Demolition contractor · 639 E 234th Street, Bronx
Roll-off container beside a brick two-family house, part filled with sorted plasterboard and timber

Get the material off the property.

Construction debris removal in the Bronx: what the material is, how it has to leave, and what that depends on.

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Construction debris is not household waste

Construction and demolition debris cannot go out with the household trash in New York City. Material generated by a contractor is not residential waste, it is not collected as residential waste, and putting it out as such is how a straightforward job turns into a problem for the property owner.

It leaves through a private carting service and goes to a facility registered to accept it. Private haulers working in the city are certified by the Business Integrity Commission, and only registered facilities may take the material. That chain is the whole reason removal is a real line on a demolition job rather than an afterthought.

What we take out

  • Plasterboard, plaster, lath and ceiling material
  • Timber studs, joists, trim, doors and frames
  • Flooring, tile, underlay and subfloor
  • Brick, block, concrete and masonry rubble
  • Fixtures, cabinetry and non-structural metalwork
  • Mixed arisings from a gut out, in one run rather than in stages
Open-top container on a street filled with mixed debris, broken plasterboard, timber and brick

Two different jobs

Most of what we remove is material our own demolition work generated. It is part of that scope, priced with it, and it leaves as we go rather than piling up until the end.

The other job is material that is already on the property before we arrive. A basement, garage or rear yard filled by a job that finished, or by a previous owner, is a job we will look at on its own terms. Tell us what the material is and roughly how much of it there is.

Call (929) 205-0893

What decides the number

People ask for a price per load. The load is rarely the unit that matters.

  1. Weight

    Not volume alone

    Disposal is metered by what the material weighs. A half-full container of plaster, tile and brick outweighs a full one of timber and cabinetry, and costs more to put through a facility. This is why a description of what the material actually is tells us more than a description of how big the pile looks.

  2. Material

    Mixed against sorted

    Material kept separate as it comes out is cheaper to dispose of than the same material tipped together. On our own demolition work we sort as we go, because it is the cheapest point at which to do it.

  3. Carry

    How far it travels

    The distance from where the material is generated to where a container can stand is the part that moves the labour. A ground floor with a driveway alongside is a different job from a third floor walk-up with the container out at the kerb.

  4. Standing

    Where the container sits

    A private driveway or frontage is straightforward. Where a container has to stand on the street the arrangements are different, and they are settled before a date is agreed rather than on the morning.

Rear yard with a broken-out concrete patio stacked to one side and a detached garage behind

Bronx property, and what it changes

A great deal of the stock around us is detached, semi-detached or small multi-family, with a driveway, a side passage and a private rear yard. That is a real advantage on removal work: a container can usually stand on the property rather than on the street, material travels a short distance to it, and the job does not depend on a scheduled shared lift. It is also why a yard or garage full of old material is a job we see often here.

What decides the cost

Questions about debris removal

How much does it cost to remove construction debris?

It turns on volume and weight rather than on the number of items. Disposal is charged by what the load weighs, so a small volume of plaster and brick can cost more to put through a facility than a much larger volume of light timber. The other half is access, meaning how far the material travels from where it is generated to where the truck can stand.

Can I put construction debris out with the household trash?

No. Debris generated by a contractor is not residential waste in New York City and is not collected as such. It leaves through a private carting service and goes to a facility registered to accept construction and demolition material.

Where does the material actually go?

To a transfer station or recovery facility registered to take construction and demolition debris. Private waste haulers operating in the city are certified by the Business Integrity Commission, and only registered facilities may accept the material. That chain is why the route matters and why the cost is metered rather than flat.

Can you clear material that is already there?

Often, yes. A yard, basement or garage full of material from a job that finished, or from a previous owner, is worth describing to us. What matters is what the material is, roughly how much of it there is, and how a truck reaches it.

Will there be a container outside for weeks?

Only for as long as the work needs it. On a driveway or a private frontage a container can usually stand where it does not block anything. Where it has to sit on the street the arrangements are different and that is settled before the date, not on the day.

What is left when the material is gone?

The area swept and clear, with the surfaces the material travelled over left as we found them. If another trade is booked behind us, that is the state they should be able to start in.

Describe the material.

What it is, roughly how much, and how a truck reaches it. That is usually enough to give you a real answer.

Call (929) 205-0893

Tell us what the material is and roughly how much of it there is.

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© Breakara Demolition Bronx. The Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Call (929) 205-0893