People picture demolition as the dramatic part — the machine, the building coming down, the dust. And honestly, that is the easy part. The work that actually matters happens before the excavator ever touches the building. Do those steps right and the job is safe, legal, and clean. Skip them and you get somebody hurt, a hit gas line, a red-tag from the state, or a buried hazard the next owner finds the hard way.
So here's the honest walkthrough of what we do before we tear down your barn, house, or outbuilding — start to finish.
1. We Walk the Site and Give You a Straight Quote
Everything starts with Levi walking the site with you. We look at the building, figure out exactly what's coming down, whether the foundation or slab is part of it, how we'll get a machine and trucks in, and whether there's anything worth salvaging. Then you get a straight, itemized, free estimate — not a per-square-foot guess off a photo. You can read more on how we price it in our cost-to-tear-down-a-barn post.
2. Permits and the Asbestos Notification
This is the step most people don't know about, and it's the one that sets the timeline. In Illinois, there's an IL EPA asbestos notification with a 10-day clock before demolition can start on many buildings — even when no asbestos is present. Where asbestos is a concern (older roofing, siding, insulation, floor tile), a licensed inspector checks first, and any regulated material is handled properly.
3. Utilities Off and a JULIE 811 Locate
Nothing comes down with live service to it. Power, gas, water, and anything else feeding the building get disconnected by the utility first. And before any digging, we make sure JULIE 811 has come out and marked the underground lines — gas, electric, fiber, water — so the excavator never finds a live line the hard way. We coordinate this; you're not left to chase the utility companies alone.
4. Septic and Well — Handled, Not Ignored
On a lot of rural teardowns there's an old septic system or a well in play, and these can't just be left.
- Septic tank. An abandoned tank gets pumped and properly collapsed or removed so there's no hidden void in the ground that someone — or a tractor — drops into later.
- Well. An old or abandoned well gets capped to code, so it isn't a hazard or a path for contamination.
This is exactly the kind of thing a fly-by-night crew skips and a careful one doesn't.
5. Salvage Pulled, Then the Teardown
If there's anything worth saving and you want it — hand-hewn barn beams, good barn wood, fixtures, clean steel — we pull that first. (Whether salvage makes sense is its own decision; we walk through it in Is Your Old Barn Worth Saving?.) Then the building comes down in a controlled way — not just shoved over — and the debris gets sorted, processed, and hauled off. Clean metal goes to scrap, concrete to the right place, only true trash to the landfill.
6. Foundation Out and the Site Graded Clean
The last step is the one that makes it look like the building was never there. If the plan is to remove the foundation or slab, it comes out, the hole gets backfilled and compacted in lifts so it won't settle, and we grade the site clean and level. Whether you're rebuilding, putting it back to field, or just want a tidy yard, you're left with ground that's ready — not a mess and a soft spot.
Why the Process Is the Point
Anybody with a machine can push a building over. What you're actually hiring is the part you don't see: the notification started on time, the locates done, the utilities killed, the septic and well handled, and the site left clean and safe. That's the difference between a demolition done right and a liability you inherit.
Got a building you're ready to be rid of? Here's our full demolition service — or just call (217) 809-0779 and we'll walk it with you.