# House Demolition Cost: Debris Tons, Gate Fees, Clearing

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Publisher: SimplyWise, Inc. (https://www.simplywise.com)
Published: September 24, 2026
Updated: October 27, 2026
Category: Project Cost Guides
Summary: House demolition cost from published debris factors and named landfill gate fees. Set square footage, foundation and acres for tons and a disposal number.

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## House Demolition Cost: Debris Tons, Gate Fees, and Land Clearing

A teardown is priced by what it weighs, not by what it looks like. Set the square footage and the foundation, and the tons update as you type.

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Debris tons, gate fees, and machine time

What is the job

A teardown reads the foundation row. Clearing reads acres and your tons an acre.

Foundation removed with it

Building (sq ft)

Gate fee a ton

Acres to clear

Brush tons an acre

Machine hours

Machine rate an hour

Crew hours

Crew rate an hour

Machine opens at the Caltrans Caterpillar 320 rate, crew at the May 2025 mean laborer wage.

40.0 tons of debris

Debris factor used50 lb a sq ft, structure only

Disposal at your gate fee$7,068

Machine$1,660

Crew$1,201

Disposal, machine and crew$9,929

Debris factors from the EPA demolition worksheet, read September 11, 2026. The gate fee opens at the Oregon Metro rate.

At a glance

1. A teardown is priced by weight. EPA publishes debris factors a square foot, and 1,600 sq ft over a basement is 127 tons.
2. The gate decides the bid. The same ton costs $65.00 in one county and $243.38 in another.
3. The federal asbestos rule skips a lone house of four units or fewer. Many state and local air rules do not.

## House demolition cost is a weight problem

Every line on a teardown bends around one number: how many tons come off the lot. Tons set the truck count, the gate fee and the machine time.

That weight is published. EPA surveyed real teardowns and printed pounds a square foot.

## Published debris factors, by what leaves with the house

| What comes out | Debris a sq ft | A 1,600 sq ft house |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Structure only, crawl space | 50 lb | 40.0 tons |
| Plus slab, garage floor, driveway | 98.4 lb | 78.7 tons |
| Plus full basement, garage floor, driveway | 158.7 lb | 127.0 tons |
| Interior strip out, house wide | 19.55 lb | 15.6 tons |

The first three rows are EPA’s residential demolition worksheet. The interior row is a single Portland house remodel from EPA’s renovation surveys. The 50 lb figure is nine surveyed single family teardowns. Concrete is most of the gap: 48.4 of the 98.4, 108.7 of the 158.7.

Multi family surveyed at 127 lb. Nonresidential averaged 158 but ran 36 to 358, so never put a commercial factor on a house. It reads high for a bare strip out.

## The gate fee is the line that moves the bid

| Facility | Material | Fee a ton |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alachua County, Florida | Class I and Class III garbage | $65.00 |
| Oregon Metro, Portland | Trash and garbage | $176.70 |
| King County, Washington | Garbage | $243.38 |

Three named public facilities, not a national average. No national tipping fee exists. On 127 tons that spread is $8,255 against $30,909 for the same house.

Permits are published too. Portland charges $1,352.00 for a residential demolition permit, sewer cap and erosion control extra. For what rolls off instead, see dumpster rental prices (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/dumpster-rental-prices/).

## Turn the tonnage into a priced job

SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds, with material and labor lines. Pricing is $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual, with a 7-day free trial.

## Two lines a teardown cannot skip

The federal asbestos rule defines a facility at 40 CFR 61.141 to exclude residential buildings of four or fewer units, so a lone house sits outside it. Demolish more than one house at one site under one owner and 61.141 counts the group as an installation, so 61.145(a) applies: inspect first, then notice 10 working days out, and under 61.145(b)(3)(i) that clock runs even when nothing turns up.

OSHA adds the second. Rule 1926.850(a) wants a written engineering survey by a competent person. Rule 1926.850(c) has every gas, water, steam, sewer and electric line shut off, capped or otherwise controlled outside the building line first. Our asbestos removal cost (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/asbestos-removal-cost/) page carries abatement.

