House demolition

[Loadstar]

So I'm currently debating a new project that was proposed to me. Tear down a house and shove it in a dumpster. I also will take an out building, sidewalk, and large trash pile and insert it into dumpster. I'm a little apprehensive yet extremely excited about this. I checked the utilities and the power company chopped the lines at pole, gas meter pulled (I opened valve today and it's dead) not sure on water yet. Permit will be pulled. I suppose I should get a locate done in the area around the house and areas i may be working in anyways. Not real sure what to charge (if I was charging) as I consider myself a rookie on the backhoe but I'm probably a little hard on myself. Any tips or input?

 

[DT86]

What type of back hoe are you using?

I'm no demo expert by any means but I've torn down a few things. I've also cleaned up after 3 trailer homes were dismantled in one spot. It gets messy. A lot of small pieces and plenty picking by hand unless you want to pay by the ton to remove a bunch of trash mixed with dirt.

 

[Sysop]

My main concern would be flat tires. From the image it appears you might locate all manners of stuff in the yard via your tires. My first thought looking at it is that it likely spent the better part of it's last years of use with junk piles and broken down/parted out cars in the yard.

 

[CurlyDave]

I had a house and a garage demolished by a contractor. 3 man crew with no equipment and it was down to the foundation in a week. They had their own dump truck.

Problems I see:

1. They packed that truck far tighter than any machine could ever hope to. Lower dump fees and less time wasted. A dumpster would be about the same -- you really need to hand pack it or it will take a lot more loads than you think.

2. If you were to use equipment, the right thing is an excavator with a thumb. While it can be done with a tractor, it will take a lot longer.

3. A backhoe is not the right implement, and unless you have a hydraulic thumb, it is going to be very slow...

 

[yelbike]

Sounds fun until you consider the possible damage to your equipment. Flat tire, hydraulic lines and a few others that I'm not thinking of.
I don't think a backhoe is the right tool, but I'm sure it could be done.

 

[chim]

A couple of weeks ago two guys demolished a trailer we had been using as an office. It was about 8' x 40'. Nothing of the scale you're looking at, but what others have mentioned about packing the demo'd materials is true. These guys had everything stacked in a dumpster in under 3 days. The materials could have easily taken up more than 2 dumpsters had they been tossed in haphazardly.

After the trailer was gone we ran the magnet over the area and found lots of metal. The magnet is similar to those in the link below and we run it on the forks of one of the foam-tired yardlifts.

Road Magnets + Magnetic Road Sweepers | Construction | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[jlgurr]

Why not get the local fire department to torch it for "training" then clean up what's left?

Maybe you have a track hoe, but like the others, I'd be worried the whole time about holes in my tires, hoses, etc. that have things inside that can leak out.

 

[Loadstar]

I have a Ford 655A.

House has had a bad roof for a long time. It is in lowlands mostly shaded. This thing is probably rotten to the core. Has a short block foundation. New owner has not even went in nor have i. For the fire department to practice, all roofing removed, windows out, and insulation removed. THAT'S NOT HAPPENING! Lol

I know it won't be easy with a lot of ground work and hard labor. Yard does not seem overly junked up. I think I will include some chains and bars in the project for additional chainsaw demo work. I also have to cut power lines/guywire off and toss off to side. I may also try to salvage house wiring (tie and pull with equipment).

If I take it on I have a 6 month window from start to completion.

 

[pohorsky]

I have a Ford 655A.

House has had a bad roof for a long time. It is in lowlands mostly shaded. This thing is probably rotten to the core. Has a short block foundation. New owner has not even went in nor have i. For the fire department to practice, all roofing removed, windows out, and insulation removed. THAT'S NOT HAPPENING! Lol

I know it won't be easy with a lot of ground work and hard labor. Yard does not seem overly junked up. I think I will include some chains and bars in the project for additional chainsaw demo work. I also have to cut power lines/guywire off and toss off to side. I may also try to salvage house wiring (tie and pull with equipment).

If I take it on I have a 6 month window from start to completion.

I would rent an excavator for a day or however long it take to get it knocked down and safe (passing along the cost to the owner) , and then use your equipment to break it apart and haul it off. Don't know if I would waste my time on the wiring, seems like it would be a hassle, and a bad idea to try to re-use wiring torn out by equipment.

