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Construction & Demolition Debris

Remodels, interior demolition and clear-down. In pre-war Chicago the sizing question is always plaster, and the placement question is always the alley.

(619) 658-9555Contractors: ask about standing runs

The Chicago problem

Plaster over lath, in a building you cannot park outside

Two things make construction containers here different from the same job twenty miles out, and they pull in the same direction: the debris is heavier, and the space is tighter. Both argue for a smaller container than your instinct says.

The debris first. An enormous share of Chicago's building stock is pre-war, and pre-war means plaster over wood lath. It comes off the wall in slabs with the lath still nailed to the back, it does not compact, and you cannot tread it down the way you can drywall offcuts. A single room taken back to the studs in a greystone puts more weight in a container than an entire kitchen rip-out in a 1990s house, while looking like considerably less material.

The space second. A 30 yard container will not fit most city alleys, and on a permitted street placement a longer container occupies more of the parking lane on a residential block. So the container that works is frequently a 20, and the way you handle volume is swaps rather than size.

An overloaded container cannot legally be lifted. A 20 yard loaded to its weight limit leaves the property; a 30 yard loaded past it does not.

By job

What contractors here actually order

Job	Container	Note
Single room to the studs, pre-war building	10–15 yard	Weight-limited by the plaster, not volume
Kitchen gut	15–20 yard	Cast iron, mortar-set tile and layered flooring add up fast
Bathroom gut, pre-war	10 yard	Cast-iron tub plus mortar-set tile is extremely dense
Whole-floor interior demolition	20 yard plus swaps	Plan the swap schedule before you start, not on day three
Addition or framing work	20 yard	Offcuts are bulky and light — volume is the limit here
Rear porch rebuild	20 yard	Cut the stringers and joists short; whole lengths waste the box
Storefront or commercial fit-out	20 yard	Rear lane access and when the lane can be blocked
Garage demolition	20 yard plus a clean 10	Slab goes in its own clean container, always
Full gut, two-flat or three-flat	20 yard, multiple swaps	See the multi-unit page

Keep the loads separate

One bag of rubbish re-classifies a clean load

Concrete, brick, block and stone go to a different facility from mixed construction debris, and that only works if the heavy container stays clean. One bag of site rubbish, one length of timber, one coffee cup — and the whole load is mixed waste.

On a demolition job where you are taking out a slab and an interior, that means two containers: a small clean one for the concrete and a larger one for everything else. It sounds like more work and it is less, because a re-classified load is a much bigger problem than a second container.

On permitted work there is a second reason. The city's recycling requirement is measured by weight, and the clean heavy container is where most of your percentage comes from. Contaminating it does not just change where the load goes — it works directly against the documentation you have to file at the end. How the 50 percent requirement works →

Mark the containers if there is a crew. We have seen plenty of clean loads ruined by one helpful person tidying up at the end of the day.

Demolition debris on a Chicago construction site

Older buildings

Two things to settle before demolition starts

Asbestos. In a pre-1980 Chicago building, assume it is present until tested. Nine-inch floor tile and its black mastic, pipe and boiler insulation in the basement, some plaster skim coats, cement-board siding, and the tar-based layers on old flat roofs. It is legal in place and hazardous when disturbed, it requires licensed abatement, and it cannot go in any container we own. It is also excluded from the city's recycling calculation, so it does not count for you either way. Finding it on day two of a demolition is the worst way to find out.

Lead paint. Effectively universal in this stock. The debris can go in the container; the dust is the problem. The federal renovation, repair and painting rules apply to contractors working in pre-1978 housing, which in Chicago covers most of what we deliver to.

Neither is a reason to avoid the work. Both are reasons to test first and sequence properly, and we would rather hear about them at booking than at collection.

For trade

Working with contractors in the city

Planned swaps

If the job will run four containers, say so at the start and we plan the run. Improvised third and fourth containers are where city jobs lose days.

The permit period

On a public way placement the permit has to cover the whole time the container is there. Tell us the real duration rather than extending repeatedly.

One site contact

Somebody who can answer a placement question in an alley at seven in the morning. Nothing saves more time on a multi-container job.

Common questions

What people ask when they call

Why would I want a smaller container for demolition?

Because every container has a weight limit as well as a volume, and plaster reaches the weight limit first. It also fits the alley, which a 30 yard generally does not.

Can I mix the slab in with the demolition debris?

Not if you want it treated as clean fill, and on permitted work that is where most of your recycling percentage comes from. Keep the heavy material in its own container.

How quickly can you swap a full container?

Usually next working day, and often same day where the run allows. Planned swaps on a scheduled job are easier again.

Do you deliver to commercial sites?

Yes — fit-outs, turnovers and clear-downs across the city. Tell us about rear lane access and the window when the lane can be blocked.

Who sorts the permit for a street placement?

We do. The city code puts the dumpster permit on the container provider for public way placements, not on the contractor or the owner.

What about dirt from a foundation or a basement dig-out?

Its own clean container, and a smaller one than you think — soil is extremely heavy, especially wet. Basement dig-outs in this city are a regular job and always weight-limited.