Archives

Steve arrives on site to find the granite steps installed but Herb Brockert’s grading work in the backyard halted by the snow. Norm puts in the columns at the front entrance.

Steve finds Tom Silva installing the doors. Tom shows the process of installing french doors.

Steve arrives and they talk about the debate over a doorway in the library. Norm goes to view a fire test.

om Worth gives Steve an update on the layout. Inside, Rich Trethewey shows Steve the plastic tubing that has made rough plumbing proceed quickly.

Roger Hopkins is at work on the new landscaping. Norm and Tom Silva struggle to make the mitred corners on the redwood clapboards match up.

Tom Silva and Norm prepare an opening to accept a new window. Steve discusses various parts of the library’s design, and we see how mason Lenny Belleveau built the library’s fireplace.

The timber trusses are craned into place in the new addition, with stressed-skin panels following to form the new roof. Norm and Steve examine the architectural shingles that are going on the new roof.

Landscape architect Tom Wirth visits the site and accepts the challenge of reworking the approach to the house’s front entrance. Norm Abram visits timber-framer Tedd Benson.

Norm's take on a dovecote is smaller and is actually a perfect accessory to a garden or country landscape

Homeowner Jan Igoe gives Steve a tour of the developing spaces inside this old house. Norm shows Steve how he is attaching closet sills to the concrete floor.

Norm's single bed bed is built from maple and pine is a four-poster with robust turnings on the posts and scrolled and serpentined cut-outs on the headboard

Norm's entry-way umbrella stand is built from light oak and features a mirror and clay pot holders to catch the raindrops from the resting umbrellas

With the roof demolished, Tom Silva and crew begin to deck over the new second floor. Norm and architect Rick Bechtel discuss plans for the new front entrance.

Norm's oak wheelbarrow features removable sides for greater versatility and medium-density overlay plywood for a smooth and durable bed

Lumber arrives on the site, and mason Lenny Belleveau applies a hard cement coating to the above-grade portion of the styrofoam foundation forms.

Norm builds a classic console table with graceful curved legs cut on the band saw and a simple country finish over knotty pine

Norm fashions four versions of neighborhood fencing in Eastern white cedar, inspired by a visit to Colonial Williamsburg

Arborist Matt Foti and crew remove a large swamp maple from the site. Tom Silva takes Steve to see another, simpler ranch expansion he did in a nearby town.