4 ms·

Off topic, but is crushing houses fun? It sounds like it'd be a lot of fun.

jethro_tell 11y ago
It is so much fun that many years, I schedule summer vacation to coincide with a house crushing from my old boss. I go out and give home 2 free days of labor cleaning up after the crushing in exchange for getting to drive into someones kitchen with a dozer. It's harder than you would think, you kinda try to scrape the inside out through the windows or a hole you made in the walls, then push it in on itself. It's really easy to get a pile of garbage that is too weak to drive on and too tall to pull the top off of. That's when you have to start driving dump truck and realized there are people who do this for a living and you're just playing around. For the record though, cleaning up involves driving a dump truck, bobcat or excavator. It's not like I have a shovel in hand for more than an hour in the week.
- beachstartup 11y ago
  i always thought the guys who imploded buildings had a fun job too.
  - jethro_tell 11y ago
    That would be pretty cool but the vast majority of the job would be drilling in concrete which is pretty tough work. The pay off would be pretty cool though.
kaybe 11y ago
There is probably a place where you can pay for doing it, like the excavator parks where you can shovel gravel from one corner to the next.
- jethro_tell 11y ago
  Pay to crush a house no. Pay to dig a hole yes. The thing is digging a foundation for a house is a lot like digging a ditch with a shovel. After the first cup of coffee it's mind numbing, just taking the scoop from the in front of the last scoop and putting it in the truck. I've laid utilities in a strate line for a mile and a half in the country. Every scoop just like the last. Put it in the dump truck, is the truck full? Do I need to back up? Am I still on the line? Take another scoop. Repeat 6 times then honk. One truck leaves, another takes its spot, honk when the truck is under the bucket, take a scoop. You don't want to divide you shift into 30 second increments then do the same cycle 1000 times a day.

It is so much fun that many years, I schedule summer vacation to coincide with a house crushing from my old boss. I go out and give home 2 free days of labor cleaning up after the crushing in exchange for getting to drive into someones kitchen with a dozer. It's harder than you would think, you kinda try to scrape the inside out through the windows or a hole you made in the walls, then push it in on itself. It's really easy to get a pile of garbage that is too weak to drive on and too tall to pull the top off of. That's when you have to start driving dump truck and realized there are people who do this for a living and you're just playing around. For the record though, cleaning up involves driving a dump truck, bobcat or excavator. It's not like I have a shovel in hand for more than an hour in the week.

beachstartup 11y ago
i always thought the guys who imploded buildings had a fun job too.
- jethro_tell 11y ago
  That would be pretty cool but the vast majority of the job would be drilling in concrete which is pretty tough work. The pay off would be pretty cool though.

kaybe 11y ago

There is probably a place where you can pay for doing it, like the excavator parks where you can shovel gravel from one corner to the next.

jethro_tell 11y ago
Pay to crush a house no. Pay to dig a hole yes. The thing is digging a foundation for a house is a lot like digging a ditch with a shovel. After the first cup of coffee it's mind numbing, just taking the scoop from the in front of the last scoop and putting it in the truck. I've laid utilities in a strate line for a mile and a half in the country. Every scoop just like the last. Put it in the dump truck, is the truck full? Do I need to back up? Am I still on the line? Take another scoop. Repeat 6 times then honk. One truck leaves, another takes its spot, honk when the truck is under the bucket, take a scoop. You don't want to divide you shift into 30 second increments then do the same cycle 1000 times a day.