Demolition Contractors in Downey, CA

When owners call us looking for demolition contractors in Downey, the first thing we go over is the city's demolition checklist, because it is more specific than many. Downey was founded in 1873, incorporated in 1956 and had 114,355 residents in 2020. After World War II, suburban homes and factories replaced the farms that once covered the land between the Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River. Those postwar houses, and the slabs and driveways that came with them, are much of what we take out today.

What Downey's Building Division requires

The city's demolition requirements document lays out several points we build every Downey job around:

• Everything below grade comes out. The demolition includes removal of all footings and slabs on grade in their entirety. Leaving a slab requires approval from every involved department and has to be shown on the plans.
• Utility confirmations. Southern California Edison and the gas company must be notified and the Building Division given confirmation that service has been terminated.
• Water and sewer caps. Water and sewer lines are capped within 5 feet of the property line, extending 12 to 18 inches above grade.
• AQMD proof. Proof of the AQMD notice is required at permit issuance.
• C&D forms and deposit. A Construction and Demolition application (Form A) and compliance report (Form B), with a refundable deposit collected at issuance.
• Site plan details. Trees, fences and poles, a tree protection plan, temporary fencing, sandbags and a staging plan.

After demolition, the site has to be graded so water does not pond or drain onto neighbors.

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A city that knows big demolition

Downey's most famous teardown was the former aerospace plant. In 1961 the facilities passed from the Air Force to NASA and became the birthplace of systems for the Apollo program. The Rockwell plant closed in 1999 and was demolished, and the land became the Columbia Memorial Space Center, Downey Landing, a hospital and a park. The oldest operating McDonald's, opened in 1953 on Florence Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard, was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and reopened in 1996. Our residential work is far smaller, but the same approach applies: plan the removal, separate the materials, and leave the ground ready for what comes next.

Dust control on every job

Downey has a semi-arid climate, and the city asks that the site be kept watered to control dust, stockpiles and excavated soil. We keep water running until the last load leaves. Call (213) 377-6198 to book a walk-through.