House Demolition Equipment – 20 Expert Tools For Home Demo

What equipment is needed to demolish a house?

Let us look at some home demolition equipment you will need for minor and significant demolition projects.

Home Demolition Machinery

As beautiful as your home may be, a time may come when some parts of it will have to go.

This is usually for remodeling purposes, and a lot of careful consideration has to be given to the project before you think of executing it.

Demolishing your home is no minor task, so you need the right tools. Additionally, how your home was built and the materials used in making it will determine the kind of demolition tools you need.

More so, the size of the building and the environment where it is located are other vital factors to be considered.

Machinery For Low-Level Demolitions

If your house isn’t large (say one or two stories high), you won’t find it too hard to execute the demolition process.

Buildings of this nature can be destroyed with simple hand tools, although it is not the most effective approach. This is because demolition with hand tools will take a lot of time and put the worker at greater risk of injuries.

You could use demolition tools as an alternative to using hand excavators to pull down small buildings.

A hydraulic excavator has proven to be effective in demolishing small buildings, and they come in different capacities ranging from 1 ton to 100 tons.

The size and location of the building you are demolishing will determine the capacity of the hydraulic excavator you will use.

Besides getting the job done faster than hand tools, a hydraulic excavator has one unique advantage – It can be used to perform many different tasks, thanks to the attachment feature it is built with.

With this machine, you can attach rotational grapples, steel sheers, impact breakers, and pulverizers and use them to perform a wide range of functions.

Minor Demolition Equipment

If you cannot afford to hire heavy-duty demolition equipment, then there are minor demolition tools you can use to tear down your home.

I’ll be discussing them below.

1. Ripping Bar

If you’re doing some slight remodeling work, then a ripping bar is one of the minor demolition equipment you will find helpful.

This tool features a claw at one end, which can be used to pull out nails, and a V-notch chisel and nail slot.

This tool is ideal for ripping off wall framings and removing shingles.

2. Saw

When demolishing your home, you will find that you will have to do a lot of cutting. Items that may need to be missed include shingles, roots, tree branches, nail-studded framing, and cast iron pipes – To name a few.

One domestic demolition tool that can be used to do this effectively is a saw.

3. Framing hammer

A solid steel framing hammer is one of the most rugged home demolition tools, thanks to its almost unbreakable nature.

A hammer will come in handy if you ring off wood from a confined space or slam into tight corners.

4. Oscillating Multitool

Home demolition must be handled with ultimate precision, especially when you’re not tearing down the entire house. You’ll need the other parts to remain undamaged during the process, and one tool that can help you do that is the oscillating multitool.

This tool can be used to cut through places that may seem impossible. Not only does it access tight areas, but it also gives you clean cuts through plaster, metal, and wooden structures.

5. Sledgehammer

A sledgehammer is not like the regular hammer we have mentioned before, as it carries more power in a swing and can be used to knock off more rigid structures.

A top-notch sled hammer is durable and will not chip when it strikes a hard surface. Due to the kind of hard work this tool is expected to do, I advise that you buy one that is treated with heat and drop forged.

Equipment For High-Level Demolitions

Of course, not all buildings are small, as much larger homes are being torn down daily.

Buildings like this will need more than a sledgehammer to be taken down, as they are too tall and much more robust than a story building or a bungalow.

Here are some of the equipment you will need for high-level demolition.

1. High-reach excavators

If your home is over two stories high, you’ll need some high-level machines to tear it down. This is where high-reach excavators come in.

This is a more modernized means of home demolition, using a large boom arm.

The extended arm allows it to reach the uppermost parts of a tall building, eliminating the need for scaffolding. It is safe to say that high-reach excavators can get to the points where mini excavators can’t.

But just like a mini excavator, a high-reach excavator also has an extension attachment, making it a multi-purpose machine. It allows you to add extras like pulverizers, breakers, shears, and selector grab.

Each attachment has unique functions, making tearing down large buildings much more effortless.

So, if your building is made with hard steel and poured concrete materials, this is one of the primary tools you must consider.

2. Dust Boss Machines

You can expect a lot of dust when tearing down a building; you may already know concrete dust isn’t safe to inhale. This is where the dust boss machines come in.

This piece of equipment is used to suppress excessive dust during the demolition process. This tool will minimize dust pollution around the building’s immediate environment.

It works by releasing smooth sprinkles of water around the demolition area, thereby keeping the dust from rising and spreading to other sites.

3. Bobcat Skidsteers

This equipment is usually used with other tools at the initial stages of soft-stripping before the primary demolition begins.

4. Low Loaders

This heavy-duty vehicle is used to move large excavators from their bases to the site where the building is located.

They are also used to bring the excavators back to the base after the demolition work has been completed.

5. Concrete Crushers

Concrete crushers produce recycled aggregate from demolished blocks and concrete bricks.

This is a good piece of equipment after the building has been torn down and there is excessive debris.

6. HIAB Trucks

While not the giant trucks around, they are handy for transporting small pieces of equipment from one site to another.

7. Roll On/Roll Off Wagons

A lot of waste will be produced during the demolition process, and one of the best ways to remove them from the site is with a roll-on/roll-off wagon.

These wagons aren’t so large, so demolition companies usually bring two or more to the site to make disposal faster.

8. Wheeled Tippers

Like wagons, wheel tippers are also used to remove unwanted material from the demolition site. More specifically, crushed or uncrushed concrete and bricks.

Tools For Explosive Demolition 

Tearing down your home can be done with the aforementioned tools, but larger structures sometimes require explosives to bring them level in the fastest possible time.

Structures like bridges can easily be torn down with explosives at a button. In this instance, the principal supports of the system are laced with explosives and will give in as soon as they are detonated.

As you can imagine, not everyone is allowed to handle explosives, as they can damage other structures and kill people if not used responsibly.

Only certified contractors and explosive specialists are permitted to use this tool for safety reasons.

Before the explosives are set off, the contractor will ensure that all the site workers are at a safe distance and that no equipment or vehicles are present.

After the structure has been felled, the clean-up machinery can be brought to the site to clear the debris.

A lot of planning goes into using explosives to tear down large buildings. Everyone must be on the same page and precise with their actions to ensure the safety of the site workers and the neighboring structures.

Usually, the police, ambulance, and other emergency services are present during explosive demolition.

Safety Gear During Demolition

Demolition workers need to be protected as they work, as old building demolition is a dangerous job.

Here’s what they will need –

• Safety helmets
• Work boots
• Overall protective clothing
• Eye goggles
• Headphones
• Gloves

Conclusion

Minor home demolition requires essential tools that almost anyone can handle. The same cannot be said of significant demolition projects, which require skill and experience.

I hope this article on home demolition equipment has been informative and helpful.

Thanks for reading.