Demolition and Tear-Downs in Black Mountain, NC
Up the cove and gone.
Black Mountain sits at the head of the Swannanoa valley, fifteen miles east of Asheville, with older cottages, cabins and second homes up every cove. Helene dropped more than a foot of rain here and carried whole structures off. McKinley takes down what the storm wrecked and what age finished, hauls it out and grades the ground so it holds.
- Free on-site estimates
- Owner-run by McKinley
- WNC & Upstate SC
Demolition in Black Mountain
Cove lots, old cottages and what Helene left
Black Mountain is where the Swannanoa starts, and most of the town's houses are on the sides of the valley rather than the floor of it: cottages from the camp-and-retreat days, cabins up the coves, and newer second homes on steep lots, each with a shed or a lean-to that was never meant to last this long.
In September 2024 the storm put an estimated thirteen inches of rain on the town in two days. The Blue Ridge Road bridge over the Swannanoa was swept away, downtown lots flooded and trailer homes were carried off whole. Some structures were wrecked outright; many more were left standing but finished.
Storm-wrecked cabins, sheds and mobile homes
A cabin that a slide pushed off its piers, a shed that filled with mud, a mobile home that moved on its blocks: none of these are repairs. McKinley takes them down, loads the debris and hauls it out of the cove. The piers, the slab, the steps and whatever is left of the porch go at the same time.
Mud, rock and storm debris left on the lot can be dealt with in the same visit, so the ground is actually clear rather than just free of the building.
Getting an excavator up a cove road
Cove roads are narrow, steep and often gravel, and the structure is at the top. McKinley picks the machine for the road. The mini excavator and the tracked skid steer go where the bigger excavator cannot, and the dump truck is staged where it can turn rather than driven to the building.
A road that was soft before the storm is softer now, and the truck traffic will show. If it needs work afterwards, gravel driveway repair in Black Mountain is part of what he does, and the guide to steep gravel driveways in the mountains explains why these roads wash.
The town, the county and the Air Quality permit
Inside town limits, the Town of Black Mountain has its own Planning and Development office with building inspectors. Outside the town it is Buncombe County Permits and Inspections. In both cases the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency requires a permit for any plan to demolish a building in Buncombe County, whatever its age.
NC811 marks buried utilities with three working days' notice, as North Carolina law requires. Up a cove, the water line is often private and the septic is somewhere downhill, and neither is on a standard locate. Show McKinley where they run before the machine arrives.
Slope, and why the ground gets put back right
Nothing in Black Mountain is flat. When a building comes off a cut bench, the bench stays, and the bank above it has just lost whatever was holding it. Filling the hole is not enough; the fill has to be compacted in lifts and sloped so water from the hill above keeps moving past the house.
Where the bank will not hold on its own, a retaining wall in Black Mountain goes in while the machine is on site, and the water that has been coming down at the building is given somewhere to go; see yard drainage in Black Mountain.
Then a drive, a pad or nothing at all
Some people want the lot clear and left alone, seeded and draining, while they decide what to do. Others are rebuilding, and a cleared, compacted, graded site is the first step toward a new pad and a new gravel drive up to it. Either way the ground is left so it can be built on or left alone without washing.
The estimate is free and on site, with one figure that includes the hauling and the grading, so there is no second bill for the truck. The main demolition page for the whole Asheville area, with more on what McKinley does and does not take on, is demolition in Asheville.
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 structure is, how far up the cove it sits and what the road is like. He comes out to Black Mountain and gives you one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Storm-damaged cabins. Off the piers, down, loaded and hauled out of the cove.
- Mobile homes. Moved or not, taken to the frame and the pad and piers dealt with.
- Sheds and lean-tos. Mud-filled or just old, taken down and the bank behind graded.
- Decks and porches. Posts and footings out of the hillside, the slope put back.
Black Mountain, NC
Fifteen miles east of Asheville at the head of the Swannanoa valley, with steep mountain lots, older cottages and second homes up every cove.
Town pageAlso in Black MountainRetaining Walls in Black Mountain, NC
See the pageAlso in Black MountainYard Drainage & French Drains in Black Mountain, NC
See the pageAlso in Black MountainGravel Driveway Installation in Black Mountain, NC
See the pageAlso in Black MountainGravel Driveway Repair in Black Mountain, 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 pageBlack Mountain and the towns nearby
The same work runs down the Swannanoa valley through Swannanoa itself into Asheville, where the flood did the same to outbuildings along the river, and north over the ridge to Weaverville. Montreat and the coves off Highway 9 are covered from Black Mountain too. McKinley is based in Asheville, so the east end of the county is a short run. The Black Mountain service area page lists everything else M&S does here, from steep gravel drives to retaining walls.
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.
Can you reach a cabin up a narrow cove road?
Usually. The mini excavator and the tracked skid steer go up roads the full-size machine cannot, and the dump truck is staged where it can turn. McKinley drives the road on the estimate visit and prices the job the way it will actually be done.
Who handles the demolition permit in Black Mountain?
Inside town limits, the Town of Black Mountain Planning and Development office. Outside, Buncombe County Permits and Inspections. The Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency requires a permit for any demolition in Buncombe County, whatever the building's age. Ask before a date is fixed.
Will you clear the storm debris and mud along with the building?
Yes. Rock, mud and wreckage that Helene left on the lot can go in the same visit, so the site is actually clear when the machine leaves. Say what is there when you call so the price covers it.
What happens to the bank once a shed on a cut bench comes out?
The bench is filled in compacted lifts and sloped so water from above keeps moving past the house. If the bank will not hold on its own, a retaining wall goes in while the machine is there, with drainage behind it.
Do you tear down houses?
No. M&S does small structures: cabins that are more shed than house, sheds, garages, decks, porches, mobile homes and the slabs under them. Anything that needs asbestos abatement or a licensed demolition contractor is a different job, and you hear that on the estimate visit.
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 Black Mountain.
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
Need demolition in Black Mountain?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.