At the project house in Weston, landscape contractor Roger Cook installs a berm and fence in the front yard to screen out the busy street. Landscape architect Wes Wirth and homeowner Amy Favat review the native plants they've chosen for the new planting beds. Amy takes host Kevin O'Connor to a showroom and workshop in Florence, Massachusetts, where they both lend a hand in making the concrete countertops and sink. Back in Weston (after a 30-day cure time) master carpenter Norm Abram finds the countertops being installed in the kitchen. Plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey shows Kevin how the house is being cooled, with an a la carte, split-type air conditioning system featuring outdoor heat pump units and indoor wall mounted units. These provide zoning control in the different areas of the house. Upstairs in the master bedroom, Kevin finds Amy and designer Carole Freehauf putting down eco-friendly carpet tiles that are easy for DIY-ers to install.

Our host, a Boston designer and builder, tours the dilapidated turn-of the-century house in Dorchester, Massachusetts, that will completely renovated in the next 13 weeks. Our host talks with a realtor and a house appraiser to determine the condition and problems of the property.

A "Deadliest Catch" star drops by to help with plaster cracks. Making the second floor railing safer.

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

For the new season, host Kevin O'Connor and master carpenter Norm Abram reveal that This Old House will be building new—a prefab, eco-friendly home that will feel like an old barn. Homeowners Amy & Pete Favat love their land, but have outgrown their 1970s-era home, so they'll deconstruct the old house to make way for a new one that will better suit their active family. To achieve their vision of a vacation home "all year round", custom homebuilder Tedd Benson and his staff are designing and prefabricating the new state-of-the-art timberframe home, with general contractor Tom Silva pulling it all together on site. To see how Tedd's panelized system looks in the field, Norm and Tedd visit a recent project in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, while back in Weston, Tom works with deconstruction contractor John Grossman to take the old house apart by hand, in a way that saves landfill space, and allows the reuse of building materials.

For the first time in the show's history, host Kevin O'Connor and master carpenter Norm Abram take This Old House on the road to New York City to restore a neglected 1904 brownstone in Brooklyn. Homeowners Karen Shen and Kevin Costello will convert the former rooming house into a three family home while preserving and restoring period detail wherever possible. In Brooklyn, Norm meets veteran brownstone remodeling contractor Michael R. Streaman at a similar job down the street to see how he transformed one of these rooming houses into a beautiful, modern family home. Back at the project house, Streaman gets to work on demolition and also starts stripping the paint off the back of the house to prepare the brick for re-pointing and eventually the installation of new energy-efficient windows.

The crew removes old clapboards and opens up a hole in the old fieldstone foundation that will connect the old basement space to the new. They also patch a rotted sill.

As the next project starts, demolition begins on the 1950s porch addition and the first floor is gutted.

Roger saves the plants that have to come out to make way for the porch. Tommy starts demo to open up the kitchen and determine how he’ll support the weight of the house. Norm learns about Victorian details. The window pulley systems are repaired.

Induction cooking; installing solar panels on the barn roof; installing a unique lattice; ERV demonstration; landscaping and hardscaping.

Host Kevin O'Connor drives up to find the old house gone, and general contractor Tom Silva finishing the job by demolishing the chimney and foundation with an excavator. The old concrete and brick will be crushed, trucked away, and used as base material for new roads, while the rest of the house will eventually find new life as affordable housing, but for now it's being stored at the ReStore in Springfield, Massachusetts. John Grossman shows Kevin how the non-profit center operates, and how much salvaged material came out of our house. Up at the shop in Walpole, New Hampshire, Kevin meets architect Chris Adams and homeowner Amy Favat to see how she planned her family's dream home, and to take a tour of the new house—via a 3-D software program that allows them to design and "build" the house virtually.

At the project house in Brooklyn, master carpenter Norm Abram learns how local wood refinisher John Thomas is using a faux painting technique to disguise old and damaged woodwork. The custom kitchen is installed in the owner's unit while design correspondent Carole Freehauf meets Ian Gibbs at his SoHo showroom to see window treatment options and how the shades are custom made in his Queens workroom. Tile contractor Mauro Zanutto arranges a mud bed for tile on the garden level floor while upstairs in the master bath he prepares to lay the mosaic floor by doing a complete dry layout. Also, in the garden level apartment, the finished countertops arrive for the kitchen.

After a brief visit to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, master carpenter Norm Abram helps local builder Michael Streaman reinstall old interior door trim in the new library area. In Bensonhurst, host Kevin O'Connor finds countertop fabricator Alex DeMeo unloading a container of marble just in from Italy and the slabs of manmade quartz and resin being made into countertops. Later, the countertops are installed at the project house with cutouts for the range and seams made on site. In the basement, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey meets electrical contractor Vinny Verderosa to see how the new service is set up for the three-family house. Then Richard meets local plumbing and heating contractor Randy Gitli to look at the mechanical room that contains two complete systems—one for the ground floor apartment and another for the top three floors. Upstairs in the master bath, tile contractor Mauro Zanutto shows Kevin his unconventional method for grouting the floor tile.

