Jack, an expert craftsman, gives Charlie Norman a lesson in hewing logs the old-fashioned way, using simple hand tools and a lot of elbow grease. Then the team gears up to finish a lengthy home remodel in Mendota, Virginia, by trimming the kitchen with worn wooden beams, but the three-man crew soon realizes these beams are bigger than they bargained for.

Just when his inventory is beginning to run low, Charlie Norman receives an unusual call from a man offering a barn full of disassembled barnwood. After replenishing his stock, Charlie goes to the aid of a childhood friend, Sarah, whose cabin has acquired a bad case of rot. He also takes his wife, Beth, on the job to build an antique mantelpiece for his eighth grade English teacher.