Demolition
Houses, unit blocks, shops, factories and service stations, under a licensed demolisher.
Areas we serve · Penrith and Hawkesbury
Demolition in Penrith and the Hawkesbury
Penrith and St Marys through to Londonderry and Richmond. Suburban knockdowns, rural sheds and farm structures, with room to work and long hauls to disposal.
- Demolition licence AD214737, SafeWork NSW
- Demolition, asbestos, clearing, excavation and cartage together
- 4 Penrith and Hawkesbury suburbs, each with its own page
0456 220 552
or send the site details
Get a quote in Penrith and the Hawkesbury
Tell us the suburb and what is on the site. We will arrange a time to look.
What we do in Penrith and the Hawkesbury
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
4 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.
Penrith
Established post-war residential and commercial stock, with the usual pre 1990 asbestos assumptions across the older streets.
St Marys
Post-war housing on regular blocks beside industrial land, so residential and industrial work sit close together.
Londonderry
Large semi rural holdings with sheds, outbuildings and old fibro, and plenty of room to work.
Richmond
Rural and village stock on the Hawkesbury flats, where flood affected land shapes what can be filled or rebuilt.
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.
Open sites and long hauls
Out here the dig is rarely the constraint. Access is usually good and there is room to work, so the cost sits in where the material has to go.
- How it comes out
- Classified before it moves, then carted to a facility licensed to receive it, with the haul priced on the real distance rather than an assumption.
- What does it
- Large excavator, truck and dogs for volume, and incoming fill on the return trip where it is needed.
Penrith and Hawkesbury
What shapes the work around here
The western edge of the Cumberland Plain, running up towards Windsor.
| What it is | Why it matters on the job |
|---|---|
| Larger rural and semi rural blocks. | Londonderry and Richmond especially, where access is usually good and there is room to work. |
| Sheds, outbuildings and farm structures. | A different demolition mix from a suburban street, and frequently where old fibro turns up. |
| Flood affected land in parts of the Hawkesbury. | Which is a planning and design matter, and it affects what can be filled, built or left. |
| Long hauls to disposal. | Distance is a real cost line out here, and it is set by what the material is classified as. |
| Established residential in Penrith and St Marys. | Post-war stock, so the usual asbestos assumptions apply. |
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.
Penrith and Hawkesbury questions
What people here ask us first
Do you work on rural and semi rural blocks?
Yes, and there is usually room to do it properly. Sheds, outbuildings and farm structures are a different mix from a suburban street, and old fibro turns up in them regularly.
Is flood affected land a problem for demolition or filling?
It is a planning and design matter rather than a plant one, and it affects what can be filled, built or left. It is worth confirming the constraints on a particular property before a scope is fixed.
How much does the haul to disposal add out here?
Enough to matter. The destination is set by the classification rather than by distance, so the classification is done properly and the cartage is priced on the real haul rather than an assumption.
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.
Penrith and Hawkesbury
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 western edge of the Cumberland Plain, running up towards Windsor.
- Demolition, asbestos management, excavation and cartage quoted together
- 4 Penrith and Hawkesbury 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.