Page 20
The INDEPENDENT, February 17, 2011
Demolition of flooded homes explained
by Jamie Jones, Housing Re-
habilitation and Demolitions
Specialist, Community Action
Team, Inc
When
someone
says
“Demos”, my first thought is a
building being imploded from
the inside out. The research
I’ve done on flooded properties
elsewhere showed homes be-
ing knocked over with a wreck-
ing ball or an excavator, while a
truck sprayed water to keep the
dust down during the entire
project. I was a bit disheart-
ened with the process. Thank-
fully, to Custom Excavating and
Trails End Recovery “demo”
means deconstruction and re-
covery of materials. So one
might wonder, what is involved
in deconstructing a building?
Once you enter into this type
of contract, the first step is to
get the permits. Many people
think that a permit is unneces-
sary but, yes, you do need a
building permit to tear a house
down. For some very good rea-
sons. Most people don’t realize
that permits are protection for
the owner and the contractor,
and are important in removing
a building. This is particularly
true with the utilities serving the
building. All utilities must be
disconnected from the property
before working on the building.
Also required is a flood plain
permit. Our flood ordinance re-
quires that the city review any-
thing built or demolished in the
floodplain.
The homes to be demol-
ished are also tested for lead
and asbestos. While this is usu-
ally a must in older homes,
we’re required by our grant fun-
ders to make sure this is done.
One example illustrating why
this is required is the house
that was painted with lead-
based paint within the last ten
years, 30 years after it was
banned. Many of these older
homes also have asbestos ceil-
ings and asbestos tiles. The
hazards in these homes are
mitigated separately by a
trained asbestos removal team
before the contractor can re-
move anything.
During this time the various
utility companies are also con-
tacted. WOEC cuts the lines at
the boxes, below ground or at
the weather heads, and then
removes the meters. Public
Works caps the water pipes
and removes the meter. The
gas company caps their line at
the main junction and at the
structure before the meter is re-
moved. At this point, the con-
tractor can pull up any pipes
that are still in the ground.
Now that it’s safe to knock
things around, the contractor
tears out the sheetrock. This
goes in a separate bin, is taken
back to the contractor’s yard
and sorted for nails. The nails
are later combined with the oth-
er metals and the sheetrock will
be blended with recycled con-
crete. Insulation is removed
and put in a separate bin.
Sometimes insulation can be
recycled, but most of these
buildings have been sitting
since the flood, so the insula-
tion is dirty, moldy and has be-
come home to many small crit-
ters.
As they work on the walls
and studs, all metals – copper,
iron, aluminum, sheet metal,
and wire – are sorted into bins
supplied by Metro Metals. Plas-
tic-type piping – water, waste
and drain – go in the bin and
are split between Custom Ex-
cavating and Waste Manage-
ment. Any carpet remaining on
the ground floor will be thrown
away. Unfortunately so far, no
carpet found on the second
floor has been in good enough
shape to reuse. Anything that
can be reused will be available
for a small cost and/or donated
to local residents. These items
include: windows and doors,
wood floors and paneling, ap-
pliances, cabinets, ceiling fans,
brick/tile veneers, fireplace
mantels, and sinks.
Once the inside has been
gutted, the contractor will re-
move the windows and doors
on the first level. Second level
windows are also available if
requested ahead of time. Win-
dows and doors have been
made available to the public at
no cost. If unclaimed, the vinyl
windows are thrown away, vinyl
is not recyclable. The metal
from the windows will go into
the metal bins and the wood to
the wood pile. Any hardware
not claimed will also go to the
metal bins. Depending on what
type of siding is on the home,
residents have asked to sal-
vage the siding, however, not
all siding is recyclable. If the
siding has lead based paint, it
must be removed in a specific
manner and sent to Waste
Management, where they will
dispose of it properly.
Next, all the roofing materi-
als are removed. Most roofs, so
far, have been composite shin-
gles. This material is recycled
at the contractor’s yard, sorted
to remove nails, then ground up
and blended with concrete.
Metal roofs will be salvaged
through Metro Metals. Wood
roofs will go into the wood re-
serve on the mill site pad.
When the structure is down
to the wood studs, the demoli-
tion starts. Custom Excavating
tries to knock the structure
down in a way that allows most
beams to be preserved. All the
wood not salvaged off the prop-
erty site is taken over to the mill
site, where it will be available
for salvage until a later date.
Pressure treated wood is being
set aside for the Skills Park.
Any wood that is not salvaged
from the mill site will be ground
down to make hog fuel for the
G-P Wauna Mill. The grinder
pulls out all the nails and a bin
catches them so they, too, can
be recycled.
Finally, the structure is down
to the subfloor. The wood, met-
al, plastic and insulation items
are disposed of as described
earlier. While removing con-
crete, the primary waste pipe is
located, capped and signed off
as complete by Vernonia Public
Works. The concrete and as-
phalt are broken down into
smaller pieces to be taken to
the mill site, where they are
sorted, broken down further
and prepared for crushing.
When sufficient material has
been accumulated, a crusher
will be brought in to crush the
concrete. If taken back to the
contractor’s yard, the concrete
will also be blended with the
shingles and drywall. The
crusher also sorts out nails and
rebar for Metro Metals.
Depending on the depth of
the home’s foundation, what re-
mains is a 1-3 foot depression
where the structure was locat-
ed. This depression will be
filled, leveled and seeded with
grass during the spring months.
See Demolition, page 22
Deconstruction of a flood
buyout property is shown,
right, in four stages from
start to empty lot. Photos by
Jamie Jones.