Interior Demolition in Seattle, WA

Interior demolition is the careful removal of finishes and non-structural parts of a building while the shell stays standing: cabinets and countertops, tile, flooring, drywall or plaster, fixtures, non-bearing partitions and old built-ins. In Seattle it is the first stage of most kitchen, bath and basement remodels. Done well, it leaves the remodeling crew a clean, open room with the framing, wiring and plumbing exposed and nothing damaged that was meant to stay.

Permit: usually the remodel's, not a demolition permit

SDCI's demolition permit page says partial removal during an alteration, or soft demolition of interior finishes and non-structural partitions, needs only a construction permit. In practice the interior tear-out rides on your remodel permit. Taking out a bearing wall is a structural change that belongs in the remodel plans, so we leave that call to your designer or engineer and work to their drawings.

Older walls, older materials

More than half of Seattle's housing predates 1980, per Point2Homes' Census summary, and many of those homes have plaster over lath, layers of sheet flooring and old pipe or duct insulation. Before tearing into suspect materials, they should be tested. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency regulates asbestos removal during renovation as well as demolition, and the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers paint disturbance in homes built before 1978. We ask what testing has been done and plan containment and disposal around the results.

How we keep the rest of the house livable

• Plastic sheeting and zip walls to seal the work area from rooms you are still using
• Floor protection along the path to the door, and doorway and stair protection
• Water, gas and power to the work area confirmed off by the right trade before cutting
• Debris bagged or carted out daily rather than piled in the house
• Wet cleanup and HEPA vacuuming at the end of each stage

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Selective demolition

Not every job is a full gut. Sometimes it is one wall to open a kitchen to the dining room, a tub surround, a dropped ceiling, or a basement finished in the 1970s that has to come out after water got in. Selective work takes more care than speed: cutting along clean lines, saving trim or flooring that will be reused, and stopping where the plan says to stop.

Sorting what comes out

Interior debris is mixed, but much of it can still be separated. Clean wood, metal from ductwork and fixtures, and cardboard go to recycling. Cabinets, doors and light fixtures in good shape can go to a building salvage outlet. Drywall and tile are bagged and hauled. Seattle's waste rules apply to remodels as well as teardowns, so we keep hauler records with the job file.