The Dream Team

When This Old House leaves Boston to go on the road, we rely on our local contractors for a LOT – they have to do high-quality work that we can get behind both on and off the show, they must be able to move heaven and earth to meet immovable (and sometimes seemingly impossible) deadlines, and they must agree to work under the microscope of this multi-media experience – live 24-hour webcams, visits from the press, photos and interviews for This Old House magazine, not to mention the presence of a national TV show with millions of viewers. 

Well, we have found the right guy in our general contractor, Michael Streaman. The day we met Karen and Kevin, and had our first look at the house, Mike showed up. Not alone, but with his ace plumbing contractor, Erik Gitli from Aladdin Plumbing, and Vincent Verderosa, from Super-Charged Electric. As a team, they have all worked with Mike for about 20 years, and as fans of the show, they knew what we needed and instantly conveyed an enthusiasm and willingness to help that (in nearly 7 years of working on the show) I have rarely seen.

These guys are experts in old-house renovation, and they are eager to show off the great work that they do. They're also good friends and lot of fun to be around. We’ll tell you more about each of them as we go…and in the meantime, look for them working (sometimes around the clock) on the webcams. They will make their national TV debut when the New York City shows begin airing in January of 2009 on PBS.

Until then, we are most thankful for their hard work this Thanksgiving!