Kevin O'Connor

Host

Nominated for an "Outstanding Service Show Host" Emmy Award in his debut season, Kevin O'Connor is the newest member of America's favorite home improvement team. This year, he enters his fourth season as host of the Emmy Award-winning series, This Old House, the Emmy-nominated series, Ask This Old House, and the A&E series, Inside This Old House. Kevin also serves on the editorial board of This Old House magazine, published by This Old House Ventures, Inc.

An avid home enthusiast, Kevin's curiosity and prankish sense of humor immediately endeared him to the craftsmen he now works alongside: master carpenter Norm Abram, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

Norm Abram

Master Carpenter

Master carpenter of This Old House since the series' 1979 premiere, host of The New Yankee Workshop since its premiere a decade later, and also appearing on the new series Inside This Old House, Norm Abram has inspired millions of homeowners to renovate and restore their homes. Seen across the country as the ultimate home improvement guru, everyone wishes Norm lived next door.

This carpenter-turned-celebrity was "discovered" by creator Russell Morash, who had commissioned him to build a barn on Russ's suburban Boston property. Russ was so impressed with Norm's work (he had the smallest scrap pile Russ had ever seen) that he invited the carpenter to help with the renovation of a rundown Victorian house in Boston's historic Dorchester section—with a WGBH camera crew recording the process for a series. It was an instant success, and Norm has been master carpenter for This Old House ever since.

Tom Silva

General Contractor

Celebrating his 20th year during the 2006-07 season as a proud member of America's favorite home improvement team, general contractor he has provided years of expert advice to home enthusiasts across the country on This Old House. Tom also brings his expertise to This Old House's latest additions, Ask This Old House and Inside This Old House. Renovating houses since he was a child, Tom's first major project, working alongside his dad and brother, was installing a basement fallout shelter underneath their 1787 Colonial in Lexington, Massachusetts.

After digging out the 20 x 40 x 12-foot hole under the house, by hand, and hauling away all the boulders, they framed it and finished it off. "It took us two years, and I felt such pride in what we had accomplished that I knew I wanted to do this for a living," says Tom. Silva Brothers Construction, made up of Tom, his brother Richard, and his nephew Charlie, built the original set for the WGBH-TV Boston production The Victory Garden in the parking lot of WGBH. Russell Morash, the creator of This Old House, discovered the Silva crew while they were conducting a major restoration on an 1845 Greek Revival-style house. It was then that Russ named Tom and his crew the general contractors for the show.

Richard Trethewey

Plumbing and Heating Expert

Richard Trethewey has been an integral part of the This Old House team for more than 26 years. Today, he also appears on the Emmy Award-winning show's latest additions, Ask This Old House and Inside This Old House. A trusted plumbing and heating source for home enthusiasts since This Old House's second season, Richard is the second-longest series member after master carpenter Norm Abram.

Russell called Richard's father Ron, proprietor of Trethewey Bros. Inc., the family plumbing and heating business, with an idea for a home improvement show in 1978. Serving the Boston community since 1902, Trethewey Bros. Inc. enjoyed a tremendous reputation and was highly recommended. After one season, Ron was in love with This Old House, but not with the pressure of filming before cameras, so he asked his son to take over. It was then, in 1980, that Richard became the show's plumbing and heating expert. "I guess I was just too young to be nervous," he says of his TV debut.

Roger Cook

Landscape Contractor

Now in his 18th season as landscape contractor for the Emmy Award-winning television series, This Old House, and appearing on its latest additions, Ask This Old House and Inside This Old House, Roger Cook motivates aspiring green thumbs and inspires stumped professionals with expert advice learned over the course of a lifetime in landscaping.

Roger's journey with This Old House began in 1982, when he first appeared on the series. At the time, he was working as the landscape foreman for the Frost and Higgins Company, but that didn't stop him from contributing ideas and expertise to several This Old House projects, including the Bigelow Ranch and the Woburn House. A phone call many years later from landscape architect Tom Wirth changed everything. It was 1988, the project was the Lexington Bed & Breakfast renovation, and Roger was on board full time as the landscape contractor.