Demolition
Houses, unit blocks, shops, factories and service stations, under a licensed demolisher.
Areas we serve · Northern Beaches
Demolition on the Northern Beaches
Manly to Frenchs Forest, where the blocks are tight, the rock is close to the surface and there is nowhere to put the spoil. The access is worked out before the quote, not on day one.
- Demolition licence AD214737, SafeWork NSW
- Demolition, asbestos, clearing, excavation and cartage together
- 7 Northern Beaches suburbs, each with its own page
0456 220 552
or send the site details
Get a quote on the Northern Beaches
Tell us the suburb and what is on the site. We will arrange a time to look.
What we do on the Northern Beaches
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
7 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.
Manly
Tight blocks, narrow lanes and neighbours very close on both sides, so the access decides the machine before the structure does.
Manly Vale
Post-war brick and fibro on sloping blocks, where a knockdown is usually followed by a site cut into the fall.
Dee Why
Mixed freestanding housing and unit blocks around the centre, so a single knockdown and a walk up demolition are both common.
Brookvale
The industrial and commercial heart of the peninsula. Warehouse and factory work, with better truck access than the residential streets.
Narrabeen
Sandstone close to the surface in the elevated parts, and low lying sandy ground nearer the lagoon. Two different digs in one suburb.
Mona Vale
Larger blocks with established plantings, and rock that frequently turns a routine site cut into hammer work.
Frenchs Forest
Elevated bushland blocks with steep driveways and significant trees, where tree approval is often the longest item on a clearing programme.
The ground
Sandstone, and what sits under it
Hawkesbury Sandstone dominates the coastal side of Sydney. It is strong enough that a bucket alone will not move it once you are past the weathered crust, which is why a rock hammer is the usual answer and why rock is priced by the cubic metre rather than guessed at.
Beneath it sits the Narrabeen Group, which comes to the surface at Long Reef and at sea level around Broken Bay. It is a mixed sequence of lithic and quartz sandstone, siltstone, claystone, conglomerate and shale, so the material can change within a single excavation and the method gets reassessed as the dig goes down.
What any particular block is made of still has to be found by looking at it, and a geotechnical report narrows the range a long way.
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 weathered crust
Sand and weathered sandstone, and on an older block often fill brought in at some point. Usually the only part a bucket alone will move.
- How it comes out
- Stripped and kept separate, then classified before it leaves.
- What does it
- Standard bucket, mini to midi excavator depending on the access.
Hawkesbury Sandstone
The dominant unit. Medium to coarse quartz sandstone, strong enough that a bucket will not move it once the weathered crust is off.
- How it comes out
- Hammered for the face, ripped where the bedding helps, and priced by the cubic metre at an agreed rate.
- What does it
- Mid to large excavator with a hydraulic hammer, zero tail swing where the cut is against a boundary.
Narrabeen Group
Beneath the sandstone, outcropping at Long Reef and at sea level around Broken Bay. A mixed sequence, so the material can change inside one excavation.
- How it comes out
- Reassessed as the dig goes down rather than assumed from the top. Method changes with the material.
- What does it
- Hammer and ripper both on hand, with the attachment changed as the face changes.
Tight and sloping blocks
Less a ground condition than a site condition, and on this side of Sydney it decides more than the rock does.
- How it comes out
- Smaller machines, more passes, and spoil out as it is generated because there is nowhere to stockpile it.
- What does it
- Mini and midi excavators, zero tail swing, bogie tippers where a truck and dog cannot turn.
Northern Beaches
What shapes the work around here
The second of the two areas we work in most, and where rock excavation comes up more than anywhere else on the corridor.
| What it is | Why it matters on the job |
|---|---|
| Rock close to the surface. | Which is the single biggest variable on a Northern Beaches price, and the reason rock is quoted on a rate rather than a figure. |
| Steep and tight blocks. | Narrow frontages, steep driveways and neighbours close on both sides. The access often costs more than the rock does. |
| Nowhere to stockpile. | Spoil leaves as it is generated, which means the trucks have to be sequenced against the machine rather than booked for the end of the week. |
| Truck access decides the load count. | A street where a truck and dog cannot turn means the same volume goes out in far more tipper loads. |
| Dual occupancy and unit redevelopment around the centres. | Dee Why and Brookvale in particular, where basements and bulk digs come up alongside residential work. |
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.
Northern Beaches questions
What people here ask us first
Why is rock priced on a rate instead of a fixed figure?
Because nobody knows how much rock is there until the dig opens up. The strip, the access and the cartage can be priced from a site visit. The rock is priced by the cubic metre at a rate agreed before we start, so the price follows what is actually excavated.
What happens if a truck and dog cannot get into the street?
The same volume goes out in bogie or 10 wheeler tippers, which is more loads and a longer programme. It is worked out before the quote rather than discovered on day one, because on this peninsula it is frequently the single biggest variable.
Can you work on a block with no side access?
Usually, but the answer decides the programme. Sometimes a machine goes in through the footprint once the structure is down, sometimes a smaller machine is walked or craned in, and sometimes it is hand demolition with material carried out.
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.
Northern Beaches
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. The second of the two areas we work in most, and where rock excavation comes up more than anywhere else on the corridor.
- Demolition, asbestos management, excavation and cartage quoted together
- 7 Northern Beaches 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.