The BEST episodes of This Old House season 38

#1 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | A New Look, Inside and Out

Season 38 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/8/2016

Homeowner Emily sorts through colors and wallpaper ideas for the living room. The old plaster walls are demolished. Landscape architect Kim Turner presents her plan to Nick and Emily and a certified arborist begins removing the old silver maple.

#2 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Arts and Crafts Class Begins

Season 38 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/1/2016

Homeowners plan to restore and expand their early English-style Arts and Crafts Home; plans for mechanical and plumbing systems.

#3 - Detroit | Rebirth in Detroit

Season 38 - Episode 26 - Aired 6/3/2017

A tour of the completed house, citing both interior and exterior improvements.

#4 - Detroit | Going Old School for Tile and Molding

Season 38 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/27/2017

Interior painting; repairing decorative molding with a putty knife; installing interior doors; revitalizing a fireplace.

#5 - Detroit | Stain Glass Revival

Season 38 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/20/2017

Installing leaded glass bay windows; laying down modern wood-grain tile; urban farming in Detroit; installing a drywell; installing kitchen cabinets.

#6 - Detroit | A Mason Steps Up

Season 38 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/13/2017

Repairing damaged oak flooring with a clever fix; repairing front steps; tile studio in Detroit.

#7 - Detroit | Fixing the Fascia

Season 38 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/6/2017

Installing rough wiring in the kitchen; adding a new HVAC system; installing new fascia.

#8 - Detroit | Plumbing Road Trip

Season 38 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/29/2017

At the Russell Woods project, Tommy repairs crumbling decorative molding with a plastic replica created by a 3D printer. Frank and Tamiko head to Kohler, Wisconsin to look at plumbing fixtures, while Richard gets a tour of the nearby factory. Back at the house, Richard and Frank repair some compromised joists in the upstairs bathroom. Tommy teaches Frank and his friends how to install kitchen ceiling strapping, and then Kevin heads to the project in Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood to see the efforts to repair the foundation.

#9 - Detroit | Windows of Detroit

Season 38 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/22/2017

Peeling paint is removed. The original leaded stained glass windows in the living room is restored.

#10 - Detroit | Down The Rehab Rabbit Hole

Season 38 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/15/2017

Richard snakes a camera down a drain to look for damaged pipes. Tommy repairs a leaky parapet.

#11 - Detroit | Ready for Rehab

Season 38 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/8/2017

Installing a security system; blowing in insulation from the outside.

#12 - Detroit | Rebuilding Motor City

Season 38 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/1/2017

A couple plan to renovate an abandoned home themselves, beginning with the leaky roof.

#13 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | An Arts & Craft for the Ages

Season 38 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/25/2017

A tour of the competed project house, including the new addition in the back; updated front hall, dining room and pantry; expanded master suite; new bathroom; and new front porch.

#14 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Details Make the House Beautiful

Season 38 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/18/2017

The kitchen island countertop is installed; work commences on a fieldstone wall in the front yard; wallpaper covers a new secret door in the upstairs foyer; and the finished heating, cooling and ventilation system is examined.

#15 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Ship Lap for a Ship Shape House

Season 38 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/11/2017

Ship lap is chosen for the third-floor walls while reclaimed granite is used for steps, a marble slab is cut for the kitchen island and a cast stone mantel is built around the fireplace in the family room.

#16 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Decorative Touches Make a Difference

Season 38 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/4/2017

Exterior decorative features are spotlighted, including a roof detail over the bank of windows, refinished front door and evergreen trees on the edges of the property. Also: lazure painting in a bedroom.

#17 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Changes Start to Show

Season 38 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/28/2017

#18 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Underground Energy

Season 38 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/21/2017

#19 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Shedding the Old Look

Season 38 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/14/2017

Homeowner Emily has always wanted an enclosed space for her yoga and it was decided an outdoor shed would be the perfect solution. Kevin meets the foreman of the shed company who will oversee the one-day process. The walls come pre-assembled and raised like an old-fashioned barn raising. Tommy comes by at the end to inspect the construction. On the main house, a standing seam copper roof is installed over the front porch. Kevin and Tommy watch the final pieces go on. Then Tommy shows Kevin how to trim a window using a PVC product. He shows Kevin his special technique of using a rabbet joint to connect the joints. Down in the basement, Richard watches as a state of the art boiler gets installed by plumber Kevin Bilo. This new system will take a huge bite out of the high heating bill. Then Richard takes a road trip an hour away to visit a newly built house that uses advance building techniques and eco-friendly materials to achieve remarkable energy efficiency.

#20 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Arts and Crafts from Top to Bottom

Season 38 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/7/2017

The project’s old front porch was a hodgepodge design - part permanent, part temporary. Kevin finds Tommy framing the new front porch using custom cut and assembled rafters. The new design puts an Arts and Crafts punctuation mark on the front of the house. Nick and Emily have chosen special marble from Danby Vermont for their countertops. Richard travels to the world’s largest underground quarry where the stone originates to find out how marble makes it’s way from inside the mountain to inside the kitchen. Emily wants the new exterior color of the house to fit in with the Arts and Crafts design. She has brought in a preservation specialist, Sally Zimmerman, to help with the color selection. Norm catches up with them to find out what they have decided. Stucco panels are part of the Arts and Crafts charm of the project house, but they need work. Mark McCullough, in the process of fixing panels, shows Kevin the lost art of stucco.

#21 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | A New Look to Match the Old

Season 38 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/2016

The new foundation is parged to match the old stucco. Richard uses some creativity to drain the new master bath shower and the electrician starts work in the new powder room. Tommy and Charlie replace the living room windows.

#22 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | To Paint or Not to Paint

Season 38 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/2016

A custom range hood is fabricated, and on the roof a rebuild of the original chimney. The homeowners meet with the designer to talk about options for the first floor, including the living room panels.

#23 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | One Brick at a Time

Season 38 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/2016

The homeowner apprentices with the mason on the fireplace. Kevin joins the homeowners at a custom cabinetry shop in Maine as they begin to design their new kitchen. Tommy changes the pitch of the two small dormers in back.

#24 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | A Steely Den

Season 38 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/2016

Tommy and Kevin follow steel beams from fabrication to installation on the addition. Richard works on the HVAC plan for the 2nd and 3rd floors. After the front porch is removed, new footings are placed. Kevin learns how to size a new firebox.

#25 - Arlington Arts & Crafts | Foundation Fundamentals

Season 38 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/22/2016

A new foundation is built using insulated concrete forms and precast stairs, while the old exposed foundation is reinforced and waterproofed.