The Manchester House - 14
Our master carpenter sees how the faulty east chimney has been fixed by specialist Mark Schaub and his crew: the game room fireplace is bricked over, but the guest room above gets a new hearth, firebox and gas ""coal grate."" Richard Trethewey shows Steve how he's using a beat-up airhandler to provide dry, clean temporary jobside heat and gives an overview on how he plans to heat and cool the house - radiant floor heat on the first floor, flat-panel radiators for the second and third, and a/c only in select rooms on the second and third. Steve finds Roger Cook out back, where he's been denied Conservation Commission approval to cut down trees near the ocean, though he is allow to limb them up for a better view. Out at the auto court, Roger shows Steve how he cuts 2"" thick granite in a curve. Steve and homeowner Janet McCue visit a garden shop to see how various paving options look before she commits to buying materials for the landscape. Back at the house, architect Steve Holt describes
More from Season 23
Episode 1
The Manchester House - 1
Steve and our master carpenter approach the latest project house by water, finding a convenient dock at the base of the property. They meet Janet McCue, who is busy supervising the family's move out of the house for the duration of the project, and her husband David, who gives them a tour around the inside of the rambling building. Steve meets architect Stephen Holt, who shows a picture of the house looked 100 years ago. For inspiration, they visit a classic Shingle-style home, built in 1881 and lovingly maintained ever since. Back at the subject house, Richard Trethewey and Tom Silva pull up in their own boat to begin a mechanical exam of the house with our master carpenter. Their verdict: a solid, well-plumbed structure to build on. The McCues describe their hopes for the project: better communication between house and yard, a relocated and improved kitchen, expanded master bath and bedroom, and a great room for music performances and relaxing.
Episode 2
The Manchester House - 2
The day starts off with the landscaping works of Roger Cook. He and his crew cut down a few trees that were threatening the house, have move a dozen or so rhododendrons and azaleas that are in the way of the new addition, and are preapring to move a 25-foot evergreen and a 20-foot dogwood by balling the roots and using a large excavator. Inside, architect Stephen Holt shows a model of the proposed renovation to homeowner David McCue and Steve. Essentially, he hopes to restore the building to its former architectural beauty on the outside, while overcoming some floorplan problems to make it work better for the McCues inside. Part of the interior rearrangement includes putting the kitchen front and center in the house, something that wouldn't have been found in the original Shingle style building. To prove it can be done, Holt takes David and Steve to a nearby house, of a similar vintage, where he accomplished just such a change for the client. Back at the house, our master carpenter and
Episode 3
The Manchester House - 3
Steve sees the seaside public rotunda and ""chowder house"" our subject property looks out on, with Manchester Historical Society president John Huss as guide. At the house, nearly four dumpsters worth of gutting has occured, and Steve, our master carpenter and Tom take a tour of the building to see what has been revealed of its renovation history and discuss what is planned for this job. Architect Stephen Holt and homeowner David McCue continue to discuss options available to give the McCues the feeling of space and light they crave for the kitchen and living room - some are radical and expensive, some rely more on minor but clever changes. One thing they can't include is a change in footprint: the concrete has arrived for the footings for the new addition and porch. In the basement, the start of an oil leak in one of the old steel tanks has forced Richard Trethewey's hand, and he's brought in two new polyethylene-lined tanks from Europe, guaranteed never to rot. Finally, Steve learns f
Episode 4
The Manchester House - 4
With the new concrete walls poured, it's time to damp-proof them, just one more in a series of tasks that adds up to nearly $30,000 for the new foundation - which is simply the cost of building to code. Reviewing the immense amount of demolition done, and the work left to do, Steve asks the obvious: wouldn't it be cheaper, faster, and better to simply bulldose this tired old building and build a fresh replica? Our master carpenter and Tom have done the math, and while it might be simpler, it would cost about $1 million more than the planned renovation. Besides, adds Tom, we are saving the old place, which is worth something. After taking a tour of one of the great surviving Shingle style buildings, H. H. Richardson's Stonehurst in Waltham, Massachusetts, Steve comes back more convinced than ever that saving what little is left of the McCues' house is the right thing to do.
Episode 5
The Manchester House - 5
The foundation has been backfilled and carpenters are busy putting up the forms for the new terrace. Inside, the area for the new kitchen and family room has been completely opened up, thanks to a 3800-pound steel and laminated lumber beam Tommy and his crew engineered and inserted through the side of the building. Within the new space, kitchen cabinet designer and builder Ted Goodnow works with David and Janet McCue to begin to lay out the new kitchen, pantry and office. Ted takes David and Steve to a nearby kitchen built his firm to get some more ideas about design features and materials. Back at the house, Tommy and our master carpenter investigate some archeology revealed during demolition: original fabric of the building, including the roof, a dormer and a gabled sidewall. The original wood roof shingles are an important factor as our master carpenter begins to consider roofing choices with roofing contractor Mark Mulloy and product rep Steve Miller, who shows them a treated shing
Episode 6
The Manchester House - 6
Steve finds our master carpenter in the new jobsite office trailer, complete with secure storage - good for keeping paperwork safe from the work going on inside the house and for keeping track of delivered materials. Tom shows Steve the progress on the job, including the restored dormers, straightened floors and an ingenious metod of raising the kitchen/family room ceiling by shaving 2"" off the joists and stiffening the remaining structure with engineered lumber and steel to form flitches. Window specialist Jay Harman shows our master carpenter three different windows to consider for the renovation: pine, aluminum clad, and Alaskan yellow cedar. Each has its own qualities (and price point), but for maintenance by the water, the choice may very well be the clad. Finally, kitchen cabinet designer and manfacturer Ted Goodnow and homeowner Janet McCue show Steve a full-size mock-up of the kitchen they're considering.
