Shed, Barn and Garage Demolition
A shed looks like a weekend job. Here are three reasons it sometimes isn't.
- THE JOB
- Taking down an outbuilding and clearing what it sat on
- TYPICALLY
- Backyard sheds, pole barns, detached garages, carports and workshops
- MEASURED BY
- Footprint, what it's built from, and whether there's a slab
- THE SLAB
- Broken out and hauled if you want it gone. Left in place if something's going back on it
- OLD SHEETING
- Corrugated sheeting on older barns and sheds can be asbestos cement
- CONTENTS
- Cleared as part of the job, and charged by weight like anything else
- POWER
- A sub-panel or a buried feed gets disconnected properly, not just cut
- THE DEBRIS
- Metal goes to recycling. Wood and mixed debris get hauled off
- TIME ON SITE
- Most sheds and garages take a day
Every one of these jobs is priced from the property itself, so there is no figure on this page to mislead you.
251-415-4545Call and we will come and look at it. The estimate is free and you get it in writing.
Three things that turn a weekend job into a phone call
A shed is the one demolition job most people figure they can do themselves, and often they can. When one goes wrong, it's usually for one of these three reasons.
The slab. Taking the building down is the quick part. What's under it is several tons of concrete. Nobody thinks about the slab until the building is gone and it's sitting in the middle of the yard. If it's coming out, it's the bigger half of the job by weight, so decide before you start, not after.
Asbestos cement sheeting. The corrugated gray sheeting on older barns, sheds and lean-tos is often asbestos cement, and so are some older flat sheets and flue pipes. Intact and painted, it isn't dangerous. Broken up with a sledgehammer on a windy afternoon, it's a different story, and that's exactly how most sheds come down. If the building is old enough and the sheeting is that corrugated gray, stop and have it tested.
It's already failing. A structure that's been leaning for ten years already knows which way it's going to fall, and the safe order to take it apart isn't the order it will come apart in. Rotten posts, a roof carrying more load than it should, and lumber that's been wet for a decade are why this job calls for a machine and a plan.
It already knows which way it's going to fall.
Pole barns and older agricultural buildings
A pole barn goes together differently than a stick-built shed. Its load runs down posts set directly into the ground, so there's often no slab at all, and taking it down is about controlling which post lets go first, not taking apart walls.
The posts are the part that gets left behind. They're set three or four feet into the ground and often rotted off at grade, so they have to be pulled, not cut, and every one leaves a hole to fill. A barn with a dozen posts leaves a dozen holes.
The metal is worth separating. Roof and wall sheeting, purlins and any structural steel go to recycling instead of the landfill, which is better and cheaper than throwing it in with the rest of the debris.
Older agricultural buildings also tend to have things in them that aren't building materials: old fertilizer and chemical containers, batteries, tires, sometimes fuel. Those can't go in with regular debris, so mention them when you call.
Detached garages
A detached garage is the same job on a bigger scale, with three differences worth knowing.
It almost certainly has a slab, usually thicker than a shed's, sometimes with a thickened edge or footings around the perimeter. If you're building something new on the same footprint, that slab may be worth keeping, so tell us what you have planned.
It probably has power, and often a sub-panel instead of a single run. That gets disconnected properly at the source, not just cut, and if the feed is buried across the yard, it's worth finding out where it runs before a machine drives over it.
An attached garage is a different job. When the garage shares a wall with the house, it's selective demolition, and it's covered on the house and building demolition page, because the real work is protecting the part that stays.
What's inside it
Outbuildings are where a property keeps everything it's stopped using, and clearing that out is part of the job, not a separate one. Old paint, lumber scraps, a mower that quit working in 2009, yard chemicals, tires.
Tell us about two kinds of things before anything gets loaded. Liquids, chemicals, paint and fuel can't go in with regular debris, and neither can tires. Appliances with refrigerant (the old freezer in the corner is the classic) have to be handled separately.
Everything else is cleared with the building and charged by weight like the rest of it, so if you've been meaning to empty it, doing that first saves you money. If you'd rather do it at your own pace, a dumpster in the driveway is the usual answer. Sizes are on the dumpster sizes page.
Questions we get asked
Do you take the concrete slab too?
If you want it gone, yes, and it's the heaviest part of the job. If you're building something back on the same footprint, it's often worth keeping, so tell us what you have planned.
How do I know if the sheeting is asbestos?
If it's corrugated gray cement sheet on a building of any age, assume it might be until it's been tested. Intact, it isn't dangerous. Broken up with a sledgehammer, it is, and that's how most sheds come down.
Can you demolish a garage attached to the house?
Yes, but that's selective demolition, not an outbuilding job. The real work is protecting the wall that stays, so it's priced as house and building demolition.
What about everything stored in it?
It's cleared with the building and charged by weight. Paint, chemicals, fuel, tires and anything with refrigerant in it have to be handled separately, so mention those when you call.
The barn is leaning badly. Is that a problem?
It's a reason to use a machine instead of a ladder. A structure that's been failing for years comes down on its own terms, so we plan for which way it wants to go.
Do you fill the post holes on a pole barn?
Yes. Posts are pulled, not cut off at grade, and the holes are filled and leveled. Otherwise you end up with a dozen soft spots in the ground.
Where we do this
We take this work anywhere in Mobile County, AL and Jackson County, MS, and the yard is in Theodore, so most of the territory is inside an hour.
Older agricultural buildings out toward Wilmer, Semmes and Grand Bay are the ones most likely to have asbestos cement sheeting on them.
Service area
Mobile Theodore Tillman's Corner Grand Bay Saraland Satsuma Creola Chickasaw Prichard Semmes Wilmer Eight Mile Moss Point Pascagoula Gautier