Deconstruction and Salvage in Mountain View

Why Deconstruct Instead of Demolish in Mountain View

Mountain View's oldest houses, mostly in Old Mountain View and the blocks near downtown, were built with lumber that is hard to find today: dense, old-growth redwood and fir, tight-grained and straight. Many also have original doors, windows, hardware, built-in cabinets, clawfoot tubs and brick chimneys. A machine teardown sends all of that to recycling or landfill as mixed debris.

Deconstruction saves those materials. Some owners want to reuse them in the new house, like redwood siding turned into an accent wall or old doors rehung. Others donate them to building material reuse groups or sell them. And some simply want the building to come down with as little waste as possible.

Garages and sheds can be good deconstruction candidates too. A detached garage behind a bungalow on Mercy Street or Church Street may be framed in the same old redwood as the house, and it is small enough to take apart by hand in a few days before an ADU goes in.

How Building Deconstruction Works

Deconstruction generally goes from the inside out and top down. First come fixtures, cabinets, doors, windows, trim and anything else that can be removed whole. Then roofing, followed by roof framing, walls and floor framing, with nails pulled and lumber stacked by size and type. The foundation is usually removed by machine at the end.

Full deconstruction of a whole house takes much longer than demolition and needs more labor. A common middle ground is partial salvage: we pull the most valuable items by hand, then finish with a machine teardown. That keeps cost and time closer to a regular demolition while still saving the best material.

Salvaged materials are stored on site briefly, then moved to you, to a reuse organization, or to a buyer, depending on your plan.

Asbestos and Lead Before Salvage

Older materials are the ones most worth saving, and also the ones most likely to have lead paint or asbestos. Before deconstruction begins, the building gets an asbestos survey like any demolition. Any asbestos-containing materials are removed by a certified abatement contractor first. We coordinate that work, but we are not the abatement contractor.

Painted wood, windows and doors from before 1978 likely have lead paint. That does not mean they cannot be reused, but they should be handled and refinished carefully. We let you know which salvaged pieces are painted so you or the next owner can plan for that.

Permits and Recycling Credit for Deconstruction

A deconstruction job is permitted exactly like a teardown, with a Mountain View demolition permit and the air district notice. Utilities are disconnected the same way. In Los Altos, the permit comes from that city's building division.

Salvaged and reused materials count toward the CALGreen construction waste diversion requirements, often making it easy to exceed the required percentage. We document what was salvaged, recycled and disposed of for your permit closeout.

Deconstruction Cost Compared With Demolition

Deconstruction usually costs more in labor than a machine teardown because it takes longer. Some of that can be offset by lower disposal costs and, when materials are donated to qualified nonprofits, possible tax benefits that your tax advisor can explain. The value of the salvaged material itself depends on its condition and the market.

The biggest cost factors are how much of the building is taken apart by hand, the age and quality of the materials, how much is painted or damaged, and access for storing and moving salvage on a small lot.