ASK This Old House | Stair Runner, Recessed Lights (S9 E11) FULL EPISODE

0:03 Hi, I'm Kevin Okconor and welcome back to Ask This Old House, where we'll go anywhere to answer your home improvement questions. Today, >> if you're working in the yard, you're going to be digging holes and I'm going to show you just the right tools. You hit a [music] root or a rock, you can simply wedge it right out of the ground without breaking the handle. >> And I'm going to show you how to keep this wallto-wall carpet firmly attached to a staircase. And I'm headed to California to replace this old fixture with some high efficiency recess lights. There's a lot coming up today, so stick around. >> All right, Kevin. I have a pointed shovel and a trenching shovel. >> And I've got a transplanting shovel and a square shovel. Who knew there were so many different kinds of shovels? >> We've barely scratched the surface of the world of shovels, >> I guess. So, so where's Tommy? >> Tom's out on a house call.

0:48 >> And Richard? >> Well, Richard, he called. He said something came up. He was working from home. >> Oh, yeah. Working from home, huh? Talk about shoveling it. >> The guy who lives here noticed he had a small problem at the top of his stairs. He decided to ignore it. He said, "I'll fix it later." Well, that small problem turned into a big one. Let's see what happened. >> Hang on. Hang on. >> Coming. Hey, >> Richard. What did you do? I told you. I took a flyer down the stairs, blew up my knee, broken toe. You're a week too late. >> You're unbelievable. >> Come on. Let's see what you did.

1:34 >> I know. Take your time. I don't want you to fall. >> All right. It's a Friday and I notice that this carpet has flipped up a little bit on the corner. >> Yeah. >> So, I say, "I really got to get to that." But I go away for the weekend. Monday morning, I come down the stairs. I hit this tread right here. It flips right off the carpet. >> Oh, yeah. >> I go flying screaming like a school girl. My knee is a mess. >> I bet you that was a pretty sight. [laughter] >> That was not good. So, they're telling me 6 weeks in this brace, another eight weeks of physical therapy. So, can you help me? >> Oh, yeah. But, you know, I I really think you need to see a doctor. >> No, [laughter] not my knee. >> Oh, the carpet. Yeah. Yeah, I can do the carpet. No problem. So, there should have been a strip of wood right here to hold the carpet down. >> That is right here. And this thing went flying farther than I did. >> All right. Well, that's called a piece of tackless. That's a tackless strip that holds the carpet to the tread.

2:19 >> You know, I want to talk to the guy that named this. You know, maybe I hit my head, but this is a piece of wood filled with nothing but tack. Well, it's tackless because years ago when they installed carpeting, they would drive tacks through the carpet. Now, they don't have to do that with this tackless strip. All right. Now, this piece of wood is loaded with tips of nails that are on an angle. All right? And you point those to the wall that you want to attach the carpet to. On the bottom, there are tiny little ring shank nails. the ring shank nails are driven into the tread. Now, I want to make sure when I install the tackless, I don't take the ring shank nails and drive them in the same holes. They won't hold. So, what I'm going to do is take the tackless strip and slide it about a quarter of an inch to the left. Then, I'm just going to tack it down.

3:15 Okay. Now, the next thing I want to do is I want to pull the carpet up tight and I want to work it around the nose of the tread and push it into the wall. Now, to hold it there before I lock it into the tackless, I'm going to [snorts] use this tool right here. It's called a kicker or knee kicker. It's padded on this end right here. And this end right here, you can see these little tacks sticking out. The big ones are adjustable. So, depending on the thickness of the pile of the carpet, I can get down into the pad. All right. Right. So now I'm going to adjust that right about there. I'm going to take the kicker, drop it on the carpet, and I'm going to push in and push on it. Now you can see that it's nice and tight here. Now I simply take my chisel. Now I'm going to move down close, drive it in again,

