Ask This Old House

Old houses can be full of surprises, both good and not so great. If you’re lucky, you can stumble upon a good surprise—like original hardwood floors underneath old carpeting. Listen as This Old House Builder Charlie Silva gives tips to homeowners on how to save their original wooden staircase that was ruined by roofing nails and carpeting.

We love old houses, but sometimes renovating them can lead to frustration. While construction on older homes is known to be sturdy, many of them come without modern conveniences—like central air conditioning. In this episode, This Old House Home Technology Expert Ross Trethewey gives advice to homeowners on how to add an efficient central air system to a historic 1913 row house in Washington, D.C.

Have you ever had a home improvement project done professionally, only to see it fall apart a few years later? In this episode, This Old House Mason Mark McCullough helps a homeowner whose patio pavers rise and push into the backyard after every winter.

Looking to give your bathroom a facelift? In this episode, This Old House Builder Charlie Silva gives tips to a homeowner on how to upgrade her tired-looking sink and shower fixtures, as well as deal with a leak coming from behind the grout, to create a more relaxing and peaceful space.

It’s that time of year again—time to pull out the festive holiday lights and start decorating the exterior of your home. If you’re stuck trying to figure out how you’re going to wire and plug in all of these lights, This Old House Master Electrician Heath Eastman explains how to safely plug in lights—especially if your home is missing an exterior outlet.