Bob looks at what goes behind the walls before putting on the blue board: wiring, light fixtures, heat ducts, water lines and a pocket door frame.

Gilson Novaes from Gilson Interiors uses a bullet-nail gun to install a steel plate directly to the concrete floor for the partition wall that will hold a pair of pocket doors. When open, these doors will create a five-foot opening and give the apartment a great-room feel in the main living space. The standard prefab pocket doorframes are screwed to the steel framing and leveled. The advantage of using the prefab doors is that the framing serves is both wall and door framing, eliminating the need for second wall to hold the drywall. Bob also looks at the advantages and versatility of steel studs.

Bob shows the double pocket doors that separate the living and private spaces of the Miami condo. The wall between the living room and bedroom has been torn down, along with the closed closet spaces, recesses, and bathroom of the dated apartment. The new space is more loft-like, and the pocket doors will let the rooms function as one big space unless privacy is desired. The doors' glass panels are tempered art glass from Bendheim with a leaf pattern that allows light to enter the space, but obscures the view into the bedroom for privacy. The goal of the remodel and the new open floor plan was to bring light from the windows into the interior of the apartment. Bob looks at a number of glass options that were considered for the pocket doors, including a new version of etched glass, and laminated glass with Japanese rice paper embedded between the layers.