What Happens Before We Tear Down Your Barn or House — The Walkthrough

Published June 19, 2026 · Updated September 14, 2026 · Brohez Trucking LLC · Mattoon, IL

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 what has to be cleared out of it first. 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 get backwards, and it's the one that can set the timeline. The trigger is the building type, not the building's age. A single-family private residence is exempt from the federal NESHAP asbestos survey and the IEPA 10-working-day notification — no inspector, no waiting period, so on a house teardown this step never holds your date. A commercial, institutional or agricultural building is not exempt: a licensed inspector surveys it first and the 10-working-day notice goes to Illinois EPA before anything comes down. So on a barn, that clock is real; on your house, it isn't.

3. Utilities Off and a JULIE 811 Locate

Nothing comes down with live service to it, and the split here matters. Electric, gas and water have to be disconnected and removed at the meter by the utility companies, and only you as the account holder can make that call — nobody else can order it, which is why it is the single most common reason a teardown date slips. Make those calls early. What we handle: the JULIE 8-1-1 locate before any digging, so the underground lines get marked and the excavator never finds a live one the hard way; any private utilities such as a well or a propane tank; and capping the sewer. Tell us at the walk-through what's out there and we'll tell you which side of the line it falls on.

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. Cleared Out, Then the Teardown

Anything you want out of the building, take it out before we mobilize — tools, equipment, fixtures, whatever it is, it's your property. Once we're on site the building comes down as a unit; we don't hand-pull material out of it. (Still deciding whether it has to come down at all? That's its own question, and 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.

What Is Required to Demolish a Building?

Short version, and it is the six steps above in one place. To demolish a building in Illinois you need a permit where the structure sits inside a city or village, an asbestos determination driven by the building type rather than its age, every utility disconnected and capped, a JULIE 811 locate before anything digs, and — on rural ground — the septic and the well dealt with properly instead of buried. After that it is the teardown itself, the foundation, and the grade left clean behind it.

What changes from job to job is which of those actually apply. A detached garage on a single-family lot in town needs the permit and the utility cut-offs and almost nothing else. A commercial building needs the survey and the 10-working-day notification whatever its age. A barn on unincorporated county ground may need no local permit at all and still needs the locate. The order matters as much as the list — a permit pulled after the fact is a different and more expensive conversation than one pulled first.

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.

Before The Teardown — Common Questions

What has to happen before a building can be demolished?

Before the machine touches the building: a site walk and quote, any required permit, and the Illinois EPA asbestos notification where the building type calls for one (a single-family residence is exempt; a commercial, institutional or ag building is not). Then the public utility disconnects, which you order as the account holder, a JULIE 811 locate, handling an old septic tank or well, and clearing the building out. Then the teardown, and finally the foundation and a clean graded site. Skipping these steps is what gets people hurt or red-tagged.

Do I need to disconnect the utilities myself?

Partly — and the split matters. Electric, gas and water have to be disconnected and removed at the meter by the utility companies, and only you as the account holder can order that; nobody else can make the call for you, so start it early because it is the most common reason a date slips. What we handle is the JULIE 811 locate so the underground lines are marked, any private utilities such as a well or propane tank, and capping the sewer. You aren't left to figure out the sequence alone — we tell you at the walk-through exactly which calls are yours.

What happens to an old septic tank or well on the property?

They have to be handled, not ignored. An abandoned septic tank gets pumped and properly collapsed or removed so there's no buried void, and an old well gets capped to code. Leaving either one is a safety hazard and can be a code problem — so it's part of doing the job right.

How long does the whole process take?

The teardown itself is often a day or two. The lead time is the public utility disconnect, which only you as the account holder can order, and — on a commercial, institutional or agricultural building — the Illinois EPA asbestos notification and its 10-working-day clock. A single-family house is exempt from that notification, so on a house it's the utilities that set your date. We start whatever applies early so it isn't what holds your job up.

What must be in place before demolition?

Five things, and they are not all needed on every job. A demolition permit if the building sits inside city or village limits. An asbestos determination — which rides on the building type, not its age, so a single-family private residence is exempt while a commercial or ag structure is not, whatever year it went up. Every utility disconnected and capped at the main, with the paperwork to prove it. A JULIE 811 locate on file before anything digs, which is free and is state law. And on rural ground, the septic tank pumped and crushed or filled and the well capped by someone licensed to cap it. Get those in place and the teardown itself is the easy part.

What permits are needed to demo a house?

Inside a town, a local demolition permit from whoever runs building and zoning — the department name varies, and in Mattoon for instance it is Community Development rather than Public Works. Most municipalities want proof the utilities are disconnected before they will issue it, so the sequence is disconnects first, permit second. Out on unincorporated county ground there is frequently no local demolition permit at all, though the county may still want to know. What people expect and usually do not need on a house: the federal and IEPA asbestos survey and the 10-working-day notification do not apply to a single-family private residence — unless it is coming down as part of a larger commercial or urban-renewal project, or the building is over four dwelling units. We confirm which of these your address actually needs before anything is scheduled.