This First House (2026) s01e04 Episode Script

1
♪♪
♪♪
-Just a week after Crystal and
Jorge closed on their condo,
a massive storm ripped
through North Plainfield
and flooded their building.
Fortunately, their unit is
on the second floor
and wasn't damaged,
but it caused a bit of a delay.
Where we stand now,
the floors are done,
we've got our protection down,
and we're going to go demo
out the kitchen.
♪♪
♪♪
Let's take this out.
And then if we stop there,
that's it.
♪♪
So the kitchen,
as you see, is all demoed here.
Most of the issues
we've had so far are electric.
We do definitely need to add
an outlet here
and move this outlet over.
I'm a little concerned with
the way these wires are looking.
There's just an open splice
right in the wall there.
Drywall screws holding
the outlets in
I'm kind of concerned about.
As much as they're easy
enough repairs,
it adds time,
and we have very little of that.
We're already very ambitious,
which is always the case.
How long can you go while
paying rent and a mortgage?
And usually it's
not particularly long.
Today we're going to install
the cabinets.
It's very important for
us to install these very quickly
because the countertop
needs to be templated
and it takes a few weeks,
typically, at the shortest
to get these countertops
templated,
fabricated, and installed.
So my lead carpenter Kalen's
joining us today.
He's an amazing carpenter
from Georgia,
and I've been working with him
for about three years now.
He's probably one
of the most excellent carpenters
I've ever had the pleasure
to work with.
Hopefully it fits in there.
Uh-oh!
[ Grunting ]
You know what they say.
Measure twice.
♪♪
Uppers are all in nice
and tight.
Now we're gonna get
the lowers in,
but we're gonna do it
a little bit unconventionally.
-Yeah, I got some scrap
plywood that I ripped down
and made these little
ladder boxes.
-I like that you made
that little cutout
for the vacuum cleaner.
Jorge's gonna love that.
-It's pretty neat.
♪♪
Is it level?
-Looks good.
-Sweet.
-You want to pass me
that vacuum?
We'll see if it fits.
♪♪
Nice and level.
And we got about
1/8 inch of clearance there,
so I think we're perfect.
♪♪
Alright. Beautiful.
Okay, let's level them up
and screw them to the wall.
♪♪
-I'm gonna push it out just
[ Drill whirring ]
-Alright. Beautiful.
Alright, so let's template
this countertop here.
We're gonna use
these thin pieces of plywood
and make a template
for our fabricator.
And we'll just hot-glue
it together.
♪♪
Alright, let's let it set,
let the glue dry,
and then we'll take it to
the stone yard.
-So you want to live in
your house through a renovation?
Are you sure that's a good idea?
♪♪
There's a lot of things
to consider.
Higher total cost,
limited access to parts
of your home, expect
disruptions, noise.
[ Tools whirring ]
There will be
utility interruptions.
Dust. A ton of dust.
-So, one of the things that's
tough about live-in remodels
is really dealing with
the clients.
I'm going to paint him instead.
Could you do that over there
maybe?
-So, we're going to lay
out a wall, 16 on center.
The tape measure gives you
your 16 because it's red.
32, the 48 because it's red.
♪♪
-Today we need to demo
the garage.
Take down --
-Ceiling. Not the whole garage.
-We're just taking
down the whole garage.
Today we need to take
the ceiling of the garage down,
see what's under there, pull out
some insulation and the nails.
They used nails back
when this was done,
but there's screws on
the front half.
Assess what's left in case
there's any repairs
that need to be done.
-That looks like it'll peel
off easily.
-I don't know what's
behind that though.
-The reason that we
are repairing the garage ceiling
is not so much even for,
like, the aesthetic purposes,
but really for the safety.
The fumes and the fire hazard
of a garage coming up
into the main house.
That room is cold when it's cold
and hot when it's hot.
The new insulation in
the ceiling will help with that.
And all of this
is really a high priority
because the room above
the garage will be the nursery.
And so we want to make
sure everything is ready
and as safe as possible
and as quiet as possible
for when we bring the baby home.
-This might be Zack.
-Oh, yeah. Okay, good.
-Yeah.
-Hey, guys.
How's it going over there?
-Pretty good.
We're just assessing
the situation in the garage,
figuring out what it's
going to take to get this down,
what we're working with.
-So my recommendation
is to pick one of you
to be the demolition person
pulling things down,
and the other person is going
to be the cleaning stuff out.
We can have our trash
removal service collect it.
And once you've got the whole
garage cleared front to back,
then just go back and pull the
nails out of the joists there
and, um, text me pictures
when you're done of any damage
or any concerning areas
and just try
and put things down gingerly
so you don't create
that big cloud of dust.
-Alright, see you, Zack. Thanks.
-Alright. Well, I like
the specializing idea.
That's kind of the way
we do things anyway, so.
-Alright. I'll get some tools
and I guess
you're going to need gloves
and whatever you need
for garbage.
Let's do it.
-Yeah. Alright.
How do I look?
-Professional.
-[ Laughs ]
Oh, wait. I need my glasses.
♪♪
You're not able to come down
in the big sheets
like Zack talked about?
-It looks like it's gonna come
down
roughly joist bay by joist bay.
-So I am nervous about
what we're gonna find up there.
I think at the very least, it's
going to be dusty and dirty.
But also,
I'm wondering what cute critters
might have made a home up there.
Ooh, ooh, ooh! You okay?
We do have a mouse trap
in there, although
we've never seen anything.
The only thing that mouse trap
has caught was my toe.
