Construction Demolition

You could think of construction demolition as deconstruction. Years ago the wrecking ball just knocked down buildings and bulldozers came in to finish the job smashing everything to smithereens. Then trucks came in and hauled everything to the landfill. No one thought of salvaging anything in those days.

Todays demolition companies have more to think about. First of all in very old buildings hazardous materials are always a concern. They have to be disposed of properly and proper precautions must be taken to protect the workers handling them. I have a little experience in this area. When I was working in a veterinary hospital I was also overseeing the rental of apartments in an adjacent very old house. I was asked by the owner to see if demolishing the house was less expensive than renovation. I was very surprised to find that it was not cheaper to just tear it down. The demolition company explained that they had to come in and evaluate the materials in the house first so they knew how much it would cost to dispose of them. They also had to get many permits from the city, the power company, and the water department. By the time I got an estimate, the estimate for renovation did not look bad at all.

I also watched the tedious process of deconstructing an old bakery across the street. The building was huge and it had adjacent barns that had housed the horse drawn carts and the horses. They took the building apart piece by piece and I watched as various salvage companies came in and took the bricks, windows, doors, slate roof, plumbing fixtures and scrap metal from the site. Yet another company came in and removed all the torn up paving materials. By the time they had completed the job, it looked as if the century old building had never existed. It was nice to know that all those materials would be reused for other purposes rather than dumped into a landfill.

Regulations for demolition vary from one area to another but I am happy to see that salvage companies recognize the value of old building materials and buy them for resale. Even older factories have antique timber that is suitable for beams and flooring. Scrap metal can be taken directly to a recycling center. The bakery I mentioned had beautiful architectural details and they were carefully removed and quickly snapped up by a local company that sells things like that. Construction demolition is really just deconstruction and repurposing old materials instead of dumping them.






 

Building Salvage News:

 

Architect Upgrades Cville Building Using Recycled Materials - NBC29 WVIR . - NBC 29 News

Architect Upgrades Cville Building Using Recycled Materials - NBC29 WVIR .
NBC 29 News
Everything old is new again in a Charlottesville apartment building that takes recycling to new heights. Architect Betty Driskill's adventure in reclaimed housing began when she became the owner of an apartment building on the corner of Henry Avenue .

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Families Salvage Possessions From Fire Damaged Apartments
Families gathered outside of what remained of their homes, Tuesday morning. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) EUR Several Brittany Point apartment units...


Asphalt Pavements Increase Use of Recycled Materials - PR Newswire (press release)

Asphalt Pavements Increase Use of Recycled Materials
PR Newswire (press release)
LANHAM, Md., April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thanks to broad adoption of sustainable construction practices by the asphalt pavement industry, the roads many people use to get around on Earth Day and every day are getting greener, .

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Recycled design - Chico News & Review

Recycled design
Chico News & Review
Equally unsurprising is the fact that his furniture-design/fabrication class is strictly focused on EURworking with reclaimed, recycled materials,EUR as he explained in a recent interview. Instead of relegating abandoned logs and boards and other discarded .

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Design District's new bowling alley offers cheap play and craft beer - Pegasus News

Design District's new bowling alley offers cheap play and craft beer
Pegasus News
This previously vacant warehouse in the Design District was transformed almost entirely with reclaimed materials from a closed bowling alley in Longview, Texas. Crews refinished the maple and pine hardwood for bowling lanes, bar tops, dining tables .

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Bangladesh rescue operations near end; death toll at 1,127
DHAKA, Bangladesh EUR Bangladeshi salvage workers neared the end of their search for victims of the collapse of a factory building Monday, scouring the basement of the complex that crumbled in on itself and killed 1,127 people.A series of deadly incidents at factories, including a fire in November that killed 112 people, has focused global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's booming ...


 

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