Garage & Shed Removal in Los Angeles, CA

Garage and shed removal is one of the most common demolition jobs on Los Angeles lots. Many older homes have a detached one- or two-car garage at the back of the lot, often original to the house, often sagging, and often too narrow for today's cars. Owners take them down to build an accessory dwelling unit, to open up the yard, or because the structure has become unsafe. We also remove sheds, workshops, carports, lean-tos, aluminum and wood patio covers, gazebos and old guest houses.

Why so many garages are coming down

Accessory dwelling units have become a large share of new housing in Los Angeles. Crosstown's analysis of LADBS permit data found the city permitted 6,626 ADUs in 2024, the second-highest count on record, and that ADUs make up about 43 percent of new permitted units. Many of those are built in the back half of a single-family lot, exactly where an old detached garage usually stands.

An old garage on the spot where the new unit will go has to come out first, usually along with its slab, footings and the driveway leading to it. Some owners convert the garage instead of demolishing it. We can help either way: a full teardown for a new build, or an interior strip-out if the walls and roof are being reused.

What is inside the walls of an old garage

Garages built decades ago can hide a few surprises:

• Electrical run from the house, sometimes buried, sometimes overhead, which has to be disconnected at the panel
• Gas lines to a water heater, dryer or heater, shut off and capped before demolition
• Asbestos in old roofing, siding, floor tile or pipe wrap, especially on garages from before the 1980s
• Lead paint on trim, doors and siding

We check for these before pricing, because they change the permit path and the cost. In the city of Los Angeles, LADBS's demolition bulletin calls for a demolition permit for each building or structure, a pre-inspection, and a sewer cap permit if the structure has a sewer line.

Tight lots and alley access

Many Los Angeles garages sit along a rear property line, sometimes on an alley and sometimes a few feet from the neighbor's fence or garage. We take structures down in a controlled order, roof first and walls inward, so nothing falls toward the neighbor. Where there is alley access, we can often load trucks from the back and keep the driveway and street clear.

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The slab and the ground underneath

Most garages sit on a thin concrete slab with a perimeter footing, and the driveway leading to it is often in poor shape too. If you are building an ADU, the slab and footings usually have to come out so the new foundation can be designed from scratch. If you just want yard space, we can remove the slab and leave clean soil for planting. Call (213) 377-6198 with a photo of the structure and the access, and we will tell you what the job involves.