Demolition and Tear-Downs in Asheville, NC
Down, hauled off, graded back.
Asheville's older neighborhoods are full of garages, sheds and porches that have outlived their use, and the 2024 flood left more along the Swannanoa and the French Broad. McKinley takes small structures down, loads the debris, hauls it off and grades the ground back so it is ready for whatever comes next.
- Free on-site estimates
- Owner-run by McKinley
- WNC & Upstate SC
Demolition in Asheville
Old garages, steep lots and river bottom
Asheville sits where the Swannanoa meets the French Broad, and the housing around it is old. West Asheville and North Asheville are full of bungalows from the first half of the last century, with a detached garage or a block shed out back that was built for a smaller car and a different time. Many sit on lots that drop away from the street.
That is where most demolition calls come from. The garage leans, the shed roof has gone, the porch is rotten at the posts, or the structure is sitting exactly where a new addition, drive or pad needs to go. M&S works out of Asheville and does this work across Buncombe County and the towns around it.
What the 2024 flood left behind
When Helene came through in September 2024, the Swannanoa at Biltmore Village crested about seven feet above the record set in 1916. Sheds, workshops and garages on the low ground along both rivers took water to the rafters, and a year on, plenty of them are still standing because nobody has had a machine to deal with them.
A flooded outbuilding is rarely worth saving. The framing has sat wet, the slab is under silt and the contents are a loss. McKinley takes the building down, sorts the debris as it is loaded and hauls it out, then deals with the silt and the ground underneath.
Getting a machine onto an Asheville lot
In-town lots here are narrow, and the thing to be torn down is often behind the house, below the street or up a bank. McKinley sizes the machine to the access. A mini excavator fits through a side yard that a full-size machine would tear up, and a tracked skid steer can work a slope that would stop a wheeled one.
The debris leaves in the dump truck. On a steep lot that may mean staging it near the road and loading from there rather than driving the truck down to the hole. He works that out on the estimate visit, so the price covers how the job will actually be done.
Permits in the city, the county and the Air Quality Agency
Inside city limits, the City of Asheville Development Services department handles building, zoning and land-disturbance permits. Outside the city it is Buncombe County Permits and Inspections. Either way, the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency requires a permit before any building in Buncombe County is demolished, whatever its age, because of the asbestos rules. Ask before a date is fixed.
Before anything is dug, NC811 locates the buried utilities, and North Carolina law requires three working days' notice. Power, gas and water running to the building have to be disconnected by the utility first. Old garages sometimes still have a live line that nobody remembers.
What McKinley does not take on
This is small-structure work: sheds, detached garages, barns, carports, decks, porches, mobile homes and the slabs under them. A house, or any building that needs asbestos abatement or a licensed demolition contractor, is a different job. McKinley says so when he looks, rather than finding out halfway through.
He also does not pour concrete. If a new slab is going where the old building stood, he gets the ground ready for it and leaves the pour to the concrete contractor. Old concrete coming out on its own, with no building on it, is covered at concrete removal in Asheville.
Then the ground gets put back
On a slope, a hole left where a slab was is a place for water to collect and head for the house. So the void is filled, compacted and graded to shed water, not just raked over. Where the building was holding a bank, a retaining wall can go in at the same time.
Most people are tearing something down to make room for something else. A house pad, a parking area or a drive can follow straight on, and gravel driveway repair in Asheville covers a drive that the demolition traffic has chewed up. If the lot is steep, the guide to building on a sloped lot in Western NC is worth reading first.
Demolition
Sheds, garages, barns, carports, decks, mobile homes and old slabs taken down, hauled off and the ground graded back.
See the serviceTalk to McKinley(828) 540-6856
Tell McKinley what the building is, where it sits on the lot and how a machine would reach it. He comes out, looks and gives you a number.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Sheds and garages. Wood, metal or block, taken down in a controlled way and loaded as it comes apart.
- Decks and porches. Rotten framing and posts out, the footings dug and gone.
- Mobile homes. Taken to the frame, hauled, then the piers, skirting and pad dealt with.
- Slabs and footings. The concrete under the building out at the same time, including the part below ground.
Asheville, NC
The city M&S works out of: steep in-town lots in West Asheville and North Asheville, river-bottom ground along the French Broad and Swannanoa, and older houses with old outbuildings and concrete.
Town pageAlso in AshevilleConcrete Removal in Asheville, NC
See the pageAlso in AshevilleRetaining Walls in Asheville, NC
See the pageAlso in AshevilleGravel Driveway Repair in Asheville, NC
See the pageThe serviceDemolition
Sheds, garages, barns, carports, decks, mobile homes and old slabs taken down, hauled off and the ground graded back.
Main service pageAsheville and the towns nearby
The same work is done across Buncombe County and the towns around Asheville: Weaverville to the north, Arden and Fletcher toward the airport, Black Mountain up the Swannanoa valley, Candler in Hominy Valley and Hendersonville in Henderson County. The Upstate side of the business covers Spartanburg and Greer. The Asheville service area page lists everything else M&S does in town.
You get McKinley. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or text. McKinley comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the finish grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled, water is given a way out, and the ground is left so you can build, pour or seed.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full demolition service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.
Do I need a permit to tear down a shed in Asheville?
Ask before a date is fixed. The Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency says it requires a permit for any plan to demolish a building in Buncombe County, whatever its age. Inside the city, Development Services handles building and land-disturbance permits; outside it, Buncombe County Permits and Inspections. McKinley can tell you who to call for your address.
Can you take down a shed or garage that flooded in Helene?
Yes. Flooded outbuildings along the Swannanoa and the French Broad are a lot of the current work. The building comes down, the debris is hauled, and the silt and the ground under it are dealt with. If the lot is in the mapped floodplain, ask the permit office before bringing in fill.
Will you tear down a house?
No. M&S does small structures: sheds, detached garages, barns, carports, decks, porches, mobile homes and their slabs. A house, or anything that needs asbestos abatement or a licensed demolition contractor, is a different job, and you hear that on the first visit, not halfway through.
What happens to the slab and the footings?
They can come out with the building, including the part below ground. The hole is filled, compacted and graded so water does not sit there. If you want the slab left for something else, say so and it stays.
How is a demolition job priced?
McKinley comes out, looks at the structure and the access, and gives one figure before anything starts. Hauling and the finish grading are in it. The estimate is free. Call or text (828) 540-6856.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Demolition in other towns
Gravel Driveways
A new drive cut into the hill, based in lifts and crowned to shed water.
Learn moreDriveway Repair & Grading
Washouts, ruts and potholes fixed at the cause, not just regraded.
Learn moreDrainage & Erosion Control
French drains, catch basins, culverts and riprap so the property sheds water.
Learn moreRetaining Walls
Block, boulder and riprap walls that hold a cut bank up.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Lots, building sites and overgrown acreage cleared, stumps and root mat out.
Learn moreHouse Pads & Site Prep
Pads cut, filled and compacted on ground that started at anything but level.
Learn moreFree estimate in Asheville.
Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now. We come out, walk it, and give you a real number.
- Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
- One crew from clearing through to the last load of stone
- Drainage designed in, not sold to you afterwards
Demolition where you are
Each town has its own page: what the ground is like there, who issues the permit, and what McKinley gets called for most.
Need demolition in Asheville?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.