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Most demolition jobs in Narberth don’t go sideways because of the demo itself. They go sideways when a contractor opens up a wall in a 1918 Victorian twin and finds something they’re not equipped to handle. Asbestos in the plaster. Lead paint on every surface. Pipe wrap that hasn’t been touched in 60 years. If the person holding the sledgehammer isn’t also certified to deal with what’s inside, your project stops — and the clock starts running on a mess you didn’t budget for.
When you hire EJS Environmental Services, that scenario doesn’t happen. We handle testing, abatement, and demolition under one roof. You don’t coordinate two separate companies, you don’t wait for a second contractor to get on the schedule, and you don’t get a surprise invoice from a hazmat team that showed up after the fact. The job keeps moving because the people doing the demo are the same people certified to deal with what they find.
Narberth is one of the most densely settled residential communities in Pennsylvania — third in the state by residential density. That means your neighbors are close, the lots are tight, and the way a demolition crew manages dust, debris, and containment on your job site matters beyond your own four walls. We use HEPA filtration systems and proper containment protocols on every job. That’s not an upgrade — it’s how the work gets done here.
EJS Environmental Services LLC has been doing environmental hazard abatement and demolition work in Narberth and throughout Montgomery County for over 20 years. That means we’ve worked in homes just like yours — pre-war Craftsman bungalows, Victorian twins near the Narberth Station corridor, Dutch Colonial Revivals in the Narbrook Park area. We know what this housing stock looks like from the inside, and we know how to handle it correctly.
We’re fully licensed, bonded, and insured. We hold a state-issued asbestos certification under Pennsylvania’s Act 194, and we carry a formal Certified Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor designation — not a general “lead-safe” training card, but the actual credential required by the EPA’s RRP Rule for work on pre-1978 residential properties. In Narberth, where essentially every home predates 1978, that distinction matters more than most homeowners realize until they’re mid-project.
We’re also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If something goes wrong in an older Narberth home — a burst pipe, water damage, a fire — you can reach us right now, not tomorrow morning.
It starts with a free estimate. We come out, assess the space, and give you a clear picture of what the project involves — including whether testing for asbestos or lead is warranted before any work begins. In Narberth, where the median home was built around 1920, that testing step is almost always part of the conversation. It’s not an upsell. It’s what responsible demolition looks like in a borough with this kind of housing stock.
If hazardous materials are identified, we handle the abatement before the demo proceeds. That means no stopping the job midway, no bringing in a separate company, and no gap in the schedule while you wait for clearance. Pennsylvania DEP requires a minimum ten-working-day notification before asbestos abatement on projects subject to NESHAP regulations — we manage that notification process as part of our standard workflow, not as an afterthought.
Once the space is clear, demolition moves forward. We handle debris removal, maintain proper containment throughout, and leave the site ready for the next phase of your renovation. Narberth Borough requires a permit even for non-structural interior demolition, processed through the borough’s MyGov portal — we’re familiar with that process and work within it from the start. When the job is done, you get a final walkthrough and confirmation that everything is clean, compliant, and ready for your contractor to take over.
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We handle the full scope of what a gut renovation in Narberth actually requires. That includes interior demolition, selective structural removal, debris hauling, and the environmental work that older homes in this borough consistently demand — asbestos testing and abatement, lead paint inspection and removal, mold sampling and remediation, and above-ground oil tank removal. If your project involves a basement, a boiler room, or a kitchen that hasn’t been touched since the 1950s, there’s a real chance more than one of those services comes into play. We’re equipped for all of it.
We also handle furnace and boiler removal, duct cleaning, chemical disposal, and appliance removal — services that come up regularly in the kind of full gut projects common in Narberth’s pre-war homes. Homeowners in the Lower Merion School District area don’t relocate when they want more space or a modern kitchen. They renovate. And when you’re renovating a home that’s been standing since 1910, the scope of what needs to come out before new construction can begin is usually broader than the initial plan accounts for.
Every job comes with a free estimate, and we’ll beat any legitimate competing estimate for comparable scope and credentials. Cash discounts are available. We serve all of Montgomery County, and Narberth is firmly within our regular service area — not a stretch of the map, but a community we know well.