4:15 All right. Now, because it's you, I'll staple off the rest of these treads cuz I don't want you getting hurt. >> Thank you. >> Screaming like a little girl. >> And what do I owe you for this? >> Well, don't worry. You owe me. You'll pay one way or the other. >> If you're going to be working in the yard, [music] chances are you're going to be digging a hole. And for that you need a good shovel. So Roger, in your opinion, what makes for a good shovel? >> Well, there's several choices, Kevin. Let's start off with a classic wooden shovel. This handle can split in check from the winter. In fact, if you look right there, there's a crack in this one already. Look at the handle going into the blade. It's held in by a single rivet, and that's a weak point, too. >> Okay. >> The other weak point is if when you drive this into the ground, you hit a

5:00 rock and you go to wedge up, you can snap this right in half. >> So, in your opinion, the wooden handle shovel is not for you? No, but there is an upgrade. A fiberglass handled shovel. Take a look at this one here. You can see it's a fiberglass down to a simple connection and it still has the rivet, but this is a little stronger than the wooden handled one. >> All right. But do you think this is the best shovel there you can get? >> No. This is what we use on our crew. This is a heavy heavy fiberglass. You feel how heavy that is? >> Oh yeah. Big difference. Right. >> Now look at the connection. This is a fereral that's pressed down over the shovel itself to hold it on tight. That that'll never fail. And if you put this in the ground, you hit a root or a rock, you can simply wedge it right out of the ground without breaking the handle. >> All right, heavy fiberglass and the best connection you can find. That makes for a good shovel. Let's talk about how we

5:45 use these things to dig a hole. >> One of the first things you want to look for is this these pads for your feet. It allows you to really put pressure on the shovel and drive it into the ground. So, what I do is I stand up nice and straight, line up the shovel like that, and simply push it into the ground. And you've told us this before, you know, about how you should use your feet to push this as opposed to just your arms. >> If you're going like this all day, you're going to be done, burnt out in a very short time. >> All right. So now, when we're digging, we might hit some obstructions where the shovel is not the best tool to deal with them because there are other tools out there, >> right? So what we have here is a grub hoe. This has a blade end on one side for cutting roots and a pick for loosening soil. A lot of times the ground's so hard you can't even get the shovel in it. So, you simply take this, >> drive it in, loosen the ground up, and then you're ready to dig.

6:31 >> Okay. And then you've got another one right next to it, which is similar, but a little different. >> Right now, this has an axe end on it. You wouldn't want to take your good axe and come out and cut roots, but if you hit a root in the ground like this, >> Yeah. >> you just take your grub axe and cut right through it. Make short work of it. >> Actually happens quite frequently when you're digging around bushes and such. All right. You've got a big iron bar here. When does this guy come into play? >> Anytime you hit a rock, you don't want to use your shovel. take a chance on injuring it. Take a look at this. On one end, we have a blade. On the other end, we have a point. And this will make short work of any rocks that you might hit in the ground. >> All right. Well, let's dig ourselves a hole here. I'll get the shovel. All right, Kevin. Say we want to dig a hole this big. Now, rather than start outside and work in, you're going to dig

7:16 a little hole in the middle. Make it easier for you to dig. Now get rid of that and make a pile over here and start working from the center out and dig that out. Straight back when you lift there's some roots showing up. Kev, your form is great. You got a straight back. You're driving it in with your foot and then you're using the handle to pry the dirt out and lift. >> I get a 10 from the landscaping judge. How about >> I wouldn't say a 10. >> Oh, come on. All right, Roger. down pretty deep. >> Kevin, if I only had the choice of two shovels, my second one would be the square shovel. Nice steel edge. Not great for digging. It's kind of hard to drive into the ground, but when it comes to cleaning up material, it's perfect.

8:04 Easy to move that dirt. You got a good shovel full there. All right. Not so bad, huh? >> No, it works really well. >> You know what I like best about that shovel, Roger? >> What's that? >> It's in your hands. [laughter] [music] >> This is my kitchen and this is the only light in it. We have a center fluorescent fixture that's been here for 25 years. It flickers. It's [music] noisy ballast and it's just ugly. Steve, the solution for your kitchen is to get rid of these fluorescent lights and the old fixture, and we're going to replace it with recess lights. In fact,

