Demolition work in Cypress, from backyard pools to whole houses

What the ground and the lots look like around Cypress

The land here is flat, low and slow to drain. Rain that falls on a Cypress backyard does not run off quickly; it sits in the low corners, soaks into the clay and works its way toward street inlets, roadside ditches and detention ponds built into each subdivision. For demolition, that means equipment on a soaked lawn leaves ruts that hold water, and an open hole can fill like a bathtub after one thunderstorm.

Underneath it all sits heavy coastal clay, which puffs up after rain and pulls apart into fissures during dry spells. Driveways and patios across the area show the result: slabs that have heaved, settled, split into sections or tilted toward the house. A lot of the concrete people ask to have removed in Cypress is not old so much as worn out by that seasonal movement.

Typical subdivision lots are modest in width, with a fenced backyard and a tight side yard. Older acreage tracts still dot the area between newer developments, and those bring barns, sheds and slabs from long-gone mobile homes.

The houses: mostly slab-on-grade, mostly built in waves

Nearly every house in Cypress sits on a concrete slab poured on the prepared clay. Pier-and-beam construction is uncommon this far out, and basements are essentially absent. Building came in waves, so one drive can pass homes from several decades.

For a full teardown, the age of the house is what drives the environmental steps. Homes from the earlier waves are more likely to have older textured ceilings, flooring adhesives, siding or pipe wrap that need to be tested before anything comes down, and older layers of paint may contain lead. The house demolition page covers the survey, the abatement order and the rest of a full teardown in detail.

Flooding near Cypress Creek and what it leaves behind

Cypress Creek runs across the northern side of the area, and smaller channels feed into it from the subdivisions. When a slow-moving storm stalls over northwest Harris County, those channels rise, and homes on the lower ground near them can take water. Further south, land that drains toward Addicks Reservoir has its own history of high water during major storms.

After a flood, the first wave of work is usually interior: wet drywall, insulation, carpet, cabinets and baseboard cut out so the framing can dry. That is covered on the interior demolition page. Some flooded houses are later bought out or simply judged not worth rebuilding, and those become full teardowns. Owners rebuilding on a lot inside a mapped floodplain should expect the county to have a say in how high the new floor sits, which can shape what happens to the old slab.

Who reviews a demolition job in unincorporated Cypress

Most of Cypress is not inside any city, which surprises people who assume there is a local building department down the road. Instead, review and approval are spread across a few bodies. Harris County handles floodplain matters and some development review. The municipal utility district that serves your subdivision controls the water and sewer lines, and it usually wants its sewer service capped properly before a house is removed. Your homeowner association may have its own rules on work hours and how long a lot can stay bare.

Gas and electric service are disconnected by the companies that provide them, and Texas811 marks buried lines before anyone digs. Pull out your deed restrictions and association rules before the first site visit so nothing surprises you halfway through.

Jobs that come up again and again in Cypress

Because so many Cypress lots were built with a backyard pool, pool removal is one of the most common requests. Owners tire of the upkeep, a pool cracks after years of ground movement, or a buyer wants the yard back. Here are the projects that show up most:

• Older gunite and vinyl-liner pools filled in or fully removed so the yard can be regraded, explained on the pool removal page.
• Cracked and heaved driveways and patios broken up ahead of a new pour, covered under concrete removal.
• Storage sheds, carports and pergolas that have rotted or been damaged in a storm, handled on the garage and shed demolition page.
• Flooded rooms stripped to the studs after high water near the creeks.
• Barns, pole sheds and old slabs on remaining acreage tracts between subdivisions.
• Occasional full teardowns where a damaged or outdated house is replaced.

Access, streets and the neighbors next door

Subdivision streets in Cypress are generally wide enough for a truck and trailer, but cul-de-sacs, parked cars and curbside mailboxes still make staging a puzzle. Getting a machine into a fenced backyard often means taking down a fence panel or two and running across the side yard, and the gap between houses can be narrower than it looks from the street. Expect questions about gate widths, sprinkler heads and where a container can sit.

Neighbors in a tightly built subdivision will hear the work, so a good contractor plans truck traffic and noisy hours around them. Trees planted when the neighborhood was new are now big, with roots running under fences and into the equipment path.

Getting a Cypress project priced

No two lots price the same. The things that move a Cypress quote most are the size and type of what is coming out, how easily a machine can reach it, whether the old concrete is thick or heavily reinforced, how much fill is needed to bring a hole back to grade, any testing or abatement on an older house, and the haul distance to a recycling yard or landfill. The contractor sets the price after walking the property.

To get started, send the address, a few photos and a short description of what needs to go. If your property is closer in, the Houston page describes the city side of the region, and the full list of communities is on the areas we cover page.

Common questions here

The work, by type

Elsewhere in the Houston area