Bob and Howard Brickman begin the installation of the old-growth pine plank flooring in a second-floor bedroom of the modern Colonial's sister house. The Eastern White pine flooring, which was supplied by Carlisle Restoration Lumber, is newly milled from select old-growth trees from New England. The boards project measure 17-inches wide, and up to 14-feet long. Brickman first lays down a 15-pound felt paper to cover the subfloor. The felt paper acts as a moisture barrier and reduces the amount of movement in the floor over time. After laying out the entire floor, Brickman marks the location of the floor joists beneath the subfloor. Using cut nails for an authentic period appearance, the floor will be face nailed. Each nail must be driven below the surface of the floor with a nail set. Once fully secured, the floor will be sanded and finished with a tung oil coating.

As the framers get started on the first floor deck, Bob highlights the features of Advantech subflooring. The material, fabricated with water resistant resins, is ideal for Vermont as it will not delaminate or swell under wet and snowy conditions. 4' x 8' sheets of the tongued and grooved material are placed with the long dimension running perpendicular to the floor joists. Advantech panels have no knotholes, are made from renewable forest resources, and result in a stronger and quieter floor system.

Bob visits the Willamette I-joist Mill in Woodburn, Oregon to watch the process of manufacturing these engineered joists. Bob then returns to the Habitat for Humanity house in Yonkers, New York where the crew assembles the second floor walls with SIPS.

In this segment Ryley installs yellow pine tongue-and-groove flooring and Gary D'Lessio installs Pergo high-pressure laminate flooring.

Bob outlines the steps involved in framing up the house. Once the first floor joists were in place, the crew started in on the subfloor using ToughPly, a thicker plywood product from Georgia-Pacific. A single layer of ToughPly can be used under hardwood, tile, or carpet, and its quick-fit tongue and groove design saves time fitting the panels together. Next the crew framed the sidewalls with Riverside CDX plywood sheathing harvested from sustainable forests in British Columbia. While only slightly thicker than standard OSB or plywood, it's three times as stiff for a greater load carrying capacity and its favorable weight to strength ratio makes its easier to work with.

Bob meets lead carpenter Connor McKenna from Thorough Construction, who is working with the original floor joists in preparation for the hardwood floors. Bob remarks again on the hig-quality craftmanship of the original builders, but notes that the floor joists have been chopped up and hacked through for wiring, plumbing, or gas jobs over the years. McKenna explains that sistering the joists, or applying additional lumber to strengthen the existing timbers, will create a sturdy base and allow them to recreate a level floor. A laser level is used to project a level line throughout the apartment that will be followed for leveling all the new floors. McKenna applies panel adhesive to the tops of the new, sistered joists before laying four-by-eight sheets of Georgia-Pacific Plytanium Sturdifloor on top. This is a tongue-and-groove subfloor that is strong enough to serve as the only layer under hardwood flooring. Once affixed and locked in place, the Plytanium is nailed to the joists with traditional deck screws, never drywall screws, to create a stronger, better, quieter installation for the hardwood floors that will follow.

Bob confers with Lise LaFrance of the A.P.A., The Engineered Wood Association, about their engineered floor system as volunteers assemble the house for Habitat for Humanity in Yonkers, New York.

Bob points out the original backplastering in the corner of the room. As the room was to be covered in bead-board wainscot, plaster was applied to the back of the exterior wall sheathing up to the height of the wainscot to create a more draftproof wall. The wall above the top of the wainscot received a traditional plaster and lath treatment. With the new triple LVL installed, married to the old floor joists, and now going into the existing beam, the load of the second floor in this part of the house has been transferred to the foundation and Charlie's crew removes the temporary supports creating a spacious kitchen/family room that runs the full width of the house.

Here are some basic things to remember when building your own deck. Attach the joist hangers 16 inches apart on center to the side rails. Assemble all floor joists and side rails before nailing. Then, nail all at once, using galvanizd nails. Overhang the first floor board by half an inch using galvanized finish nails. If you have an enclosed deck or a screened porch you can use tongue and groove flooring.

Bob meets with Erling Andersen of AIM (Andersen International Marketing) in the basement of the modern Colonial to discuss the heating system. The Boiler Room in a Box has just arrived in its crate, fully assembled and ready to hang on the wall. Although the gas-fired system has a very small footprint, it has a 175,000 btu boiler and can heat a 4,000 sq. ft. New England home. The water heated by the boiler is distributed throughout the house in two ways: through radiant baseboard and in-floor radiant tubing. The slimline baseboard is made of aluminum and copper with the water distributed through PEX tubing. In rooms with no space for baseboard, such as the kitchen, the heated water runs through special PEX tubing with an aluminum core that is suspended between the floor joists using plastic nail clips. Bob points out that the home's structural system comes with pre-drilled holes to facilitate the tubing installation. Once the radiant tubing has been run between all the joists, reflexive insulation is nailed up into each void effectively creating heat ducts between the joists.