Interior demolition is the part of a remodel nobody budgets enough time for. It looks like the easy stage — swing a hammer, fill a truck — and then the tile turns out to be set in an inch of mud bed, the "non-load-bearing" wall is carrying a point load from the roof, and the pile in the driveway outgrows the container by Tuesday afternoon.
We do this as its own trade. Selective demolition means taking out exactly what's coming out, leaving exactly what's staying, and knowing which is which before the first wall opens.
What "selective" actually means
A gut takes an interior back to studs and slab. A selective strip-out takes out a defined scope — the cabinets and flooring, the drop ceiling, one partition wall — and leaves the rest intact and undamaged. Most jobs are selective, and the value is in the restraint: protecting the finishes that are staying, the floor you're walking debris across, the elevator lobby and the corridor between the suite and the dumpster.
We cover the paths, mask the openings, and run dust control before anything comes down. Then it comes out in order — trim and fixtures, then finishes, then substrate, then framing — because pulling framing first buries everything you still need to get at.
What we take out
Non-load-bearing partitions and the framing behind them. Cabinets, counters, vanities, tubs, tub surrounds, and shelving. Flooring of every kind including the thinset and mud bed under tile. Drywall, plaster, drop ceiling grid, tile, and soffits. Doors, jambs, casing, and baseboard. Built-ins, closet systems, and millwork. Non-structural stairs and platforms.
What we don't take out — and why we say so up front
Structural. A load-bearing wall, a beam, a column, or a header is engineering work, not demolition work. It needs a structural engineer's detail, shoring, and a building permit in every Front Range jurisdiction. We'll tell you a wall looks structural the day we walk it, so you can get the engineer moving instead of finding out the week you wanted to start.
Asbestos and lead. Those are separately licensed trades in Colorado, and we're not licensed for them. Colorado's asbestos rules require an inspection by a state-certified Asbestos Building Inspector before you disturb suspect material above the regulatory trigger amounts, and abatement may only be done by a Colorado-certified General Abatement Contractor. We coordinate the inspection, hand the abatement to a certified contractor, and come back for the non-hazardous demolition after clearance. The full picture is here.
Pre-1978 housing. Residential demolition that disturbs painted surfaces in housing built before 1978 falls under the EPA's Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule and has to be performed by an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm. Frontier Demolition isn't certified, so we don't take that work — we say so on the phone and point you to a firm that is. We work post-1978 residential and commercial space that isn't a child-occupied facility.
That's a shorter list of jobs than a competitor who'll tell you anything. It's also the reason nobody gets a stop-work order halfway through your kitchen.
The debris is the job
A kitchen gut produces more volume than most people picture — cabinets, counters, tile, drywall, subfloor, and appliances, in about four hours of work. A standalone demo contractor quotes the labor and hands the disposal back to you.
We own the disposal. Frontier Dumpster Bins is a sibling company, which means the container arrives when the crew arrives, gets swapped when it fills, and leaves on the same invoice. That's the whole reason this line exists — read how the haul-away side works.
Who hires us
Homeowners mid-remodel who want the ugly stage over fast. General contractors who need a space cleared and swept before framers, electricians, and drywallers land. Property managers turning a commercial suite between tenants. Flippers who need a house emptied on a clock.
Tell us what's coming out, what's staying, and when you need the space. Get an estimate.
Questions we get asked
- Do I need a permit for interior demolition?
- It depends on the city and on what the demo touches. Purely cosmetic work — cabinets, flooring, a drop ceiling — often doesn't require one, but most Front Range jurisdictions require a building permit once demolition involves structural elements, and separate electrical, plumbing, or mechanical permits once those systems are disconnected or removed. We check the rule for your address before we start; each city's requirement is on its service-area page.
- Can you take out a load-bearing wall?
- Not as demolition. A load-bearing wall needs a structural engineer's detail, temporary shoring, and a permit. We'll flag it when we walk the space, and we can do the demolition around it once the structural scope is engineered and permitted by the right trade.
- Do you work in homes built before 1978?
- No. Demolition that disturbs painted surfaces in pre-1978 housing is covered by the EPA's Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule and must be done by an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm. We aren't certified, so we don't take that work — we'll tell you straight and point you toward a firm that is.
- What about asbestos?
- We don't abate it, and no reputable demo contractor in Colorado does without a General Abatement Contractor certification. If the material is suspect and the quantity is over Colorado's trigger levels, an inspection by a certified Asbestos Building Inspector comes first. We coordinate that, refer abatement to a certified contractor, and handle the non-hazardous demolition afterward.
- Do you haul the debris away?
- Yes — that's the point of the brand. The bins are ours through Frontier Dumpster Bins, so the container lands with the crew, gets swapped when it fills, and leaves on the same invoice. You don't source a dumpster, match delivery windows, or eat a day when it doesn't show.
- How clean is the space when you leave?
- Broom-clean. Debris out, nails pulled or knocked down, floor swept, and the paths we used through the rest of the building put back the way we found them. The next trade should be able to start without cleaning up after us.
The rest of what we demo
Read up
Interior Demolition near you
Denver · Lakewood · Arvada · Wheat Ridge · Golden · Littleton · all cities
Tell us what's coming out.
We'll scope the demo, tell you plainly what testing or permitting the job needs, and quote the strip-out and the haul-off as one number.