10 Things You Should Know About Demolition
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
Demolition may very well be the most exciting and speedy phase of construction. For a complete demotion, a home can come down and be entirely removed from the site in a day or two; for a thorough remodel (where large portions of the structure are maintained) the entire demo process can be completed within a week. But while demolition is typically fast and messy, it’s not necessarily mindless and uncomplicated. There’s actually quite a bit to know about demo; beginning demolition without a clear strategy can have significant time and financial repercussions later.
We just completed the demolition on a current project of ours and it’s a good time to share some knowledge and site photos. This is just one situation with its own set of circumstances and the variables change with each project. With that said, here is our top ten list of demo basics:
1. Don’t try and do it yourself. While it may seem straight-forward and cost-effective to perform the demo yourself, it’s actually a bit like surgery. An experienced crew knows what to keep and what to tear-out. The ideal situation is to have the framing crew take on the demo; the framers will know best what to retain and the accountability chain is direct.
2. Take a bottle of wine to your neighbors before demo begins and make nice. There will be a bit of noise and some mess; you’ll need the understanding and patience of your neighbors.
3. Play by the rules and get your permits. Demolition is obvious; the neighbors will notice the 20 yard dumpster sitting in your driveway and the building inspector knows what it means when there’s a Honey Bucket sitting in the side yard.
4. Asbestos procedures are a big deal. Nothing will shut down a project quicker than an asbestos violation, so it’s worth doing your homework. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is a great resource and their website includes everything you need to know about inspections, removal and applicable agencies. There’s a couple of key items worth highlighting for single family residences as they can save time and money on a project; if asbestos is identified it can be left in place and encapsulated to avoid the costly inspections and removal procedures; also, a homeowner who occupies the house can remove the asbestos themselves if they feel comfortable doing so. There are procedures for each and the requirements vary from one jurisdiction to the next, so review this for the details.
5. Don’t try and live in your house during demo. There’s going to be a layer of dust no matter what. If you’re the type who’s sensitive to a bit of filth, it’s a great time for that trip to the tropics.
6. You’ll demo twice what you thought you would. Once the house is opened up a bit, it will look as though a bunch of drunken sailors originally put it together. It typically makes sense to remove more than originally planned.
7. Strip all the walls and unbury all the skeletons. For most significant remodels we recommend taking the walls down to the studs. There always seems to be ridiculous stuff hidden in the wall cavities from that weekend warrior remodel a decade ago. Demo is the time to catch that dubious electrical connection and the fact that there’s no insulation in the wall.
8. Listen to the guy on site who says “consider these things…” He’s speaking from experience and he knows what he’s talking about.
9. You’ll spend a decent chunk of the budget’s contingency on demo. A typical project of ours has a 10% budget contingency. This contingency is used for all the surprises that pop up during construction, a price hike in plywood or whatever it is that could come out of left field during the process. Because there are so many unknowns and variables in the demolition phase, an unproportional amount of the contingency is inevitably consumed. Once demo is completed the variables level out and it gets better.
10. You’d be surprised how many items and materials can be reused or recycled from the demolition of a home. Here in Seattle, the RE-store takes items like appliances, windows and cabinets if they’re in decent shape. These offer tax deductions that can add up over the course of a project. Check a relevant post on A House By The Park for more information on this topic.
Let us know what’s on your demo list.
Cheers from team BUILD
By jme, July 12, 2011 @ 8:15 am
Looking forward to seeing this house take form! Will it be a hybrid, keeping the arched doorways etc. with the Build twist?
By Build LLC, July 12, 2011 @ 8:58 am
@jme -our top 10 tips are very much becoming true on this project and we ended up demolishing more than we thought we would (#6). The arched doorways are no longer.
By @evan_adams, July 12, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
This is a great article. If people would listen (per #8) I could save owners real money. Demo people often have cheaper rates and heavy equipment to do concrete work for subfloors early.
By dcbiglew, July 13, 2011 @ 6:27 am
Nice post. One of my biggest peeves on those HGTV and DIY type tv shows is when they show inexperienced home owners gleefully karate-kicking walls and such with huge grins on their faces proclaiming how much fun demo is. Demo is serious work and not supposed to be fun, necessarily. Please do not start willy-nilly kicking walls unless you know for sure what’s behind it. Even then a more thoughtful and controlled approach is probably called for so that you don’t destroy perfectly reusable materials. If you must kick something, wait till the renovations start and you’ll wanna kick quite a few people on the project. Yourself and your spouse or significant other included
By Brandon, July 13, 2011 @ 10:29 am
I hope this question isn’t as dumb as I fear it might be, BUT I’ve heard that if you completely demolish a house (in Seattle) that in most cases you are required to build your new structure’s exterior nearly identical to that of the old one (just up to to code). That can’t possibly be true can it?
Also I read that you used to be able to donate your old house to local firefighters to practice a live burn on, and they’d essentially burn it all to ash (saving you demo if you are hoping to start from scratch). If this IS still possible is it a good idea or far more trouble then it’s worth?
By Build LLC, July 13, 2011 @ 10:48 am
@Brandon -you’re not required to match the new house to the old house in the case of a complete demo for most situations -although there could be specific neighborhood covenants that may actually govern to that degree. We haven’t come across it yet though.
Yes, you can donate the existing home to the fire department for a tax credit. Whether or not it’s worth it, probably depends on the situation. I wish we had more experience with this – it would have made a good discussion point for the post.
By mike eliason, July 13, 2011 @ 9:07 pm
good stuff, guys – especially number 5, unless it’s able to be quarantined to a specific location that is duplicated or not needed (e.g. a bathroom).
where possible, i would definitely recommend deconstruction over demolition. it makes the specification of high-embodied energy materials/products a little less taxing on the environment.
By Andrew Boimila, July 14, 2011 @ 5:08 am
Great post guys. One thing I would like to see if a post on the steps of demolition.