Marty Walters
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Demolition and Redevelopment Series:  Should We Dismantle or Demolish Old Buildings?

8/6/2014

5 Comments

 
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Photo by Ruslan Khadyev on Unsplash
Since I’ve had a chance to live and spend time in Japan, the United States, and Mexico, not to mention all the time spent in industrial facilities all over the world, I’ve been able to see a number of different approaches to razing buildings.  I love the term “razing,” because it can encompass a whole range of different techniques.

The most elegant work I’ve seen is in Tokyo, where space constraints and very strict waste management rules means that buildings are not demolished but are dismantled piece by piece.  Here is a great little video that shows some of the challenges and solutions of working in Japan.

I’ve inspected many recycling facilities and building sites in Japan, and I will forever be in awe at the degree to which waste materials are separated and recycled, to avoid creating waste that must go into scarce landfill space.  We could all learn a lot about recycling from Japan.

There is even one technique, Daruma Otoshi, that involves removing a floor at a time, starting at the bottom of the building.  This remains one of my favorite ever demolition videos, especially since I’ve spent a lot of time inside the Prince Hotel before it was closed down.  

And another short video that does a great job of showing Daruma Otoshi in time lapse.  

With our excess of space and cheap landfills in the United States, we’re not quite so careful.  In fact, we’re famous for our method of imploding buildings, which has spread to other areas of the world.  There are even highlight reels of annual building implosions, including this one. 

Of course, we still demolish most buildings with heavy equipment and a lot of time and effort.  Two of the most common methods are with a wrecking ball (old school) and with a high reach excavator (newer school). 

Building demolition in the U.S. can create a huge amount of dust, and cleaning up afterwards is really just picking everything up and trucking it all to a landfill.  That means you have to remove any hazardous building materials before any demolition starts. Hazardous building materials can include asbestos, both in insulation and in everything from wall board to floor tiles.  Use of friable asbestos was phased out before 1980, but asbestos can still be found in a wide range of building materials at relatively low concentrations. Lead-based paint has a similar story. It is still used on some exterior applications and was used quite a bit on interiors before 1978.  Before polychlorinated biphenyls were banned in 1979, they were used extensively as insulation in liquid filled electrical equipment ranging from transformers and capacitors to small fluorescent light fixture ballasts. PCBs were also used as a plasticizer in paint (mostly in places like ships), and caulking.  All of these hazardous building materials are strictly regulated as wastes and must be separated from other kinds of demolition waste. Asbestos gets landfilled in specially designed landfills where it can be sufficiently contained. Lead debris gets stabilized by mixing with concrete so that it won’t leach into the groundwater when it is landfilled.   And all PCB waste gets incinerated at facilities that are designed to destroy these persistent organic chemicals at a 99.9999% destruction and removal efficiency.
5 Comments
Randy Chorvack link
7/26/2019 09:19:41 am

I like how you said that cleaning up after demolition is just picking everything up and throwing it into a landfill. I always thought the process would be more complicated than that. I've been thinking about demolishing part of my house and re-building it, and now I know that the cleanup is relatively simple. Thank you for sharing this information.

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Larry Weaver link
7/31/2019 02:10:31 pm

Thanks for the demolition tips. I would like to demolish my old home and build a new one. I'll work with demolition services to take care of this project.

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Jenna Hunter link
12/17/2019 03:26:03 pm

My uncle just bought some extra land behind his home that has another house on top of it, he would like to get the house demolished so that he can have extra space. It could be really nice for him to get a professional to help them demolish the place. It was interesting to learn about how hazardous materials like asbestos, lead paint, and polychlorinated biphenyls should be removed before the demolition.

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Ivy Baker link
7/14/2020 07:30:17 pm

Thanks for pointing out that it would be smart to consider looking if there is any lead-based paint on anything you want to demolish. It does seem like a good for me to understand because I would want to get a section of my house demolitions and remodeling. It is a little older so looking out for toxic paint.

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Demolition West Auckland link
9/3/2020 03:11:22 am

Thank you for writing on the demolition and redevelopment series and should we dismantle or demolish old building. In order to get better information and guidance can be taken from this blog specifically. It plays a vital role in taking us through. It can be really great for people like me who are looking for grabbing more knowledge about. Do visit this https://dklprojects.co.nz/ For vital information that can be used again by anyone

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    Marty Walters

    Environmental Scientist

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