But we'll see.
The unknown is
a little frightening.
-I'm just kind of hoping we
don't find a teenage boy's stash
from the '50s
like we did in the attic.
-I don't know how they
would have gotten it up there,
but good for them if they did.
-Explains the holes, I think.
-I know you have the harder job,
but I can't keep up with you.
-Yours actually might be
more tedious.
Some of this material is outdoor
material, like leaves and stuff,
which is a little scary.
-Are you sweating?
Because I am sweating.
-Oh, yeah,
I was sweating probably
before I started swinging.
-I know.
-It's not so bad.
Uh, maybe I just have
the easy job.
Is it hard for you?
-You seem
like you have the harder job,
but it does seem
to be going relatively quickly.
And we haven't found
anything scary yet,
which is a big reassurance.
-So I'm taking out the biggest
pieces of drywall I can get.
And then behind me, Hannah's
coming and picking up the nails,
and then the insulation
sometimes falls on its own
or then we pull it out.
-So how do you think
we're doing?
-About halfway done with
the drywall at least.
-You want to have a race?
See who can get the most nails.
Alright. Ready? Set. Go.
-Alright.
And they can't drop.
You get a penalty
if you drop any.
-Oh! How much?
Like, could I just drop them all
or?
-Alright. Stop.
How many you have?
-Two.
-One, two, three, four, five.
-Seriously?
-Crowbar wins.
I won.
-Can we get -- Can we get
that documented as many times
in as many ways as possible?
-Yes.
-Okay, great.
Yeah. So at some point
we were pulling out insulation
and it looked like it was
about two inches thick,
even though it was
in a nearly six-inch bay.
And that maybe it's
some compression over time.
But it did make me think this
was not maximally insulated.
-Well, then there was
the section
that just didn't have
any insulation.
Um, which explains a lot
about --
-The section where I work,
which makes so much sense of
why my feet are freezing
-Why you wear shoes inside.
-in the winter and I have to
wear shoes at my desk.
-Something was living
up there at some point.
Not anymore.
♪♪
-Alright, end of the day.
Ceiling's down, insulation
is down.
Lots of it's bagged.
-Oh, you know what?
-Can we try a karate chop?
Yes!
-Next step is to throw
insulation back up there
and do it with new materials.
-So this went better
than I thought it would.
We didn't find any damage
or evidence of damaging things.
That was reassuring.
A lot of it
was just falling down on us.
I know you did a lot more work,
so I don't mean
to diminish what you did,
but even the cleanup
doesn't seem like it's too bad.
I thought this was
going to be a whole weekend
and it was an afternoon,
so that's a relief.
So there's lots more to do.
-Well, and credit to the PPE
because I think without this it
would have felt very different
and I'd be coughing
up a lung at this point.
So I think this speaks
to the importance of this.
♪♪
-Today the main focus is talking
about the kitchen
and explaining the layout
and talking about hardware
and cabinet doors and stuff.
I expect Zack is going to put me
to work because, you know,
first of all, we have to get
things done
as quickly as possible,
and also, I expressed to him
that I'm interested in sort of
learning how things work.
-What's up?
-Hey, Zack.
-What do you think of the place?
-It's looking really good.
We love the paint color.
-Nice. It's looking a little
more like home, right?
-Definitely. Yeah.
-We're on a bit
of a time crunch.
You want to help me
get these doors up?
-Absolutely.
-So these are called
European hinges or cup hinges
or concealed hinges.
You basically just push them in.
Takes a little bit of working,
and once it's in nice and flush,
you just push down on that cover
and that's it, installed.
-This is the first time we are
here since we bought the place,
and we're seeing it now and
the renovations are underway,
so it's pretty exciting.
♪♪
-All done?
-Yeah.
-Alright.
I just finished up too.
I basically just mounted
the other side of these hinges
onto the cabinets.
So, see that little bar there?
-Yeah.
-So that bar is going to nest
into the face
of these little brackets.
So all you have to do is
really just open that hinge up,
slide it in till you feel
it sort of sitting in there
and then push the back
and it snaps in.
Do the same on the top
and you're good to go.
Alright. What do you think?
-Looks really nice.
I love the white cabinets.
-Alright.
So the first thing
to do when adjusting cabinets
is see what the door
is doing with regards
to the cabinet itself?
So the great thing
about these European hinges
is they actually are
three-way adjustable.
What we'll do is start
making some adjustments
to sort of level everything out.
A little bit further in.
A little bit higher up.
Alright. So we can keep
adjusting these all day.
But the bottom line is
we've got the plumber
still to come, countertops
still to go in.
So I'd rather just leave that
till the end
when we can do it all at once.
But what I do need is
for Crystal to come up here
because she picked
some awesome hardware,
and I want to talk about
where to locate it
because you guys may not be here
before we're ready to put it in.
You want to swap out?
-Yeah, I'll go get her.
-Alright. Cool.
I'll finish with this.
♪♪
-Oh, wow.
-What do you think?
-Looks great. Oh, my goodness.
-Here's your hardware.
-Ooh, now that's grandma.
-It's definitely grandma, right?
I'm beginning to see it
come together now.
So I like to
at least get some doors on,
have you see it in person.
So you think you'd like
it there?
Does that look good right there?
-Right there.
Right there's perfect height.
-So one thing that happened
is when you're drilling through
and you get to the other side,
it will blow out the back and
sort of cause the paint to chip.
So we'll just clamp that
on there.
-Okay.
-Like this.