8:49 six of them. You can see that the electrician has already laid out the location of where those recess lights are going to be. And Charles, you've also brought us a nice display of sort of the options of recess that are on the market right now, which is terrific. >> That's true. This is uh what we like to bring out to the homeowners to show them the different types of light bulbs that you can use in recess lights. So, let's talk about the different types. What are we starting with right down here? >> This is your incandescent recess light. >> Uh, it's a standard uh flood lamp light bulb similar to this here. It uh just screws into your standard light bulb socket. >> That's incandescent. We can also have a screw in. This is H hallogen. Correct. >> That's correct. Or you can use your energy saving compact CFL fluorescents. >> Compact fluorescent. All right. So, that's option number one. Second one is

9:34 a little smaller profile. That's a H hallogen bulb. >> That's correct. That's a low voltage H hallogen MR16 lamp. >> Nice bright white light. >> That's right. >> Although that one throws a lot of heat, doesn't it? >> Lot of heat, but it lights up pictures really well. >> How about this guy right here? >> That is your fluorescent recess light. >> So, this is a can specifically made for compact fluorescents, right? We've got a bulb that uh doesn't screw in, but actually plugs in with four pins. >> Uh and people don't like the flicker or the buzz that we get from these. I mean, Steve, you don't like it. You got it in your kitchen with the big tubes. >> How do you control that flickering and buzz? >> Well, what they've came out with is the new electronic ballast. And the electronic ballast will eliminate those problems. >> Nice. Okay. And then the last guy here,

10:19 what are we looking at? >> That there is your LED recess light. >> So, light emmitting diode. And it's basically a circuit board. There is really isn't a lamp. There are a cluster of dodes um right there. And that's what gives off the light source. >> That's correct. >> All right. And these guys are super efficient. And this is the one that you've actually chosen to put into your kitchen. >> Yes. >> All right. So, LED it is. Let's talk about uh the light bulbs themselves in terms of, you know, what do they cost and how long do they last? >> Okay. This bulb here is roughly around $5. >> Mhm. >> And it lasts about 2 to 3 years. >> Okay. How about the H hallogen? >> This one's about the same price and about the same lifespan. >> All right. And then the compact fluorescent bulb. That one there is roughly about $10 for the lamp and last

11:06 you five to seven years. >> Right. And then finally the LED. And our winner for today, >> that one is $100. Wow. >> But it lasts you up to 15 years, if not more. >> So a lot more expense in the bulb. It's going to last a lot longer. And part of the story here too is efficiency, right? This uses a lot less electricity. How does this compare to say an incandescent bulb? >> Well, an incandescent is roughly this bulb here is about 65 watts. >> That's only 10 watts. So, a fraction of the electricity. >> Yes. >> Wow. So, that's I mean that's like 80% less electricity to run this bulb. >> That's correct. So, even though you're paying more on the front end, you're actually going to save in the long run. >> Let's get them in. And it all starts with taking out this old fluorescent fixture. >> Let's go. >> First thing I did, Kevin, is I turned off the circuit breaker >> to make sure that everything is off and

11:52 safe. >> Next thing we'll do is slowly remove the lens to the fluorescent fixture. >> Pass that down. We'll get rid of that for you. Now, the lamps. Next, we'll remove the center so that we can disconnect the ballast. What I'm doing here is disconnecting the ballast. Even though I turned off the power to the breaker, I still like to cap off the wires just in case somebody happens to turn it back on. Now we just unscrew the fixture from the ceiling. >> That's one. I got it. >> Okay, you got it. >> Yep. Get the other one.

12:38 >> Great. >> All right. >> Okay. Now that this is down, we can continue with the recess lights. What we did is we installed plastic. It gets really dusty when we cut these recess lights in. >> Yep. And we've laid out the location of our recess lights with these paper templates here. Yeah. Yeah, we like to try to get them nice and even. In some cases, we do run into a few obstacles. >> So, we were up in the attic and we found some ceiling joist. We found some water pipes, a gas pipe that goes this way, and some wires. So, this is sort of the compromised location that's good for lighting, but avoids those obstructions. >> That's right. >> All right. So, you are ready to drill. But I love this. You got a 6-in hole saw center bit attached to your cordless drill. But this is the part I like, a little catchall for all the dust. >> That's right. This really helps us out.

