Wood: Dead in the Water?

11/14/19 • 28 min

Believe it or not, there’s treasure lying at the bottom of some rivers. Known as deadhead logs, this old-growth wood hasn’t seen the light of day for hundreds of years, and it makes for some of the most beautiful furniture and floors around. Sherry Davis of the Maine Forest and Logging Museum explains how they got there, and logger John Claytor shares stories of how he finds them. This Old House master carpenter Norm Abram also tells us how to use deadhead logs in our homes, and why it’s the best stuff around.

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Windows: No Pane, No Gain

We go to great lengths to make our walls airtight and well-insulated, and then we turn around and put big holes in them. Windows. They look simple, but they are highly-engineered machines... pulleys and weights, argon gas, solar coatings and more. Architect Don Powers helps us decode R-value, U-factors and the typical window label, architectural historian Elizabeth Milnarik traces the history of the window, and This Old House general contractor Tom Silva reminds us that old windows are sometimes worth saving.

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[Bonus] Who is Worse Off? The Turkey or the Plumber?

Thanksgiving is chaotic: the planning, the travel, dealing with family. But think we’ve got it tough? How about the folks that have to balance those demands and deal with our leaks, our clogs and our heating and cooling failures? This Old House experts Richard Trethewey, Norm Abram, Tom Silva, Ross Trethewey, Nathan Gilbert, and a special guest close to Kevin’s heart tell their best (and worst) stories.