. They rewire the fixture from canopy to the socket.
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| Penny Henderson of Lightolier discusses the home's dimmer switch system and the benefits of controlling lighting for different scenarios and demonstrates the Lightolier lighting control multiset for Bob.
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| Bob and Ryley begin to reassemble the stair rail and balusters. Ryley demonstrates the various fastening and plugging techniques.
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| Bob visits with Chris Flynn learns about the new carpet being installed on the third floor and how the sections are seamed together.
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| Bob reviews the progress the Western Red Cedar custom fence designed to block the carport from the neighbors view at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jay Triandafilou has scribed the ...
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| Bob tours the completed kitchen at his Cambridge home. The Sub Zero refrigerators have been customized in one area using the same bead board design as the kitchen walls and ...
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| Bob works with carpenter Bob Ryley to construct an insert for an antique cherry armoire to house his bedroom TV and Video collection. The insert made of cherry veneered plywood ...
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| Bob tours the front vestibule, highlighting the beautiful stencil work done by Kim Sweet.
The stencil work replaced moldings in many homes of this nineteenth century era. The stencil work ...
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| Bob and Ryley install the restored door hardware. Greg Rochlin (project architect) had the lacquer coated brass hardware intricately removed and numbered to insure its proper placement in the finished ...
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| Bob meets with Greg VanGrover of Ketcham Reflections to observe the finishing touches in the bathroom shower. VanGrover works with architectural drawings to custom fit the shower doors and glass ...
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