Demolition Costs

[Lonny Hogan]

I'm appraising a property in which the house is practically falling over. The client wants an estimate of the demolition costs. Does anybody know of a resource I can sight for estimating this? I've called two people in construction who told me to send them an email and pictures and they could estimate the costs, but these people keep falling off the earth or something. Neither will return my calls.
I'm just wondering if I'm overlooking some other ways of estimating this.

any help is appreciated.

 

[Dan Leggett]

My last project was an old wood frame house that was not structurally sound enough to be placed on dollies and moved off the site. My local landfill charges $35 per ton which equated to $25K in tipping fees only. Most machines used in demolition work are track mounted (versus rubber tires/flats/downtime) which generally have a higher day rate.

I would suggest surveying a couple of demolition companies.

 

[Otis Key]

Ditto Dan's post. Call some of the local demo companies and give them a brief description and a lot will tell you over the phone that it'll run about, $25k to $30k or something like that, depending upon cricumstances.

 

[The Matrix]

Marshall & SwiftResidential Cost Handbook. Section C Page 33

 

[Brian Weaver]

Also, Marshall & Swift BIG BOOK - Section 66, pages 10-11.

 

[DTB]

Lonny,

Just drive to a "hot" neighborhood and ask the guy who is getting demo'd. The prices quoted here are quite a bit higher than I've paid.

 

[Ted Martin]

In parts of my market it costs nothing except a call to the fire department so they don't send a truck out.

 

[Greg davenport]

Depends on City Codes and req's. Talked to a guy here who does this, and he said between 5-6,000. biggest expense he has is the dumpster. I have seen some city's allow you to dig a hole and just bury everyting on the site.

You might ask some of the builders in you area.

 

[Dave Fitch]

Typical house demolished in my area with typical lot access is around $7,500. Would be more for larger or more difficult sites.

 

[DTB]

Dan,

I am assuming you forgot a decimal point: 2.5K, or you got screwed. The frame house didn't weigh 700 tons did it?

Lonny,

You can get it done for around 10K.