Project Supervisor Dave Southard of DS Woodworks explains to Bob how a high-rise demolition differs from a single-family home demolition. Southard outlines steps to minimize the disruption to other building inhabitants. He also devises a demolition plan, which includes grouping materials for removal in stages. Gilson Novaes, a demolition expert, details the order of the demolition. The plan is to salvage some of the materials for reuse so that it does not all end up in a landfill.

Bob meets with construction foreman Keith Elmore of Two Trees Development to discuss the demolition work in progress in the project building. The crew has already removed a service elevator, opting to increase the available square footage for living space. The plans also call for the removal of selected support posts. The structure has been certified to hold without the extra support that was required for industrial use. Vila and Elmore then discuss some of the brick demolition work required to make room new or enlarged windows on the third floor. Elmore also explains that additional beamwork will be required to support the additional floor they are building above.

Bob enters the Brownstone apartment to find more evidence of 1940s updates in this turn-of-the-century row house. Curved ceiling shapes, a built-in bar, and chopped-up space show layers that were added during the conversion of the original building. Bob meets up with his son, Chris Vila, and reviews the preparations for demolition, which include permits, shutoffs for all the gas, water, and electricity, and removal of moldings and fixtures from walls. Bob asks if any detailing from the original Brownstone remain. Chris says there is nothing -- no moldings, mantles, or ceiling details. Chris does show Bob the hardwood floors buried beneath layers of vinyl and linoleum flooring. The goal will be to peel back the layers of this 2,000-square-foot apartment until just the original shell and structure remain.