Gut-outs of apartments, co-ops, brownstone floors and whole house interiors.

Interior demolition and gut-outs

The demolition half of a gut renovation. We strip a home back to the frame so the trades that follow can start on a clean, square, fully opened space.

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Interior demolition

When people call us about residential interior demolition

You are gut renovating an apartment and the contractor wants it stripped before they start
You closed on a co-op or condo and the board has approved your alteration
You bought a brownstone floor that has not been touched since the seventies
A designer has drawn a new layout and the existing partitions are in the way
You need the shell opened up so a structural engineer can actually see what is there
A landlord is turning over a unit that is decades past a cosmetic refresh

What residential interior demolition covers

Non-structural partitions, furring, closets and soffits
Ceilings back to the joists, including dropped, coffered and textured or popcorn finishes
Floor coverings and subfloor where the new build-up requires it
Kitchens taken out complete: wall and base units, tall cabinets, islands, stone and quartz tops, splashbacks and their bedding
Bathrooms taken out complete, fixtures, tile and mud beds included
Doors, frames, linings and architrave; window units, sashes, sills and pre-war box frames
Built-in wardrobes, bookcases and window seats
Plaster and lath off masonry where the design calls for exposed brick
Radiators and abandoned pipework capped and removed
Appliance disconnection and removal, gas by a qualified fitter
Protection of the corridor, lift and lobby for the whole run
Debris out of the building and off to a permitted transfer station

The building decides how this job runs

In a co-op or condo, the alteration agreement usually sets working hours, which lift you use, how long you can hold it, and what has to be laid down in common areas before anything moves. We plan the debris route around that window first and let it size the crew, because a job that can only move material between ten and four is a different job from one with a loading dock.

The parts people ask about most

In a co-op or condo, the alteration agreement is the job spec

Most buildings set the hours, which lift you get and for how long, the protection standard for common areas, and what has to be on file before access is granted. The practical constraint is almost always the service lift: a two-hour daily window changes how many people are worth having on site and how the strip-out is sequenced. We read the agreement, plan to it, and keep the super informed rather than finding out on day three.

Kitchens: stone comes out in sections, and that is the right answer

A run of granite or quartz is heavy, brittle and usually bonded to the carcasses. Trying to save a top that is already sitting on cabinets being scrapped is how a stair rail gets damaged. Unless you have a specific reuse plan and the top was installed for it, we section it on site and take it out in liftable pieces. Tell us before the day if you want cabinets removed intact for donation and we will price the careful version.

Openings are never left open at the end of a day

On a facade, the sequence matters more than the removal. We take out only what can be closed again before we leave, so the building is never open to weather or to the street overnight. Coatings in buildings from before 1978 may contain lead, so old painted frames are handled as suspect and kept out of the ordinary debris stream.

How residential interior demolition runs

The order matters more than the tools. This is the sequence for residential interior demolition.

Confirm what stays

We mark up what is structural, what is a riser, and what is coming out. Anything ambiguous gets opened up and looked at before it is scheduled, not during.

Asbestos before anything

Pre-1987 building means an ACP-5 before DOB will issue the permit. Old floor tile, pipe lagging and joint compound are the usual finds.

Protect the route

Lift lobby, corridor, stair and entry get boarded and covered. Openings between the work area and the rest of the building get sealed.

Strip top down

Ceilings, then walls, then floors, so nothing is handled twice and the space stays walkable.

Hand over swept

Studs, slab and risers exposed and clear, floor swept, ready for the next trade to set out.

What moves the price on residential interior demolition

Every one of these moves the number, so you can see what a quote is actually responding to — and tell us the ones you already know when you call.

Which floor it is on, and whether there is a service lift you can actually book
Whether the building is occupied and trading during the work
Square footage and how many partitions come out
Plaster and lath versus drywall, which changes both volume and weight
Whether anything needs abatement before the strip-out can run

How the ACP-5 works

Residential interior demolition on site.

Residential interior demolition: your questions

Is this the same thing as a gut renovation?

It is the first phase of one. A gut renovation is the whole project — demolition, then the trades, then the finishes. We do the demolition half: everything out, back to studs, slab and risers, ready for your contractor to set out. Plenty of clients bring us in before the rest of the team is even appointed, because the strip-out is what tells the architect what is actually behind the walls.

Can you work while we still live there?

Sometimes, if the work can be sealed into one part of the home with its own route in and out and the bathroom and kitchen are not both down at once. It is slower and it costs more than an empty apartment. We will tell you honestly whether your layout allows it.

Do you take the floor up as well?

If the new floor build-up needs the height, yes. In pre-war buildings the existing subfloor is often sitting on sleepers over the slab and that whole assembly comes out. We check the depth before quoting so there is no surprise mid-job.

What happens to the risers and the electrical panel?

They stay and get protected. We cap and make safe anything that is being abandoned, and leave live services boxed and visible so the incoming trades can find them.

Will you deal with the super and the managing agent?

Yes. We would rather agree the route, the hours and the protection standard with them before day one than negotiate it in a corridor with a full container waiting.

What if the building only allows a stair for debris?

It is slower and it costs more, and we will say so up front. Material gets bagged smaller and staged so the stair is never blocked, and we schedule around resident movement.

Can you do just the kitchen, or just the bathroom?

Yes. That is a selective strip-out rather than a full gut, and the protection standard is the same because the corridor does not care how much came out.