## Machine time and what the crew side pays

Caltrans publishes what it pays a contractor an hour to own and run equipment. In the September 2026 book a Caterpillar 320 excavator is $103.77. A 336F is $243.47, a D-6N XL crawler tractor $118.61. No operator is in that.

The May 2025 BLS OEWS table puts construction laborers at a $25.02 mean, a $37.54 ninetieth. Operating engineers sit at $31.87 and $48.60. Both are employee wages, not bill rates, and OEWS skips the self-employed.

## Land clearing cost per acre, and the number nobody publishes

We found no published market price for land clearing an acre by density class, so this page prints none, and the calculator takes yours.

The disposal half is published. Oregon Metro takes clean yard debris at $56.00 a ton and clean wood at $97.13. Both undercut the $176.70 mixed rate, so separating brush pays. Alachua takes brush at $65.00. Stumps are their own line: see stump grinding cost (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/stump-grinding-cost/).

## Price a demolition in four steps

1. Weigh it before you price it Square footage times the published factor, over 2,000, is your tons.
2. Call the gate you actually use Get the fee a ton, the minimum load, and whether it takes mixed debris.
3. Put the compliance lines on the sheet first Your state asbestos survey, the OSHA engineering survey, the utility caps.
4. Set machine and crew off your own numbers Published ownership rates and wage tables are reference points, not bill rates.

## Keep reading

- Construction Calculators (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/construction-calculators/)
- Dumpster Rental Prices (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/dumpster-rental-prices/)
- Junk Removal Pricing (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/junk-removal-pricing/)

## Sources

### Debris weight

- US EPA, Estimating 2003 Building-Related Construction and Demolition Materials Amounts (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-09/documents/estimating2003buildingrelatedcanddmaterialsamounts.pdf) (2026-09-11).

### Gate fees and permits

- Alachua County FY26 Fee Schedule (https://alachuacounty.us/Depts/OMB/Budgets/FY26%20Fee%20Schedule.pdf) (2026-09-11).
- Oregon Metro transfer fees (https://www.oregonmetro.gov/waste-disposal-and-prevention/need-get-rid-something/metro-central-transfer-station) (2026-09-24).
- King County disposal fees (https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/waste-services/garbage-recycling-compost/solid-waste-facilities/disposal-fees) (2026-09-11).
- Portland permit fee schedule (2026-09-11).

### Regulation

- eCFR, 40 CFR 61.141 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-61/subpart-M/section-61.141) (2026-09-11).
- eCFR, 40 CFR 61.145 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-61/subpart-M/section-61.145) (2026-09-11).
- eCFR, 29 CFR 1926.850 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-XVII/part-1926/subpart-T/section-1926.850) (2026-09-11).

### Machines and wages

- Caltrans equipment rental rates (https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/construction/documents/equipment-rental-rates-and-labor-surcharge/book_26_27_intv2.pdf) (2026-09-11).
- BLS OEWS May 2025 (47-2061, 47-2073; 2026-09-11).

### Product

- SimplyWise Cost Estimator, App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplywise-cost-estimator/id6670619664) (2026-09-09).

## Common questions about house demolition cost

### Weight and disposal

**How is house demolition cost calculated?**

By weight, then by the gate. Square footage times a published debris factor gives tons. Tons times the fee a ton gives disposal, then machine and crew go on top.

**How many tons of debris does a house produce?**

EPA surveys put a single family structure at 50 lb a square foot without foundations. A 1,600 sq ft house on a slab reaches 78.7 tons, over a basement 127.0.

**What does it cost to dump demolition debris?**

It depends on the gate. Alachua County, Florida charges $65.00 a ton, Oregon Metro $176.70 and King County, Washington $243.38.

### Permits, asbestos and clearing

**Do I need an asbestos inspection before a demolition?**

Often yes, under a state or local rule. The federal NESHAP at 40 CFR 61.141 excludes residential buildings of four or fewer units.

**What does land clearing cost an acre?**

No publisher states a price by density class, so this page prints none. Disposal is published: Oregon Metro takes clean yard debris at $56.00 a ton, Alachua brush at $65.00.

**Can SimplyWise price a demolition job from a photo?**

Yes. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds, with material and labor lines. Free to try, at $29.99/mo.

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