Tips & Strategies to Help You Demolish a Storage Structure in Your Yard
Often an old dilapidated storage structure on your property can be more of a hazard than a benefit and should be removed. This allows you to utilize the land for other purposes and removes a potential home to pests. Here are some recommendations to help you successfully demo and dispose of your old storage structure.
Rent Heavy Equipment
To help you remove and dispose of a large shed or storage structure, it can be helpful to rent a track loader, such as a Bobcat or a skid steer. This type of equipment gives you the ability to tear down walls and roof from the structure with the machinery's bucket loader. You can also rent a grapple attachment that can be switched out with the bucket attachment to help you more easily pull down and dismantle the structure.
This type of equipment also makes it easier to clear the demolished materials from the site and move them to your rented dumpster. Many rented dumpsters have one end that can be opened to allow a track loader to deliver debris into its compartment. Wood beams, sheet metal, and other materials from the structure can be quite bulky, which can make clearing the site by hand with a wheelbarrow very time consuming and labor-intensive. You can rent heavy equipment from a local tool and equipment rental business.
Use Demo Concrete
Once you have removed the upper structure of your old shed, you likely have an old concrete slab or floor that needs to be demolished and removed, and you will need the right equipment, as well. You can choose from the type of equipment, depending on how much effort you want to put into the work. For example, you can rent or buy a sledgehammer to manually break apart the concrete. Keep in mind you will need to be able to lift and swing the weight of the sledgehammer, which can often weigh from 12 pounds or more.
You can also rent a hydraulic or pneumatic jackhammer to break apart the concrete slab. This power equipment can be easier to use than a sledgehammer, but you need to hold the jackhammer upright and move its tip into position to break apart the concrete, and a jackhammer can weigh 90 pounds or more. The power of the jackhammer will move its tip up and down against the concrete to create a crack at each position.
As you are working the jackhammer, you should begin to see a crack form within a few seconds of working the tip onto the concrete's surface. Otherwise, you will need to reposition the tip a couple inches away to prevent the tip from becoming stuck inside the concrete. You can also use a chisel tip pry bar to help move and lift the broken chunks as you break the slab apart.
Dispose the Concrete Properly
After the concrete has been broken apart and any rebar within the concrete cut apart with heavy-duty wire cutters, you can dispose of the concrete chunks. One square foot of concrete can weigh 150 pounds, which can make moving it by wheelbarrow a big job. Use your track loader to help scoop and move the chunks to your roll off dumpster or concrete recycling transport. Recycling the broken concrete can save you some money by not paying to dispose of the concrete in a landfill, and can help the environment.
There are many concrete recycling companies that will take your concrete, crush it into smaller pieces that can be used by road construction companies to build road base, or by commercial and residential construction companies for foundation building. The old concrete can also be used in place of virgin concrete aggregate or for other construction uses. Often, the concrete recycling company will pick up and transport your broken concrete for you. This allows you to use the roll off dumpster for disposal of all your other demolition debris.
Use this information during your storage structure demolition and disposal. Learn more by contacting dumpster rental services.
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