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What is Selective Demolition?
Also referred to interior demolition, selective demolition uses carefully planned sequenced activities that separate and sort the materials within a building. Rather than knock a building down, an Oregon demolition company deconstructs it using special equipment. The solution reduces waste, maximizes efficiency and reduces a project’s carbon footprint. Building owners often seek this option when they want to update a structure’s interior, convert a space, improve the building’s health, or add an extension.
The Best Candidates for Selective Demolition
Selective demolitions are best for buildings that are structurally sound. Instances when this type of Oregon demolition service might be appropriate include:
- Interior remodels and renovations
- Asbestos removal and the abatement of other hazardous materials
- Building relocation
- Site remediation
- A building needs alterations
- A proposed project meets a municipality’s zoning regulations and building codes
- Preparing a building for construction work
- Extending a building
- When buildings are large or heavily fortified
- Preserving a historic building
Examples of Selective Demolition Projects
- Create or remove entryways
- Prepare a home or building for a new floor, room or space
- Prepare a building for an extension
- Remove stairwells
- Re-proportion existing structures
- Prepare a home for an en suite extension, such a bathroom in a master bedroom
- Prepare an airport for the construction of an additional terminal
- Altering buildings so they serve a different purpose, such as turning an old factory into a school or office building
- Equipment and component removals
- Prepare a building for structural modifications, such as seismic upgrades
- Stripping out a building
- Site cleanups for buildings that contain hazardous materials, such as lead
- Removing feed and conveyor systems from factories
- Roof removals
- Removing airport control towers
Selective Demolition Steps
Information Gathering and Project Planning
Selective demolition always starts with information gathering. After learning about a client’s goals, Oregon demolition specialists identify and survey materials that are salvageable, recyclable and hazardous. During the initial steps, contractors also review drawings, permits and grandfathered design elements.
Code Review
Each municipality differs in regards to a building’s placement, use and size. While gathering information, a contractor learns what it can and cannot do by studying the city and county’s codes. Having a firm understanding of the regulations helps a contractor begin a project with confidence.
Codes that might affect a project include those related to:
- Maximum building height and area
- Egresses
- Clearances
- Local transit services
- Pedestrian safety
- Existing landscaping features
- Maximum possible envelope
- Existing structures
- Accessibility
- Occupant comfort
- Allowable floor areas
- Noise levels
- Maximum allowable lot coverage
Building Preparation
Many buildings that undergo selective demolition retain their main operative functions. Before removing building components with demolition equipment, specialists ensure the safety of the project and prepare materials for removal and recycling. This process involves cutting power to the respective area, capping pipes and turning off HVAC systems.
Depending on window placement and natural lighting levels, a contractor may install temporary lighting systems to improve visibility within the building. The crew may also install supportive shoring or bracing to prevent movement, settlements or collapses.
Site Stripping
After learning about a client’s goals, learning the details about a building, securing the necessary permits and finalizing details, specialists strip the building. This step begins with protecting components a client wishes to keep and removing nonstructural materials, followed by the main demolition activities.
Nonstructural materials include:
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Windows
- Pipes
- Beams
- Flooring
- Tiles
- Light fixtures
- Wires
- Plumbing fixtures
Green Oregon demolition services separate building materials, allowing a client to reuse, recycle or resell them. This not only diverts waste from landfills, it may also help offset project costs when a client resells, reuses or donates the materials.
Selective Demolition
Because of the quantity of debris that demolition projects create, extensive sorting is required. To reduce waste, a green contractor uses special equipment to tear down a building. Attaching shears to the end of an excavator, for example, allows workers to reach high components without relying on a wrecking ball. Concrete crushers turn concrete into gravel that a client can recycle or use for the building’s renovation. Powerful magnets separate scrap metal that a client can sell. As an Oregon demolition contractor disassembles a target structure, it sorts the building materials into different piles for disposal, delivery or recycling.
After the crew strips a structure’s mechanical, architectural and electrical elements, all that remains is a shell that is ready for remodeling, remediation or an extension.
Selective demolition is an ideal solution when you want to alter or improve a building without tearing it down completely. Using the most advanced demolition techniques in the industry, Elder provides green solutions for exterior and interior projects. We approach each job with attention to detail, safety and your schedule. Get in touch with a specialist today to learn if selective demolition is the best choice for your needs.