Demolition Contractor in Greenwich, CT

What comes down in Greenwich, on small lots and big ones

About 64,600 people live in Greenwich, on about 48.5 square miles in southwestern Fairfield County. State assessor records count about 13,900 single-family houses, and more than seven in ten were built before 1978. When one of them comes down, a full house demolition takes out the house and its foundation. The debris is hauled away, the cellar hole is filled and the lot is left flat.

About half the houses sit in the R-7 and R-12 zones, with minimum lots of 7,500 or 12,000 square feet. In the R-7 zone, a side yard can be as narrow as 5 feet. On lots like these, the excavator, the debris and the trucks all have to fit beside the house next door. Access gets planned first, since it sets the order of the work.

In the RA-2 and RA-4 zones, the minimum lot is two or four acres. Big lots can hold woods, stone walls, ledge and a long driveway, so clearing often comes with the teardown. Barns, detached garages and sheds can come down on their own, too, with garage, barn and shed demolition.

How does a demolition permit work in Greenwich?

In Greenwich, the Building Inspection Division of the Department of Public Works oversees demolition permits. The town runs them on two tracks. One is for structures built before 1940 and more than 500 square feet. The other covers structures built after 1939 or under 500 square feet, and they still need a demolition permit.

On either track, the town wants a letter from each utility confirming the service is disconnected. The Public Works Sewer Division verifies a public sewer disconnect. The application also needs a Tax Collector stamp, a wetlands agency sign-off and a Department of Health signature. Each adjoining owner gets notice by mail, too.

The older track has a 45-day minimum wait, and an objection filed in that time adds 45 more. The town calls it the 45/90 day waiting period. The wait starts the day after the application is accepted or the newspaper notice runs, whichever is later. That notice runs in the Greenwich Time.

On that track, notice also goes to the Greenwich Historical Society and the Historic District Commission. A demolition sign goes up on the site, readable from the street. Next door, the statewide list of demolition delay ordinances shows a 180-day delay for Stamford. We tell you which offices a Greenwich job touches and plan the work around them.

Land clearing and site work near Greenwich wetlands

Greenwich's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency reviews work in and near wetlands and watercourses. Its Upland Review Area runs 100 feet from any wetland or watercourse. Inside a public water supply watershed, it is 150 feet. Around a public water supply reservoir, it runs 200 feet from the mean high water mark.

Inside that area, clearing, grubbing, grading and excavating are regulated activities on their own. Grubbing means pulling roots and stumps out of the ground. In a wetland or its buffer, cutting more than 2 to 3 trees needs a permit. Agency staff will meet owners at the office or on site, and there is no charge for that consultation.

That shapes land clearing and site work on a Greenwich lot with a brook, a pond or a reservoir nearby. The review area is upland, so a dry corner of the yard can still fall inside it. Near the water, brush clearing for a path to a pond counts, too. We lay out the clearing and the dig around what the agency approves.

Excavation in Greenwich: till, ledge and the new foundation

Charlton, the common deep upland soil in Fairfield County, formed in glacial till: soil and stone the glaciers left. In shallow ledge soils like the Hollis series, hard bedrock sits about 10 to 20 inches down. Stone walls, boulders and ledge can all turn up when a Greenwich lot is cleared and dug. We dig with excavators, fitted with buckets, thumbs and the attachments a job calls for.

After a teardown, we fill the cellar hole and grade the lot so it is left flat. For a new house, the foundation excavation comes next, and we backfill once the foundation walls are in. Utility trenching covers the water, sewer, electric and gas lines. The trades and the utilities make the connections.

Call Before You Dig is free in Connecticut, and it serves contractors who plan to excavate or demolish. We put in a request before the machines start. Greenwich is about 40 miles from Monroe, down Route 25 and I-95. Each excavation job here begins with a look at the site and a free written estimate.