This Old House

Separated during Superstorm Sandy in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Carlos and Maria had a harrowing experience. See more post-Sandy stories as TOH TV premieres its Jersey Shore Rebuilds series on October 3 on PBS

Jackie Rebholz's family home floating in New Jersey's Barnegat Bay is one of Superstorm Sandy's most iconic images. See more post-Sandy stories as TOH TV premieres its Jersey Shore Rebuilds series on October 3 on PBS

In an eight-part series, This Old House will follow three houses on the New Jersey coastline that were badly damaged in Superstorm Sandy

The trick to renovating a historic home is to use replacement windows with authentic period details, like Marvin Windows

Norm and Kevin visit an antiques shop. A Dutch door is fitted. Kevin sees new lighting and the living area. Richard shows the basement. Norm sees the caregiver suite. The homeowner’s parents arrive.

Richard talks the geothermal system. The mudroom is tiled. Kevin tours a Seattle home. Tom installs countertops. A contractor fits the window trim pieces. Tom brings in an antique farm table.

An installer lays new tile. A mason parges the top of the brick chimney. The flooring is stained. Norm meets the carpenter who restored Daryl Hall’s estate. A mud job forms the bed for hearth tiles.

Norm meets a shipwright. Tom puts up barn boards. Kevin sees the finished patio and plantings as well as a house designed for ALS. Hearth tiles are laid. Tom builds a mantel from reclaimed oak.

Insulation and drywall go up at the cottage. Richard gets a look at septic innovation. Norm brings out the decorative timbers and he and Tom fabricate the final joint and install the pieces.

Kevin and Roger explore the Essex clamming scene. Richard talks rough plumbing and ductwork progress. Radiant floor panels, a lightning rod, and a metal roof are fitted. Roger makes a bluestone patio.

Tom and Kevin pick window trim. Richard brings Kevin up to speed on the geothermal installation, and two 350-foot deep wells are drilled. Dynamite is used to make space for the pipe.

Roger restores the water feature. Kevin and Richard revive a water well. An electrician digs a trench to the street. Ross Trethewey explains why the site is ideal for geothermal heating and cooling.

Tom repairs water damage. He and Norm replace a sill. Kevin sees the plan for the patio. Roger adds veneer to the walls. Norm meets a Bucksport architect to see the accessible house he designed.

Kevin visits the Institute for Human Centered Design. Tom and Roger level out the site in Essex. Norm, Tom, and Kevin remove a dormer and frame the kitchen roof. Roger makes retaining walls.

The season’s second project finds Norm and Kevin back on Cape Ann, in Essex, Massachusetts. John and Julie Corcoran hope to turn their 1935 English-style cottage into an accessible in-law residence.

The last details come together for the Cambridge project finale: Granite posts set off the landscape and the revived vintage doorbell crowns the foyer. Designers Dee Elms and Andrew Terrat make the sleek, white Scandinavian modern interior come alive. Homeowners Sally Peterson and John Stone, and the crew give a final salute!

Finishing touches are coming together: the driveway, walk-in closets, home automation and some remarkable wallpaper. Norm Abram visits local glass artist Carrie Gustafson, and Tom Silva’s helping homeowner John Stone build a workbench.

Roger Cook is getting the plants in; the hearth and woodbox are lined with sandstone. Norm Abram visits Paul Grothouse who’s fabricating the huge butcher block countertop. Richard Trethewey installs wall-mounted lavatory faucets.

Kevin O’Connor helps Roger Cook install plastic drywells to keep the yard from flooding and checks out the new cabinets with kitchen designer Kathy Marshall. We learn about programmable thermostats and ipe deck tiles that go right over an old deck.

Roger Cook installs granite steps, and Kevin O’Connor helps Tom Silva build a window seat and MDF doors disguised as wainscoting. Norm Abram works on the treads and newel cap on the stairs. Pine ceiling accents get whitewashed and lacquered.

Tom Silva shows Kevin O’Connor how he’s installing Southern yellow pine board accents in key spots to coordinate with the maple flooring that Norm Abram is installing. Tile is set the master bath, and the roof deck gets PVC porch boards and custom rail.

Kevin O’Connor and Norm Abram find the painters spraying the house a sunny yellow, while Tom Silva trims out the windows. Copper gutters and wood-burning fireplace go in, and homeowner Sally Peterson explores commercial-grade cooking appliances.

Kevin O’Connor meets plasterer Vito Bucco. Norm Abram and Tom Silva match the old shingle pattern. Kevin visits interior designers Andrew Terrat and Dee Elms. Radiant heat and the boiler are going in.

Roger replaces the front walk. Tom shows Kevin the replacement windows. A tile contractor uses a shower waterproofing system. Kevin sees a modern home in Brookline. A painting contractor starts prep.