What is the acceptable amount of demo debris for fill? I have some small chunks of wood left in the demo site and the city wants it all gone. We arent going to put that much dirt into dumpsters. I thought in Illinois the accpetable amount of wood and concrete debris was 10%. Anyone verify this? We tear down about 6-8 houses a year, and its never been an issue before. Thanks for any input!
On a quality job the amount should be zero.
If you're talking visible traces of debris I can see some bitchin by the building inspector but if a small amount of wood is in the foundation before you fill it in with dirt,I can't understand what the big deal really is.Wood comes from trees and trees grow out of the ground don't they in Illinois?Or am I being too practical not being a government employee?
10% residual sounds high to me. When I demo houses, I rake the site with the excavator or loader and then hand pick any visible pieces of debris that may be left. It doesn't take that long to walk around a residential demo and pick that stuff up, at the least the ones I have done.
The issue isnt with how well we are doing it, but rather how well others competing against me are. And for someone to say they have NO residual left at all, I will have to call ********. We rake, and then hand pick up as well, but still there will be something left behind. I would like to see some pics of the before during and after of some projects where NO residual was left. I am always willing to learn a better way if there is one. We want to provide the best service that we can for everyone. Thanks for replies so far guys.
Here's one I did with a loader - There isn't a final completed shot in the thread but post #9 is getting close. I haven't done any demo in a couple of years, sure do miss it.
I stand behind my statement, when we leave a site there is no trace that there was anything there. There are pictures of my work all aver these fourums.
I'll side with ddigger................
I think I should clarify this a bit, we want to know what the exceptable amount of debris in our dirt we are hauling out is. We wont put all that dirt in the dumpsters. As for the site, it should be clean, not just on surface, but underground as well. What i am saying is that i dont see how people will have no debris mixed with dirt at all. Yes any dirt with debris in it should get hauled out. I talked to Illinois EPA guy in the meanwhile, and he said there is no actual standard as far as amount of wood in the dirt, it is a judgement call. Thankss
Thats what I thought you meant. We don't have a standard here and if there was one it would have to be enforced by the landfill itself which here is a seperate division operated by the County that it is in. Not sure how they could enforce a percentage. Would it be a percentage of weight which would be one thing or volume which would be another. Either way the cost of determining what the percentage actually was would be way more than its worth. We try and keep our loads as seperate as possible but when you get to the end, there is dirt in the wood debris and its not an issue for them. However the more dirt you have adds to the weight which can cost you more, so its in our best interest to keep it to a min. Straight dirt dumps for free and having some material in that dirt is ok, we have never been hassled about it. I am sure this is one of those questions that has different answers depending on location.
The only "10%" rule I remember was at a "clean" fill dumpsite(ditch, ravine, farm, etc.) that a 10% amount of wood was an acceptable ratio with concrete, asphalt, brick, etc. for fill only. Usually a required permit with a fee was also included, still cheaper then a landfill. As far as the jobsite goes it's pretty much anything wood or non-organic that was visible or larger than a brick must be removed. We always capped the site with a foot of dirt then seed and straw. Plus a little "grea$e for any officials always helped too. Of course over the years I could never figure out why some people didn't clean all of the wood and debris out of a basement BEFORE knocking the walls over?? The landfills always loved the extra weight fee$ from these clowns.