House Demolition
We tear down old houses and cabins, including homes hurt by fire or storms. The debris goes out on our dump truck, and the lot is left clean for what comes next.
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Franklin sits in the Little Tennessee River valley, but much of the town sits on slopes. The town's 2020 plan counts over 900 acres of vacant or underused land within a mile of the Town Square. Building on that land can mean an old house or a worn-out mobile home comes down first. Out in the county, a wooded lot needs clearing before a new home goes up.
Sanders Contracting is a demolition contractor based in Murphy, and Franklin is part of our service area. We handle house demolition and land clearing in and around Franklin, about 50 miles east on US 64. A large excavator or a small one takes the structure down, and our dump truck hauls the debris off. Call or text (828) 342-1467, and we look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Tell us what you need done and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Census Bureau estimates show nearly one home in five in the 28734 ZIP is a mobile home. Inside the town limits, the median home was built in 1981. About one home in eight in town dates to before 1940.
When an old single wide or double wide has to go, mobile home demolition clears the lot. We take the home down and clean up the pad, the skirting, the steps and the old block piers. Macon County also runs an Abandoned Mobile Home Project Initiative, and its packet includes the demolition permit. Applications go through an approval process, and tax records can serve as proof of ownership.
Second homes are common here too. About one home in six in the ZIP is held for seasonal use. An owner who lives elsewhere can start with a call or a text.
Macon County Planning, Permitting and Development handles demolition permits for Franklin. Its posted requirements call for an asbestos inspection report before the permit is issued. If asbestos has to come out first, the county wants a copy of that removal permit too.
The county inspects before the tear-down begins and again when it is finished. At the end, it asks for landfill receipts that show where the debris went. The state's Health Hazards Control Unit sets the asbestos rules, and its notice is separate from the county permit.
Inside the town limits or the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the Town of Franklin adds its own zoning and flood rules. For a new house there, the town's land development permit asks for a drainage plan for surface water.
About 11 percent of the town's land sits in FEMA's mapped flood hazard area. The mapped zones follow the Little Tennessee River and creeks such as Cartoogechaye Creek and Crawford Branch. In a mapped flood zone, ask the town or the county about a floodplain permit before any grading or fill.
NRCS soil maps put more than half the town on slopes of 8 percent or more. Evard and Cowee are the most common named soils, and Cowee reaches weathered rock at 20 to 40 inches. Braddock soils on the lower slopes carry a red clay subsoil. In the coves, Saunook soils take water from the slopes above, and seeps and springs are common.
On a slope, site development for a new house means cut and fill to make a level pad. Drainage gets planned with the grading. More than half the developed lots inside the town limits are under half an acre. On a tight lot, the small excavator works where the large one will not fit.
Franklin counted 4,175 people at the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau estimates 4,403 for 2025. Macon County permitted 239 new single-family homes in 2025, up from 218 in 2024. A wooded lot needs the brush and stumps off before a pad is cut. Our dump truck hauls them away.
Macon County runs its own erosion control program everywhere outside the Town of Highlands. Its land disturbance form calls for an erosion control plan at half an acre of disturbed ground. The state's line is more than one acre. The county form also calls for ground cover within 21 calendar days of any phase of grading.
Franklin's weather station averages about 55 inches of rain a year, by NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals. Hydroseeding puts seed and mulch down on graded banks and cleared ground. Helene hit western North Carolina in September 2024, and Macon County was part of the federal disaster declaration. When a storm drops trees on a lot or wrecks a shed, the excavator and the dump truck clear it.
Communities and areas we serve around Franklin: Downtown Franklin, East Main Street, Lake Emory Road, Town Mountain Estates, Riverview Heights, Trimont Trail Estates, Scenic Ridge, Cowee, Cartoogechaye, Smithbridge, Burningtown, Otto.
Franklin ZIP codes served: 28734, 28744.
Franklin is part of our service area. We come out from Murphy, look at the job and put the quote in writing.
(828) 342-1467 We tear down old houses and cabins, including homes hurt by fire or storms. The debris goes out on our dump truck, and the lot is left clean for what comes next.
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We tear down single wide and double wide mobile homes and haul them off in our dump truck. The lot is left cleaned up and ready for a new home or a new pad.
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We tear down barns, garages, sheds and old store buildings with the excavator. The dump truck hauls the debris off and the spot is left clean.
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We break out old slabs, foundations, driveways and patios with the excavator. The broken concrete goes out in our dump truck.
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We clear brush and small trees off lots and acreage, then pull the stumps. The dump truck hauls the debris away, and the ground is ready to use.
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We cut house pads and driveways into sloped lots and dig for the foundation. Your build starts on level ground.
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We dig for footings and basements and cut level building pads into sloped lots. Extra dirt and rock leave in our dump truck.
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We take down dead and leaning trees with the excavator and haul the wood off in the dump truck. We also trim and prune limbs and handle storm cleanup.
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Retaining walls that hold a driveway or a house pad on a sloped mountain lot. You choose the material, and every wall gets drainage behind it.
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We spray seed and mulch over new lawns, graded sites, cleared ground and cut banks. Once the grass takes, its roots hold the soil in place.
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We haul off demolition, construction and storm debris with the excavator and the dump truck. Brush piles and stumps go too, and the site is left clean.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Franklin. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
Tell us what has to come down or get cleared, and where the job is. Call or text (828) 342-1467 or (828) 361-8764, or send the form, and we set a time to look at it.
Tell us what you need done and where the property is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.