And that'll stop that blowout
from happening.
Alright. So now that we have
this block on the back,
we've got the drill here.
And just go as slow as you feel.
The tighter you squeeze it,
the faster it's going to go.
Take your time.
It's gonna be no problem.
You ready?
-Okay.
[ Both laugh ]
-You got this.
Perfect.
Now you can back that out.
-Okay.
-Perfect. Beautiful.
That hole is nice and clean.
There's no blowout.
So this piece of hardware
has this sort of back plate
that's separate.
-I think I like it
with the plate.
-I think so too.
-Yeah.
-And we'll just snap that off.
So now I'll pop that
through there.
There it is.
So now you can finish it off.
-Okay.
♪♪
-Alright. What do you think?
-Wow.
It's 100% better
than I imagined.
So far I think the apartment
looks great.
I love the paint,
the floor tiles, the cabinets.
Everything is really coming
together how I imagined.
♪♪
-So right now we're
in my basement,
which is a sort of
a multifunctional space.
We've got a gym,
laundry, and a playroom.
We wanted to renovate
our basement to a place
where it was a functional space
for us,
but not fully finished
because we weren't
really sure what
the water implications
would be down here.
We put a sump pump in
and a perimeter drain,
but it's still quite possible
that we could get
some water coming in.
In addition to this space,
we were renovating the rest
of the house,
and we wanted to be
very mindful about
how we spent our money
in the basement.
That meant that we cut
some corners in terms
of the look of the space
because we were
really going for function.
So I'd love to talk to Nick
today about his basement
and kind of some of the upgrades
that he could consider making,
maybe not an
Architectural Digest piece,
but a place
where he can work comfortably,
take calls, and not feel
like he's in a dungeon.
Hi, Nick.
-Hey, Camille.
Good to see you.
-You too.
I'm hanging out in my basement,
which is also my office.
And I was thinking about
your space,
so I thought we could maybe chat
about it a little bit.
-Great. Sounds good.
-Right now
Nick and Hannah are planning
to phase this project.
There's going to be
some time between
when that bathroom is complete
and when they are able to get
the egress window in place,
and then begin framing of
the office/bedroom area.
I know this space in the interim
could serve as an office
for you, depending on where you
are in this adoption process.
So it is important that it
doesn't feel like the basement
that it is in entirety, right?
But I think you really don't
want to spend any extra money
that you'll have to just rip
out after.
-Yeah, that seems good.
It'd be great
if I could take calls
and give some presentations
down there if I really needed
to and not have to undo
work in order to proceed
to the final phase.
-So there's a few different
ways that Hannah and Nick
could really upgrade
this basement space.
Paint is a big one.
They could paint the ceiling
a dark uniform color,
a flat finish that's going to
really hide the imperfections.
We painted the ceiling
in a flat black,
a little less
of a cluttered look up there.
Another thing they could do
is paint the foundation walls
with a waterproof paint.
Make sure
that it's all sealed up,
and you're not going to have
that exposed foundation
that doesn't give you
a pleasant work environment.
-Yeah,
that all sounds very good.
I like the waterproofing
resilience as well.
Every bit of insurance
makes me feel better.
-And then another thing that
they could do is a waterproof,
resilient flooring.
A lot of people like
to go with a floating floor,
but one of the downfalls of that
is it isn't as waterproof
as something like an epoxy,
and they can't frame
directly on top of it,
so they would have to remove
sections of that
when they go to put
those walls in.
-An epoxy solution
seems like it could be good.
It would help
with waterproofing.
It would be easily cleanable.
It could look good enough.
-Definitely.
-And it could maybe even carry
all the way through the garage.
And then
when we get to the point
where we're going to
be putting up walls,
we can just build on top of it.
So I'm thinking that
might be the way to go.
-Only item of concern I would
have with epoxy is the V.O.C.
Some of them can be higher
V.O.C., and that'll give
you a lot of odor in the house
as it's curing.
So I would recommend
that you go with a lower V.O.C.
It's definitely worth any
added cost or any added time.
-Yeah, I really appreciate
that.
You know, we do have to live
and work and sleep here
while the work is happening.
So I appreciate you thinking
about our safety there.
So we will definitely be
prioritizing the low-V.O.C.
options wherever possible.
-Sounds great.
I think it's totally possible
to have a hybrid
finished basement situation.
It's also a cheaper option,
which leaves you more budget
for the rest of the house,
the places
everyone's going to see,
and you still get that function.
-Alright, well,
that sounds like a great plan.
Thanks, Camille.
-No problem. Thank you.
-Sounds good.
-Take care.
♪♪
-A couple weeks ago,
Crystal and Jorge
picked out their slab
at the fabricator.
This is what a slab looks like
when it comes.
It's a lot more stone
than you need.
So we call these remnants.
They're the leftover bits
from larger countertop projects.
And these are more affordable.
And they're right here.
We don't need to wait
for them to be shipped in
because we have
a tight deadline.
Now it's been fabricated,
and we can go see it installed.
I'm really excited.
So Mario and his team
are getting the slabs
out of their truck.
They're going to dolly them
over to the door,
carry them up the stairs,
and then basically
just drop them into place.
Once they're in place,
we use a little bit of silicone
to hold them in.
Pop the sink in.
They're going nowhere.
Now we can get the backsplash in
and the plumbing connected.
-My name is Kordian Rak,
and the name of my company
is Rak Plumbing & Heating.
Today I'll be installing
a dishwasher
and a kitchen faucet
along with all the drain lines.
