Demolition Tips For Do-It-Yourselfers

Environmental Blog

Most home renovation projects require you to do some type of demolition. While demolishing part of the house sounds simple, it can be extremely expensive, dangerous, and frustrating if you aren't careful. Before you begin knocking down walls, check out these demolition tips.

Have the Right Tools

Some projects require you to have specific tools. However, there are numerous items that you need before you start any demolishing part of your home, including:

  • Hammer
  • Sledgehammer
  • Claw hammer
  • Mini sledgehammer
  • Crowbar
  • Flashlight

Remember, safety equipment is even more important than the tools that you use during the project. You should always wear a dust mask when you're doing demo work. However, if you're work on a larger project, you should also wear goggles, work gloves, and a hard hat.

Debris Disposal

Debris disposal is part of every demo project. Of course, you'll need to remove the debris from your home. However, you also need a place to put it when you take it out of the house, and a way to get the debris to the nearest dump. You can make the entire process simple by renting a roll-off dumpster from a company like Tri-State Disposal. A roll-off dumpster has wheels so that it's easy to move. When you rent a roll-off dumpster, a flat-bed truck brings the dumpster to your home. When the driver raises the bed of the truck, the dumpster rolls off the truck into place. Then, when you're finished with the dumpster, the truck comes back to pick it up. Not only does renting a roll-off dumpster save you numerous trips to the dump, but it gives you plenty of room to dispose of any debris from the demolition process.

Put Safety First

Your safety should be your number one priority. So, make sure you cut the power to the room that you're working on before you start the demolition process. If you need electricity to operate power tools or so that you have enough light in the room to see, run an extension cord to the room from another part of the house. Also, it's important to know what's behind the wall before you start swinging so that you don't hit a pipe or electric wires. So, cut a small hole in the wall first. Then, shine a flashlight through the hole so that you can see behind the wall  to make sure there's nothing behind the drywall that you can damage before you start swinging your hammer.

When you complete home projects yourself, you can save a lot of money. However, simple mistakes can throw your entire project off track. So, make sure you have the right tools, you wear safety equipment, and rent a dumpster before you begin your project.

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1 December 2015

propane for off the grid heating

I have always dreamed of living off of the grid. I didn't want my house connected to any utilities and I didn't want it anywhere that could be seen from the road. When I found this little lot for sale way out in the middle of the woods, I knew that I had found my future home. The one thing that I had to consider was how I would heat my home without any utility connections. The only solution to this problem was to have a propane tank delivered and use propane to heat my house. Find out about using propane to stay off the grid here on my blog.