S21 · E13

The Billerica House - 13

Landscape contractor Roger Cook and his crew begin to install a stone wall along the driveway, using a split stome from North Carolina that is available at home centers nationwide. Roger shows us his method of building with geotextile and proper drainage to ensure the wall won't succumb to frost heaves over time. Inside, Tom Silva is putting in the first of the new interior doors - made from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) in the traditional panel-stile-rail way, they keep the crisp details of a wood door, yet do not expand and contract like wood. For custom panel patterns like ours, they are less than half the price of wood and are delivered in a mere two weeks. Painters Ron and Greg Byers are applying latex paint to the house's exterior using an airless sprayer, and our host takes viewers to the factory that made expanded urethane millwork we're using inside and out. Homeowner Dick Silva shows us some of the schemes he's considering to hide the flat-screen TV over the mantle when it'