♪♪
Okay. How's that, Edwin?
-It's pretty straight for me.
-So this nut here is installed
during the demolition phase
so somebody doesn't accidentally
bump into this angle valve here,
open the water so it
doesn't spray all over the place
and cause a flood.
I became a plumber because I was
always interested in the trades.
I used to work with my father
when I was a little kid
growing up,
and as soon as I saw somebody
pull out a torch on a jobsite,
I said, "I want to do
what that guy's doing."
So I stuck with plumbing, and
I seem to fall in love with it.
♪♪
Alright, so now that we're ready
for our dishwasher connections,
the next thing we'll do
is pull out this dishwasher
and see what kind of connections
we have to deal with.
So this is a dishwasher elbow.
This is a dishwasher hose.
This screws on to the back
of the dishwasher here.
Prepare to slide back in place.
This side of the hose
will be connecting
underneath the kitchen sink
to the hot-water valve.
♪♪
So the next thing I'll be doing
is securing the dishwasher hose
and installing this
two-hose strap.
That way nobody can pull
this hose down.
So that way we don't have
any backflow going into
the dishwasher.
So the next thing I'll be doing
is I'll be turning on
the shutoff valves
for the kitchen faucet
and the dishwasher.
Edwin, we need a garbage bag.
I have a leak on the old valve.
So we just turned on
the dishwasher valve
and the first thing
that happened
is the valve started leaking.
So we're gonna try to tighten
up the packing nut on it
and see if that works.
If not, we'll have to shut down,
probably part of this community
in order to replace
the shutoff valve.
Okay.
So you can tighten
this little packing nut here
on this shutoff valve.
It may stop the leak
and it may not.
♪♪
-[ Speaking indistinctly ]
-Alright.
So I was able to tighten
the packing nut
on this shutoff valve,
so we don't have to shut down
the entire community.
But this shutoff valve
should be replaced.
♪♪
So the next thing I'll be doing
is testing the
kitchen sink drain by filling up
the entire sink with water.
I'm gonna be pulling
the drain plug on it
and testing
the drain assembly underneath,
see if there's any leaks.
So far it looks good.
There's no leaks.
And that's it. We're all done
with this kitchen.
-Let's talk about
the amazing innovation
of waste-side plumbing.
This is where all
the yucky stuff gets carried out
of your house
by nothing more than gravity!
How cool is that?
So we have small pipes
for your sinks.
You've got your toilet
over there.
That's a three-inch pipe,
a little bit bigger.
Those large loads
that need to be carried out.
Then you have ventilation pipes.
So the point of this
is to bring air in.
When you put water in
and there's air introduced,
you don't get gurgling,
glug glug glug,
when you're putting things
down the drain.
Then we have traps.
So water will always sit
in this P-trap.
And that makes sure
that this open pipe at the top
never has sewer gas escaping
from it.
It's the reason
your house doesn't smell.
It's a really cool system.
-So you want to be
a good client?
There's a few important things
you have to remember.
Be clear on your goals.
Be decisive.
Be realistic about your budget.
Respect the process.
Always be flexible.
And most importantly, treat your
crew with respect and gratitude.
Remember, good clients get
better projects.
♪♪
-Fire and sound
is what we want.
-Like, how many more are there?
-I'm doing the Zack thing.
You do every task
until you're done.
-Like an assembly line. Ooh.
-I feel like I just gave
Zack credit for, like,
Henry Ford or whoever that was.
-[ Laughs ]
-So, today
we need to insulate the garage
with some mineral wool.
This feels easy,
he said naively.
The first one -- go all
the way back to the outer edge.
So my understanding is we're
going to be using full batts
of insulation
wherever they can fit.
We should go 22 just
so that it's stuffed in firmly.
-Okay.
-And then cutting them
to length.
And then those cutoffs
can be used
in all the nooks and crannies
that are left over.
And then we'll do the split
on this side here.
So the final result is a tightly
packed body of insulation
basically everywhere.
There we go.
-Ooh, that's nice.
-We're gonna do two layers.
One, because that's easier
to put in,
but also that allows
that the joints
between the batts don't line up.
You'll have one joint here
and then you'll have
a staggered joint below.
-I'll be the other one.
-And so the joints won't line up
and the air can't get
directly through as easily.
So it'll help
the insulation perform better.
♪♪
♪♪
Yeah. Give me a
-[ Inhales deeply ]
[ Exhales deeply ]
-Okay, great.
[ Blowing air ]
-[ Speaking indistinctly ]
-Yeah.
[ Laughs ]
-Yikes. You did it on your
Did you just eat some of it?
-What is this is made of, wool?
-Rocks.
-So the rocks are wool?
-No, it's literally rocks
-What?
-that are turned into wool.
-So it seems
to be going well so far.
Nick's doing a great job
of being tall and capable.
-So there's a bit of a gap
on the top half of this cross
bracing,
and I want to fill that.
-It does feel a bit
like a game of Tetris,
trying to get all the pieces
to fit around the ducting
and make sure
that our seams are staggered.
So it's coming along.
-Oh, but then your point is,
we're going to be filling
that with a piece
that goes right here.
-That was my point, yeah.
-It's good relationship building
because there's two wheels
and one person putting
things in place,
which means that
one person has to kind of take
responsibility
for both people's opinions.
So I would slit it in the middle
and we'd go high, low.
And then the next piece
comes in.
Nice work, Hannah.
-We've had some disagreements,
but we're probably
just overthinking it.
-Classic.
