Case Study — Interior Demolition (North York)
Project background
This project involved interior demolition inside an occupied residential building in North York. The scope included a full strip-out of the interior prior to renovation, with strict coordination requirements from building management.
The client needed demolition completed within a fixed timeframe, without damaging common areas or creating conflicts with property management.
Client task
The task included:
- Interior demolition of the living area
- Full demolition of two bathrooms and two toilets
- Complete kitchen demolition
- Removal of all floor tile
- Proper waste removal through shared corridors
All work had to be approved and coordinated with the building’s management company.
Main risks
Interior demolition in occupied buildings carries several real risks:
- Damage to common corridors and elevators
- Complaints or work stoppage due to poor protection
- Delays caused by improper logistics and waste handling
- Conflicts with property management due to non-compliance
Even relatively “simple” interior demolition can fail if these risks are ignored.
Why standard demolition often fails
Non-professional crews often focus only on demolition itself and underestimate:
- coordination with management,
- corridor protection,
- debris logistics,
- daily cleanup requirements.
This usually leads to complaints, fines, or forced shutdown of work.
DRM Team approach
We planned the project before demolition started:
- Coordinated access, protection, and waste removal with the management company
- Fully protected corridors and shared areas
- Organized debris removal to avoid disruption to residents
- Assigned a three-person crew optimized for interior strip-out work
Demolition was performed systematically, room by room, without uncontrolled damage.
Outcome
- Interior demolition completed in 3 days
- All materials removed from site
- No damage to common areas
- No conflicts with building management
- Work completed within the agreed timeframe
This project shows that interior demolition is not just about breaking materials, but about control, coordination, and responsibility inside occupied buildings.