Half Of San Pablo
Isn’t San Pablo.
The city is small and the unincorporated county wraps around it. Whether your permit goes to the City of San Pablo or to Contra Costa County depends on your parcel · not your mailing address. We confirm which one before we quote, so nothing gets filed twice.
The Line Matters.
We Check Before We Quote.
San Pablo is a small incorporated city with a boundary that weaves through West County. Around it sit unincorporated pockets that use San Pablo addresses, San Pablo schools and San Pablo shopping · but are permitted by Contra Costa County, not the city.
Tara Hills, Montalvin Manor, Bayview, Rollingwood, East Richmond Heights, North Richmond and El Sobrante are all unincorporated. Two houses on the same street can answer to different building departments. That is why homeowners here spend weeks calling the wrong counter.
- Inside city limits? Your demolition permit goes to the City of San Pablo and follows the city’s process.
- Unincorporated? It goes to Contra Costa County · 30 Muir Road, Martinez · 925-655-2700 · epermits.cccounty.us.
- We verify the parcel first. Assessor’s parcel number, jurisdiction, then scope. In that order, every time.
- The estimate names the agency. You will see on paper who is receiving your application before you sign anything.
San PabloWe will not publish a City of San Pablo checklist we cannot stand behind. City requirements and fees change, and a small department’s process is not something to guess at from a website. We confirm current requirements with the city on every job before we submit · and we tell you what they said. What we can state with confidence are the state and regional rules below, which apply either way.
Small Lots. Old Concrete.
San Pablo’s residential fabric is compact: modest post-war houses on modest parcels, short driveways, detached garages and a lot of original flatwork that has been cracking for forty years. Very little of it needs a full teardown. Almost all of it needs something removed.
That shapes how we work here. The machine is usually a skid steer or compact excavator, not a 25-ton unit. The truck often works from the street. Neighbors are close on both sides. And the difference between a clean job and a bad one is the load-out plan, not the horsepower.
- Driveway and walkway removal · narrow, thin, frequently unreinforced, quick when planned right.
- Rear slabs and patios · gets the back yard back, or clears the ADU footprint.
- Detached garage teardowns · the most common first step toward an accessory dwelling unit.
- Junk and debris clear-outs · a full property cleanup before a sale, a rental turnover or an estate closing.
Everything We Do In San Pablo
A single written scope and one point of contact from permit to final sweep.
Driveway Removal
Cracked and heaved driveways broken out, loaded and hauled · including the apron and the walkway if you want the whole front done at once.
Driveway removal → FlatworkConcrete Removal
Patios, rear slabs, steps, porches and old footings removed and recycled as inert material with weight tickets.
Concrete removal → ADU PrepGarage Demolition
Detached garages, carports and rear sheds removed to open the back of a small lot for an accessory dwelling unit.
Garage demolition → Clear-OutsJunk & Debris Removal
Whole-property cleanouts for sales, rental turnovers and estates · house, garage, yard and side lot in one visit.
Junk removal → TeardownsResidential Demolition
Full and partial house demolition on compact lots, with permits filed to whichever agency actually has jurisdiction over your parcel.
Residential demolition → SelectiveInterior Demolition
Kitchens, baths, flooring and non-bearing walls stripped from older homes, worked lead-safe under EPA RRP.
Interior demolition →What We Most Often Do Here
San Pablo’s job mix is smaller-ticket and higher-frequency than the hill towns. Five jobs cover most of it.
Driveway & Front Concrete
The number one call. A 200-600 sq ft driveway runs $1,200-$4,500; concrete removal generally runs $3-$8 per sq ft including disposal, with reinforced slabs adding $1-$3. A 10×10 pad is $300-$800. Concrete dump fees run $90-$160 per ton, which is why thickness matters more than area.
Garage Teardowns For ADUs
Removing the detached garage is usually step one of an accessory dwelling unit on a small parcel. Two-car demolition runs $2,500-$6,500, and pulling the slab with it runs $2-$5 per sq ft. See ADU site prep →
Junk & Property Clear-Outs
Estate cleanouts, rental turnovers and pre-sale cleanups. Minimum charge runs $70-$100; a quarter load $150-$250, a half load $300-$400 and a full load $500-$700. We usually combine this with a concrete or garage job in one mobilization.
Interior Strip-Outs
Kitchen and bath gut-outs in older homes ahead of a remodel. Interior demolition runs $2-$8 per sq ft; a kitchen is $1,500-$3,000, a bathroom $1,000-$2,500. In pre-1978 houses this is renovation, so EPA Lead RRP applies.
