Demolition Contractors in Torrance, CA

Most calls we get for demolition contractors in Torrance involve houses from one of two very different periods. The original town, founded in 1912 and incorporated in 1921, was planned by the Olmsted Brothers across 109 city blocks split into residential, commercial and industrial districts. Many houses on Gramercy and Andreo, the city's first residential avenues, turned 100 years old around 2012, and Old Torrance is under review as a possible historic district. Then came the boom: the population went from 22,241 in 1950 to 100,991 in 1960. Those postwar tracts now make up much of the city, and plenty of them are being expanded or replaced.

Tract homes and teardowns

A 1950s Torrance house is usually a single-story wood frame on a slab or short crawlspace, with a detached or attached garage and a concrete driveway. Owners rebuilding on these lots typically want the whole thing gone, slab included, so the new foundation can be engineered from scratch. Others keep the house and take out the garage, a patio cover and an old pool to make room for an ADU or a bigger yard. We quote each piece separately so you can decide what goes.

Old Torrance needs a closer look

With Old Torrance being studied as a historic district and early buildings designed by Irving Gill, including the 1912 train depot, we suggest checking a property's status with the city before planning a teardown of one of the original homes. Interior demolition and rear additions are often simpler paths for those houses.

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Owners rebuilding for the long haul

About 54 percent of Torrance's occupied homes are owner-occupied, and many of those owners are rebuilding rather than moving. That often means a phased plan: demolish the garage and build an ADU first, live in the main house during construction, then tear down and rebuild the main house later. We can price and schedule each phase separately.

Oil country underfoot

Wikipedia notes that Torrance was once dotted with thousands of oil wells, and a large refinery still runs on the north end of the city. When we break out slabs and footings on older parcels, we watch for buried concrete, old pads or piping and stop to assess anything unexpected rather than tearing through it.

The steps before demolition

Every demolition in the South Coast AQMD area needs an asbestos survey by a certified asbestos consultant, and notification is filed 10 working days before work starts. Utilities are disconnected through Southern California Edison and the gas company, the water service is shut off and the sewer is capped and inspected. Torrance gets roughly 12 to 14 inches of rain a year, most of it November through March, so winter jobs get extra erosion control. Call (213) 377-6198 to book an estimate.