Much effort is being made to save and restore the original gambrel, including the exterior details.
Just like the interior, there are challenges. Over the years, the bottom clapboards on the house became buried with dirt, causing rot and damage to the original sheathing and sill. Tom Silva and Charlie Silva make the repairs, removing only those clapboards necessary to weave new ones into the old.
Inside, HVAC expert James Bouchard shows Richard Trethewey how he takes advantage of the small ducts of the high-velocity HVAC system to hide the supplies in the 300-year-old gambrel and the ceiling of the new ell.
Out back at the foundation of the gambrel, Kevin O’Connor assists Mark McCullough with dressing up a cinderblock patch of a former bulkhead door by using stones found on-site to match the original rubble stone foundation.
The original summer beam and gunstock posts are telltale features of the age of the original gambrel, and the homeowners want to celebrate them by keeping them exposed. Historic preservation carpenter Matt Diana is called to repair the beaded corner of one of the posts, which was damaged during construction.
With the repairs made to the exterior, Tom and Charlie install the new clapboards using Tom’s story pole method to match the reveal of the existing clapboards on the original house.
Original Air Date: May 11, 2023, Season 44; Ep. 22 23:42
Products and resources from this episode
- Flashing tape manufacturer: GCP Applied Technologies
- Roofing materials manufacturer: GAF
- Framing contractor: TJ Berky Builders
- HVAC system manufacturer: The Unico System
- HVAC contractor: Back Bay Mechanical Heating & Air Conditioning
- Preservation carpenter: Matt Diana Housewright
- Siding manufacturer: Robbins Lumber, Inc.
- Paint manufacturer: Sherwin Williams
- Lumber supplier: Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association