Exterior Episodes

A practical guide to rain-screen wall assemblies, from drainage and drying to bug screens, furring strips, and the details that matter before new siding goes up.

Zack Dettmore and Jared install four-inch Dutch lap vinyl with trim details that hide the usual J-channel tell, Zack tours a 100,000-square-foot modular factory in Middleburg, Pennsylvania, Richard Trethewey fits a ceiling cassette into a low basement, and the crew sets a three-panel slider into a custom copper pan.

Charlie tours a Springfield trim factory, Tom explains why there should be air behind your siding, and the new deck gets composite tongue-and-groove boards. Plus: a kitchen mock-up that's smarter than it looks.

The inevitable asbestos discovery, a field trip to a recycling facility, and a 24-foot steel beam craned through a rear window — because sometimes the front door isn't an option.

James Beard award-winning restaurants are reopening, the mountain water that flooded everything also makes great beer, and the North Asheville chimney finally gets resolved — spoiler: they went with an insert.

Landscape architects wrestle multi-ton boulders into retaining walls, Paula gets a door-staining lesson, and Kevin explores how Biltmore Village is bouncing back from the storm.

Jim's brother drives down from Jersey to tile a bathroom, a father-son roofing duo explains why four nails aren't enough anymore, and Kevin sneaks in a field trip to the Biltmore Estate.

Mark and a mason scope out chimney damage with a camera (it's not pretty), Kevin replaces siding in the mud, and the Army Corps of Engineers drops by to explain what 'relief efforts' actually looks like.