This Old House S47 E8: Asheville's Food Scene Fights Back, the Chimney Gets Its Verdict, and Paint Prep Done Right

Asheville's Food and Beer Scene: The Best Kind of Recovery Story

Eight episodes in, and This Old House does something smart: it zooms out from the individual houses to show Asheville itself coming back. Kevin tours reopening restaurants and breweries, including Chai Pani and Cúrate — both James Beard Award winners — to hear what makes this small city such a food destination.

Then comes the detail that ties everything together: when Kevin sits down with the folks from Hillman Beer and Highland Brewing, he learns that the clean mountain water that draws brewers to Asheville is the same water that caused the catastrophic flooding. The mountains filter it beautifully on the way down. They also channel it with devastating force when there's too much of it.

This is a perfect encapsulation of what makes the Carolina Comeback season work: the same geography that makes Asheville special also made it vulnerable. You can't separate the two. The community isn't rebuilding despite the mountains — they're rebuilding because of them.

Exterior Paint Prep: The Boring Part That Makes Everything Else Work

In Swannanoa, Kevin joins Mauro Henrique outside Jim and Allie's house to prep the exterior for painting. With fiber-cement siding (James Hardie is the dominant brand) and wood-composite trim, the job requires specific prep work that many painters (and definitely most DIYers) rush through:

• Mauro uses wood filler on the trim to fill any gaps, nail holes, or imperfections before paint. This is critical with composite trim — unlike solid wood, composite materials can absorb moisture through unsealed edges and cuts, leading to swelling and deterioration.
• Kevin caulks nail holes in the fiber-cement siding. Every nail penetration is a potential water entry point. Caulking them creates a continuous weather barrier.

The lesson is one that professional painters know and weekend warriors learn the hard way: prep is 70% of a good paint job. The actual painting is the easy, fun part. The filling, caulking, sanding, priming, and cleaning that happens before the finish coat is what determines whether your paint job lasts 2 years or 15.

The Chimney Resolution

Remember the cracked chimney from Episode 3? Mark is back with chimney sweep Alan Justice, and the homeowners have made their decision: rather than rebuild the damaged chimney (expensive, time-consuming, and the original chimney is now structurally compromised), they're going with a wood-burning insert.

This is the practical call. A wood-burning insert fits inside the existing firebox and vents through a flexible stainless steel liner that runs up inside the old chimney. The benefits:

• Cost: Dramatically less expensive than a full chimney rebuild
• Efficiency: Modern inserts are EPA-certified and can be 70-80% efficient, compared to an open fireplace's 10-15% (yes, your traditional fireplace is basically an expensive way to send heated air up the chimney)
• Safety: The stainless liner provides a new, intact flue path regardless of the condition of the old chimney masonry
• Speed: Can be installed in a day versus weeks for a chimney rebuild

Chimney sweep James Esser joins to help prep and set the new insert. It's a tidy resolution to a problem we've been following for five episodes — and I'll admit, the chimneys in the Swannanoa worker housing that Tom praised as 3,000-pound anchors remain the more romantic chimney story of the season. But this is what smart, practical rebuilding looks like.

Window Blinds with Tom and Cat

Tom Silva is in Swannanoa with homeowner Cat, teaching her how to properly measure for interior window shades. After a quick trip to the store, they return to install them. This is classic Tom: taking a seemingly simple task and showing you the two or three details that make the difference between "good enough" and "done right."

Measuring for blinds is one of those tasks that trips up more people than it should. Inside mount vs. outside mount, depth requirements for different blind types, accounting for obstructions like handles or trim — get any of these wrong and you've got blinds that don't fit, don't close, or look crooked. Tom's probably measured ten thousand windows in his career, and watching a master do a simple task well is always worth your time.

DIY Confidence Scale: Episode 8

• Exterior paint prep (caulking, filling): Beginner to Intermediate. This is absolutely DIY-able and arguably one of the most valuable home maintenance skills you can develop. Buy a good caulk gun — the $10 dripless kind, not the $3 kind that makes you question your life choices.
• Wood-burning insert installation: Hire a Professional. The liner needs to be correctly sized and properly connected, and many jurisdictions require a permit and inspection. Also involves working on the roof.
• Blind installation: Beginner-Friendly. Measure twice (three times for inside mounts), use the right anchors, and own a level. You can do every window in a house in a day.

Additional Resources

• This Old House — S47 E8 Official Page
• Watch Episode 8 on PBS
• Chai Pani (James Beard Award winner)
• Cúrate Tapas Bar
• Hillman Beer
• Alan's Home Services and Chimney Sweep

After a holiday break, we'll be back in January with Episode 9: soil testing, a custom vanity top, and Kevin goes antiquing. The Carolina Comeback is entering the home stretch — three more episodes until the big reveal. Piper Watch: still no confirmed sightings since Episode 1, but insider sources suggest she's doing great.