View ChannelsFeatured: Finance
View ShowroomsFeatured: Radiantec - Radiant Solar Heating

BobVila.com

Home

Installing the Roof on the Back Porch

Bob confers with two carpenters as they begin to install the dutch gable roof system on the back porch. The ridge beam is secured and rafters are added.

Get Adobe Flash Player to see this content.

Chapters from this episode

Restoring the Vintage Bathtub with Synthetic Porcelain Now Playing

Restoring the Vintage Bathtub with Synthetic Porcelain

Installing the Roof on the Back Porch Now Playing

Installing the Roof on the Back Porch

Kitchen Cabinet Construction Now Playing

Kitchen Cabinet Construction

Building an Interior Soffit Now Playing

Building an Interior Soffit

Clip Transcript For:

Installing the Roof on the Back Porch

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" On the backside of the house the carpenters have continued framing for the porch addition which is designed to look very much like the porch on the front of the house. Last week we saw the steel bracing that was welded onto the tops of the steel columns. -- beings are four by -- and once they were secured that we've installed path for the ridge poles and put up some of the roof rafters. You ready for that second half of the ridge. OK. Yeah. All right NTT's already got a couple of nails in place ready attacks it. Okay. This is a complicated little roof system because. It's what you call -- that's table just like the front porch have made -- larger. And the major gable of the house. Goes all the way from one side to the -- But the part that's over the porch. Will end here and then looked a little bit like a modified hip roof and what's called -- Dutch gable. Notice that these rafters that -- have been cut back so they look like they're actually two by six's. The framing in the old house was smaller dimensional lumber and we're taking the trouble to make the look outside that will be visible look as if there was same dimension -- ready for knowing guys."

[-]

More Videos »Related Videos

Wooden Plugs

Here's a technique professional carpenters use to conceal nails or screws: use wooden plugs. Use a dowel bit to drill out the plugs. Dip each plug in carpenter's glue, and tap it into place over the nail or screw. Let the glue dry, then shear the plug off with a wood chisel. Sand the suface smooth and apply your finish.

The Dominy Workshop at Winterthur Garden

Bob takes us on the first of many visits to the Winterthur Garden and Museum in Delaware's Brandywine Valley. Winterthur was the vision of Henry Francis DuPont, who researched and collected antiques and housed them here. Greg Landry, Director of Conservation for Winterthur, takes Bob to the Dominy Workshop, which once belonged to a family of carpenters and clock makers on Long Island. The workshop-turned-museum houses a multitude of Colonial-era tools, many of which are still in use today. Bob takes a turn on the great wheel lathe, which was used to mill large items like table tops as well as other decorative items. Landry also shows Bob some hand tools, including antique saws, planes, and drills.

Replicating Old Bay Window Moldings and Replacing Them

Bob explains that the house being remodeled was built in 1921 and has never had a real facelift on the exterior. As a consequence, the home's trim, porch ceiling, decking, and windows were all in need of repair. Bob points out the oriel window's exterior frame that has allowed cold air into the home. To fix this problem, local carpenters were called in to tear it apart, insulate, and restructure it. Forester Molding & Lumber was then brought in to replace the 85-year-old trim. Bill Hopkins from Forester Molding & Lumber reviews how old house moldings cannot be found in lumberyards and must be replicated. Hopkins uses a needle gauge to trace the profile of the trim. The needle gauge is then placed on a piece of graph paper and traced. The profile is then used to search for available matches in the Forester catalog. If there is no match, the trim is scanned into the computer and a specialized knife is cut. The knife is then used in the machine to rip the molding.

Baseboard Molding Installation

Bob Ryley installs baseboard molding on the floor of the governor's mansion. Bob Lidle, trim carpentry foreman shows Bob some baseboard trim work involving a baseboard heat register.