13:24 It helps catch the majority of the dust to keep the job clean. >> All right, let's get to it. >> All right. There we made it. Oh, beautiful. Perfect hole. No dust. Holes are cut. Now we're ready to install the recess lights. What we'll be doing is running ROMX 142 to each light fixture. >> It's called 142 because it's 14 gauge

14:10 two conductor with one ground. >> Right. >> Okay. So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to tape it to the end of my fish stick. I'm gonna ask you to help me out and I'm gonna fish it on across the ceiling from light hole to light hole. Now, we've attached the wire to the fish stick and I'll be able to fish it down to you and save you from going in the attic. >> Me from going. Save you from going in the attic. >> That was it. Okay. Ah, there it is. Definitely easier than going up in the attic. >> Definitely easier. >> There it is. >> Now that we got the right length, we will cut the wire. Our next light is a little closer. [snorts] We won't need

14:57 the fish sticks. And I'll just fish it across myself. Look at that. Nothing to it. >> Thank you. >> I like fish sticks. Aren't they great? >> And got it. This is the recess light we will be installing today. We're using a remodel housing which will allow us to install the can light from down below and not have to go into the attic. It's IC rated which will allow us to bring insulation all the way up to it. And it's also thermally protected in case it ever overheats. It'll shut itself off. Now I'm going to connect the ROMX to the can light. Good.

15:46 I push the ROMX into the connector. Now I'm ready to make my connections. The new recess lights come with quick push-in connectors that allows you to take the wire, push it right into the back here, and you shove it in. And as you can see, it's really quick and easy. I'm oldfashioned. I like to do it the old way. I like to cut the connectors off and do it the old way. Strip the wire. Twist them together and make a nice tight connection. We will add the wire nut and make a nice tight connection. As you can see, you can pull on it and the

16:31 connection will not come apart. We finished connecting the neutral white wire. Now, we'll connect black to black. The black will be our power wire or our switched wire. Next, this is our ground wire that we're connecting together, the two copper wires. Okay, now we made nice tight connections on all our wires. Now, we just tuck the wires back into this junction box, nice and neat. Okay, now we have the wires nice and tucked in there. Now, we can install the cover to the junction box. there. Now we've concealed all the wires into the junction box. It's nice and

17:17 safe. Now we just slide the recess light up into the ceiling. Now you might ask, how does this fixture attach? Let me pull it down and show you real quick. It has four clips and you just push them out like this. All four of them will end up grabbing the plaster and make it making a nice solid contact. This type of housing is called the remodel housing. Now I'm ready to slip it in and clip it down.

18:16 All right, that is our last recess light in place. Nice. So, we got the cans in the ceiling. How do we get power up to the cans? >> What we're going to do, this switch used to control the old fluorescent light. Mhm. >> We have our power source that comes in from the panel and we have a switched wire that goes up into the attic. We're going to tap into that switch wire and connect our new recess lights. >> So, it's up to the attic. >> Let's go. This is the old ROMX that comes up from the switch. This is my new ROMX that connects to all my new recess lights. I push the wires into the junction box. And now I'm going to make all my connections. I am now connecting the ground wires. I've bonded the ground to my metal box and connecting my grounds together. Push

19:03 that to the back nice and neat. Next, we'll connect our neutrals, white wires. I'm now making up the connection that will connect the old switch wire to the new switch wire. Push them back in the box nice and neat. The old ROMX coming up from the switch has an extra conductor. We will not need it in this case. We just cap it off so it's nice and safe. Push it into the junction box. Put the cover on. And we're ready to go and turn the new lights on.

19:48 Okay. So, I'm going to connect the last trim. I'm going to connect my ground wire to a wing nut that's on the housing. >> Already there for you, right? >> Ready to go. Okay, our ground is nice and secure. Next, all we do is screw it in just like a standard light bulb. >> So, you're just screwing it right in there. I mean, does that mean that, you know, since you've got the light and the trim package right here for this LED that you could retrofit this piece into any existing incandescent 6-in can? >> That is right. We do it all the time. >> That's great. All right, let's get it up there and see how she looks.