When people hear the word “demolition,” they usually think about total structure demolition, which is the process of knocking down an entire building and removing the demolished materials. While complete building demolition is a big part of what we do here at MILBURN, it’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our service offerings.
Sometimes, our clients ask us to perform what’s commonly known as interior demolition. As you might assume, this form of demo involves the selective removal of building components from inside the building — these elements can include ceilings, walls, flooring, millwork, furniture, mechanical systems, electrical elements, plumbing, fire protection, and much more.
Let’s dive into what interior demolition is and how MILBURN can help ensure your next selective demo project goes according to plan.
There are several key elements of MILBURN’s interior demo work, so let’s walk through them one by one. One common form of interior demolition is often referred to as “gutting” a building or portion of a building. This process includes the full removal and disposal of a structure’s interior elements, leaving an empty shell of a building (or portion of building) with nothing but the essentials inside.
When we tackle these jobs, it usually means that we’ll need to demolish items like ceilings, walls, and flooring, but this is often just the beginning for an interior demo project. We will often also get rid of millwork, including doors, windows, kitchen cabinets, built-ins, to name a few.
In addition, interior demolition frequently includes the removal of MEP/FP elements — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection. This can include HVAC systems (including electrical elements, compressors, coils, ductwork, exhaust outlets, blowers, and more), electrical apparatuses (lighting, wiring, generators, security systems, etc.), fire alarms and sprinkler systems, information technology (IT) hardware, hot and cold water pipes, gas pipes, and boilers, just to name a few.
Furniture is considered to be part of an interior demolition job at times as well, especially if it’s particularly heavy or if it has been built into the structure of the building. For example, large built-in shelving units, metal cabinetry structures, work stations, private office furniture, and conference tables are items that we might be asked to remove as part of an interior demo job.
Gutting a structure is just one service we offer in the realm of interior demolition, as we also provide our clients with specialized services that target specific types of interior structures or perform specialty removals.
For instance, MILBURN offers tenant improvement services that rejuvenate aging hotel and apartment buildings. This service includes removing antiquated finishes, walls, fixtures, and MEPFPs in order to spruce up dated properties to maintain current or increase rental revenues.
We also offer white boxing services for interior commercial spaces. “White boxing” refers to the process of preparing a previously rented building space for a new tenant. This includes removing unwanted interior structures, patching up drywall, providing the space with a fresh coat of paint, and preparing the floors to install new flooring.
It’s important to note that white boxing doesn’t deal with any finished elements like carpet or other floor coverings, plumbing fixtures, electrical elements (aside from those required for the structure to be up to code), wall coverings, or furniture. White boxing strictly involves elements that are required for all commercial spaces, like HVAC systems, ceilings, lighting, electrical outlets, light switches, restrooms, concrete floors, and sheetrock walls.
The removal of IT rooms and data centers involves many different regulations on the national, state, and local levels. The task of removing old servers — whether you’re replacing them with new ones or not — is a complex process that can vary considerably depending on the location and size of the data center.
When MILBURN tackles IT decommissioning projects, we create detailed removal plans for many different data center elements, including servers, internal and external cooling units, control panels, emergency generators, support equipment, ductwork, piping, and more. Then, we carefully demolish the data center’s interior, preparing the space for new IT equipment or an entirely new purpose — whichever our client requests.
If the structure houses large quantities of commercial furniture or has a significant amount of built-in furnishings, MILBURN provides our clients with furniture removal services. Of course, we’re not talking about pulling up a moving truck and filling it up with a couple of couches. Instead, this service revolves around the demolition and removal of large commercial office furnishings such as work stations, desks, credenzas, and conference tables.
Does your building include MEP/FP components that you’d like removed? MILBURN offers the specialized removal of structures like rooftop mechanical units, cooling towers, boilers, chillers, fan systems, generators, switchgear, pumps, and more. If you need mechanical systems removed from any structure, MILBURN is only a phone call away.
One of the trickiest aspects of interior demo is the partial or complete removal of structural elements like slabs, walls, beams, and columns. If you want the rest of the structure to remain intact, removing structural slabs is complicated work that requires extreme care and expert planning. Thankfully, MILBURN can provide safe and efficient services in this area that remove unwanted elements while ensuring that the remaining structure is still fully supported and able to stand on its own.
Staircases are another element of buildings that can be complicated to remove. No matter the style, size, or location of your staircases, MILBURN can safely remove and dispose of the stairs while also preparing slab floors to replace these structures.
Especially when it comes to specialty interior demo jobs, it’s understandable that you might be uncertain regarding cost. It isn’t always easy to figure out how much of these highly targeted interior demolition services will affect your bottom line.
That’s why MILBURN has a dedicated team of expert estimators who know how to bake in all relevant expenses to create an accurate and affordable pricing quote for any interior demo job. If you’re wondering how much you’ll need to spend on your interior demolition project, contact us today, and we’ll prepare an estimate for your specific site.
MILBURN’s focus for interior demolition projects is to perform our work safely and efficiently while also providing our clients with pricing models they can afford without breaking the bank.
Budget proposals and estimates are always free of charge.
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