Demolition in Ottawa
Interior tear-outs and small demo, hauled away same visit.
Demolition in Ottawa is two different jobs with two different sets of rules. Taking out non-load-bearing interior partitions does not require a demolition permit from the City. Demolishing a whole building or structure does, and that application is reviewed against the Ontario Heritage Act, the Zoning By-law and, in parts of the city, the Demolition Control By-law. We do the first kind: kitchens, bathrooms, basements, garages, sheds, decks, fences and concrete, with the debris sorted and hauled in the same visit.
What we handle.
We handle interior demolition and small structure teardowns: kitchens, bathrooms, basements, decks, sheds, and walls. Our crew protects the areas that stay, removes what needs to go, and hauls every scrap out so you are ready for the rebuild. We sort clean wood, metal, and drywall for recycling wherever the site allows.
- Kitchen, bath, basement, and full-room tear-outs
- Decks, sheds, fences, and small outbuildings removed
- Dust control and site protection on every tear-out
- Debris sorted for recycling, then hauled in one go
Everything the job covers.
Interior strip-outs
Kitchens, bathrooms, basements, flooring, ceilings, plaster, lath, drywall, cabinetry and fixtures, taken back to the studs or to whatever line your builder needs. Anything carrying weight is a structural question for your builder or engineer to answer before we touch it.
Garages, sheds and outbuildings
Detached garages, storage sheds and workshops, plus the slab underneath when that goes too. The thresholds the City publishes for these cover building them, not removing them, so we check what the structure actually is before quoting.
Decks, fences and railings
Rotted boards, joists, posts, sonotube footings, fence panels and gates. Ottawa's freeze and thaw cycle is what finishes most decks off, and one that has already lifted off its footings comes apart differently from one still sitting square.
Concrete, slabs and small footings
Walkways, patio pads, garage and shed slabs, steps and footings. Whether there is rebar in the pour changes both the breaking and the disposal, because the City only takes concrete at its clean fill rate when the load is free of waste including metal.
The debris, sorted before it is loaded
Junk removal is the core of this business, so the tear-out and the haul-out are one visit instead of two contractors and a pile that sits on your driveway in between.
Where we stop, and who to call instead
We do not remove asbestos and we do not take on structural demolition of a whole building. Asbestos work in Ontario is regulated on its own under O. Reg. 278/05 and belongs to an abatement contractor, whose work finishes before ours starts.
Start to finish.
Settle the permit question first
Most interior work is exempt and most standalone structures are not, so it is worth being certain before a crew is booked. A Development Information Officer will tell you which yours is, at 613-580-2424 extension 23434 or dioinquiry@ottawa.ca. The permit belongs to the property owner, not to us.
Test for asbestos if the building is old enough
Section 30 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act puts the duty to identify designated substances on the owner of the project, and that includes a homeowner running their own renovation. On a pre-1986 building it is a sampling job, not a judgement call, and it happens before the first wall opens.
Protect what stays, then strip
Floors, stairs, door frames and the whole route out to the truck get covered before anything comes down. Containment matters most in an occupied house, where the rooms people are still sleeping in sit a few feet from the work.
Sort, load, sweep
Material is separated as it leaves the wall rather than after it becomes a heap on the driveway. The space is swept and left ready for the next trade, and you walk it with us before we call it done.
Ottawa's own rules decide what this job is
Beyond the permit itself, two City rules catch people out and both are published on ottawa.ca. Demolition control is the first. Inside the area mapped in Schedule 1 of By-law 2012-377 you cannot demolish any part of a residential property without a demolition control permit, although the by-law exempts partial demolition that does not reduce the number of dwelling units, which is what an interior renovation almost always is. Noise is the second. By-law 2017-255 defines construction to include demolition, and bars construction equipment between 10 pm and 7 am and before 9 am on any Sunday or statutory holiday. None of it crosses the river. Gatineau is a different municipality in a different province and its rules are its own.
What drives the price.
Demolition is priced on what comes out, how hard it is to get out, and what it weighs at the scale. The variables that move a quote are the volume of material, whether it is plaster and lath or modern drywall, the carry distance and the stairs between the work and the truck, whether concrete is involved and whether that concrete has rebar in it, and how much of the building around it needs protecting. Disposal is the line most quotes leave vague. The City's published 2026 rates at the Trail Waste Facility Landfill are $172.70 a tonne for residential garbage, $144 a tonne for clean fill such as asphalt, masonry and concrete without rebar, and $345.40 a tonne once garbage and recyclables are mixed together, while source separated metal is free. That gap is the whole reason we sort at the wall. Send photos or show us the space and you get a price before we start.
Demolition Services, answered.
Still unsure? Call or text (613) 852-4059 and we will tell you straight.
You need a building permit to relocate or demolish an existing building or structure. The City's demolition page lists only three exemptions: silos, barns, and non-load-bearing interior partitions. So a kitchen gut usually sits outside the permit and taking down a detached garage usually does not. Beginning demolition before the permit is issued adds a non-refundable administrative surcharge under Building By-law 2014-220, on top of any other penalty.
Ask the City rather than assume, because the numbers published on ottawa.ca are thresholds for building these things, not for removing them. An attached deck needs a permit if its walking surface sits more than 600 mm above the adjacent grade, and a one-storey shed of 15 square metres or less with no plumbing needs none at all. A Development Information Officer will answer the removal question for your specific address at 613-580-2424 extension 23434.
Test before you open anything up. Ontario's own guidance is that asbestos can be found in buildings built in Canada, especially those built before 1986, and it names drywall compound, pipe insulation, fireproofing and residential insulation among the usual sources. A qualified consultant takes the samples, and the Occupational Hygiene Association of Ontario publishes a directory of them. We do not remove asbestos, and the City does not accept it at the Trail Waste Facility.
Not to the curb. Demolition debris is not curbside garbage in Ottawa, so it is weighed and charged at a waste facility instead. The City has also placed a permanent ban on industrial, commercial and institutional waste at its Trail Waste Facility, where the only commercial loads still listed as accepted are leaf and yard waste, metal and e-waste. Sorting is what keeps the bill down: source separated metal is free on the City's rate table, mixed loads are the dearest line on it.
Ottawa's Noise By-law 2017-255 defines construction to include demolition, and prohibits operating construction vehicles or construction equipment between 10 pm and 7 am, or before 9 am on any Sunday or statutory holiday. A tear-out runs a normal working day well inside that. If your neighbours are close, telling them the day before costs nothing and usually prevents the by-law call.
Sometimes, and we will tell you when. A single fence run or a small shed is a genuine weekend job if you have help. Two things usually decide it. Plaster, concrete and wet deck lumber weigh far more than they look, and disposal is priced by weight rather than by how full the bin looks. And the Trail Waste Facility runs Monday to Friday, closes Sundays and opens only on the selected Saturdays the City lists, so the weekend you planned around may not be there.
Where these facts come from
The asbestos regulation and the demolition by-law named in the sections above. O. Reg. 278/05 is cited here to mark where our work stops and an abatement contractor's begins, and the by-law is what decides whether a given address sits inside the demolition control area.
Need demolition services?
Call or text for an up-front quote. Same-day and next-day service across Ottawa and Gatineau.