Julie Hinds

Detroit Free Press Pop Culture Critic

The "This Old House" episodes about the show's first-ever renovation in Detroit are just weeks away. And they're accompanied by another first: a bonus digital series that will give viewers an even closer look at the Motor City project.

"Detroit. One House at a Time" arrives Friday and is described as the first digital series from the longtime PBS hit show. It's a bonus behind-the-scenes look at the restoration of an abandoned home in the historic Russell Woods neighborhood.

The digital companion series will feature interviews with the "This Old House" team and homeowners, retired firefighter Frank Polk and his wife, Tamiko Polk, along with many others from the community who helped with the work.

The actual "This Old House" episodes filmed in Detroit will begin airing at 7:30 p.m. April 3 on on WTVS (Channel 56). The national air date for the premiere is March 30, but times vary by station.

The episodes will showcase the transformation of a 1939 two-story brick home purchased by the Polks through Detroit's Land Bank Authority. They'll cover things like the repair of extensive water damage, the restoration of stained glass windows and ornamental plasterwork and the replacement of a heating system missing from the empty house,

The four-part digital series on the Russell Woods renovation will be available at ThisOldHouse.com and PBS.org.

The Detroit episodes also will explore the journey of a Rehabbed and Ready house project in the Grandmont-Rosedale area. Rehabbed and Ready is a collaborative program involving Detroit, Quicken Loans and Home Depot.

There also will be side trips to the Motown Museum, the Ford Estate in Dearborn and urban farming sites, plus a segment led by "This Old House" plumbing and heating guru Richard Trethewey on the Flint water crisis and that city's efforts to fix the water system.

Contact Detroit Free Press writer Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.