Demolition advice

My little town has fewer than 200 people. A family had some issues. Their 3000 square foot 2 family house fell into disrepair. As it got worse, they filled it with dogs. These dogs inbred, and reached 37 living at one time, plus several pregnant females. People moved out, lived in cars some time, then got a derelict motor home, drove it up on top of the pile of trash, lived in it. Dog feces, and dead dogs got 2 feet deep. Floors collapsed. It has been a couple years, the man who owned it has died. His niece & her husband have moved to a park & ride near the State Capital. The house has collapsed. It looks as though it falls to the Town to clean it up. Estimates have ranged from $15,000. from a man we suspect was not going to dispose of it legally. Highest estimate was around $80,000. There is siding I believe contains asbestos. Opinions from various experts varries. Some say it is "non friable" which means the fibers are bound in a material that won't let them become airborne. It doesn't need to be treated in any special way as hazardous material. Others feel the whole house is hazardous material. The Town's voters have approved the Town buying it. At the onset I envisioned the Town cleaning it up, selling it as a building lot. That was before we learned it has no septic system, human waste was drained into a tiny stream that starts beneath the house. After the plumbing failed, human waste went on the ground. Water table may be too close to the surface for a conventional septic system. It won't likely ever be a buildable lot. Photo is several years old. It has since collapsed.

With fewer than 200 people in town, I'm guessing it's not a hot new home building market. Looks to me like town has a new little city park. Haul off the debris and sow some grass.

Do you not have thunderstorms there?

High use of asbestos in the area & the bio hazard sounds like need the fire dept & push for a controlled burn.

I'll preface my advice with the rules here in AL on demolition and what landfills accept what type of material. So this may or may not work for ya'll. If it's a residential structure asbestos nor lead have to be tested. Since the home will contain personal items and putrescible debris the roll offs will have to go to a municipal landfill where household garbage goes instead of a construction and demolition landfill. If I were to give a budget number without seeing the pile thats there, I would estimate between $25-35K including disposal. That's basing gate rate disposal at $42 per ton. That would not include hauling any dirt in, grassing, etc. Personally I wouldn't touch it due to the potential smell. Once busted open a refrigerator loading into a 30 on a house that burned several months before. It took WEEKS to get that smell our of the loaders A/C and the roll off truck. On a side note - Those poor dogs lived in pure hell. Humans can be awful creatures.

The mold in that sponge could be nightmare fuel for the operator/labors smashing it into roll off cans. Mold took over there new house after fighting health issues the home was sealed off & city had it burned

crane operator said: With fewer than 200 people in town, I'm guessing it's not a hot new home building market. Looks to me like town has a new little city park. Haul off the debris and sow some grass. Click to expand... We have 30,000 acres of either Federal or State conservation land. While we don't have many people, we surely have wild land. As for a burn, I don't believe this will burn. Dog sh*( is a near perfect sponge. It holds water & all manner of biological nasty. Also, there are countless garbage bags with Depends, and other human feces. The dogs were removed & most have new homes. several had to be held until the court could take its sweet time deciding. As expected, the penalties have been nothing stronger than a judge scolding them verbally.

Deere500a said: The mold in that sponge could be nightmare fuel for the operator/labors smashing it into roll off cans. Mold took over there new house after fighting health issues the home was sealed off & city had it burned View attachment 363660 Click to expand... Scares the Hell out of me and other neighbors.

Yikes. Is making a big hill on top of the pile an option? Just pile dirt on top about 15 feet thick? I wouldn't want to touch this, heck I'm not even sure I'd want to live in the same town! My neighbor up the way, for whom I dug a trash hole, to be filled with old produce he'd feed to cows would always have produce too rotten to feed them with. I'd help dig, then shove that junk into the hole, occasionally we'd add wood and burnable material but it always smell terrible and got stuck to my hoe bucket. I haven't done any work for him in several years now, and I don't mind it a bit!

aighead said: Yikes. Is making a big hill on top of the pile an option? Just pile dirt on top about 15 feet thick? I wouldn't want to touch this, heck I'm not even sure I'd want to live in the same town! My neighbor up the way, for whom I dug a trash hole, to be filled with old produce he'd feed to cows would always have produce too rotten to feed them with. I'd help dig, then shove that junk into the hole, occasionally we'd add wood and burnable material but it always smell terrible and got stuck to my hoe bucket. I haven't done any work for him in several years now, and I don't mind it a bit! Click to expand... Smokey House Farm was one endeavor of a very rich couple who disappeared in a small plane 1967. A Foundation was formed to manage their estate. Younger generation of the farmer employed to run the place rented it & ran a dairy farm many years. He has MS and was asked to leave. A 1 acre concrete barn yard was deep under cow manure. It was cleaned. I'll guess 5,000 cubic yards of manure were removed. Somehow, a mountain of fermented cow manure didn't bother me at all. 1/10th as much dog, and human is awful! No easy way to separate dead animals from feces from human waste from building debris

Manure decomposses better and makes a great fertilizer for gardens. You can sell it for good money.

aighead said: Yikes. Is making a big hill on top of the pile an option? Just pile dirt on top about 15 feet thick? Click to expand... That's probably the best option if there is space to do it. Cover it with geo-fabric and cover with 3-4 of dirt and leave it in place.

Get ready for July 4th 2027.....load the basement up "full"..... And light it off at 9:00 pm. No smoke after dark, and all the fireworks will distract John Q.

We used to have cow patty tag fights when we were kids. I would call the state DES officer and ask a bunch of questions but to be honest, I’d pass on that job fast, fast, fast.

50 gallons of gas and a "runaway" roman candle. don't call FD for at least an hour, and let them have a "practice" extinguish. only once it's coals though.

Around here it's required for asbestos test prior to getting a demo permit, if structure if not safe to inspect/remove then all debris have to be treated as asbestos containing. Requires watering down for entire demo, person running water hose and hoe operator have to wear respirator, and all debris to special landfill that was $200/ton a few years ago. I made the mistake of letting a fridge open during one demo, it smelled so bad for the rest of the day. Never done any that bad but plenty of disgusting houses from hoarders full of absolutely everything. Honestly I don't think the demo would be that bad. Water it down and then give the hoe a good cleaning after, 95% of it would be contained to the bucket if careful anyway.

When they Demolished the old Koehler Brewery here in Erie, many people came out to "Take it all in"......yes, yes they did. Big fanfare, pictures all around...etc. As it came down in one large crash, the huge resulting cloud of dust swept all over the crowd, engulfing everyone....Not a single person sported a mask. Stoopid is as Stoopid does.

A lot of places don't allow implosions because of all the dust. It can spread out for blocks.

HarleyHappy said: We used to have cow patty tag fights when we were kids. I would call the state DES officer and ask a bunch of questions but to be honest, I’d pass on that job fast, fast, fast. Click to expand... Small town. I'm the oldest native in town. I can make suggestions, very few agree. We have a nasty mess! I'd argue it needs to be cleaned up. No individual is taking on an unknown expense. Might be $10,000, or $60,000 in tipping charges. Some say non friable asbestos, others say it must be separated from other debris. I'd take it on on a cost basis. I think a 20 ton excavator with thumb for 2 weeks, 8-12 40 CU Yard roll off boxes. Separate the non painted, not saturated wood to be burned. I doubt feces & dead dogs can be utilized as any compost, likely isn't practical to separate.

barf