CBS block or wood frame: how each one comes down
Most houses we tear down in Miami-Dade and Broward are CBS, concrete block and stucco, built on a slab on grade over compacted limestone fill. We start with the roof tear-off, pulling the shingles or tile and the trusses with the excavator's thumb so the debris stays sorted. Then the walls. A CBS house has a poured tie beam on top of the block and filled cells with rebar at the corners, so the walls don't fold like plywood. We push them in toward the slab, never out toward the neighbor's fence.
Wood frame goes faster. The studs and sheathing come apart with the grapple and load straight into the truck, and there is far less weight per load. That is why the price per sq ft is lower.
The slab comes last. A hydraulic breaker, the hoe ram, cracks it into pieces the excavator can lift, and then we dig out the footings along the old walls. Rebar gets pulled from the broken concrete and goes to scrap.
What the lot looks like when we leave
You get a flat, rough-graded lot with no slab, no footings and no buried block. Your surveyor can stake the new house right away, and your architect works from clean dirt instead of guessing where the old foundation was. Water meter, sewer cap and the FPL disconnect are done before the machine shows up, by the utility companies and a licensed plumber.
Everything we break out leaves on dump trucks. Concrete and metal get separated on site, and the full story of where each load ends up is on our debris hauling page.
Big trees that stay need barricades, and many cities ask for a tree survey with the application; our Miami-Dade demolition permit guide lists what the city usually wants. The paperwork takes longer than the machine, and we break down the calendar in how long a teardown takes.
Lots in flood zones are where a lot of teardowns start. When repairs would cross half the building's value, the house often comes down instead, and the FEMA 50% rule in Miami explains that math.
Unsafe structures and the 40-year recertification
Some houses come to us with an order already on them. In Miami-Dade, the Unsafe Structures panel issues orders with deadlines under Section 8-5 of the county code, and when the owner doesn't meet them, the Building Official can move ahead under that same section. Extensions are requested in writing to the panel's secretary. In the City of Miami, a demolition permit pulled because of a violation carries a doubled fee.
Recertification is a separate track for older buildings. Miami-Dade moved its first building review from 40 years to 30, and Florida Statute 553.899 now calls for a milestone inspection at 30 years and every 10 after that, earlier near salt water when the local office asks for it. A building that fails can end up before Unsafe Structures, and that road can end in a demolition. Recertification by itself never orders a teardown.
Price of a house teardown
| Job | What it includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| House demolition, CBS block | Machine demolition of the house, slab and footings, debris loaded and hauled, and the lot rough-graded. | $8 per sq ft of house |
| House demolition, wood frame | Machine demolition of the wood frame house, slab and footings, debris loaded and hauled, and the lot rough-graded. | $6 per sq ft of house |
Labor, equipment and haul-off included, in US dollars, October 2026. A house is priced per square foot of footprint (length × width of the building). City permit fees are added at cost. Asbestos abatement, when the survey calls for it, is done and priced by a licensed abatement contractor. Tight access or a second story is priced after the visit, before we start.
We measure the footprint, length times width, and multiply. A 50 by 30 ft house is 1,500 sq ft. The city's permit fee and the asbestos survey are added on top, and the demolition cost calculator shows the total with a pool or a garage.
Frequently asked questions
Do you take out the slab and the footings too?
Yes, both are in the price per sq ft. We break the slab with a hoe ram, dig the footings along the old walls and pull the rebar for scrap. The lot is left with no concrete in the ground.
Can the pool or the driveway stay when the house comes down?
Yes. We only demolish what the written estimate lists, so a pool or a driveway can stay untouched. When you want them gone, full pool removal is $9,500 per pool and driveway removal is $4 per sq ft.
Why does a wood frame house cost less to knock down?
It weighs much less than block and concrete, so it takes fewer truckloads and less time with the grapple. That's the gap between $6 per sq ft of house and $8 per sq ft of house.
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