DID YOU KNOW

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

Facts about the Demolition Industry that May Surprise You

1. Demolition contractors don't just knock down buildings and

fill up landfills with waste; in fact they avoid landfills

whenever possible. Demolition contractors were recycling anything

they could resell long before recycling became popular. Sometimes

the materials in a building can be resold for millions, so the

demolition contractor who can do the best job of recycling and

reselling is the one who will get the contract from the

building's owners.

2. Demolition experts don't use a wrecking ball nearly as often

these days. More and more buildings are being "deconstructed" if

they must be taken down. Demolition Deconstruction is the art of carefully

taking down a building while doing the least possible damage to

the materials so that many of the parts can be reused in other

buildings or projects. 

3. Deconstruction rather than demolition can actually cost less

for the building owner initially, and the rescued parts may be

resold for even more savings. Deconstruction saves money and

helps to preserve history and the environment at the same time.

Demolition contractors now are using more and more sophisticated

tools that will do exactly what needs to be done in a safer and

more efficient method.

4. Demolition contractors are often also involved in the

preservation efforts for historic buildings, and many are skilled

enough able to completely gut the inside of a large building

without anything at all showing on the outside. And most often,

the wood floors and trimmings as well as much of the other

materials go on to become parts of new buildings or are used in

new ways in the redesign of the very building they came from.

5. Although they are often spectacular, "implosions," where

charges are set and set off in a building so that it falls in

upon itself, are less that one percent of all demolitions. When

they do happen they are usually done early on weekend mornings,

but are often shown on television repeatedly so people may think

they are more common.

6. Although a specialized education is not required for a career

in the demolition industry, it is not an unsophisticated

business. A demolition contractor must have an extensive

knowledge of the construction industry and its methods. He must

understand the strengths and weaknesses of the many various types

of materials used in buildings over the past centuries, and he

much know the laws related to his industry as well.

7. Demolition is not necessarily a dangerous business. Because of

increasing education and knowledge of material properties and

stresses and increasing reliance on sophisticated tools rather

than manual labor, demolition has in fact become one of the safer

jobs in the construction industry. 

8. Demolition contractors are often specialists. Some specialize

in demolishing houses, some in only interiors, some in

environmental work, and of course some do it all.

9. Demolition is not expensive. Experts in the industry say that

commercial demolition work usually costs less than two percent of

the replacement cost of the building. In fact, a building owner

may actually clear a sizable profit after reselling historical

and reusable materials from the building.

And as always have a chilled day from the viking.