Hold down the Ctrl key and you will see a little bulldozer appear at the top of the building tool cursor ... you even get some of your cash back. I still think my first answer was funnier. Wossup widya, sense of humor failure?
If you are having trouble with construction, check to see if you're using a no cd crack, because that has been reported as the cause of being unable to use the Build mode in most cases. If you're running the game from the CD or DVD-rom you bought at the store, then please list your computer information (like RAM and graphics card etc.) so people who know more tech stuff can try to help you!
This may be a silly question, but you said your trying to destroy the first floor.. Umm, not to infer you are dumb or anything, but are you trying to mess with the first floor while the second floor is still in place... cuz you cant do that, you have to remove the second floor before you can change the first floor
Actually, silly as it sounds, in the first Sims game you could remove the ENTIRE first floor out from under your second floor and make your second story seem to be floating on air. So if they were able to do that in the first game it seems like it might be fun to try in Sims 2 to see if it still works that way. I'm thinking of giving it a try... a two story house seeming to float with only stairs leading to it could be pretty fantastic! I think the problem they're having is with the entire Build mode not working right, because they said they can't construct anything.
??? I had the opposite; in the first Sims game the only way I could float the 2nd floor was to build the first level entirely with columns, and then selling them. In Sims 2, I can take out the walls, remove foundations, etc. even with a 2nd floor right on top of it. Anything can be floated now...