Concrete Removal
Sidewalks, slabs, driveways, steps and foundations, broken out and carried off the site.
More on concrete removalInterior Demolition in New York City
Everything that comes out of a space while the structure stays where it is. Apartments, offices, storefronts and whole floors, taken back to the shell the next trade needs.
What comes out, and what stays
The job is defined by the second half of that sentence. We identify anything structural, anything carrying load and anything the next trade is reusing before the first wall opens. Once it is open, the argument about whether it should have come out is an expensive one.
What usually comes out: partition walls, ceilings and soffits, floor finishes and the underlayment beneath them, cabinetry and millwork, fixtures, appliances, and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing runs that are being replaced.
What we protect and leave standing: the structural frame, the party wall, the risers serving other units, the entry door and frame if it is being reused, and the elevator lobby and corridor everything is carried through.
Where the difficulty actually is
Most of the difficulty in a New York interior job is not breaking things. It is the building.
A co-op or condo has an alteration agreement, working hours, elevator reservations, insurance requirements for anyone on site, and a protection standard for the common areas. A commercial landlord has its own version, usually with more paperwork and a shorter working day. Those rules are typically tighter than the city's, and they are the ones that actually govern the schedule.
The practical consequence is that two identical kitchens, one in a walk-up and one on the eleventh floor of a prewar co-op, are not the same job and should not be the same price. The second one is priced around a freight elevator somebody else also wants.
How an interior job is sequenced
The order is the same on a single room and on a whole floor. It changes in scale, not in shape.
Isolate and protect
We shut power, water and gas to the work area and confirm they are dead. We cover everything staying, protect the carry route end to end, and put dust barriers up before anything is opened.
Soft strip
Finishes, fixtures, cabinetry, flooring and non-structural partitions come out. This is the loudest, fastest part of the job and the one people picture when they think of demolition. It is also the smallest share of the risk.
Services and substrate
We cut the mechanical, electrical and plumbing being replaced back to where the next trade wants to pick it up, and take the substrate down to whatever the drawings call for. Anything being reused we cap and label rather than simply leaving.
Clear, sweep, hand over
We load the debris and carry it out to a facility licensed to receive it. Our protection comes out last, we sweep the space, and we uncover what stays so you can see it rather than being told about it.
What moves the price on an interior job
Four things, in roughly this order of impact. None of them is how big the room is.
-
The freight elevator
Or the absence of one. A building that gives you the elevator for two hours a morning has set the number of days regardless of how fast anyone works, and a walk-up with a fifth-floor apartment prices in every trip down the stairs.
-
The carry route
How material gets from the room to the street, and what has to be protected along the way. A route through a finished lobby costs more than a route through a back stair, and a route that does not exist costs the most of all.
-
Containment
Whether the space is occupied, whether neighbours are living around the work, and what has to be sealed. Dust control on an occupied floor is a real line, not a courtesy.
-
What is behind it
Old plaster and lath, furring, three floors of tile laid over each other, or a wall that turns out to carry something. The walk-through is where most of this gets found, and finding it there rather than on day two is the point of the visit.
Permits, and how to tell early
Work beyond minor cosmetic removal generally needs a Department of Buildings permit, particularly where egress, fire-rated construction, plumbing or electrical are affected. "Generally" is doing real work in that sentence: it is applied case by case, and the agency reviewing your filing is the authority on it, not a contractor and not this page.
What that means in practice is simple. If your job is paint, flooring and cabinets, it is usually not permitted work. If walls are moving, if plumbing or electrical is being reconfigured, or if anything about egress or a rated assembly changes, assume it is, and start that conversation with an architect or engineer before you start booking dates.
Buildings from before 1 April 1987 For work requiring a Department of Buildings permit in a building constructed before that date, an asbestos assessment must be on file before the permit issues. That assessment is the property owner's filing and is performed by a DEP-certified asbestos investigator. Where the investigator determines the work is an asbestos project, abatement by a licensed abatement contractor comes first, and our work follows it. It is worth starting early: it is the difference between a start date moving by days and by weeks.
How the space is left
Swept, clear, and ready for the trade coming next. We take our protection out last rather than cleaning around it, and we label anything we cap. We load the debris and carry it to a facility licensed to receive it as part of the job, rather than leaving it in a hallway for you to arrange. In a building with an alteration agreement, that is usually a violation of it.
Questions about interior demolition
Can you do it while we are living there?
Sometimes, and it depends on the space rather than on willingness. A bathroom or a kitchen in an apartment with another of each is usually workable with proper containment. A full gut is not, and anyone who tells you otherwise has not thought about where the dust goes.
Do you take out the floor as well?
If it is in scope, yes. Finishes, underlayment and, where it is called for, the topping beneath. Concrete toppings and slabs are a different method and a different weight problem, which is why concrete removal is described separately.
Can the appliances and the cabinets be saved?
If you want them, say so at the walk-through and they come out carefully and go where you want them. If nobody says, they are treated as demolition and they leave with the rest.
Who tells the building we are starting?
You or your managing agent, normally, because the alteration agreement is between the building and the owner. What Breakara can do is give you the dates, the crew details and the protection plan the building will ask for, in the form it usually wants them.
Do you handle the plumbing and electrical disconnection?
Cutting back and capping what is being removed, yes. Live service disconnection and anything that has to be certified is licensed work and belongs to the trade doing it. That is worth knowing early, because it sits ahead of demolition in the sequence rather than after it.
The rest of what Breakara does
An interior job usually touches at least one of these before it is finished.
Debris Removal
Loaded, carried and delivered to a registered facility, planned into the job.
More on debris removal
Building Demolition
Whole structures, where the filing and the sequence come long before the machine.
More on building demolitionTell us what is coming out, and where it is.
You will get a straight answer on the first call, including whether it needs a filing before it can start.