Demolition in the Florida Keys, planned around one road and the water

A quote follows a visit to the property, or a review of photos and drawings when those show enough. The figure moves with the building's materials and height, the asbestos survey, the utility disconnects, how equipment reaches the lot, and the haul, because everything leaves the island chain by truck. We do not publish prices, since two lots that look alike seldom cost alike.

No. A shed, a pool, a slab or one interior wall gets a quote, and so does an entire building, whether the work is selective or structural. Describe what is standing and what has to stay, and we price that scope.

Almost always, for anything structural. Which office issues it depends on the key. Key West, Marathon, Islamorada and Key Colony Beach run their own building departments, and Monroe County handles most of the rest. Once you hire Romco, the application is ours to assemble and file, and so is the inspection calendar up to the final sign-off. Check what your parcel's office requires, because lists differ.

An independent licensed consultant surveys the building first, because the federal asbestos rule calls for a thorough inspection before a regulated demolition and the state notice depends on it. Should the survey turn up asbestos that the job would disturb, a separately licensed abatement firm takes it out. Romco books and sequences both visits, but abatement is not work we perform.

No one can name a date until the facts are known. The start depends on how fast your permit office reviews the file, when the utility letters arrive, the asbestos survey and the notice that follows it, any flood-zone or habitat review, the weather, and the building itself. When those are settled we send you the order of work and what each step waits on.

Yes. Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. Some trades need a license of their own: asbestos removal, electrical disconnects and tree work are examples. Those are done by firms that hold it, and we fit them into one schedule.

That falls to the utility companies and licensed trades. The power company ends electric service, the water utility deals with the meter, and a licensed plumber caps water and sewer lines. Where a lot has a septic tank, that tank gets a separate abandonment permit. Key West also wants a plumbing permit for the water cap to accompany the demolition permit. We ask for the letters, follow them up, and file when the set is whole.

Monroe County has no landfill, so waste is hauled to the mainland. We sort it, load it, and send it to licensed disposal or recycling facilities, and the long haul is priced in the quote as its own line. Clean concrete and metal are usually pulled out of the mixed pile first. Any asbestos waste moves on its own, handled by the abatement firm under separate rules.

The whole county, from Key Largo and Ocean Reef south through Islamorada, Marathon and the Lower Keys to Key West and Stock Island. Our headquarters are in Fort Lauderdale. Every office keeps its own checklist, and we follow the one that applies to your parcel.

In many cases you can, if the work is ordered for it. We plan around what remains: an engineer designs any shoring where structure comes out, dust and debris are walled off from the occupied side, and hours are agreed with the owner or association. That plan is written before anything is opened.