Southwest Destructors

From the first day I called (located them on Angie's list) Ross was sympathetic to what had happened, attentive and patient in explaining the process and timely (he said he would come out and give me an estimate that day and he did).  My initial call was at 9:00 am and by 7:00 pm that evening, I had a bid in hand.

He provided his contact information and that of Matt, his POC for the site job.  They kept me abreast daily as to when to expect a crew to show up and what to expect.  When I asked for a copy of their insurance to provide to our insurance company, he had it emailed within minutes of our conversation.

This company is clearly home grown and they take extraordinary pride in their work and community relations.  While the complete loss of our home was unimaginable, it was nice to find a company who took their job seriously, at the same time, respected our loss.  The site team that was used for the actual demonstration were kind, compassionate and patient with our emotions.

Without question, or reservation, I recommend this company for any professional service they offer.  Absolute 100% statisfaction.

They scheduled this small job between their other larger jobs elsewhere.  Since time of service was not crucial for our project, this stop-gap project worked well for both of us.

The large (16'x36') in ground pool at my wife's family home was unusable due to structural cracks and outdated plumbing. We explored repairing it to its former pristine condition, but the repair bids were comparable to the cost of installing a new pool. Instead we decided to demolish and fill the pool. We were surprised to find few companies willing to tackle this project and the few landscaping/pool companies who submitted estimates were inexperienced with pool demolition. The bids we did receive seemed high.
We decided to find someone who had actual experience demolishing a pool and found Ross Rathgeber (Southwest Destructors) by reviewing City of Austin demolition permit applications. He inspected the pool, made a few suggestions, and gave us a bid on the spot. We learned that with pool demolition projects, the biggest variable is equipment access. Unfortunately, our access was very limited and the Bobcat was the only equipment which could clear the small space between the house and a storage shed.
On the first day, the Bobcat operator jack-hammered the pool's concrete apron, punched holes in the bottom on a 3'x3' grid, and demolished the pool sides to a minimum 24" below grade -- the rubble was placed in the bottom. The noise was incredible. On day 2, three huge dump truck loads of fill dirt were moved from the street in front to the backyard -- one Bobcat load at a time. In spite of countless trips over several hours through the narrow opening with inches to spare, there was no damage to the house or storage shed. Ross had also assured us that the 10,000 lb. Bobcat would adequately compact the fill and not leave a depression weeks later and he was correct. Finally, the crew finish graded the yard to drain properly and it was ready for the landscaping crew. When they were done, the crew spent almost 3 hours cleaning the yard and the street where the fill had been dumped.
In summary, Ross was a pleasure to work with -- knowledgeable, good communications, no surprises. At his suggestion, we were able to save money by pulling the City of Austin demolition permit ourselves -- it wasn't that difficult. In spite of the fact that it was a noisy, dirty project his crew was efficient and industrious so it was completed quickly. In retrospect, we are pleased with the decision and believe we received good value for the price of the work. I would recommend this company without reservations.