As is so often the case,
you're right.
And it just takes me
a while to figure it out.
So we'll go past or into
dinnertime, but that's okay.
-So it's taking us longer
to insulate than it did to demo.
I guess it makes sense
because you're being
less careful when you demo.
It feels good
to have another step done.
I'm ready for a shower.
It's itchy.
-Indeed.
I'm glad that we're on
to the next step.
And drywall can be up soon.
-Yeah.
Then it's really going to start
to look finished.
-Yeah.
-Can dreams be real?
-Get this stuff off of me!
-I can't wait to shower.
♪♪
-Matt, our electrician, is
coming in here today
to get some light fixtures
installed
and take care of some
of those electric issues that,
unfortunately, have kept
coming up here.
-Hey, Zack.
-Come on in. Welcome, welcome.
Glad you're here today.
We are in a bit
of a time crunch.
-Okay.
My name's Matthew Sczesny,
and I'm the owner of
BrightView Electric.
And we are a premium full
service electrical contractor.
-So it's important for
homeowners to hire
an electrician for
a couple reasons.
One, because the condition
in their house may not be safe.
What do you think of this panel?
-Well, first thing I see,
there's no surge suppression,
which you could throw in here.
The circuits --
Not all of them are labeled.
Uh, so we can go through,
label everything.
Play our favorite game --
Find that circuit.
-Find that circuit!
-[ Chuckling ] Yeah.
-What I notice is
that they're beige,
and there's not a lot
of circuits.
-Maybe this was designed
to new construction standards.
There might be a few
more circuits,
but beige, it's just the brand.
Everybody looks
a little different.
-So I think it's good to touch
base with an electrician
and get sort of
a general health of the building
you're working in.
-Definitely need
a GFI receptor near the sink.
We want to make sure
this recessed light trim
in the shower area is rated
to be in the shower area.
You're going to look at
the trim itself.
It'll say on there
whether or not it's rated
to be in a shower area
or it'll say on the package.
-Hey, Zack.
-Nice to see you.
-How you doing?
-This is Matt.
-Hey, Jorge.
-Hey.
-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too, Matt.
-So we did a little walkthrough.
We talked about some of the
things we need to fix in here,
but now it is receptacle time.
It is receptacle time.
Do you have kids, Jorge?
-I do. Two young kids.
-And when you first had
your kids,
did you go out and buy a gallon
of those little plastic covers
to stick in all the receptacles?
-We did. Yeah.
And my son took them
right out.
[ Laughter ]
-First thing.
-We got the solution for that --
tamper-resistant receptacles.
-Okay.
-Every receptacle is
tamper-resistant.
You'll see it'll be labeled.
And then if you look real close,
we have this barrier
right there.
So the only way you're going
to be able to get a fork in
there is if you press these
at the same time.
-Let me see that.
Always got the right tool
for the job.
I need a better fork.
-Let's go, Jorge.
You want to install one?
-Let me try this.
-[ Laughs ]
-It's still not going in there.
-Our first step we want to do --
we have to turn
this circuit off.
It's labeled here
lighting and receptacles.
Alright. We want to make sure
that this is off.
It's reading zero. Alright.
So first step, we're gonna
get this cover plate off.
Then we're going to unscrew
the device here.
Alright. So let's take a look at
what we got.
A hot conductor, which is
that red there.
It's landed on
the gold terminations.
And then over here we have
our neutral conductors or,
you know, the white ones.
We don't have a ground.
This is the spot for the ground.
Alright. So we're going to take
these off.
Oh. You see
how quickly that came out there.
That was pretty loose.
So what you can do
to get these out
is you can use a pair
of diagonal cutters like this.
What we'll do is we'll put
a green ground screw in the back
right inside that threaded hole.
I find the easiest way
to do this is take
your bare 14-gauge ground wire.
Just kind of bend it
because that threaded hole's
a little far back in the box.
And you're going to end up
really fumbling around
trying to get
this screw threaded in there.
So one end is going to go to
our receptacle,
and then the other end
is going to attach
to these existing ground wires.
It's nice and tight.
-And what's the purpose
of the wire nut?
-It's going to keep
the connection intact.
Push it into the back
of the box there.
This wire in as well.
Give us plenty of room.
This front edge of the box
can't be like a quarter inch
from this finished
material edge.
So we're gonna have to put
this extension ring in there,
because this material is
combustible.
This is going to give everything
here a better fire rating,
and it's going to contain.
This acts as a measuring gauge
for how much we should strip.
We don't want to strip too much.
Then we'll have exposed copper
out of the back here.
And we don't want to strip
too little,
or else we might not be
able to make the connection.
It doesn't have to be perfect,
because we can always
just give her a little haircut.
Just a little.
Alright, now we'll
just open up these levers here.
Really simple.
Backstab the wiring into this,
and then we'll depress
the levers down.
Then we'll do both
of our neutral conductors.
♪♪
This red one,
did you see? Look. Perfect.
Using the strip gauge.
You don't see
any exposed copper.
And we're ready to put it in.
-So today Matt and I installed
a tamper-proof receptacle,
which I actually was
calling an outlet.
So that's the first thing
I learned.
-I just want to push
the wires down
to fold them just a little bit.
It's going to make it
a little bit easier
for us to get her in there.
-And it's supposed to prevent
kids really
from inserting things
that they shouldn't
into an outlet,
which is important for us.
Into the receptacle.
No, you're right, I can't.
It's like,
did I learn it or did I not?
