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wdbrooks2013

House Build Diary 6 - Old House Demolition Tear Down

After gas, water, and sewer were capped we provided the county with all the required letters and received the demolition permit which we posted onsite.


We had multiple dumpsters. Each has a number and I tracked the numbers to keep up with how many were used.


Let's get her done! There goes the roof!



On day 67 we found a neighbor with a drone and we obtained drone video of the demolition.







Be sure to get your no-tresspassing signs up and visible. Take pictures of them on the site. Once you tear down a house and there is sharp metal and glass everywhere you will think you had just opened a new playground or dog park. People will be wandering around it in flip-flops with this toddlers and dogs. In addition to warning people of the danger you need solid evidence to use in court if some bad dad tries to sue you because his toddler stepped on a nail.


On Day 79 they installed the silt logs to keep the mud and drainage on site.


The silt log is a tube of material filled with wood chips. I some cases it can be used in place of a silt fence and it is cheaper. On day 80 they setup the silt fence.



This is all required by code.




There are always little unexpected challenges along the way and one of ours was how much concrete had been used under the extension that was added to the old house. We found this on day 81 of the build. The original house had some relatively shallow maybe six inches of concrete over gravel and dirt. The extension was surrounded by five-foot-high walls of 12 or more inches deep concrete and the floor inside the walls was thick as well. This required bringing in an excavator with a major jackhammer to break it down. This added a couple of days to the build and about $1,200 for the equipment rental.


This concrete went deep in the ground.


If the neighbors didn't like the sound of hammering and things banging into the dumpsters this really took it up a level. Good times!


And here is the trench once the concrete was removed. Also, those lumps of concrete are as heavy as they look. The backhoe removes those not people.


Then one day (day 99) the sun came out and the demolition was over. After about three months of getting letters, permits, breaking stuff, and hauling it away we had a clear spot where we could start building.




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