Lee Gilliam Episodes

Heath Eastman rewires a basement so one switch doesn't run one lonely bulb, Lee Gilliam patches a snowplow scar with fresh sod, and the crew names an orange deck-board spacer in What Is It?

Lee Gilliam and Kevin O'Connor compare gas, battery, and manual push mowers, then cover dry-grass mowing, the one-third rule, blade sharpening, and seasonal cutting heights. The full Ask This Old House bench talks contractor vetting, from license and insurance checks to jobsite visits and Zack Dettmore's dating analogy. Mark McCullough is in Spokane, Washington, replacing an uneven flagstone front walk with a concrete paver walkway on a compacted basalt crusher-run base, sand setting bed, and aluminum edging.

Lee Gilliam follows Kentucky bluegrass from Washington fields through a seed-cleaning plant's screens and gravity table, Mark McCullough compares brick, concrete, bluestone, and granite pavers by pattern and price, and Nathan Gilbert cuts open a porch ceiling to hang a 2,000-pound-rated swing with Freddy as the apprentice.

Mauro Henrique shows why speed beats any cleaner when paint hits the floor, Heath Eastman finally makes three-way switches click with a switch he built himself, and Nathan Gilbert and Lee Gilliam build a split rail fence that stops cars and looks good doing it.

Richard Trethewey shows a no-wax flange kit with a rubber seal and longer bolts that handles a raised tile floor. Lee Gilliam walks Kevin through fuel, air, and spark on a gas mower, including ethanol separation and a genuinely filthy carburetor bowl. Nathan Gilbert turns a Cape's bar closet into a double-door speakeasy hidden behind a bookcase.

Lee Gilliam tackles a lumpy, mossy backyard with a dethatcher, a leveling rake, and a toddler’s help. Jenn Nawada breaks down houseplants by light exposure. Nathan Gilbert swaps hollow-core interior doors for solid-core slabs—and shows why rushing to prehung is a mistake.

Lee Gilliam helps Rhonda replace a missing privacy screen with Green Giant arborvitae, Mark McCullough sorts the fireplace set by safety and function, and Tom Silva builds a rolling 2x4 rack so six storage totes slide out individually instead of becoming a stack.

Lee Gilliam rebuilds a coastal Massachusetts driveway with reclaimed stone edging and a 3-inch layer of local shells, keeping the hardpack base intact. Ross Trethewey and a certified mitigator diagnose a 100-year-old slab with grab samples and a manometer, then install a sub-slab depressurization system with an exterior fan wired by Heath Eastman.

Jenn Nawada visits a Detroit beekeeper to learn how a hive works and how honey gets harvested. Heath Eastman, Lee Gilliam, and Ross Trethewey share phone apps they use on the job. Tom Silva and Kevin O'Connor cut a curved toddler step stool with a mobile CNC router that nudges Kevin back on line.

Nathan Gilbert replaces a broken double trash can pullout in a 1997 kitchen, Heath Eastman explains why incandescent and fluorescent bulbs are being phased out, and Lee Gilliam removes overgrown emerald green arborvitaes while saving an oakleaf hydrangea. Three house calls, one shared moment: something built for an earlier set of assumptions has run out its clock.

Carmen Gonzalez hangs grass cloth on a Miami accent wall, Lee Gilliam sorts pop-up, rotary, drip, and hose-end sprinklers, and Richard Trethewey cuts a submersible sump pump into a wet basement floor. Same question in all three: where do you want the water to go?

Ross Trethewey measures a howling return register in decibels, Lee Gilliam walks Valerie through core aeration and overseeding after a drought, and Mark McCullough patches cracked stucco over a concrete foundation in Austin by listening for hollow spots.

Lee Gilliam helps Kristen add a dedicated drip zone for container plantings in Austin, licensed irrigator Aaron ties into the mainline, Richard Trethewey weighs PEX against copper, and Nathan Gilbert repairs a door hinge with dowels, epoxy, and longer slotted screws.

Lee Gilliam compares dethatching rakes and core aeration timing, Heath Eastman installs a smart energy monitor at a 1875 house to track a winter bill spike, and Tom Silva walks Kevin through router bases, bits, and depth stops. The monitor finds no fault, which turns out to be the useful answer.

Lee Gilliam brings in arborist Brandon Maltby to diagnose a red pine that has been browning out for years, and the treatment starts with mulch, fabric, and dead needles before any spray schedule. Nathan Gilbert then walks a first-time Detroit homeowner through a top-to-bottom maintenance checklist, from shingles and gutters to the water shutoff, the gas meter, and a house binder.