-Most strippers now,
they come with a 632
and an 832 threaded machine
screw cutting tool on there.
-Man, that's super cool.
-She's cut, and as we back
out, this screw
will rethread the cut end.
-Wow.
Yeah. And just really we're
super eager to move in.
So yeah, that's what
we're looking forward to.
-You're all set.
-Sweet.
-Perfect.
-Thanks a lot, man.
-No problem.
-Learned a lot.
But we're also patient.
We know
that good work is happening.
And we know that takes time, so.
♪♪
-So today I'm going to
the jobsite.
Just going to check on things.
We've got insulation in now.
So the next step is drywall.
I think that actually may be
underway already.
-Hey, Camille.
-Hi.
-How are you?
-Good.
Looking a little bit more
like a bathroom in here, right?
-It is.
It's really coming together.
Okay, so what's next here?
-Well, as you can see,
we have all the insulation in.
I know you guys worked
extremely hard
on the insulating of the garage.
-Not as hard as your team,
but we did our little part.
-And now we're ready
for drywall.
-Okay.
-So that's starting now.
Abraham's working in the garage
right now.
He's getting that all drywalled,
and he's gonna work
his way in here.
-So if drywall is next,
is that something that
when we do the second phase
of this afterwards
that we could do on our own,
or would you not recommend that?
-It really depends on
what your comfort level is
and what you're interested
in taking on yourselves.
Drywall is a complicated skill,
so we always recommend
that when you're considering
DIYing something
that you consider the equation
of how much it costs
if you're having somebody do it
and then how much it costs
if you're doing it.
But that is only
if you don't make any mistakes.
If you have to go back
for a second trip
because you made a cut
that wasn't quite right,
and then you're
maybe wasting more material.
So you have to buy extra.
-Yeah.
And I'm sure we would learn
some from trial and error.
-Yeah.
-In the process.
-And especially a space like
this, it's a really small area.
There's a lot of cuts.
There's probably only
one single sheet of drywall,
like full sheet up.
Everything else is smaller cuts.
-Yeah. A real puzzle.
-Yeah, a puzzle, exactly.
But I think the
most important thing
to keep in mind
is it's your time.
Like, what's your time worth?
What are the materials
going to cost you?
If you're going to buy
tools for this project,
are you going to store
them afterwards?
Are you going to rent tools?
Then that's an added cost.
-Right. Yeah.
So it's really making that fully
informed decision about
what will this actually cost,
how much does it actually
save us and is it really
worthwhile.
-Right. Yeah. And maybe it is.
Maybe it's totally worth it.
And you've done a lot
of research
on how to install drywall
and you've practiced before.
And that's something
that you really want to do.
Then by all means.
It's your home.
You should, you know,
get your hands dirty
and do those tasks that
really excite you.
-Okay.
-For me, that's not drywall.
-I was going to say I
don't think it is for me either.
So Nick and I have gone back
and forth
on what to do ourselves
and what to contract out.
And what we've probably
talked about most is drywall,
whether or not to do
that ourselves.
And I think with all the advice
we're getting,
it's sounding like that's
probably not the thing
for us to take on.
And so we'll take
on the other things
that we can
and find partners for that.
-So Hannah and I
just went over all
of the progress at the jobsite.
Right now, the garage
is actually already drywalled,
which is fantastic.
Got to get the shower pan
in soon.
-Okay. That's exciting.
-Yeah.
♪♪
-We're getting ready to paint
Mateo and Sadie's room today.
-I brought Crystal and Jorge
here to The Home Depot
so that we can pick out
all the materials
that we need to prep the space.
This paint roller kit
with tray rollers and brushes
is ideal for application on
smooth to semi smooth surfaces,
and it's recommended
for use with all premium paints.
-Love it.
-Alright. Let's get it.
-Can I help you?
-We are looking
to get ethereal mood.
-Okay.
Is it for interior or exterior?
-For interior.
We're doing a nursery.
-Okay. I recommend Marquee.
Marquee is a one-coat hide.
It's a stain-blocking
and it's a low-V.O.C.
What finish would you like?
-We're gonna do a matte finish.
-Matte.
Okay, I'll have it ready for you
in five minutes.
-Thank you.
-Uh-huh.
Here you go.
-Awesome. Thank you so much.
-Thank you.
-You're welcome.
Did you get everything
you need for your paint project?
Paint trays, your rollers,
your drop cloths.
Your painter's tape?
-Oh, yes, yep.
-Yeah.
-So you're all set.
Good luck on your paint project.
-Oh, thank you so much.
-Thank you.
-Have a great one.
-I love how the associates
at The Home Depot
always help you out,
making sure you get everything
you need
so we don't make another trip.
I'm gonna go grab a ladder.
I'll meet you guys at checkout.
-Okay, great. Thank you.
-One gallon of paint
covers up to 400 square feet.
-So, I can't get
this thing closed.
It's hitting up at the corner,
and I can see that
the hinge is coming off the jam,
so you might think
it's totally ruined,
but easy fix and all
you need is a golf tee.
First, we're gonna
pull the screws out.
♪♪
So all three of these
are stripped.
All you got to do
is take a golf tee.
Take a hammer.
Break it off and repeat.
And this is going to give
us more material
for the screw threads
to grab back onto.
-So don't believe
the fake-news media.
They will tell you to roll
like this for some reason
and then cover it up.
I'm guessing they want you to do
this to spread the paint out.
But if you're going to roll
over the whole wall anyway,
what is the point of that?
It's a stupid thing.
It wastes time.
