Demolition in Metairie for slab ranches, raised rebuilds and backyard pools

What the typical Metairie lot looks like to a demolition contractor

Most residential streets were platted in the decades after the Second World War, so lots are suburban rather than cramped: a front yard, a driveway down one side, a carport or attached garage, and a fenced backyard that often holds a pool, a patio slab or a shed. Side yards are narrow, though, and the gap between your wall and the neighbor's fence can shape how a machine gets in.

Terrain is flat to the eye and low in fact. Much of the suburb sits near or under sea level, protected by levees and kept dry by pumps and canals. Basements are essentially unknown here.

Soil, drainage canals and why the ground matters after the house is gone

Under Metairie is a layer cake of clay and organic soil that compresses over time. Slabs poured in the fifties and sixties have often tipped or cracked as the ground beneath them shrank, which is one reason so many owners give up on repairs. When the house comes out, the hole left by a broken slab, a pulled footing or a removed pool has to be filled with material that will stay put, compacted in stages, and graded so water runs to the street rather than toward the neighbors.

Large drainage canals run through the suburb, and some backyards end at one or sit next to a parish drainage servitude. If yours does, expect the parish to care about what equipment goes near the bank and where debris is staged.

Flood history and the raise-or-replace decision

Katrina in 2005 put water into a large share of Metairie homes, and heavy rain events since then have flooded low streets again when pumps fell behind. Ida in 2021 added wind damage and roof failures. The result is a housing stock full of slab houses that have been gutted, rebuilt and in some cases flooded a second time.

Owners usually weigh two paths. One is lifting the existing house. The other is clearing it and building new at a higher elevation. The full sequence for that is on the house demolition page; the local point is that flood-zone and elevation rules will shape whatever gets built next, so it pays to talk to your designer before the old house comes down.

Jobs that come up again and again in Metairie

Some requests show up far more than others on the East Bank side of Jefferson Parish:

• Slab ranch teardowns ahead of an elevated rebuild, where the old slab and its grade beams have to be broken out completely.
• In-ground pools from the sixties and seventies, often gunite with cracked coping, that owners want gone before selling or to free up the yard. See the pool removal page for partial versus full removal.
• Patio slabs, walkways and driveways that have sunk or heaved as the soil moved, covered on the concrete removal page.
• Detached garages, sheds and old carports in back, handled on the garage and shed demolition page.
• Kitchens, baths and flood-soaked rooms gutted for a remodel, described on the interior demolition page.

Permits and review: dealing with Jefferson Parish instead of a city hall

Because Metairie is not an incorporated city, the parish is the permitting authority for most addresses. That means a parish demolition permit, and before it is issued the parish generally wants to see that gas, power, water and sewer are being shut off or capped and that an asbestos survey of the structure has been done. State environmental rules also expect advance notice to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for most building demolitions, and anything the survey flags is abated by a specialist before the walls come down.

Metairie has no large historic district review of the kind found across the river in the city, so a straightforward residential teardown is mostly a matter of paperwork in order. Still, check whether your subdivision has deed restrictions or an active civic association.

Getting equipment onto the street and the lot

Metairie streets are wider than those in the older parts of New Orleans, and most houses have a curb cut and driveway an excavator can track up. The friction points are elsewhere. Overhead power and cable lines cross many backyards, mature oaks shade driveways, and a line of parked cars can block the truck that hauls debris away. A contractor usually wants to know where a roll-off container or a dump truck can sit, whether a drop-off at the curb is allowed, and how a low trailer will turn into your drive.

Rear-yard work is the harder case. A pool or patio behind a fenced yard may mean taking a fence panel down, laying ground mats to spare the lawn, or using a smaller machine.

Neighbors, live oaks and shared fences

Houses sit close enough that dust, noise and vibration reach next door. A considerate job means wetting debris to hold dust down, keeping hours sensible, and talking to adjacent owners before machinery shows up. Decide in advance whether a shared wooden fence stays, comes down temporarily or gets replaced.

Big oaks and other mature trees are part of what makes Metairie streets pleasant, and their roots run under slabs, patios and driveways. If a tree matters to you or to the neighbor whose yard it leans over, say so early so the work can be planned around the root zone.

What to have ready before you ask for a Metairie quote

A contractor can price your job faster if you can share the address, a rough size of the house or structure, whether it sits on a slab or on piers, the year it was built if you know it, and photos of the front, back and any pool or outbuilding. Mention whether you are rebuilding. Price comes after a site visit, and it depends on size, construction, access, disposal and what the survey finds.

Gretna Demolition passes requests to a demolition contractor working Metairie and the rest of Jefferson Parish. Use the contact page to send your details, or look at the other communities on the areas page.

Common questions here

The work, by type

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