Installing flitch beams in the kitchen; a tour of a laminated veneer lumber factory; rear-mounted toilet; a plan for the shade-covered backyard.

Host Kevin O'Connor and landscape contractor Roger Cook visit Prospect Park, a 585-acre urban oasis unofficially known as "Brooklyn's Backyard." At the project house, master carpenter Norm Abram meets contractor Michael R. Streaman and homeowner Karen Shen to see how the framing is progressing and to hear about their thoughts on the kitchen layout. To learn more about how brownstones were used in the past, architectural historian Charles Lockwood takes Kevin to Manhattan's East Village to see a perfectly preserved rowhouse dating to 1832, including the original intact kitchen in the basement. Then, to see how the old-fashioned spaces can be updated, they visit a restored brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to see how former kitchens were often converted into rental apartments, and how modern kitchens and baths can be either carved out or bumped out from existing spaces.

After starting the day at nearby Tom's Restaurant, host Kevin O'Connor finds homeowners Kevin Costello and Karen Shen inspecting the new exterior paint job at the project house in Brooklyn. Inside, general contractor Tom Silva finds local builder Michael Streaman laying down new 5/16" white oak flooring in the parlor with two accent strips of cherry as a decorative border. Nearby in Red Hook, plaster contractor Stuart Sobczynski shows Kevin how he's replicating the plaster crown mouldings for the house, and later, the new mouldings are installed at the house. In the back yard, landscape designer/contractor Bob Reitmeyer shows Kevin the progress on a new retaining wall, and the brick patio that is going down in a herringbone pattern with a soldier course border. On the garden level, local millwork contractor Mitch Berlin installs new replacement windows on the back of the house.

At the project house in Brooklyn, homeowner Karen Shen shows master carpenter Norm Abram the progress in the owner's unit while flooring contractor Neale Rattray installs new white oak flooring in the top floor apartment. In the new master bathroom, local plumbing contractor Randy Gitli shows plumbing and heating contractor Richard Trethewey the showerhead combination that includes a master showerhead, a handheld showerhead and tub filler. The set up is equally complicated behind the walls with volume controls and a thermostatic valve that Randy installs that day. Design correspondent Carole Freehauf shows host Kevin O'Connor the paint color scheme for the first floor which will be monochromatic to let the beautiful woodwork take center stage. Local builder Michael Streaman takes Norm over to his woodworking shop in Greenpoint to see the progress on the custom kitchen and how his crew is replicating baseboard profiles using routers instead of expensive custom knives.

Work begins on a 300-year-old farmstead.

Tommy lays down mahogany flooring on the new front porch, adhering to a special layout called for by the architect. Homeowner Katherine and interior designer Amanda meet with lighting designer Susan Arnold to select new modern fixtures inspired by some existing fixtures already in the house. Tommy explains the difference between open- and closed-cell foam insulation and applies both to solve the ice dam issues throughout the house. Richard learns about the two new gas fireplaces as they're installed on the first floor. Tommy shows Kevin how to lay out and install the shingles on the front porch roof.

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

Host Kevin O'Connor and plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey visit lower New York Harbor, taking in the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty from the water, and from Liberty Island. At the project house in Brooklyn, master carpenter Norm Abram meets local wood refinisher John Thomas for an assessment of the multiple wood finishes in the house (including lots of deteriorating shellac) and how to properly restore them. At a tile showroom in Bensonhurst, designer Carole Freehauf shows homeowner Karen Shen some period-appropriate tile combinations for her bathrooms and kitchen. Back at the project house, Richard gets an update on the plumbing and heating progress, and sees how brothers Randy and Erik Gitli are converting the old steam radiators to hot water.

The crew transplantis shrubs and plants to a safe place until the job is complete. They also clear small trees and overgrowth that are in the way of the new family room addition.

Tommy replaces rotten lally columns in the basement. Norm removes the marble sink and claw-foot tub from the guest bath to restore. Richard discovers an historic house with 19th Century air conditioning and plumbing. Tommy saves hardwood floors.

Kevin arrives at the back of house to see Tommy framing the new mudroom. He then finds the homeowners meeting with architect Mat Cummings, who has put together a couple of color-scheme options for the exterior of the house. Richard travels to New Bedford, Mass., to see the claw-foot tub undergoing restoration. Electrician Allen Gallant shows Kevin the remnants of old knob-and-tube wiring and snakes new wires for new fixtures in the master suite. Tommy uses a custom-made knife to shape new molding that matches the existing exterior molding.

A new project begins in Belmont, MA with a focus on salvage and restoration. Homeowners Katherine and Murat Bicer plan to revive their 1895 Victorian by building a front porch, refurbishing the original windows and opening up the kitchen.