Bob meets with Mark and Ryley to install some pine shiplap panelling in the basement room.

Bob meets Jason Hill from New England Classic as their ready-measured and pre-cut paneling system is installed in the Manhattan Brownstone. This flat-panel classic American design is modeled after the Arts and Craft style made popular in the late 1800s. This paneling is made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) faced with a wood veneer. New England Classic offers Oak, Maple, Cherry, paint-grade wood, or a variety of standard finishes. The entire system is designed as a kit of parts that is custom fitted to the customer's space and style. Customers can go the the Web site and download design forms that gather the measurements and product specifics for the job. An in-house design team then creates a design, an installation plan, and a materials list. Once on-site the system is easy to assemble. First the center of the room is determined and marked, then the baseboard is set and leveled. The first panel is then centered on the line marking the center of the room. Panel adhesive is used on the back of each 3/8-inch panel to hold it in place and keep it off the wall enough to push it into the slot of the rabetted stile. The panel is then tapped into place and check for level. A top rail is slash cut along the edge before being installed with adhesive and nailed in place along the bead. A top cap completes the installation, and gives this panel a true 1890s feel.

Bob joins David Ives who is installing the farm grown mahogany paneling in the master bedroom closet.

Bob checks in on the finish carpenters who are installing wall paneling in the entranceway. They are using a medium density overlay (MDO) and 1/2 inch poplar slats to create the recessed panels. Bob also shows off the finished second floor bathroom tile and the repaired windows.

Carpenter Bob Ryley is on location to begin work on a reproduction wood-paneled wall in the project home's formal dining area. The wall panels, which were inspired by a visit to the Winslow Crocker house, a 1790 example of Colonial architecture on Cape Cod,. They will be made from knot-free, select grade pine. After discussing the room's layout and consulting an architectural rendering, Ryley begins to cut, assemble, and dry fit the panel elements. Ryley first mills the vertical trim pieces, called stiles, and the horizontal rails on a router table. Next, a wall panel is milled from three boards which have been glued and clamped overnight. Finally, Bob and Ryley begin to temporarily assemble the panels on the wall. Once all the pieces of the wall panels have been test fit, final assembly can begin.

Nick Beasley shows Bob the custom poplar and MDF (medium-density fiberboard) panels he has made for the tub wall in his new master bath. He installs the panel, which has already been scribed for a tight fit. He tacks the panel in place for now, waiting until the Corian tub surround is installed to make the final installation. The tub is already in place, a Porcher cast-iron model from American Standard. There will be a Corian tub deck and top shelf installed, and a new toilet once the bathroom is complete.

Before heading up to our loft on the sixth floor, Bob gets a progress report on the common areas in the building from developer Neal Gold.

Bob meets with Joe Adams and Ralph McGrath, in the media room of the Elm Court Cottage in the Berkshires. They are installing a sound attenuation, grid-ceiling system from Owens Corning�s QuietZone Acoustyle Wood Coffered Ceiling collection. A standard T-bar steel framing system used commonly in drop ceilings is used as the substructure for the engineered panels. The panels anchor to the grid and using carbonized steel expansion clips. The solid and perforated wood panels allow the sound to be absorbed through the ceiling and into the black acoustic board adhered to the ceiling above the suspended ceiling. QuietZone systems control sound waves in four ways: they absorb, block, break and isolate. By managing the energy of the sound wave, Owens Corning redefines ambient noise. The panels can be ordered in natural materials like Walnut or other fine woods.

Bob discusses the advantages of hazard-resistant building techniques pertaining to sheathing the roof with Bryan Readling of the APA, Engineered Wood Association, on the Mt. Pleasant house in South Carolina.

Bob goes back to the governor's mansion to install the restored mantelpiece.