Garage Demolition
We take down detached and attached garages built of block, brick and frame, across Pittsburgh and about 40 miles around. The debris goes with us and the area is left clean.
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Our Services
House demolition is the teardown of a whole house, down to the dirt. People call after a fire, or when a house is too far gone to fix. Others are clearing a lot to build on it again, or taking on a property they bought or inherited.
Davis Demolition and Masonry has been in the demolition business since 2001. We tear houses down in Pittsburgh and about 40 miles around, and an excavator is the main machine. Inside the city, the demolition permit for a house calls for a City of Pittsburgh general contractor license. We hold it. When the house is staying and only the inside has to come out, that is interior demolition.
Tell us about the job. We will call or text you back.
Inside Pittsburgh, a residential demolition needs a permit to demolish an entire building or structure. The Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections issues it, and zoning reviews every application. Outside the city, the borough or township code office runs the permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code.
The Allegheny County Health Department regulates all forms of asbestos here. Every demolition gets a thorough asbestos survey by a licensed building inspector. Notice goes to the county and the EPA ten days ahead. Private owners of a house with four or fewer units are exempt from that survey and notice. When asbestos is in the house, a licensed asbestos abatement contractor removes it before we start.
Every electric, gas, water, steam and sewer line gets shut off or capped outside the building line first. The utility companies are notified. The city wants the water and sewer terminations documented before the hole gets filled. We place a PA One Call notice, which state law puts at three to ten business days before demolition. Private lines on the property are not located by that system.
Pittsburgh is a city of narrow lots, and plenty of its houses touch the one next door. Say the house coming down is attached to one that stays. The city then wants a report from a licensed engineer or architect. A shared party wall or basement wall calls for the same report. It covers how that wall is protected, weatherized and held stable under its new load.
Taking one house off a party wall leaves painted surfaces on the wall that stays. In houses built before 1978, that work falls under the EPA renovation rule. Pittsburgh's median house was built in 1942, so old paint is part of the job here. We are an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, which the city requires for its general contractor license.
City Planning maps landslide prone, steep slope and undermined areas. If the lot sits in one of those, an engineer or architect has to evaluate the site. In an undermined area that can include mine grouting and a PA DEP Coal Status Report. On a tight lot the machine works from the street or the alley. The fall zone gets planned around what stands close by.
The teardown is excavator work, with the material sorted as it comes apart. Foundation walls and the basement slab get broken up next. Inside the city the pieces have to be 24 inches or less before the hole gets filled. A void inspection checks it.
Demolition debris is construction and demolition waste: wood, plaster, metal, brick and concrete. It goes to a construction and demolition waste facility that PA DEP permits for it. Hazardous waste and asbestos cannot go there. Pittsburgh wants the disposal receipts at the final inspection. Material that is not part of the house is debris removal and hauling.
The hole gets backfilled with clean fill. PA DEP defines clean fill as inert material like soil, rock, brick, block and concrete. The city also excludes wood, roots, grass, coal and carbonaceous shale. The lot goes back to natural grade, sloping away from what is beside it. The city's spec is at least four inches of topsoil, seeded and covered with straw.
We look at the job and give you a price before any work starts, across Pittsburgh, the South Hills, the eastern suburbs and about 40 miles around.
(412) 720-1866From the first call to a clean site at the end, here is how it goes.
Call or text (412) 720-1866, or send the form. Tell us what is coming down and where it sits.
We come out and go over what is being removed, what it is built of and the access. You get a price before any work starts.
We go over what your municipality requires and who handles each step. Utility shutoffs, One Call marking and any asbestos survey happen before demolition starts.
The teardown or the masonry repair gets done. We keep you posted during the job and handle added scope as it comes up.
Construction and demolition debris is loaded out and hauled away. On a teardown the lot can be graded, topsoiled and seeded.
Common questions about house demolition across Pittsburgh, the South Hills, the eastern suburbs and about 40 miles around. If yours is not here, call and ask.
We take down detached and attached garages built of block, brick and frame, across Pittsburgh and about 40 miles around. The debris goes with us and the area is left clean.
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Concrete removal around Pittsburgh for driveways, patios, sidewalks, slabs, steps and old footings. We break the concrete out with air jackhammers and machines, haul it off and leave the ground graded.
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We load and haul construction and demolition debris across Pittsburgh and about 40 miles around. Houses, garages and basements get cleared out, and clean fill gets hauled.
Learn MoreDemolition is the main line of work at Davis Demolition and Masonry. Houses, garages, sheds, interior gut outs, concrete and commercial interiors are the everyday jobs.
We hold the City of Pittsburgh general contractor license the city requires for demolition permits. We are an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm and a registered Pennsylvania home improvement contractor.
A building background sits behind the demolition work. On an interior job that decides what comes out and what gets left standing.
A failed wall or chimney can come down and go back up with the same company. Debris leaves with us, and the site is left clean at the end.
House demolition cost in Pennsylvania: published ranges per square foot, Pittsburgh permit fees, the asbestos steps and what drives the price.
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Yes. The City of Pittsburgh requires a demolition permit from PLI for houses and garages. Here are the steps, the asbestos rule and the 2026 fees.
Read more →Tell us what is coming down, what it is built of and where it sits. Call or text (412) 720-1866, or send the form with what you need taken down.
Tell us about the job. We will call or text you back.