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.

Hardiplank, a product made of fiber cement, will be used for the siding. The planks are made of a mix of wood fiber and cement, which work well together. The planks are durable and hold paint well. The siding being used is prefinished, so it is installed with a final factory-finsh coat.

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. If your home doesn t have the style you wish it had, adding crown molding can help. It can mask any imperfections between the wall and ceiling and add formality, polish and a sense of history, literally crowning the room. Installing crown molding can be a tricky job and probably isn t for beginners. But for those with basic carpentry skills and some patience, it can be a very satisfying do-it-yourself project. Before you start, set up a short scaffolding using sawhorses and planks so you can reach the ceiling and move easily while you work. To avoid wasting expensive molding on mistakes, cut one-foot-long test pieces. Experiment with cutting them to the correct angles and use them as templates: The key is to know which edge is the outside of each cut. Keep it simple by cutting molding in position on the saw using crown stops. Most pros only use a compound miter saw on the outside corners, which are the most visible. For inside corners, use a coping saw. Use real wood molding for this job because manufactured materials will chip if you cope them. Perhaps most important, how do you know which edge is the top of the molding? Look for the ogee, the common element in most crown molding that looks like a wave. It goes closest to the ceiling. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Walking behind the house, Bob makes a few observations about the design. He points out that the house and old barn were not exactly parallel to each other creating some issues fo the breezeway addition. Th architect chose to build the breezeway parallel with the barn, but as the roof is right onto the house, when you look at the roof overhang right on the corner of the addition it subtly increases in width in one direction. Another interesting feature of the architect's design is a 4 ft. wide and t10 ft. long "gang plank"-like balcony coming out from the second floor masterbath.

Wood decks can weather, crack and splinter. Use these steps to replace a damaged deck board.

Ryley gets with Steve Yates from Pergo to learn about Pergo features and installation tips.

Jesse Bartusek from Bellawood joins Bob for the installation of the Bellawood Brazilian Walnut, also called Ipe. The first step, Bartusek explains, is to monitor the moisture content in the concrete so that there will be no cupping of the wood from excessive moisture levels. A moisture barrier is put down between the concrete and the wood to ensure a dry seat. The sealer and the adhesive are both polyurethane based. Once the adhesive is troweled on, the crew has between 30 and 45 minutes to install the planks. The planks are laid out and hammered with a rubber mallet to put them in place. The crew then tapes the boards because the adhesive has memory and will pull boards back to their initial positions if not held in place. Tapping all the boards in place, or racking out the floor, can force some glue up onto the surface. It must be removed with a special adhesive remover. The patterns and colors in the wood tend to vary because it is a natural product. The eight-layer aluminum oxide finish provides long wear that is guaranteed for 50 years by Bellawood. The tape will stay in place for at least four hours but is recommended for 24.

While the house is being dried out, the siding can be put in place. The furring strips are attached to the foam exterior with an adhesive foam. Fasteners are used to affix the fiber cement siding and make sure it's secure. Bob talks with Jack Armour from Powers Fasteners about the fasteners used to secure the siding. Holes are drilled into the structure that are the same diameter as the fasteners . The fasteners are built with a "S" shape and are heat treated so that when the fasteners exert pressure against the cement walls and heat up, they try to return to their original shap, causing them to tighten their grip within the walls . Powers Fasteners is a company that is almost 100 years old. The fasteners were originally made of jute and then gradually started being made of plastic. HardiPlank, a product made of fiber cement, will be used for the siding. The planks are made of a mix of wood fiber and cement, which work well together. The planks are durable and hold paint well. The siding being used is prefinished.

Bob looks at flooring options that included grinding and polishing the cement floors for a loft look, or ceramic Cuban tile, but the sound factor made both impossible. David Southard explains that the building's impact insulation class or IIC made using tile or hard-surface flooring difficult. To tile the floor would mean more than one inch of cork and plywood underneath and shaving all the doors. So, Bob opted for cork flooring from Wicanders, which is multi-layered with cork faces, a fiberboard middle, and a protective finish on top. Installed on top of cork underlayment for extra insulation, the cork floor is very soft underfoot and quiet. Installation is easy with an angle-to-angle fit. The planks are installed like puzzle pieces then tapped into place for a snap-together fit.

Tom Sullivan of Bellawood is in one of the four Mashpee affordable homes where they have donated hardwood flooring for the living room, dining room, and kitchen of each house. This 3 1/4 inch natural Maple flooring has color variations, tight knots, and more visual wood character than a select grade. Like the select and rustic grades, this Maple flooring is 12 percent harder than a Red Oak floor and will last a lifetime. Sullivan shows Bob a prefinished, micro-beveled plank that comes ready to install with a variety of lengths ranging from one to six feet. Bellawood provides a 50-year finish warranty on its flooring, which has eight coats of an aluminum-oxide based semigloss finish. Bob notes how the crew has positioned the pieces in advance to avoid lining up seams and to ensure an aesthetically pleasing layout. Sullivan points out that they have put rosin paper over the plywood subfloor and under the hardwood installation to combat squeaking.