21 recaps
Plumbing recaps are episodes tagged with plumbing, including PEX, fixtures, water heaters, and drain work. Drain tags also appear on the drainage page when they name water leaving the house. A recap is listed here when it carries one of these tags.
Ask This Old House · S25 E3
Richard Trethewey adds a backyard hose spigot with a frost-proof sillcock and PEX-A, Jenn Nawada takes cover crops from a 500-acre farm down to raised beds, and the cutaway reel makes the case for sawing things open.
This Old House · S48 E3
Zack Dettmore and Charlie Marshall work out a vintage tile layout with a story pole before any tile goes up, a basement beam turns out to be cut and cracked, and Richard Trethewey gains about nine inches of floor space by moving the toilet tank into the wall.
This Old House · S47 E26
Season 47 closes in Walpole with a double move-in: Dan and Jill take the renovated ranch, Jill's parents Ed and Regina take the ADU. Richard Trethewey walks the shared-utility math, Tom Silva asks Walpole's first ADU builders the hard planning questions, and Kevin O'Connor tours Dan's C-130 at Quonset.
This Old House · S47 E24
In Walpole, a two-unit ranch gets a code-rated firewall, a shared hydro-air HVAC system, whole-house water filtration, and a cold-joint injection that makes old-meets-new basement walls honest. Then Kevin and Tom tour a finished attic ADU in Dorchester—proof that 700 square feet can feel like a yacht.
This Old House · S47 E22
In Walpole, Kevin and GC Kevin open the old ranch wall while Tom Silva ties a 2x4 interior wall into a 2x6 exterior wall and Richard Trethewey watches plumber Bob lay out shared ADU drains with landscape flags. Sean Brennan buries a new 400-amp service for two meters, then Kevin tours Atlanta ADUs built in garages, new construction, and a Decatur loft.
Ask This Old House · S24 E21
Heath Eastman and homeowner Jeff run a 60-amp feeder from the house panel to a new shed, with Ryan trenching, sand-bedded PVC conduit, two ground rods, and traceable caution tape. Mauro Henrique lays out the painting tools he actually reaches for, and Kevin hosts Compost or Dispose It with Richard Trethewey and Jenn Nawada.
This Old House · S47 E21
Dan and Jill's 1971 Walpole ranch kicks off Season 47's final project with a 900-square-foot ADU for Jill's parents. Tom Silva catches a garage foundation that came up ten inches short of local frost depth, Richard Trethewey stares down an oil boiler that has to serve two households, and Jenn Nawada plans a yard built for kids, grandparents, and one shared fire pit.
Ask This Old House · S24 E20
Nathan Gilbert measures and installs top-down, bottom-up cellular shades so Cece the guard dog can't see the street; Richard Trethewey walks Kevin through 150 years of toilet tank parts and running-toilet fixes; Jenn Nawada and Frank reshape a steep front slope with a mini excavator, a swale, switchgrass, and hydrangeas.
Ask This Old House · S24 E17
Richard Trethewey separates grease and hair clogs from chemical drain cleaners, Mauro Henrique compares at-home lead swabs with an XRF analyzer, and Mark McCullough sets granite treads into a New Hampshire slope so Pete can reach his fire pit without another tumble.
Ask This Old House · S24 E15
Tom Silva breaks down caulk types from latex to butyl, Richard Trethewey installs a garbage disposal with an air switch (and drills through granite), and Kevin O'Connor helps the young hosts of Toys and Colors build a dress-up closet with pocket screws and a miter saw.
Ask This Old House · S24 E13
Ross Trethewey installs a split heat pump water heater that puts the evaporator outside, making it a cold-climate winner. Jenn Nawada prescribes treatments for mealybugs, spider mites, and fungus gnats. Nathan Gilbert gives a Massachusetts homeowner safe attic access with a new pull-down ladder. Plus: why a frosty panel is actually a good sign.
Ask This Old House · S24 E11
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.
Ask This Old House · S24 E9
Nathan Gilbert helps an expectant mom tame garage chaos with a 600-pound-rated ceiling rack and heavy-duty shelving. Heath Eastman sorts out the traveler-wire puzzle behind three-way smart switches. Richard Trethewey opens up a neglected water heater and shows why the anode rod matters—and what happens when you ignore it for eight years.
This Old House · S47 E6
A carpentry teacher's students are building actual houses for storm victims, new electrical codes demand bigger meters, and Tom Silva helps turn an antique chest into a bathroom vanity — and somehow makes it look easy.
Ask This Old House · S24 E4
Kevin O'Connor gets a decibel demo from an audiologist: a miter saw over 100 dB, a drill around 85, and hammer strikes peaking above 120. Then Richard Trethewey, Heath Eastman, and Nathan Gilbert turn a bathroom closet into a first-floor laundry for Jim and Michele, with new 20-amp and 30-amp circuits, a 2-inch drain, a relocated thermostat, and a hallway door. The part TV compresses: getting the vent, valve box, wiring, and framing to share one wet wall.
This Old House · S47 E2
A meteorologist explains how the Blue Ridge Mountains turned Hurricane Helene into a rain machine, while the crew starts ripping out walls, replacing panels, and prepping for the long road ahead.
Ask This Old House · S24 E1
Heath Eastman tours a New Orleans copper lantern shop, then installs hand-riveted electric fixtures on a double shotgun with a local electrician. Richard Trethewey uses a cutaway to explain why a second flush is usually the wrong move, and Mauro Henrique preps, spot-primes, and DTM-paints a 15-year-old metal patio set.
Ask This Old House · S23 E12
Richard Trethewey converts a smoky wood-burning fireplace to a sealed gas insert with a crew of licensed trades, Nathan Gilbert installs flat panel wainscoting in an old dining room, and Tom Silva stumps the table with a spring-loaded nail set.
Ask This Old House · S23 E7
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?
Ask This Old House · S23 E21
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.
Ask This Old House · S23 E17
Jenn Nawada and Mark McCullough lay out a Cape Cod outdoor shower between two windows, Mark runs a pitched drain line away from the foundation, Nathan Gilbert assembles a white-cedar kit, and Richard Trethewey taps hot water through a frost-proof hydrant. The cedar and bluestone are what you see. The grade, gravel, and pitch decide whether the house stays dry.
2 episodes on this subject
2 episodes on this subject
2 episodes on this subject
2 episodes on this subject
1 episode on this subject
1 episode on this subject
1 episode on this subject
1 episode on this subject
How This Old House sorts interior latex, exterior acrylic, 100% silicone, and butyl by the joint they have to survive, plus the prep that makes a new bead stick.
The weekly recap
One email when the new write-ups are up. Confirm once, then unsubscribe any time.
