Homeowner and contractor Nick Beasley walks Bob through the progress to date in the master and kids bath, including leveling the floors, building partition walls, and installing cementitious board for the wall and floor tiles. Beasley explains how they discovered inadequate framing for the windows when they removed the wallboard on the exterior wall. They reframed the wall with a header, making it structurally sound, and prepared to install matching windows. Beasley shows how to open up the building wrap and prepare a watertight window installation. He begins by cutting the building wrap down the middle, to the two bottom corners, then across the top. He staples the paper back and trims the excess away. He then uses Pella's waterproof self-adhesive tape along the bottom sill and up six inches on each side. He doubles up the bottom pieces and lets the exterior section extend 1/2 inch so that water will flow to the exterior and away from the house. He explains that it's important to work from the bottom up when waterproofing a window so that any water that gets in will run down and away, not getting caught behind any flap as it runs. Beasley opens up the nailing flange and roughs in the window before checking it for level and plumb. They shim the window at the bottom, middle, and top before checking again for level and plumb, and nailing it into place. They finish the installation with low-expansion insulation foam to fill the voids around the window. Beasley stresses that it's important to use low-expansion foam so that it won't expand too much and push te window out of plumb or cause difficulty for window operation. Cordell Burton is then back with Bob to review the Pella Architect Series windows the Beasleys selected for their 1895 home. These two-over-one wood interior and aluminum-clad exterior windows are Energy Star rated for high efficiency and feature replica-style hardware. They are constructed of double-pane low-e glass and are argon-filled for maximum energy efficiency.

As framing gets underway, Bob watches the workmen roll out the ICA Sill Seal, a new non-crosslink polyethylene foam product, simplifying the installation of the sill.

Bob is on the second floor of the addition where the crew is putting up twenty four foot long sidewalls. Bob and the crew push the sidewall up and Ryley nails the brace into place. The top and bottom plate and studs for the next wall is laid out on the subfloor and then nailed together. Ryley explains that the door and window headers should be nailed in first as a rule of thumb. Bob puts a backer in for a partition that will run perpendicular to the exterior wall. Next plywood is laid on top of the wall and set several inches above the bottom of the wall. This is done so that the next sheet overlaps with the first floor and strengthens the bond between the floors. Finally Ryley cuts the window hole, and the wall is ready to go up.

Bob takes a look at the exterior of the coach house, as well as the exterior garden area. He reviews the first time he saw the dilapidated cottage and some of the highlights of fixing it up.

Bob and architect Greg Rochlin tour the exterior of this season's project, Bob's own 100-year-old shingle style home in Cambridge, Mass. Bob notes the various features of the existing house and discusses the previous remodelling projects.

There are several types of foundations used in residential construction but all have one important requirement, the foundation and connections to the walls and floors must be strong enough not only to support the weight of the house and its contents but to prevent the home from being blown away by high winds. Common Foundation Types The two most common types of foundations are monolithic slab-on-grade and stemwall foundations. A slab on grade foundation is a single, continuous layer of concrete that sits directly on the ground. The concrete slab is the floor system. A slab-on-grade foundation should be reinforced with welded wire fabric and have longitudinal reinforcement in the footing or turndown. Construction Techniques There are many construction techniques for anchoring the exterior walls to the foundation. For wood-framed construction, the bottom plate of the wall should be anchored into the slab with anchor bolts and washers. The bottom plate should be securely connected to the wall studs above by using approved metal clips or straps. For concrete masonry construction, vertical reinforcement in a continuously grouted cell should extend from the wall above and be embedded in the concrete footing below with a standard hook. Stemwalls A stemwall is a concrete block or brick wall used on top of the footer for off grade houses where the ground slopes from one side to the other. Stemwalls can support both concrete slabs and wood-framed floors. Stemwalls should have vertical reinforcement in a continuously grouted cell extending from the concrete masonry wall and embedded in the concrete footing with a standard hook. The concrete footing should also have longitudinal reinforcement. Anchorage for an exterior wall to a stemwall foundation is similar to anchoring to a slab-on-grade. Metal connectors and anchor bolts must be used to securely connect the walls to the foundation and give your home the required resistance to the forces created by extreme winds.

Dino Koukoudakis from Dino's Construction demonstrates some of the techniques used in framing with metal studs. He prefers them because they're lighter and never warp. They are also easy to cut and fasten with the right tools. Dino demonstrates how easy they are to line up and install along an exterior wall and the speed and ease with which a partition wall can be framed. It is simple and sturdy construction material that has a better tolerance for moisture than wood.

Bob is joined by Jim Remick of Nickerson -Remick insulation contractors. Remick tells Bob that this NCFI-Honeywell insulation technology is more and more in demand from builders and contractors. When the liquid insulation hits the wall, the two chemicals react causing it to expand. This closed-cell foam is a moisture, vapor, and air barrier that sets up in a matter of seconds. It will be 95 percent cured in 4 hours, and 100 percent cure in just 24 hours. Once cured, it will give an R Value of 21, which is exceptional. It can only be applied in open cavities because it expands away from the exterior wall and would completely blow off existing wall treatments. There is no need for an added moisture barrier with this closed-cell insultaion. It will provide twice the insulation value, or R factor, but cost three to four times as much to install as average insulation. But the heat savings should be 30 to 50 percent over any other insulation product, bringing rapid payback for intitial installation costs.

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.

Bob and Ryley start by raising an exterior wall on the second floor. Bob and Larry Landers discuss a stiff back support for a tall wall that will be both an interior and exterior wall on the same side depending on the height. They support the wall insuring it is plumb before starting on adjacent walls and rafters. Ryley explains the cutting of a nine twelve roof angle and how to use a framing square to get the angles for the rafters.