Demolition
Houses, unit blocks, shops, factories and service stations, under a licensed demolisher.
Areas we serve · Hills District
Demolition in the Hills District
Castle Hill to Rouse Hill. Large blocks with room to work, a fall across most of them, and mature plantings that decide the programme more often than the structure does.
- Demolition licence AD214737, SafeWork NSW
- Demolition, asbestos, clearing, excavation and cartage together
- 5 Hills District suburbs, each with its own page
0456 220 552
or send the site details
Get a quote in the Hills District
Tell us the suburb and what is on the site. We will arrange a time to look.
What we do in the Hills District
Five service groups, one contract
Most jobs need more than one of these. Quoted together they share a mobilisation, a programme and one set of truck movements instead of three contractors waiting on each other.
Asbestos Services
Identification, removal by licensed asbestos removalists, independent clearance and disposal.
Site Clearing & Land Remediation
Structures, trees, stumps, vegetation and contaminated ground off the block.
Excavation
Site cut, footings, basements, pools and rock, with the spoil carted.
Haulage & Waste
Truck and dog and tipper hire, material delivery, and demolition waste recycling.
Suburbs
5 suburbs, each with its own page
What changes between them is the housing stock, the access and what the ground turns out to be once the first metre is off.
Castle Hill
Large blocks with generous setbacks, good machine access, and mature plantings that frequently hold a clearing job up.
Baulkham Hills
Sloping established blocks, so site cut, benching and retaining come into scopes that would be flat work elsewhere.
Kellyville
A mix of newer estate housing and older large holdings, with duplex and secondary dwelling work on the older blocks.
Box Hill
Growth land under subdivision. Bulk earthworks, fill and site preparation rather than knockdowns.
Rouse Hill
Newer estates beside land still being released, where the work is earthworks and preparation ahead of construction.
The ground
Shale country, not sandstone
The Cumberland Plain is underlain by the Wianamatta Group: Ashfield Shale, Minchinbury Sandstone and Bringelly Shale, sitting above the Hawkesbury Sandstone most people picture when they think of Sydney geology.
That changes how a dig runs. Weathered shale usually comes out with a ripper or a toothed bucket rather than a rock hammer, which is a different machine and a different rate. The soils it weathers to are clay rich with appreciable shrink and swell, which is why so many blocks out here classify as reactive. The spoil is heavier and wetter than sand, it holds water after rain, and it is classified differently when it leaves. Bringelly Shale in particular breaks down quickly once an excavation is opened up, so a cut left open over a wet week is not the surface it was when it was made.
It still varies block by block, and none of this is a statement about any particular property. It is the reason we look at a site before pricing the dig.
Digging here
Four conditions, and each one is dug differently
The geology named here is the published regional record. What any particular block is made of has to be found by looking at it.
Topsoil and fill
The first metre or so, and on an older block it is frequently fill rather than natural ground. What it contains decides where it can go.
- How it comes out
- Stripped and kept separate from what is below it, then classified before it moves.
- What does it
- Standard bucket on a midi or larger excavator, tippers or a truck and dog for the volume.
Residual clay
Weathered from the Wianamatta shale above. Clay rich, reactive, heavy when wet and slow to dry out after rain.
- How it comes out
- Dug with a toothed bucket. On a wet site the timing matters more than the machine, because clay that has taken water is harder to handle and heavier to cart.
- What does it
- Midi to large excavator with a toothed bucket. Truck and dog where the street allows it.
Weathered shale
Ashfield or Bringelly Shale broken down near the surface. Firmer than the clay above and usually still within reach of a ripper.
- How it comes out
- Ripped or dug with a toothed bucket rather than hammered, which is a different rate from rock.
- What does it
- Large excavator with a ripper or heavy duty bucket.
Sloping blocks and benching
The Hills blocks are generous but they fall, so the volume coming out is set by the grade as much as by the footprint.
- How it comes out
- Cut in benches from the high side, each level stable before the next is opened, with retaining designed by an engineer where a face will not stand.
- What does it
- Midi to large excavator able to work on a grade, tippers staged at the street.
Hills District
What shapes the work around here
Cumberland Plain shale country on the north western side.
| What it is | Why it matters on the job |
|---|---|
| Large blocks and generous setbacks. | Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills and Kellyville were subdivided with room, which usually means a machine can get where it needs to. |
| Sloping sites are common. | Which puts site cut, benching and retaining into more scopes here than on a flat subdivision. |
| Box Hill and Rouse Hill are still developing. | So the work skews towards bulk earthworks and site preparation rather than knockdowns. |
| Established trees. | Mature plantings on older blocks, which frequently carry protection and are the item that holds a clearing job up. |
| Hornsby now sits under North Shore. | The current coverage for this region is Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Kellyville, Box Hill and Rouse Hill. |
We work the whole corridor
Wollongong through Greater Sydney and the Central Coast to Newcastle. Western Sydney and the Northern Beaches are where we are most often.
Hills District questions
What people here ask us first
Most of these blocks slope. Does that change the scope?
Usually yes. A fall across the block brings site cut, benching and sometimes retaining into a scope that would be flat work elsewhere, and it sets where a machine can safely stand while it works.
There are large trees on the block. How does that work?
Tree removal depends on approval rather than on plant, and in this area it is routinely the longest item on a clearing programme. Retained trees need their root zones kept clear of plant and stockpiles, which frequently decides where the machine goes.
Is the work in Box Hill and Rouse Hill different?
Yes. Those areas are still developing, so the work skews towards bulk earthworks, fill and site preparation rather than knockdowns.
What has to happen before a demolition can start?
A hazardous materials survey, removal and clearance of anything the survey finds, written confirmation that water, sewer, gas, electricity and telecommunications are disconnected, and the approval in place. The structure is the last part, not the first.
Is the slab and the footings included?
Only if that is what the new build needs. Sometimes a slab stays and is built over and sometimes it all comes out, and it is worth settling with the builder before the quote rather than afterwards.
Is Max licensed for the asbestos removal itself?
Max holds the demolition licence, AD214737. The asbestos removal is carried out by licensed asbestos removalists, and the air monitoring and clearance by an independent licensed assessor. The whole pathway is managed as one job so you are not coordinating three contractors.
Hills District
Tell us the suburb and what is on the site
Send the address and a photograph or two and we will tell you what the job actually involves. Cumberland Plain shale country on the north western side.
- Demolition, asbestos management, excavation and cartage quoted together
- 5 Hills District suburbs covered, each with its own page
- Builders, developers and homeowners all welcome
Prefer to talk
0456 220 552
Special demolition offer
Get your free demolition quote
Demolition and removal services from $15,999*. Tell us about your project and we'll help you understand the costs.
*Starting price applies to eligible demolition and removal projects only. Final pricing depends on structure size, materials, site access, location, waste disposal requirements, hazardous materials and any necessary approvals. A final quote will be provided following project assessment.