Yes — and Narberth is more specific about this than many municipalities. The borough has a dedicated permit application category for non-structural demolition, processed through its MyGov online portal. Even if you’re only gutting a kitchen or removing interior walls as part of a renovation, a permit is required before work begins. Applications that require stamped plans also need two hard copies submitted to the Borough office directly.
This matters because unpermitted demolition work creates real problems down the line — during a home sale, an insurance claim, or a future renovation inspection. Hiring a contractor who skips the permit process to move faster is a shortcut that tends to cost more than it saves. We work within Narberth’s permit requirements from day one, so there are no compliance issues to untangle later.
In practical terms, yes. Homes built between the late 1800s and the early 1970s routinely contained asbestos in insulation, floor and ceiling tiles, joint compound, plaster, pipe wrap, roofing materials, and textured coatings. In Narberth, where the median housing age is circa 1920 and less than one percent of homes were built after the year 2000, asbestos-containing materials are not a remote possibility — they’re a statistically likely finding in any gut renovation.
Testing before demolition is the responsible approach because it determines how the work proceeds. If asbestos is found after walls are already open, the job stops, containment becomes more complicated, and the cost of remediation goes up. Testing first keeps the project on schedule and on budget. Under Pennsylvania DEP regulations enforcing EPA NESHAP, a minimum ten-working-day notification to DEP is also required before asbestos abatement on applicable projects — that notification process needs to be built into your project timeline from the start.
Under the EPA’s Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule — commonly called the RRP Rule — any contractor working on a pre-1978 residential property must be lead-safe certified. In Narberth, that rule applies to virtually every residential demolition or gut project in the borough, because essentially every home here predates 1978. If a contractor performing demo work in your home is not lead-safe certified, they are operating in violation of federal regulations — and that exposure is yours as the homeowner as well as theirs.
We hold a formal Certified Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor designation, which goes beyond the basic lead-safe certification required under RRP. That means we can inspect for lead, assess the risk it presents, and oversee its safe removal — all within the same project, without bringing in a third party. If lead paint is identified during your demolition, the project doesn’t stop. We handle the remediation and keep the work moving forward.
The Narbrook Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, and Narberth’s zoning code includes a Historic District Overlay that applies to contributing resources within the district. The borough’s stated policy is to actively discourage the demolition of buildings of historic, civic, or cultural importance. If your property is within or adjacent to the historic district, any demolition work — even interior gutting — warrants a conversation with the borough’s Building and Zoning Department before work begins.
In practical terms, this doesn’t mean interior renovation is off the table. It means the approach needs to be selective and documented. Demolition in Narberth’s historic housing stock is about precise, careful removal — taking out what needs to go while protecting the structural and architectural elements that give these homes their character and their value. That kind of disciplined, step-by-step approach is how we operate on every job, which is exactly what the borough’s historic overlay demands.
You can hire one contractor for both — if that contractor holds the right credentials. The problem is that most demolition companies don’t. A standard demo crew can swing a sledgehammer and haul debris, but they are not licensed to test for or remove asbestos and lead. When they find something, the job stops and you’re left coordinating a second company, waiting for their availability, and absorbing the schedule delay.
We handle testing, abatement, and demolition under one roof. We hold Pennsylvania’s state-issued asbestos certification under Act 194, the Certified Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor designation, and EPA/HUD compliance — alongside the demolition capability to carry the full project from start to finish. In Narberth, where pre-war construction is the norm and hazmat discoveries are a routine part of gut renovation work, having one licensed contractor who can do all of it isn’t a convenience — it’s the thing that keeps your project on track.
Yes — every project starts with a free, no-obligation estimate. For a Narberth homeowner planning a gut renovation in a home built before 1940, one of the real unknowns going into a project is what the environmental scope will look like once the walls are open. A free estimate from a certified professional gives you a realistic picture of the full project cost — including the environmental assessment component — before any work begins and before you’re committed to anything.
We also offer cash discounts and will beat any legitimate competing estimate for comparable scope and credentials. That last part matters in a market where you might find a lower bid from a contractor who isn’t carrying asbestos certification or lead inspector credentials. A lower number from an uncredentialed contractor isn’t a better deal — it’s a liability. The free estimate from EJS Environmental gives you an honest, complete number from a contractor who is actually qualified to do the work correctly in Narberth’s housing stock.
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