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Bob talks with Bill York and Rob Davis of FLASH (Federal Alliance for Safe Homes) about the construction of a storm-resistant roof system built with roof trusses. Bob reviews specifications for how to secure a wooden rootruss system to a steel structure. With the addition of steel fasteners, the building's roof will have an uplift resistance of about 850 pounds, making it capable of withstanding wind speeds of up to 140 mph. To secure the wooden structure to the steel shipping container, a steel piece or angle iron is welded to the top of the box and a threaded bolt is welded on to it. The bolt sticks through the wood, where it is secured by a nut and washer, transferring the load back to the steel box. In high winds the ends of the roof experience much greater force, so the first six feet of each end of the roof is secured by steel straps, giving the ends 1200 pounds of uplift resistance. Plywood sheathing that is 5/8-inch thick or 1 1/2 times thicker than sheathing specified by the Florida Building Code. Construction adhesives are also used to secure the sheathing, again going beyond code to make a stronger roof. Building codes require the use of eight-penny nails (2 1/2 inch nails) to secure the plywood to the roof framing, but FLASH's Blueprint for Safety specifies ten-penny nails to give 50 percent greater uplift resistance. With the use of ten-pennny nails and adhesive to secure the roof, the roof probably has twice as much uplift resistance as a roof built to code.

Mary Lou Pace from Circle Redmont joins Bob to watch the installation of the monolithic glass block floor panel system custom manufactured for this project. The panel, which is completely structural, is constructed using an extruded aluminum framework to support the hollow annealed glass blocks. Annealed glass is a very strong double-sided, double-faced form of glass. The glass has a sandblasted finish on the walking surface to make it slip resistant. The flooring is rated 60 pounds per square foot or higher � significantly more than traditional residential flooring. The cost runs approximately $100 per square foot. The panels each weight about 250 pounds. To install them Charlie has put 3/16 shims behind the 3/16 by 1-1/2 inch L-shaped angle iron in the opening and drilled out for the 5/16 by 3-inch bolts. This will give him the necessary inch of bearing on all four sides. Charlie and Matt carry the glass block panel up the stairs and slide it into position on three 2x4's placed over the opening. While Charlie raises the panel from below, Matt slides out the 2x4's and drops the panel into place. When finished the wood floor will come right up to the edge of the panel. Circle Redmont also makes window panels and skylights.

Bob focuses on the exterior of the Manhattan Brownstone, where paint has built up over the last 100 years and now obscures the details and carvings on the facade. Erik Nadoban of Nadoban Painting joins Bob to talk about stripping the paint and restoring the facade to its original appearance. Nadoban used an alkaline-based product and paper to peel away the layers of paint on the Brownstone and carvings. This method removes up to 30 layers of paint. On the wrought iron he used a methane chloride product. The intricate detailing and iron flowers required five or six applications of stripper to dig out the paint. Once stripped, he applied an oil-base rust inhibitor followed by a single, light coat of oil-base paint. He uses a technique that prevents drips and buildup, first dabbing around the details with an angled ox-hair brush, then using a light-hand coat to sweep across the dabs and give a smooth finish.