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Business has been booming for National Demolition Contractors since we spoke with them one year ago. For a company that relies solely on word-of-mouth to fill their work schedules, National keeps remarkably busy. “Part of National’s strategy for success is to consistently look at future trends in construction and development projects. There’s been a big boom in converting existing old commercial structures around Los Angeles into residential lofts and studios,” said co-owner Jennifer Martin.

The Wilshire Project in West Hollywood is a prime example of this tactic. National demolished three buildings to make room for a 22-story loft to be constructed on the property. The loft apartments will sit above retail space to revamp business in the tired area. National used five CAT Excavators ranging from 320BL to 325BL, two 10,000-pound UB Hydraulic Breakers, and two UB Hydraulic Pulverizers to complete the $110,000 job. Five National employees completed the month-long job at the end of May.

Recycling is another trend that National has noticed and incorporated into their ideals. “Our goal is to recycle 70-80% of what we take out of a jobsite,” said Martin. National recycles approximately 180,000 pounds of ferrous material and 3,500 tons of nonferrous material annually. From the Wilshire Project alone National recycled 90 tons of construction debris via California Waste Services and 700 tons of concrete were taken to concrete crushing facility. Construction debris is made of materials such as wood, stucco, wiring, insulation, metal piping, copper wire, and aluminum. “We take that to a facility for further sorting that does about 85% recycling,” said Martin. The money from recycling is factored into the bid proposal.

“We have seen a push for more recycling requirements on our projects. This is good for our environment and will ease the burden on landfills,” said Cesar Tenorio, Operations Manager for National. Tenorio works on improving recycling efforts for all demolition projects. National continually searches for new methods in recycling as much as possible on all demolition jobs.

Back in 1997 National Demolition Contractors began with 19-year-old Martin and her husband, 20-year-old Jeff Perry. Neither of the two had any background in demolition work, but both shared the entrepreneurial spirit that drove them to buy an $1,800 dump truck and start their very own business. Perry manned the equipment in the early days and Martin saw to the office work. Today their two-member investment has grown into a 6 million-dollar success. Perry is co-owner and manager of field personnel and Martin is co-owner and manager of office personnel. In the past year National has grown about 20 percent.

“Our largest project was a 3.5 million dollar demolition job in Commerce,” said Martin. “The project consisted of complete demolition of 30 industrial buildings. We had 9 CAT excavators, ranging from 320s to 330s, and a variety of UB attachments including 4000 to 10,000 pound hammers and hydraulic pulverizers.”

“One of our most challenging projects was a soil remediation job, which required the removal of over 15,000 yards of contaminated soil,” said Martin. “What made this job challenging was the strict time frame based on the amount of work. We had to excavate down to the water table to make sure all of the contaminated soil was removed. The second part of the project was just as challenging, importing 15,000 yards of clean soil.”

This summer National plans to “Work on a $3 million demolition project near downtown Los Angeles which will consist of 75 industrial structures,” said Senior Estimator and Operations Manager Darrel Martin. “We hope to achieve 80 percent recycling on this project.”