House Demolition in Seattle, WA

House demolition in Seattle is usually the first step of a rebuild: an owner or builder has plans for a new home or townhouses, and the old house has to go. Sometimes the house is past saving after a fire, rot or years of being empty. Either way, the job is the same in outline. The house is surveyed, emptied of anything hazardous, disconnected from every utility, taken apart by machine, and its foundation, basement walls and slab are removed to the depth the next project needs.

Seattle's housing makes this more involved

Point2Homes' summary of Census data puts Seattle's median build year at 1976, and close to 23 percent of homes were built in 1939 or earlier. Older houses here often have full or partial basements, concrete foundation walls, plaster over lath, and a layered history of remodels. Each of those affects the work. A basement means more concrete to break out and a bigger hole to backfill. Old flooring, duct wrap, siding or pipe insulation may contain asbestos, which the survey will find. Paint on a pre-1978 house may contain lead.

The order of operations

1. Asbestos survey. An AHERA-certified inspector samples suspect materials. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency requires this before demolition of any structure with more than 120 square feet of roof area. 2. Notice and abatement. The Asbestos/Demolition Notification is filed with a fee. Friable asbestos is removed by an abatement crew. The house cannot come down until 10 days after filing. 3. Rat abatement. SDCI requires at least 15 days by a licensed pest control company immediately before work starts. 4. Shutoffs. Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities and Puget Sound Energy terminate service, and the side sewer is capped under its own permit. 5. Permit. SDCI issues the demolition permit, which is posted on site with the approved plans. 6. Tear-down. Salvage first, then the house comes down in sections, with material sorted as it is loaded. 7. Foundation and grading. Footings, walls and slab come out, the hole is backfilled and compacted, and the lot is graded with erosion control left in place.

Rental and occupied houses

Seattle limits when housing can be torn down. SDCI's page on demolition of housing lists the criteria, and a house must meet one of them. Common ones are that the house is owner occupied, has not been rented in the last six months, or already has a permit issued for the new building on the site. Others cover relocation of the structure, an SDCI order declaring it unfit, and residential deconstruction under Director's Rule 4-2009. If the house has tenants, the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance may apply. We ask about this at the first visit, because it can decide when the permit can be issued at all.

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Slopes, trees and neighbors

On a steep lot, SDCI may want a topographic survey and a geotechnical report before intake, and excavation near a property line may need shoring under a separate permit. Trees that stay must be protected inside a fenced area figured at one foot of radius per inch of trunk diameter. We plan the equipment path around those limits and keep dust down with water while the house is being loaded out.

Partial basement or full removal?

If you are rebuilding, the builder's plans decide how much foundation comes out. SDCI's quicker subject-to-field-inspection route allows foundations removed to no more than four feet deep, or, for single-family and duplex lots, leaving one-story basement walls and slab in place. Removing everything costs more but gives the next crew a clean start. We price both when the choice is open.