Ask This Old House Rings Up in Belmont

Laura Burnes and her husband, Aaron Pikcilingis, moved into the two family house on Branchaud Road in early April. And since then, Burnes, like most new homeowners, have discovered a host of nagging repairs that needed to be done.

One of the most annoying has been their doorbell. Or better put, the lack of one.

Living on the top floor of the large white two family house - they share the house with her cousin, Michele and Alex Faroni - across the street from the Chenery Middle School, Laura and Aaron could never tell when family or friends would show up at their front door until someone called to say, hello, they were at their front door.

But in a stroke of luck, Burnes knew a friend who knew a producer with This Old House, the long running and popular PBS show. She was told to submit a list of her problems.

"The last one I put down was the doorbell," she said. But rather than ignore the small project, the show loved the idea. 

For Producer Christopher Wolfe, it is presenting a wide variety of short fix-its as well as season long projects that provides the show its appeal. And explaining and fixing a doorbell is right down their alley.

Stephen Krasner, the owner of Belmont's Only Connect electricians, was asked to do the work as a film crew and host Kevin O'Connor explained the work.

"Not every job requires a big budget," said O'Connor who left a career in  banking and finance to present two fix-it segments for each "Ask" show.

Amidst the camera equipment and crew, scene after repeated scene, the production grinded on until the director felt he had the right amount of "film" in the can.

Wolfe said the doorbell segment will air in the first six weeks of the new season which begins in late October.

And the new doorbell? It works.