Bob meets up with structural engineer Steve Siegel on the Medford's home third floor. The attic is right from the 1880's and clearly no longer meets code. As the homeowner intends to create a home office up there with cathedral ceilings, structural changes will be required. Steve explains that the existing structure is undersized and will need to be reinforced. The 2 x 6 rafters are pretty widely spaced at 2 feet on center with flimsy 2 x 3 collar ties. To create useable living space Steve suggests taking out the existing collars and putting in a ridge beam to support the whole load of the roof. To do this Siegel would put a piece of wood (possibly a 2 x 6) at every rafter pair and then position the ridge beam just below. However, this configuration might conflict with the architect's plan to fill the whole gable end with a big glass triangle.

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 in the job. First, they fill interior walls and floors with QuietZone, a sound attenuation batt.

House eleven of the Elmwood project. The attic of a house, owned by Don DeSantis and Ron Hirschauer, is transformed into an exercise space.