House demolition.
Taking down a house is a week of paperwork and a day of machine work. We file the demolition permit, book the gas, hydro and water disconnects, get the designated-substances survey done on an older house, and then the excavator does in a day what took a crew months to build. The foundation comes out, the hole is backfilled and compacted, and the builder walks onto a graded lot.
On the ticket.
Demolition permit filed with the municipality by us
Designated-substances survey arranged on pre-1990 houses; abatement before demolition if anything is found
Gas, hydro and water disconnects by licensed trades, Ontario One Call locates before the dig
Neighbouring walls, fences and protected trees fenced or braced before the machine moves
Structure down, foundation and footings out, hole backfilled and compacted in lifts
Concrete crushed, metal sorted, wood chipped; lot graded and swept
Lines, not guesses.
| Driver | What we look at |
|---|---|
| Floor area and storeys | Footprint, height and how the house is built: brick, frame, or a semi with a shared wall. |
| Foundation and backfill | What the foundation is made of and how much fill the hole takes. |
| Disconnects and survey | Gas, hydro and water isolated by licensed trades; a designated-substances survey on pre-1990 houses. |
| Bins and tipping | Bin count by weight over the whole job. |
| Permit and utility locates | Whether we pull the demolition permit and book the locates. |
The number comes from a site walk. The survey, any abatement and engineering are quoted separately after the walk. A semi with a shared wall prices higher than a detached house of the same size.
Paper first.
- Every house demolition needs a municipal demolition permit before the building comes down. We file it. [n] weeks typical, Kam confirms.
- In Toronto, residential demolitions go through the City's demolition control process, which considers what replaces the house.
- Pre-1990 houses: a designated-substances survey comes first (O. Reg. 278/05 for asbestos).
- Gas, hydro and water are disconnected by licensed trades and Ontario One Call locates are done before the first dig.
The plates on every truck: WSIB, insurance, demolition permits, asbestos survey, utility locates, crew training.
The structure is down in a day and the foundation out and backfilled within the week on a typical lot. The permit, the survey and the utility disconnects in front of that are the real schedule. [Kam confirms typical permit timing.]
Yes. The party wall stays. We cut the roof and framing back to it, brace it, and leave it weather-tight for the builder, with photos before and after.
The foundation walls and footings come out, the concrete is hauled for crushing, and the hole is backfilled and compacted in lifts unless your builder wants it left open for the new footings.
Licensed trades, booked by us. Gas, hydro and water are dead before the first cut, and Ontario One Call locates are done before the excavator digs.
If the house was built before 1990, yes, before demolition. If the survey finds something, a licensed abatement crew removes it first. [Whether that crew is ours depends on licensing Kam confirms.]