Demolition Contractor in Andrews, NC

Old houses and mobile homes in Andrews

Andrews grew up around the railroad. By the town's own history, the tracks reached Andrews in 1890, and the first town lots sold that September. The town was incorporated in 1905. By Census estimates, half the homes in town date to 1985 or earlier.

Mobile homes are common across ZIP 28901 too, at about 3 in 10 homes by the same estimates. Inside town, the zoning ordinance on the town's website counts mobile homes as single family dwellings. When an old one is done, mobile home demolition clears the lot for a new home or a new pad.

We take the home down and clean up the pad, the skirting, the steps and the block piers. For a worn-out house, our house demolition work can take out the slab or the foundation too. A large excavator and a small one do the tear-down work.

Tight lots and vacant lots inside the town limits

About 1,800 people live in Andrews, by the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate, on about 1.5 square miles of land. In the county's parcel data, the median town lot with a building is about 0.38 acres. On a lot that size, the house next door can sit close to the work. Our small excavator fits spots where the large one will not.

Cherokee County's parcel records list more than 250 vacant parcels inside the town limits. The posted zoning ordinance says vacant lots along major roads must be kept trimmed, with no piles of unsightly debris. Land clearing takes off the brush and small trees, and the stumps come out too.

Who issues a demolition permit in Andrews?

Start with Town Hall if the lot is inside the town limits. The town asks people to contact its Planning and Development Office before they begin a new project. Building permits come from Cherokee County's Office of Building Code Enforcement in Murphy. It calls itself one office with a jurisdiction covering the entire county.

The county's permits page lists the removal or demolition of any building as work that needs a permit first. Its residential permit page asks for written zoning approval from the town when that applies. For a lot near a river or creek, the county asks you to call before you apply. Those offices have the final word, and we point you to the right one.

State law calls for an NC 811 notice at least three full working days before demolition or digging starts. The state's Health Hazards Control Unit recommends an asbestos inspection before any tear-down, homes included. You have the utility shut off power and gas before the work starts.

Building and clearing near the Valley River

The Valley River runs through town. FEMA's flood maps put about 15 percent of the town's land in the 1 percent annual chance flood zone. Inside town, the posted zoning ordinance says floodplain land use must follow the town's flood damage prevention ordinance. Outside the town limits, Cherokee County requires a floodplain development permit before grading or fill in a mapped flood zone.

Much of the town sits on Statler soil, by NRCS soil maps. It is a very deep, well drained loam on low terraces above the river. On the river bottoms, Reddies and Dellwood soils carry rounded gravel and cobbles 8 to 40 inches down. Their water table sits 2 to 4 feet down in winter and spring.

Up the slopes around town, NRCS maps Junaluska and Tsali soils on grades of 15 to 95 percent. Soft, weathered rock often starts 10 to 40 inches down there. Runoff speeds up once the forest litter is gone, by the NRCS description. Both kinds of ground shape how a house pad or foundation dig goes.