 

[Loadstar]

I would rent an excavator for a day or however long it take to get it knocked down and safe (passing along the cost to the owner) , and then use your equipment to break it apart and haul it off. Don't know if I would waste my time on the wiring, seems like it would be a hassle, and a bad idea to try to re-use wiring torn out by equipment.

Down and safe? That backhoe is more than enough to handle dropping a single level dwelling safely. Also, I wouldn't reuse wire I scrap it. Extra $100-$200 bucks is worth it to me.

 

[pohorsky]

Down and safe? That backhoe is more than enough to handle dropping a single level dwelling safely. Also, I wouldn't reuse wire I scrap it. Extra $100-$200 bucks is worth it to me.

I was just going off the assumption the as a rookie he could be a little farther away from the structure in case something unexpected happened.

 

[Creamer]

I have never done it with a backhoe but I have torn down two story houses by hand saving the structural lumber in two weeks. With you hoe I think you could have it down in a couple of hours and then it is a matter of breaking it up and putting it into dumpsters. You hoe can do a lot of destruction but a chainsaw and axe and wire cutters are necessary. I am thinking 40 hours should do it for a level space. I am assuming no basement. Do they also want the concrete walkway up and out? how is the lot to be left completely clean? I would certainly get a magnet and be a little careful with the glass. If the lot is supposed to be very clean I would dig a hole and push the top surface into it - this will get all the glass, nails, etc. If it is supposed to be a totally clean lot but OK to bury it i would add another day plus four hours or so to get the concrete up. If not OK to bury it you will need to scrape and have another dumpster and then haul in clean fill or grade it level.

 

[Loadstar]

Yes concrete up and out. It hasn't been discussed deeply but I plan on cleaning over it removing all traces. Probably plow and disc the area and return it to grass. Wonder about the septic... Hmm

 

[FredH]

Here in Oregon , Septic's need to be pumped and then filled with sand or removed . Far cheaper to just fill with sand than to remove . Either way , it has to be pumped .

Get yourself a pair of Large Pallet forks to clamp on your bucket , if You don't already have a set .

Once You knock it down , You can stack stuff on the forks , then dump into dumpster . Makes loading dumpster more useable and organized , thus less
wasted space . We did that with my little TC30 when the neighbors had a large dumpster and tore down a couple of outbuildings plus picked up a buch of stuff from their place and ours . We were able to pack a SH** load of stuff into it that way .

Fred H.

 

[Loadstar]

Good to know. I need to look that up for locally. I would like to know where it is so it doesn't surprise me. Might be a spot for concrete fill too.

I do have forks too might have to chain them. The owner is a machinist and wants to build me a thumb

 

[CurlyDave]

If you do it with the backhoe, a thumb would save a lot of time. A hydraulic thumb is a lot more versatile than a mechanical one. At least 5 times faster for this kind of job, maybe more. And you don't have to traverse construction debris on foot to adjust the thumb.

I am surprised that anyone would hire it out with a 6 month completion schedule. If you started this month, he could not start building until next year.

What is the plan for final use of the land?

 

[D7E]

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 .

 

[BuilderML]

An excavator with a hyd thumb is the tool of choice for this type of work. Now back to reality one must work with the tools they have and a hoe is better than using my hands. First thing i would do is put a thumb on,manual or hyd, must have for this type of work. Locate the dumpster(s) close to the house. Don't just go crazy knocking stuff down. Take section by section load in the dumpster and crush it, this is where the thumb really helps. Doing it this way allows you to tightly pack the dumpster crushing and placing as you go. Also the more stuff crushed or broken down over/in the dumpster keeps the mess contained less garbage around on the ground. I have done a few and would not do it without a thumb. Oh did i mention you need/want a thumb.:laughing:. Have fun with your project. Also i see 3-4 30 yard dumpters at $750 a pop and a day worth of work to have the house down.

 

[Will_C]

My brother took down a 30x40 barn for me 2 years ago. He used a 9 ton excavator with a thumb. He took him a day- that was including ripping out a concrete floor that was over a foot thick in places. He filled a 30, a 20, and a 10 yard roll off containers. He also hauled 8 loads of concrete with his single axle dump truck to my neighbors who were making a parking area for trucks.

Will

 

[Loadstar]

End use of land is nothing. It's a house by his that is an eyesore. I would love a thumb on my backhoe and I think I will begin planning one and finding materials. Yet I don't believe it will be done in about a month when I start on this. I told my wife she needs to learn to operate the backhoe, or she will have to be the laborer on the ground lol.