Process
What to expect the week demolition starts
Demolition week is the loudest, dustiest and most disorienting part of a remodel, and also the shortest. Knowing what happens in what order makes it considerably easier to live through.
INLAY Construction · March 2026 · 5 min read
Before anything comes apart
The first half day is protection, not demolition. Floor protection goes down on every path the crew will use, doorways into the work area get sealed, and containment goes up with negative air where the scope calls for it.
We also confirm shutoffs and access: where the water and gas valves are, which panel breakers serve the work area, where the crew parks, and where the dumpster sits without blocking your neighbors.
The demolition itself
Cabinetry, fixtures and finishes come out first, then surfaces, then whatever framing the plan removes. Anything being salvaged is labeled and set aside before the noisy part starts.
Expect the loudest hours to be concentrated in the middle of the day and expect vibration through the house if there is any concrete or tile removal. It is worth planning calls and remote work around it rather than hoping.
What usually turns up
This is the week concealed conditions appear, because it is the first time anyone can see the structure. In older Austin houses the usual finds are framing cut through by earlier work, failed or undersized drain lines, wiring that was never brought up to code, water damage around old wet areas, and foundation movement that the finishes had been hiding.
When we find something, the sequence is the same every time: stop, document it with photos, price the fix, and bring it to you as a written change order before continuing. You see the cause and the cost before you decide.
Living with it
For a single kitchen or bathroom you can usually stay in the house. Set up the temporary kitchen before demolition day rather than during it, move anything fragile out of adjacent rooms, and plan for pets to be somewhere else while doors are propped open.
For a full house renovation you will be moving out, and we will have told you that at consultation rather than at demolition.
By Friday
At the end of the first week the space is stripped, the debris is gone, and the structure is visible. You will get a written update covering what came out, anything we found, what changed in the schedule if something did, and what happens next.
Demolition week looks like destruction and is actually the most informative week of the project. Everything after it is built on what we learned when the walls came off.