How much does it cost to demolish a garage?

Angi puts garage demolition at about $2,000 to $10,000, or roughly $4 to $10 per square foot; attached garages cost more.

What size dumpster do I need for a garage demolition?

A one-car garage structure usually fills a 20 yard container; a two-car garage often needs 30 yards or two hauls. The slab needs small containers.

Do I need a permit to tear down a garage?

Most cities require a demolition permit, even for a detached garage, and utilities must be disconnected first.

Can the concrete slab go in the same dumpster?

Usually not in the large container. Concrete is very heavy and goes in small containers, often in several hauls.

Garage Demolition: Permits, Debris and Dumpster Size

What a garage teardown costs

Item	Typical range	Source
Garage demolition, typical total	$2,000–$10,000	Angi
Per square foot	about $4–$10	Angi
Detached vs. attached	about $4/sq ft detached; $8–$10/sq ft attached	Angi
Dumpster rental, national average	$384 (most pay $294–$480)	Angi

Attached garages cost more because the connection to the house has to be handled carefully and the house wall repaired afterwards. A contractor’s price usually includes debris removal; if you do the work yourself, containers are one of the main costs.

Before you swing a hammer

Demolition permit: most cities require a permit to demolish a structure, even a detached garage. Some also require a site plan and proof that utilities are disconnected. Check with your building department.
Utilities: electricity to the garage must be disconnected by an electrician or the utility; gas and water lines capped. Never demolish a building with live wiring.
Call 811 before digging out footings or the slab, so underground lines are marked.
Hazardous materials: old garages can contain asbestos in roofing, siding or floor tiles, and lead-based paint on older wood. Test suspect materials before demolition. Asbestos waste never goes into a regular dumpster.
Contents: empty the garage first. Paint, fuel, chemicals, batteries and propane tanks need special disposal. See What can’t you put in a dumpster?
Neighbors and alleys: in cities with alley garages, such as Chicago, the teardown affects the alley. Let neighbors know and keep the alley passable.

How much debris does a garage make?

A detached garage produces two very different kinds of debris:

The structure – framing, sheathing, siding, roofing, doors and windows. Bulky and moderately heavy. A one-car garage usually fills a 20 yard container; a two-car garage often needs 30 yards or two hauls. Roofing shingles add a lot of weight – see roof tear-off: dumpster size and weight.
The slab and footings – concrete, often with rebar or mesh. Very heavy. A 20 by 20 foot slab, 4 inches thick, is about 133 cubic feet of concrete, or roughly 5 cubic yards – around 10 tons. That needs small containers and several hauls, or a contractor with equipment. See concrete and dirt disposal.

Plan the containers in two phases: a larger container for the structure, then small containers for concrete.

Salvage before demolition

Garage door and opener: often reusable or sellable.
Windows and doors: reuse stores may take them.
Lumber: sound framing lumber can be reused for sheds or garden projects – but not treated wood for food gardens.
Metal: steel beams, sheet metal and wiring can go to a scrap recycler.

Order of work

Empty the garage and remove hazardous materials.
Disconnect utilities; get the permit.
Remove doors, windows and anything salvageable.
Remove the roofing, then the roof structure, then the walls – working from the top down and never standing under framing you are cutting.
Load the structure into the first container.
Break up the slab and footings; load them into small containers.
Grade the site and sweep for nails.

Tearing down a structure is dangerous. Walls and roofs can collapse unexpectedly. For anything larger than a small, simple shed-like garage, hiring a demolition contractor is the safer choice.

Placement

For an alley garage, a container in the alley may need a permit from the city (in Chicago, for example, the dumpster company obtains a public-way permit from CDOT). For a garage at the end of a driveway, place the container on the driveway close to the work, with boards under the rails – see how to protect your driveway.

After the teardown

If the garage is making room for an ADU, a new garage or a yard, the next phase usually starts with grading and new footings. Keep the last small container a few extra days for leftover concrete and soil, and plan the new build’s waste separately.

Permits and inspections in more detail

Demolition permits usually require a few steps: an application with the address and a description of the structure, sometimes a site plan, confirmation that utilities have been disconnected, and in some cities an asbestos survey for older buildings. Some cities also require the sewer lateral to be capped. After the teardown, an inspector may check that the site is cleared and safe. If the garage is in a historic district, a design review may apply. Your building department’s website usually lists the requirements.

What to do with the site afterwards

Once the garage and slab are gone, the ground usually needs grading and compacting before anything new is built, or topsoil and seed if it becomes yard. If a new structure follows, keep records of the demolition permit and final inspection – the building department may ask for them when you apply for the new build.

Attached garages

An attached garage shares a wall, and often a roof line, with the house. Demolishing it means cutting the connection carefully, protecting the house from weather, and often reframing and residing the exposed wall. Fire separation between garage and house, electrical circuits that run through the garage and the roof structure all need attention. This is almost always a job for a licensed contractor, which is part of why Angi’s figures show higher per-square-foot costs for attached garages.

Typical mistakes

Mixing the slab into the big container: the container can end up too heavy to haul.
Forgetting the roof weight: old shingles, sometimes several layers, add tons.
Skipping the permit: unpermitted demolition can lead to fines and trouble when you later build on the site.
Leaving hazardous materials inside: paint, fuel and chemicals must come out before demolition.
Underestimating time: a DIY garage teardown usually takes several days, not one weekend.

Garage cleanout first

Many garages are full long before they are torn down. Clearing out the contents is a separate job: sell or donate what still works, take chemicals to a household hazardous waste site, and put the rest in a container or have it hauled away. See moving out: a cleanout plan and dumpster vs. junk removal for how to handle the contents.

Questions to ask the provider

Which size do you recommend for the structure, and how much weight is included?
Can concrete go in the same container, and how full can I load it?
Do you accept roofing shingles and treated lumber?
Do I need a permit for the spot, and who applies?

How our service fits in

Local Dumpster Network is a free referral service. When you call, you are connected with an independent, local dumpster provider that serves your ZIP code. Give them the garage size, roof type and slab size, and they will plan the containers with you.

Garage demolition: permits, debris and dumpster size