A blog to record my experience in getting a new garage built in Chicago by the company Garage King.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Goodbye old garage

The teardown begins

The teardown continues

The rear wall goes

The cat is a bit bewildered -- where did it go?
Goodbye old garage.

The wreck-and-haul guys came today, and, well, wrecked and hauled. Garage King sub-contracted the work with a company called Donco Hauling. Basically one guy with a Bobcat made short work of the garage, with two trucks, one for the garage itself, and one for the broken up slab and the bit of sidewalk we are replacing as well.

Everything went very smoothly. The Bobcat operator showed up first -- very pleasant and considerate guy. We chatted for a bit, until the trucks showed up, and then he got to work with his Bobcat. What is it about seeing workers and machines tearing stuff down? And to see someone who is completely skilled and comfortable with a machine. The guy (never got his name) had to work within a fairly small space. You might be able to see in the pictures that there is a chain link fence that went right up to the garage that further constrains the space. The bobcat-guy wheeled the machine around and around within the small space -- 14 x 20 ft - lifting entire walls at a time, leaving the overhead phone and electric wires intact, the fence too, and the garden was hardly touched. I had the impression that he wore the machine, something like Sigourney Weaver / Ripley in Aliens, but much smoother.

And then it was over, the garage was gone. The cat was bewildered about the changed shape of his little world, and me a bit too. The yard feels exposed without the building there.

I am very happy with the wreck-and-haul job.

jd

3 comments:

Rodd Giddens said...

The guy on the bobcat name is don

inkjet said...

The fella running the machine is Don of Donco Hauling, Inc.
I had my garage as well as two houses demolished and an excavation done by this guy and his team.
They are the best at what they do from start to finish.
Very professional, go above and beyond. Took care of all my permits, fencing, cut offs all the things associated with the demolishing of a structure that I had no clue was even needed. I just thought come and rip it down.
Don walked us thru the projects step by step.
His prices are right in line with others however, I actually felt I owed him more for the extra time he spent making sure we were sure of what we wanted to do. He also put us in touch with the other tradesmen we needed to complete our projects.
If you need something gone
this guy is someone you should know.

Unknown said...

Now that's what you call utter destruction! It looks like a clean job, considering the tight space.

Christopher Guarracino