Suffolk County
Residential Demolition in East Boston
East Boston is triple-deckers on narrow lots, and a teardown here is genuinely a selective demolition in everything but name — the building beside yours is often touching, and it has to be weathertight and structurally sound at the end of every working day. Staging is the other constraint: on most of these streets there is no room for equipment without a permit, and that permit has its own lead time.
What the job covers
- Houses, two- and three-family buildings, garages, additions, porches and outbuildings
- Full teardown to grade, or partial demolition where an addition comes off and the house stays
- Utility disconnection coordinated and witnessed before the work starts
- Protection of the neighbouring property, shared walls, fences and landscaping
- Foundation and slab removal, backfilled and compacted
- Site graded and left clean and safe
- Debris hauled off, with recycling where the job allows
What moves the price
- How close the structure is to the property line and to the house next door
- Access — whether a machine and a container can both reach the site, and whether the street needs a permit to stage on
- Age of the building, which drives the likelihood of asbestos and lead and therefore the survey and abatement in front of the job
- Whether the town requires a demolition delay review, which several Greater Boston municipalities apply to older buildings and which can add months
- Whether the foundation comes out or stays for the rebuild
- Tree protection and landscaping the owner wants kept
Working in East Boston
East Boston is where Allied is based, and the neighbourhood is a fair summary of the work: densely packed triple-deckers and row buildings, narrow streets that will not take a container and a truck at once, and a commercial strip along Bennington and Meridian turning over steadily. Buildings here are old enough that a survey before demolition should be assumed rather than hoped against.
Allied covers East Boston and the rest of Suffolk County — all demolition services in East Boston.
Common questions
What is a demolition delay bylaw and does it affect me?
A number of Massachusetts municipalities have a bylaw that lets a historical commission review — and temporarily hold — the demolition of a building over a certain age, commonly anything built before a set year. It does not stop the work, but it can add weeks or months, and it catches people out because it applies to ordinary houses, not just landmarks. Check it with the town before you set a date. It is the single most common reason a residential demolition slips.
Do I need an asbestos survey on a house?
For anything built before the 1980s you should assume yes. Siding, floor tile and its mastic, pipe insulation, roofing and some plasters are all common sources in New England housing stock. The survey is inexpensive relative to the delay of finding it after the permit is issued.
How long does a house take?
The physical teardown of a typical single- or two-family house is usually a matter of days once the site is ready. What sets the actual date is everything in front of it: utility disconnections, the asbestos survey and any abatement, the permit, and a possible demolition delay review.
Ready ToClear The Way?
Tell us about the project. Allied will take it from there.
