Demolition
Houses, unit blocks, shops, factories and service stations, under a licensed demolisher.
Areas we serve · South West Sydney
Demolition across South West Sydney
Liverpool and Campbelltown through to Oran Park and Leppington. Older village and post-war stock coming down, and greenfield blocks being cut, filled and levelled.
- Demolition licence AD214737, SafeWork NSW
- Demolition, asbestos, clearing, excavation and cartage together
- 8 South West Sydney suburbs, each with its own page
0456 220 552
or send the site details
Get a quote in South West Sydney
Tell us the suburb and what is on the site. We will arrange a time to look.
What we do in South West Sydney
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
8 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.
Liverpool
Established residential and commercial stock around a busy centre, with unit block redevelopment alongside ordinary knockdowns.
Austral
Large semi rural blocks being subdivided, so sheds and outbuildings come down and bulk earthworks follow.
Leppington
Greenfield growth land. Mostly site cut, levelling and fill rather than demolition, because there was little there to start with.
Oran Park
New estate construction on former farmland, where the work is earthworks, fill and site preparation ahead of building.
Camden
Older village stock and rural blocks side by side, which need very different scoping even in the same street.
Campbelltown
Post-war and public housing era stock on sloping blocks, with a lot of pre 1990 fibro behind later cladding.
St Helens Park
Hillside subdivisions where the fall across the block is the main constraint on both demolition and excavation.
Chipping Norton
Riverside blocks with low lying ground in parts, which affects drainage, spoil handling and what can be reused as fill.
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.
Greenfield bulk earthworks and fill
In the growth areas there is often nothing standing, so the job is moving and placing material rather than digging around a building.
- How it comes out
- Cut and fill balanced across the site where the design allows it, with imported material placed and compacted in layers rather than tipped and spread.
- What does it
- Large excavators and truck and dogs, with a roller for compaction.
South West Sydney
What shapes the work around here
Part of the Cumberland Plain, and a growth corridor rather than an established one.
| What it is | Why it matters on the job |
|---|---|
| New estates beside older villages. | Oran Park and Leppington are greenfield; Camden and Campbelltown have stock going back decades. The two need very different scoping. |
| Larger lots than the inner areas. | Which usually means better machine access and room to separate material on site rather than carting it mixed. |
| Earthworks before buildings. | In the growth areas much of the work is site cut, levelling and fill rather than demolition, because there was nothing there to start with. |
| Longer hauls to disposal. | Distance to a licensed facility is a real part of the price out here, and it is set by the classification rather than by what is closest. |
| Reactive clay soils. | Which matters to footing design and to how the spoil behaves after rain. |
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.
South West Sydney questions
What people here ask us first
Do you work in the new growth estates as well as the older suburbs?
Yes, and they are different jobs. In Oran Park, Leppington and Box Hill the work is site cut, levelling and fill because there was little standing to begin with. In Camden and Campbelltown it is demolition on stock that goes back decades.
Why does the haul distance matter out here?
Because the destination is set by what the material is classified as rather than by what is closest, and from the south west the licensed facility for a given classification can be a long way off. It is a real line in the price rather than a rounding error.
Can you bring fill in as well as take spoil out?
Yes, and where both are needed the same truck movement does two jobs. Clean fill, virgin excavated natural material and road base are supplied and placed, compacted in layers rather than tipped and spread.
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.
South West Sydney
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. Part of the Cumberland Plain, and a growth corridor rather than an established one.
- Demolition, asbestos management, excavation and cartage quoted together
- 8 South West Sydney 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.