What decides the cost
Demolition in the Bronx, and the things that actually move the number. No price list, because a price you can trust does not come from a description.
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- What decides the cost
Why nobody can price this from a description
It is the first thing everybody asks and it is a fair question. The honest answer is that the number comes from things a description usually leaves out, and a figure given without them is a figure that will change.
So rather than a price list, here is what the number is actually made of. Read it and you will know which parts of your own job are the expensive ones, which is more useful than a range that fits nobody.
What moves the number
Five things, in roughly the order they matter.
- 01
How much material there is
Not floor area. Volume. A bathroom with tile on three walls, a tiled floor, a cast tub and a plaster ceiling holds more material than a bedroom twice its size. This is the single biggest driver and it is the one people most often estimate low.
- 02
What it is made of
Plaster, tile, brick and concrete are heavy. Timber, plasterboard and cabinetry are light. Disposal is metered by weight, so what the material is matters as much as how much of it there is. Lath and plaster in an older building is a different proposition from modern plasterboard.
- 03
How it gets out
Which floor it starts on, how many turns and stairs are between it and the door, and how far the door is from where a truck can stand. On plenty of jobs the route out is harder than the demolition and costs more than it.
- 04
What has to be protected
Everything that is staying and everything the material travels over. Floors, stairs, corridors, doorframes, a finished surface in the next room. Protection is quick to install and expensive to skip.
- 05
Where it goes
Disposal is a metered cost at a registered facility, not a flat fee. It is why a small volume of dense material can cost more to put through than a large volume of light material.
What is different about Bronx property
Much of the stock around here is detached, semi-detached or small multi-family, with a driveway, a side passage and a private rear yard. That usually means a container can stand on the property a few feet from the door, and material travels a short distance without depending on anything shared or scheduled.
That is a real difference and it usually works in your favour. It is also why driveway, patio, garage and yard work is common here, and why concrete is a bigger part of what we do than it would be in a borough of lift-served buildings.
Where we workWhere concrete differs
Concrete is the one service where the arithmetic changes. It is dense enough that weight dominates everything else: a four inch residential slab runs well over a ton for a small patio, and several times that for a driveway.
So on concrete work the distance from the break-out area to the truck is a genuine cost, thickness and reinforcement decide how long breaking takes, and whether a machine can reach the area at all is often the difference between two very different numbers.
Concrete removalPrice and start date are different questions
They get asked together and they have separate answers.
Non-structural interior work in a single unit often falls below the threshold that needs a Department of Buildings permit. Work that removes structural members, bearing walls, floors or exterior walls needs a filing, and that is prepared by a licensed engineer or architect and reviewed before work starts.
Where a permit is needed and the building went up before April 1987, an asbestos assessment has to be on file with the Department of Environmental Protection before that permit issues. Most Bronx stock is older than that, so on permitted work it is a normal part of the timeline.
None of this changes what the work costs. All of it changes when the work can begin, which is why we would rather tell you early than have it arrive as a surprise.
What to have ready
- The address, and which floor the work is on
- What the space is, and what is coming out of it
- Whether anything is staying that has to survive intact
- How a truck would get near the building
- Photographs of the room, and of the route from it to the door
Photographs are worth more than measurements. Five minutes on the phone with those settles most jobs.
Where to go next
- Interior demolition, if the building is staying up
- Building demolition, if a structure or part of one is coming down
- Concrete removal, for driveways, patios, steps and slabs
- Construction debris removal, for getting the material off the property
Questions about cost
Can you just tell me what it costs?
Not from a description alone, and anyone who does is quoting a job they have not understood. What we can do on the phone is tell you which of the things below your job is heavy on, and that usually narrows it a long way before anyone visits.
Why does the same size room cost different amounts?
Because floor area is not what is being removed. Two rooms of identical size can hold very different volumes of material, sit on different floors, and have completely different routes out. Those three things move the number more than the dimensions do.
Is a house cheaper than an apartment?
Often, and the reason is access rather than the building. A house with a driveway lets a container stand a few feet from the door, so material travels a short distance and does not depend on anything shared. That is a genuine saving and it is common in this part of the Bronx.
Why is concrete priced differently?
Because it is dense. A four inch residential slab runs well over a ton for a small patio, and disposal is metered by weight. On concrete work the distance from the break-out area to the truck genuinely moves the price, which is not true of most interior work.
What makes a job start later rather than cost more?
Price and start date are different questions. Structural work needs a filing, and work in older buildings that needs a permit needs an asbestos assessment on file before that permit issues. Neither changes what the work costs. Both change when it can begin.
What should I have ready before I call?
The address, what the space is, what is coming out, which floor it is on, and how a truck would get near it. Photographs of the room and of the way out help more than measurements do.
Describe the job.
We will tell you which of these your job is heavy on, and what we would need to see before putting a number on it.
Call (929) 205-0893