Posts

The Dangers of Doing Your Own Demolition

/0 Comments/in , /by

Spending time at home can inspire you to change things up. Maybe you want to make your kitchen more spacious. Maybe your bathroom is long overdue for an update. The possibilities are endless! Many big projects require you to take things apart before you put them back together, though. Home demolition projects should not be taken lightly. It’s all too easy to accidentally damage your home far more than you intended. There are some dangers in particular that you should watch out for if you are attempting your own demolition.

Damaging Your Home 

First and foremost, if you aren’t familiar with the process of demolition, you can easily destroy things unintentionally. Ensuring that you only remove the things you want is a delicate process. You can’t just go at a wall with a hammer and expect everything to go well. There’s a process to safely demolishing any part of your home. 

Collapsing Roofs

One particularly devastating demolition accident is the act of breaking a support wall. Some walls and beams in your home are much more important than others. If you damage a structural wall, you can easily cause your roof to collapse. That kind of repair can easily be ten times more expensive than hiring a demolition professional to demolish a wall safely. 

Unexpected Wires or Pipes

The older your home, the more likely it is that pipes and electrical wires have been run in unexpected places. Breaking open a wall to reveal a now-cracked and leaking pipe will put all your demolition plans on hold. If you run into wiring, instead, you could get electrocuted before you know what’s happening. Even if you don’t accidentally damage these structures, you will still have to deal with either patching up the wall or moving them. It’s easier to have a professional help you strategize where to demolish in the first place. 

Asbestos or Lead Exposure

Many homes built as late as the 1980s have asbestos and lead throughout the construction. If you’re not sure whether your home is at risk, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Lead and asbestos are both deeply toxic. Breathing in particles without safety gear can cause cancer and illness. Demo teams are fully prepared for this kind of situation, and they already have protective gear on hand. 

Injury 

The process of demolition can be hazardous to your safety. Knocking down walls and tearing out floors involves a lot of muscle power and some serious tools. It’s easy to seriously hurt yourself with falling materials or a poorly-swung sledgehammer. You can also pull muscles, get plaster dust in your eyes, or even electrocute yourself if you’re not careful. Experienced demo teams know how to stay safe and avoid getting hurt. They can take care of your whole demolition without anyone getting hurt. 

Don’t hesitate to hire a demo team to take care of the demolition side of your project for you. Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition knows how to take things apart efficiently, quickly, & safely, and then remove all debris from the site. Let us do the dirty work for you, and book your appointment today. 978-317-5388

5 Reasons to Consider Demolishing Your Chimney

/0 Comments/in /by

If you’ve recently been thinking about your home’s chimney and realizing how infrequently you actually use it, it may be providing more harm than help to your home. Demolishing your chimney may, at first, seem like an extreme measure, but it is a viable option in many cases. Here, you will read about five common reasons to seriously consider having your home’s chimney demolished. 

You can get a deal on pricing

Most homeowners assume that fairly major remodeling projects, such as having chimneys removed, will cost an arm and a leg. In truth, however, this is not the case for chimney demolition. As a matter of fact, it can actually be less expensive to remove a chimney and a fireplace entirely than to leave part of it. This is because the portion that is left behind must be secured, typically with steel beams. If you hire a local demolition team, the price should be fair. 

A chimney may not work with your lifestyle 

In older times, fireplaces often provided families with their sole source of wintertime heat. If you have a historic or colonial house, this is probably what your chimney was originally used for. Nowadays, though, most homeowners use modern heating methods. If your chimney is out of use, maintaining it may be costing you more in the long run than simply having it removed. 

Eliminating chimneys will open up your wall space

Depending on the size and age of your home, it’s possible that each bedroom has its own fireplace. These typically take up quite a bit of space that could otherwise be utilized. Removing unnecessary fireplaces is a great way to add wall space and make all of your home’s bedrooms feel more open & airy, which is a stylish look today.

You may be able to leave the outside stack 

The exterior stack of your chimney may be able to be left standing if you so desire. Sometimes, homeowners opt for this for aesthetic reasons, but in other cases it is necessary. If, for example, you live in a row house and your chimney stack attaches to your neighbor’s, there may be no way to take it down. It is a good idea to have a reputable demolition professional look at your stack whether or not you plan to keep it.

Your utility bills may decrease 

Often people don’t even realize their old & out of use chimneys are causing their utility bills to be higher than they need to be. If you’ve been having insulation issues around your fireplace, it may be due to air leaks. Removing the fireplace and the chimney may help you save money on both heating and cooling costs. 

If you are seriously considering having your chimney demolished, it is important to talk to a demolition expert first. Depending on how your property is set up and how close you live to other houses, there are a variety of factors that could impact when and how your chimney needs to be removed. Safety is the most crucial issue during any demolition. A professional will be able to assess your situation and help you create an appropriate action plan. For demolition experts in the Massachusetts area, call Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition for a flawless job. 

The Benefits of Hiring a Skilled Demolition Team

/0 Comments/in , /by

Landscape renovation can add aesthetic & property value to your home, but the project often requires the demolition of old or existing structures to pave the way for a new design. Pools, sheds, garages, and other structures will often cause homeowners to reach out to the professionals. Each of these projects will require someone who has access to the right equipment and is well-versed with the process. Although you might be tempted to embark on this project yourself, there are various benefits to hiring a demolition professional.

Your Personal Safety

A demolition process in itself poses some specific risks, many of which inexperienced individuals cannot anticipate and therefore take preemptive measures to avoid injury. Skilled personnel, on the other hand, ensure that everything goes according to plan and that there are no unnecessary risks involved. Assured safety brings about that all-important peace of mind regarding any project. Hiring a licensed and insured team of professionals also means that as the property owner, you’re not liable for physical injury suffered by the contracted company workers in the course of the demolition. 

Regulation & Compliance Purposes

The complexity of construction and demolition regulations can also pose a real challenge. Professional demolition companies offer guidance along the way on taking the necessary steps towards a fully-compliant project, minimizing the risk of violating federal laws or local regulations. Violation of set laws may attract hefty fines and undue delays, resulting in unforeseen and unwanted expenses. 

Security for Neighboring Property

Demolition projects typically observe strict boundary points. For example, it takes skill to demolish a house and a pool squeezed between two buildings. An inexperienced crew may cause the neighboring structures unwanted damage, to the detriment of both the property owner and their neighbors. To avoid such an inconvenience, reputable demolition crews understand the process thoroughly and take the right measures to carry out the project seamlessly. 

 

Convenience

One of the primary motivators for employing a skilled crew is the aspect of convenience. A key advantage is that demolitions don’t take longer or cost more than expected once carried out by an experienced crew. A demolition professional who can also remove the debris from your property, like Elite Services Junk Removal and Demolition, allows you to kill two birds with one stone! Once the demolition stage is in the hands of a professional, the property owner can then focus on next steps of the project at hand as the demolition takes place.

Construction and demolition processes demand the proper equipment and skillset. While the idea of bringing down a structure by yourself appears an attractive DIY project, the wrong approach may result in injury, damage to neighboring property, or unnecessary cost. Worse still, the project may stall or fail altogether. A professional demolition team ensures that everything goes according to plan. If you are in need of a professional demolition team you can count on, contact Elite Services Junk Removal & Demolition today!