Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Deconstruction is the new demolition. Instead of gutting a project and sending the whole shebang to a landfill, more and more contractors and homeowners are getting savvy about recycling building materials. Deconstruction contractors can help homeowners auction off or donate the waste materials they don t want. Those old kitchen cabinets can be a tax deduction instead of a dumpster filler. And, on the other end, they can really help cut purchasing costs for new materials. Charities like Habitat for Humanity benefit from a lot of building material donations this way, and deconstruction has prevented thousands of tons of materials from entering landfills nationwide. The EPA and the Green Building Council support this reuse effort. They also encourage using materials that were manufactured by recycling other products. You can get composite decking made from plastic bags; insulation made of old blue jeans; and countertops made of recycled aluminum, glass, paper or hemp. There are cabinets made partly from wheat by-products, carpet from recycled nylon and mulch from recycled tires. Re-used and recycled materials are chic. Even broken tile can make a statement in a rubble tile counter or tabletop. So, check your local salvage yard or deconstruction contractor before you go shopping. With a little inspiration, materials that are secondhand can give you the upper hand on your next project! Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Bob talks with homeowner Howard Brickman about the footprint of the new addition. The new space is 36 feet deep by 42 feet, five inches. There is a master bedroom and bath, a living area, and a meal preparation space. The addition is designed to act as a new apartment suite for Brickman's mother-in-law. She is very fit and active, so the addition will give her a measure of privacy and independence. The great room will feature a fireplace, relaxing and dining space. The kitchen will go against the staircase. The white walls are actually insulated polystyrene forms that were set in place to hold the concrete. The entire addition was built using a total of 84 yards of concrete. By way of comparison, a standard pour for a typical basement wall-and-slab toundation uses 64 yards of concrete. Using the insulated concrete forms, allowed Brickman to get a basement floor, foundation, and walls, the second floor deck, and upper-story walls to the rafters. The whole process was done very quickly using the inculated concrete form (ICF) method. An insulating and waterproof fabric fabric barrier was used under the slab to prevent moisture from coming up through the foundation. The new technologies used in constructing the house have reduced the amount of waste so much that a dumpster has not been necessary on the job site. A very small pile of waste is sorted for reuse. Some of these pieces have been used in a load-bearing wall. These load-bearing walls, in the garage, first, and second stories, will eventually support the roof load. Short blocks of leftover 2x6's are being used as "squash blocks." These squash blocks are designed to distribute the compressive load from the roof and keep the I-joists from compressing under the weight. A lot of the framing has been done using 2x6's, making it easier to install plumbing and electrical wiring. Precise measurement of the boards was necessary when the load-bearing partitions were put up on the upper floor because the addition is being set to match the roof of the existing house. I-joists will be used for the rafters.

Bob Vila and Joe Fitzgerald discuss the roof types of surrounding homes and the possibilities for our house. They show the beginning of the demolition process on the roof so that it can be built up to support a barrel tile roof. Then Bob Discusses the Demolition of the rest of the home and what must be left standing so that the construction is a remodel rather than a complete tear down. Bob Also discusses the debris created by demolition and how it is disposed.

Bob meets with Chris Vila to discuss the demolition and clean up. One of the project's early obstacles was the roof. To close the building to the weather, the old roof was removed, and a temporary weather barrier put in place. Bob and Chris then review some of the steel framing and the exposed beams, noting how portions of the existing wood beams will be left exposed. The tour the layout of the two-bedroom apartment that has been framed up for the bedrooms, kitchen, living area, bath, and entry.

Bob moves on to the third floor of the Melrose nursery remodeling project to review what has been done in preparation for the baby. The third floor will primarily be a kids' floor and, accordingly, at the top of the staircase a baby safety gate has been installed. Bob reviews the painting work done in the bedroom and then moves on to a room that was previously a home office but is now being renovated to become a child's bathroom. The room has the original beadboard and sits under the eaves of the roof. A small bathtub has been installed in front of the dormer window that has been replaced with a Pella window to prevent cold drafts. Bob reviews the unusual shape of the room. The new, freestanding Vintage bathtub has an antique style. A series of clips shows how the plumber installed the tub and connected the supply and waste lines. Bob then talks with Tara Dick of Vintage Tubs about the bathtub. Dick reviews features of the tub and explains how molds are made from older tubs so that new tubs of the same style can be manufactured. The porcelain finish is made to be one of the most durable in the industry and is capable of resisting cleaning chemicals. The ball-and-claw feet on the tub are made of solid brass with a chrome coating. Fixtures for the tub can be bought from many companies. Dick adds that free-standing tubs offer great flexibility in design and can accomodate any bathroom layout.

House ten of the Elmwood project. Owners Peter Haraty and Brent Bachelder make one large open space in this third floor remodel.

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.

Homeowner Sarah Monzon tells how she called 1-800-GOT-JUNK to take away the refuse from their basement, including demolition debris, old appliances, and a heavy stone tub, along with unwanted books, clothes, and household items. Don Valerio of 1-800-GOT-JUNK explains that their company is the world's largest junk-removal service. Given a two-hour window, all the junk will be loaded and carted away. Valerio explains that they will take away anything that is non-hazardous and work on a set pricing system. Estimates are given before the project begins. Valerio explains that their company makes daily trips to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other charities, with 60-70% of the disposed property being given to these organizations for reuse. The company itself is not interested in reselling the property, rather moving it and giving it to people and organizations who can use it. Pricing is done on a volume basis and starts at $124. Valerio says that discarding old, unused property is the cheapest way to add space to the home. Valerio says their company's recycling and reuse efforts have resulted in a reduction of the amount of material being sent to local landfills.

House eleven of the Elmwood project. The attic of a house, owned by Don DeSantis and Ron Hirschauer, is transformed into an exercise space.

Charlie and Bob discuss how important it is to determine where the load-bearing walls are when undertaking a major remodel. Charlie points out the doubled-up 18-inch Georgia-Pacific LVL that is now carrying the entire load of the sidewall and the roof. During the installation Charlie found serious termite damage at the bottom of the support post. Since the LVL (or any beam) is only as strong as the posts that support it, Charlie cut out the damaged piece and put a new pressure-treated pad in and then posted it up with 2 x4s to tie it all in and create a solid point of transfer for the load. Using studs Charlie also created some temporary supports for the second floor joist system while he replaced load-bearing walls with a triple LVL and a 4 x 6 post. This basically transfers the load down to the basement to a lally column which will go down onto a concrete pad. The LVLs are 1 3/4-inch by 9 1/4-inch by 11 feet long.