This Old House · Season 25 · Episode 6

Adding to the Project - The Concord Cottage

Saturday, November 15

Kevin arrives at the project house fresh from a jog around the track at Emerson Field - several acres of playgrounds, tennis courts, and ball fields - right in the Bernards' backyard. Janet ask Tom to relocate the porch stairs on the main house, which now seem too close to the future parking court, and too imposing. Tom suggests some options, but advises Janet to consult Holly, before they proceed. Roger shows Kevin a 100-year-old Concord grape vine that's growing right in the middle of the work zone. Chances of the vine surviving a transplant are slim, so Roger opts to leave the vine as is, protect it, and propagate it in place. Out back by the future sunroom, Norm shows Kevin how to set two-by-six pressure-treated sills squarely on the new foundation using sill seal foam insulation and fasteners. In nearby Lincoln, Massachusetts, Kevin meets park ranger Lou Sideris for a look at Minuteman National Historical Park and the Hartwell Tavern, a 1733 building that was the typical country i