I never met
a professional painter
who thought that was the way
to go in terms of efficiency.
No one does that. Stop doing it.
If I see you do that
on my jobsite,
I will give you a talking to.
It's stupid.
Now, look, I have to go
over here and clean this up.
-Okay, before we get to
the actual painting part,
we have to prep the space.
The three P's of painting --
it's prep, then it's prep,
and then it's paint.
Step one -- we're gonna
clean everything.
Let's start with the vacuuming,
the window sash, and everything
around the trim there.
While you do that,
I'll start working on
getting those cover plates off.
We want to make sure that we
don't lose these little screws.
Right? So I'm just going to take
a little piece of tape
and tape them inside here.
And then write the name
of the paint color.
-That's smart.
-I think we're ready
to start masking
out the windows and the floor.
This tape has
paint-bleed prevention.
It's got a medium adhesion.
So it's good for most surfaces
and it's good for indoor
and outdoor use.
Okay. We're just going to cover
up these outlets.
Okay. Drop cloth time.
These drop cloths are great.
They're so versatile.
Wash them, reuse them as much
as you want.
You can use them outdoors.
So I think you're ready for the
fun part now -- time to paint.
And you know, as Teo may want
to mix up the color in here.
you can always head back
to The Home Depot.
They have a wide array
of color selections there
for you to pick from.
-Definitely.
-Well, I'll leave you to it.
-Great. Thank you, Camille.
Got to go change my shirt.
-Yeah.
You don't want to get paint
on that flag shirt.
-Definitely not.
♪♪
-I think most first-time
home buyers understand
how to use a brush,
how to use a roller,
maybe how to use drop cloths,
the essentials.
But what they don't
understand is those little tips
that professional painters
use to complete a job faster.
You're no stranger to painting.
You've done a lot of this,
right?
-Yeah, I wouldn't say a lot,
but
I've painted, you know,
my old apartment a few times,
a previous apartment, and even
when I lived with my parents,
I painted, so [laughs]
I've painted a lot.
-We already did
some touch-ups on the wall
because we had
the drywall contractor in here.
And your ceiling looks
pretty good.
It looks like it was painted,
so we don't have to do that.
We just have to do the walls
and the trim.
My typical sequence
would actually be
to do the trim first,
because it's just sort of easier
to, when you come over here,
paint into this
rather than trying
to paint this outside edge.
You know?
-That makes a lot of sense.
-But also
because this is a small room,
we're going to be working
quickly.
If we paint that baseboard first
and then we roll,
we're going to get those little
speckles on the baseboard.
So for this,
why don't we get the spots
with the trim paint
that are going to be hard
to reach later
and then we can pivot right over
to painting the walls?
And then we'll do
that baseboard last
because we don't want any
of those speckles.
Alright.
So let's get into it.
Alright. So get as much paint
as we can fit in there.
-Today I'm looking
forward to learning
some pro tips from Zack.
-The more paint
we get into here, the lighter
this is going to be
so you're not carrying
that heavy gallon around.
-Because I know
that he does everything
to the highest levels.
-As you drag, you have to
keep dragging higher
and higher and higher.
And I'm sure you've had
that happen
where then you have paint
on the whole thing.
Right? So what you need to do
is actually dunk and tap.
And that's going to mean you're
loading the brush properly
but you're not dragging it
on the side
and you don't have
a messy brush.
-I'm looking forward to seeing
how he does things
and to learn some tips.
-So the area
I want you to focus on
is this area between the face
of the casing and the wall.
That's what we want to
get painted first.
I'm going to start
on the wall color.
You work on all of those areas.
So don't be afraid
to, like, get it on there
and then clean it up after.
-Okay, okay.
-We call this cutting in.
So basically brushwork.
First thing is
a very loaded brush, figuring
out what the brush
is doing with some test strokes
and then gradually working
your way up to the line.
-Very impressive.
Normally I would put tape
on the ceiling.
-Yeah. What a waste of tape.
If you can just, you know.
-You're an expert, I guess.
Let's see what you're doing.
Now, we don't want those
little fibers in the paint job,
so just roll that up
and down the masking tape there.
Going across.
Just do it a whole bunch
of times.
We want to make sure those loose
particles come off on the tape,
not on the wall.
-Okay, this is a great tip.
I've never done this before,
but I do notice that
I always get fuzz on the wall.
-Yeah, eventually,
once it's sort of worn in,
we're just trying to prep it.
See all the stuff on there?
-Oh, yeah. Definitely.
-Looks like you had cats
in the house.
-And I'm allergic.
-[ Laughs ]
Okay,
so now that's all lint free.
You can sort of load this up.
This part of the roller cage
leading in the direction you go.
Because basically what
you want to do
is you want to have
pressure on the leading edge
because the side
with the pressure
is going to sort of leave
a little bit of residue paint,
sort of like these lines
we see here.
That's what we don't want.
So we're going to work this way
and think of this
as feathering out.
So you've got pressure on
the leading edge feathering out.
And we're just going up
and down.
-Straight up and down?
-Straight up and down.
None of this "Y" business.
-I know.
Just get the paint on the wall.
No one needs to do that.
"Y" thing.
I don't know where that started.
-Yeah.
-It's a huge conspiracy.
Most people are trying
to do this in a weekend
or an afternoon,
and they're wasting so much time
not being effective.
So what I'd like to show Jorge,
who really knows how to paint,
we just want to make
him more effective
so he can get through
that project quicker
and move on to unpacking.
What's sort of your
biggest waste of time?
