By Breaker Demolition · Published September 12, 2026 · No prices in the guides; every number comes from a site walk. Anything in [brackets] is confirmed before launch.
The three day strip-out
A typical basement or kitchen strip-out runs three days, typical for a [n] sq ft basement; Kam confirms. The days break down the same way every time.
- Day one: contain and disconnect. Dust walls go up, the return air gets sealed, and plumbing and electrical in the work area are capped.
- Day two: strip to the studs. Drywall or plaster, ceiling, flooring, cabinets, fixtures. Everything goes into the bin the same day it comes off the wall.
- Day three: sweep and sign off. Nails pulled, floors swept, the bin picked up, and a walk-through with you before the trades come in.
Structural work: a wall in a day, an engineer in front of it
Taking out a load-bearing wall is a one or two day job on site: shore, cut, set the beam, remove the shoring. What sits in front of it is the engineer's drawing and the building permit, which is [n] weeks typical, Kam confirms. A bigger structural scope, say a rear addition coming off, runs [n] days on site, Kam confirms.
Plaster and lath add time to any of this. A basement reached only through the house adds time. Neither usually turns three days into a week.
Full tear-down: a day to drop, a week to clear
Once the permit is issued and gas, hydro and water are disconnected, the house comes down in about a day. Sorting and loading the debris takes another day or two depending on bin turnaround. Then the foundation is broken, pulled and hauled, and the hole is backfilled. On a typical lot the site is clear within the week [Kam confirms].
The wait in front of that week is where the calendar goes. Demolition control review, permit issuance and utility disconnect bookings each have their own lead time, and they overlap only partly. [Typical wait from application to demolition day: n weeks, Kam confirms.]
Pools and garages
A pool removal depends on whether the shell comes out entirely or gets broken up and buried in place. [Full removal: n days; partial removal: n days, Kam confirms.] A detached garage is typically down and gone in a day, with the slab out the same day or the next [Kam confirms]. Both need a permit, and a pool needs Ontario One Call locates before the excavator arrives.
What stretches the timeline
Six things push a demolition date. Most of them sit in front of the job, not inside it.
- Designated substances survey. Any pre-1990 building gets surveyed before work starts. [Turnaround from site visit to report: n days, Kam confirms.]
- Abatement. If the survey finds asbestos, a licensed crew removes it under O. Reg. 278/05 before demolition continues. That is its own scope with its own days.
- Permit. Nothing structural moves until Toronto Building issues it, and demolition control on a house adds review time.
- Weather. Frozen ground slows a foundation pull. Rain turns a backfill into mud. Wind stops a high-reach machine.
- Access. A street bin needs a City street occupation permit, and a house with no driveway means hand carry to the curb.
- Surprises. A second layer of floor, a buried oil tank, a foundation thicker than the drawing. Each adds a day, rarely more.
How to plan around it
Order the survey the day you decide to demolish. Start the permit before you hire anyone. Book a site walk and you get a day by day schedule for your job, with the waits marked as waits.