Two to four days of machine work, and six weeks of paperwork before it. We run the survey, the permit and the three utility disconnections in parallel so the calendar is as short as the municipality allows.
Owners are surprised that the machines are the quick part. Gas, electricity and water each need a formal disconnection, each on its own queue, and most municipalities will not release the permit until all three are proven.
Run them one after another and you lose a month. We file all three the week we are engaged and book the asbestos survey alongside, so the waiting overlaps instead of stacking. By the time the permit is in hand, asbestos removal is either complete or ruled out, and the takedown itself is a short, predictable job.
Where the rebuild keeps the existing basement, foundation removal comes off the scope entirely, and the price with it. Full requirements are set out on our demolition permit page.
Recent work
How It Runs
Four stages, priced before stage two
Site visit
Access, services, party walls and what is staying.
Survey and permit
Asbestos survey booked, utility cuts and permit filed.
Takedown
Two to four days of machine work on a detached house.
Clear and grade
Material sorted, lot left level and ready for the builder.
To Slab Or To Grade
Deciding how deep to go before you price it
A house can come down to the slab, to the top of the foundation, or right out with the footings. Those are three different jobs and three different numbers, and the right answer comes from your builder, not from us.
If the rebuild reuses the basement, stopping at the slab saves both the breaking and the backfill. If it does not, leaving the walls in makes the excavation harder later and usually costs more overall. We quote the options side by side rather than assuming, and where the foundation goes, the void is filled and compacted under grading and backfill so the lot is buildable.
Old driveways and pads are handled separately under slab removal, and the full range of house options sits on the residential demolition hub.
Usually three to six weeks, and almost all of it is permit and utility disconnection. The machine work on a detached house is two to four days once everything is in place.
Yes, with the party wall hoarded, protected and often hand-demolished at the interface. That work is priced in from the survey rather than added once it becomes obvious.
Whatever the quote states. To slab, to grade, or foundation out and backfilled. Get that written down before you compare prices, because it is the biggest single variable.
Yes, and on a rebuild it usually pays to keep it for site access and remove it at the end. Doing it twice costs more than doing it once at the right moment.
We do the site notices the municipality requires, but a knock from you a week ahead does more for the relationship than any statutory notice.
Customer reviews
What Hartford owners say about their demolition contractor