It's not when you're rolling.
It's not when you're brushing.
It's the trips between.
-Yeah.
-So if we can minimize
the amount of trips
by maximizing the amount
of paint,
we'll move quicker
through the project.
But look what happens.
Sort of drips off.
And then you're going to turn
this whole jobsite into a mess.
So what I like to do is when
I get as much paint as I can
that I can control,
and then I'll just sort of spin
it as I bring it into position.
And that allows me to put
much more paint on the wall.
It stops dripping
almost immediately
once I touch the wall.
And I'm just -- I'm
literally just loading the wall
up with that paint,
and then I'll start
back here leveling it out.
Give her a whirl.
An actual whirl,
a spinning whirl.
-It was very cool.
You know, he --
I learned a bunch of new things
that are easy to apply.
So it was exciting.
-Alright.
That's the first coat done.
-Looks good.
-I think it looks pretty good.
That's a nice color, right?
-Yeah.
-Well, I think you got
this pretty much handled.
I'll, uh, I'll let you at it.
One more coat, semi-gloss,
and you're off to the races.
-Alright.
-Alright. Well done.
-Thanks a lot, Zack.
It feels great to know
that we're putting the sort of
the finishing touches on
the kids' room, you know.
I'm super excited for Mateo
and Sadie to move into the room
and get used to
their new home and stuff
and see them playing in there
and walking in and out of it.
So it's pretty
exciting and emotional.
-We've submitted
multiple permits.
A couple for the basement,
one for the patio.
Things are coming along.
So today, my understanding is
we're beginning patio work.
We've got a pad down.
We need to put stuff
on top of it, around it.
I'm gonna learn a ton.
I'm excited.
-So we're here
for the first day onsite,
actually putting stuff
in the ground.
We're gonna carry that back,
and I'm pretty strong, so.
Yeah. That's fine.
We are hoping that we're gonna
get all the pavers down,
get started on the deck landing.
Hopefully we can finish
potentially in two days.
♪♪
-I have not installed
pavers before,
and I've seen lots of paver jobs
that seem sort of uneven
over time,
so I can't wait to figure out
how we can make pavers look
good for a long time.
-We decided to do
a concrete slab as our base,
just a little bit easier
to set up, get to grade,
get it poured.
Can't really get machinery
back there.
So that's going to be the
foundation for our paver patio.
So on top of that
we're going to have a screeded
setting bed of concrete sand
and then our pavers
on top of that.
This concrete sand actually
helps create the interlock
of the interlocking paver,
so we set them on this sand bed.
And then
once we're done we compact them.
That's going to drive
the pavers into the sand
and get the sand up
into the joints a little bit.
So we set down these pipes,
just three-quarter-inch PVC
pipe,
which has an outside diameter
of one inch.
And we want a very consistent
one-inch setting bed
over this whole thing.
We've got our screed rake here.
Pull the sand right over top.
Makes it super easy.
And once the setting bed is
there, nobody steps on it.
Screed bed is lava.
So almost ready for pavers.
Now that we've got our
screed bed pretty much set up
over top of this concrete slab,
we need something that's
going to contain the pavers
so that they don't
just fall off the patio.
So we're going to use
this edge block here.
We're going to set this all
in a bed of concrete.
So we're gonna get this set,
and then we're gonna tap it
in with a dead-blow hammer.
And once that concrete dries,
this isn't going to move at all.
We should be good as long as
we take our time with this step.
The rest of it should go
hopefully pretty smooth.
You ready?
-Yeah.
-Alright, let's go.
So we're starting
to lay the pavers
over top of our screed bed.
And we're going to start
with our field pavers.
Perfect.
♪♪
We do have a border going in,
but we're gonna hold off on that
because we have a concrete edge
block that goes around this.
And that's going to act
as our edge restraint
and a nice border detail.
Once I get this line set, then
we can just like lay and go.
We're gonna start
with our field pavers,
which is this
three-piece random pattern.
And once we finish those up,
we can then hopefully have
the edge block in
around the perimeter,
fill up our void
with some more concrete sand,
and then set our
black border paver
which will set everything off.
-It's looking good.
-It's getting there.
-Making a lot more progress
out here than I'm making inside.
-We got all our field pavers
down,
and we've got a cut
along the house to make
and a cut along this side.
As soon as we get that done,
I want to get poly sand in here
and get it compacted.
-Yeah. So I work from home,
mostly sitting by a computer,
doing research
with code or e-mails
or --
very different than this.
And I'm often looking out
the window
when the weather's amazing,
thinking,
"I'd love to be doing
something more like this."
So it is very nice
to get out here,
although respect to the people
that do this every day
because I bet I'll be
sore tomorrow in a way
that I couldn't be if
I had to do this again tomorrow.
So the next couple of days
I need to get back to work.
And these professionals
will take it from here
and I'm sure do a much better
and a much faster job
than I could do.
-So we've got a couple
of finishing touches
to do on the patio.
We're gonna hopefully get
our poly sand in
by the end of the day,
just to set ourselves up for
tomorrow to be ready to finish.
Thought we might get
a little bit further today,
but still happy
with the progress.
-But what I do like
is you made a lot of progress.
So it takes the attention
away from the fact
that I'm still waiting
for inspections in the basement,
and nothing's really moved
along down there.
That's helping me.
So keep up the good work.
I'm gonna go wait for
the inspector.
-Awesome.
-Alright. See you later.
I'm going back to the dungeon.
-Bye, Zack.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-You got it there, sonny boy?