House demolition

[srs]

Loadstar, is it possible to take some of the demolished lumber and have small burn piles to get rid of the wood? Any kind of asphalt, tar paper, glass, or similar material would go into the dumpster. Stanley

 

[riptides]

How old is the house? Possibility of toxic materials involved? It is going to be a messy job, really messy.

 

[Loadstar]

I figured I would have a burn barrel on site for easy clean feeding. I'm an HVAC contractor so I have a lot of tools on my truck. I will probably get some long demo blades and cordless sawzall window frames out from outside to keep the glass mess down. I appreciate all the thoughts and comments, it is really helping get a plan of attack organized and figured out.

 

[riptides]

How old is the house? Any possibility of salvage on doors, windows, stairs, molding, ,wood floors?

 

[EddieWalker]

had to get rid of this one a few years ago . Just dug a big hole pushed the whole house in then burned it , Nice and clean with no nails or glass left .

That's how I did an old barn on my place with a roof that had started to fall in, except I used my backhoe. Just dub a big hole and filled it up, then lit it on fire until it was done, then added more to it and kept it going for several days. Then I used the front bucket to clean up everything by scraping the ground and dumping it in the hole. After that, I filled the rest of the hole with the dirt I dug out. There was more dirt then hole, so I built it up into a nice crown that I expected to settle over the years. I think it was about two years later that it looked all natural again, like nothing had ever been there.


I've seen houses demolished by professional crews, and it's extremely expensive and labor intensive. Each truck can only take so much, and for a single family house that might have been 2,000 sq ft, they where running half a dozen dump trucks back and forth for about two weeks.

If you can burn it and bury it, that's the best way in my opinion

Eddie

 

[jbwilson]

About 8 years ago we had our old house demolished for rebuildment purposes. It seems from your photo that your house is about the same size as our old house. The demolition took about 2 days using a 20 ton excavator on steel tracks filling several trucks. Watching the demolition take place I noted the skill in the way the excavator operator maximised the amount of fill into the trucks to reduce the amount of trips to the tip e.g. Small pieces loaded first, separation of materials etc.

 

[Loadstar]

How old is the house? Any possibility of salvage on doors, windows, stairs, molding, ,wood floors?

Probably too nasty. I don't think it's old enough that there is anything worth saving. Plus with it's close proximity to a large ditch, continuous shade and poor drainage.... Its probably all bad.

 

[RollingsFarms]

You're facing the same dilemma I am currently. I have an acre of land that has an old house and an old trailer on it AND the land needs clearing off badly(it's growing like a jungle in there!). My problem is my acre is in town, neighbors on both sides, no water(I turned off the electricity because the well pump wasn't working), can't burn anything because of proximity of neighbors and a main highway runs right in front of the land(risk of smoke causing accidents), can't bury the house because it has asbestos and county says that's a big no no. Hailing it off is my only option and the landfill makes me but a special permit to dispose of asbestos plus the regular dumping permit. I've been quoted $1700 to take the house down and haul it off but just haven't come off the money. I was hoping to get a quote for tearing the house down and hauling it off and clear the land off.

 

[Loadstar]

I just received word today that a second house was purchased. I am to do both. Second house has a second story and it is block construction wrapped in a layer of brick. I can start on the first house Friday and the second one in one month. Yikes... I'm going to be real busy. This will be a big gamble.

 

[Sysop]

Good luck!