By trade
Demolition and strip-out calculators
Demolition is estimated in what comes out, and what comes out is bigger than what was there. Material breaks up and bulks — a solid cubic metre of masonry becomes considerably more as rubble — and containers are hired by volume while tips charge by weight, so both numbers matter and they point different ways.
- 12Calculators
- 3Parts of the site
How demolition and strip-out is measured
Bulk cubic metres after swell for the containers, tonnes for the disposal, and counts of containers from the two together. A skip is usually full before it is heavy for light materials, and heavy before it is full for masonry.
Materials & Quantities10
- Asbestos Enclosure Negative-Pressure Airflow Calculator
- Debris Chute Support Bracket Spacing Calculator
- Debris Container Fill Efficiency Calculator
- Debris Staging/Laydown Area Clearance Calculator
- Demolition Bulk Volume Swell Calculator
- Dumpster/Skip Container Size Selector
- High-Rise Debris Drop Chute Impact Energy Calculator
- Jobsite Dust Suppression Water Truck Application Calculator
- Land Clearing & Grubbing Debris Volume Calculator
- Scrap Metal Recycling Value Calculator
Auto/Utility1
Sustainability & Compliance1
What gets left off a demolition and strip-out order
- The swell factor, which varies by material and is the difference between the number of skips ordered and the number needed.
- Segregation. Mixed waste costs more to dispose of than separated waste, and the saving is made on site rather than at the tip.
- Hazardous material — asbestos above all — which stops the programme and is a licensed operation rather than a line item.
- Protection of what stays: floors, stairs and services in a strip-out take as much labour as the removal.
Job takeoffs25
Where demolition crews meet the rest of the job: each runs one of these calculators, with every other trade in the same job beside it.
- Air-source heat pump replacing a boiler
- Basement or cellar conversion
- Central heating replacement
- Chimney breast removal
- Damp remediation and replastering
- Extension shell, one or two storeys
- Exterior repaint of a house
- External door replacement, with its frame
- External wall insulation (EWI, EIFS)
- Flat roof replacement (warm roof)
- Floor sanding and refinishing
- Full house rewire
- Garage conversion
- Garden room or backyard office
- Internal wall removal
- Kitchen refit
- Loft conversion with a dormer
- New window or door opening in an outside wall
- Pitched roof re-covering
- Porch addition
- Rainscreen cladding on battens
- Solar panels (PV) with battery storage
- Staircase replacement
- Wet underfloor heating in an existing floor
- Whole-house ventilation (MVHR or HRV)
Worked examples4
A real job estimated step by step, with this trade's steps counted.
Comparisons2
Two ways of doing the same work, weighed against each other.