Rear Yard & Patio Clearing
Old patios, planters, block walls, sheds and overgrowth cleared to make the back of the lot usable again. A 20×20 patio runs $1,200-$3,000, and brush clearing runs $800-$3,000 per acre on the larger parcels toward the creek and hillside edges.
Old Town To The County Line.
The oldest part of the city runs along San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane, where the lots are smallest and the houses go back furthest. This is where interior strip-outs, garage teardowns and front-yard concrete are steady work, and where neighbor coordination decides how a job feels.
West of there, the blocks off Rumrill Boulevard, Road 20 and Brookside run toward the Richmond Parkway with the same compact pattern. North around El Portal Drive, Contra Costa College and Vale Road, parcels open up slightly and we see more rear-yard clearing and slab work. Along Wildcat Creek and the eastern edge toward San Pablo Dam Road, lots get larger and brush clearing enters the mix.
And then the boundary does what it does. Tara Hills, Montalvin Manor, Bayview and Rollingwood all sit just outside city limits, and East Richmond Heights and El Sobrante continue that unincorporated ring. We cross between Richmond, San Pablo and Pinole most weeks, which is exactly why we check the parcel rather than the postmark.
West Contra Costa · including San Pablo · is served by RecycleMore, the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority, for waste and recycling. In neighboring unincorporated County jurisdictions, RecycleSmart requires a Registered C&D Transporter and an Approved C&D Processing Facility. Programs differ across that line, so we confirm the correct pathway for your parcel and keep the tickets either way.
The Rules That Don’t Care Which Side You’re On
City or county, these four are constant. We can state them because they are state and regional law, not a local counter policy.
The J Number
Required for any plan to demolish a load-supporting structural member, regardless of asbestos content, age or size. Notify 10 working days ahead, reducible to 72 hours for four-or-fewer-unit dwellings with a fee. Single-family fee $90; late notice adds $619.
Pre-1978 Housing
San Pablo’s housing stock is largely pre-1978. Four-or-fewer-unit dwellings don’t need a certified survey, but HVAC ducting, acoustic ceiling material and acoustic plaster must be tested if disturbed. Testing runs $300-$900; abatement $5-$15/sq ft. EPA Lead RRP applies to renovation, not to a full teardown.
65% Diversion
A statewide minimum 65% diversion of non-hazardous C&D waste, documented with facility, date, origin, material type and quantity. Concrete is the easy win here · it recycles as inert material, and it’s most of what leaves a San Pablo job.
Before The Machine Moves
Utilities must be shut off, capped or controlled at the building or curb line before demolition starts. Notify USA North 811 at least 2 working days and no more than 14 calendar days before excavating; the ticket is valid 28 days.
State and regional requirements above are from BAAQMD Regulation 11 Rule 2, Cal/OSHA Title 8 CCR §341 and §1735, EPA Lead RRP, CalRecycle/CALGreen and Government Code §4216.2. Local permit requirements and fees are set by the City of San Pablo or Contra Costa County depending on your parcel, and are revised periodically · we confirm current requirements with the correct agency on every job.
San Pablo Working Ranges
Honest ranges with the driver that moves them. Your written number is fixed after the site walk.
| Job | Typical Range | Biggest Local Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Driveway removal (200-600 sq ft) | $1,200 to $4,500 | Thickness, rebar, where the truck parks |
| Patio removal (20×20) | $1,200 to $3,000 | Rear-yard access and gate width |
| Small slab (10×10) | $300 to $800 | Thickness and haul distance |
| Detached garage (1-2 car) | $2,500 to $6,500 | Whether the slab goes with it |
| Junk / property clear-out | $150 to $700 | Volume · quarter load to full load |
| Interior strip-out | $2 to $8 / sq ft | Lead-safe RRP work in pre-1978 homes |
| Kitchen / bathroom gut | $1,000 to $3,000 | Fixture count and protection needs |
| Single-story house (1,000-1,500 sq ft) | $12,000 to $22,000 | Lot width, neighbor protection, hazmat |
| Foundation / slab removal | $2 to $5 / sq ft | Depth, rebar, haul distance |
| Permits & agency fees | $300 to $1,500+ | Which agency has jurisdiction over the parcel |
Filing with the wrong agency. An application sent to the city for a parcel the County permits does not get forwarded · it gets returned, and you start over. On small jobs that delay can be longer than the work itself. Confirming jurisdiction takes us one call. Skipping it costs weeks.
What San Pablo Owners Say
I’d been going back and forth between the city and the county for a month. Legacy pulled the parcel number, told me in one call which one it was, and handled it from there.
Driveway, walkway and the old patio out back, all in one day. They swept the street before they left and my neighbor asked me for their number.
We cleared out my mother’s house before selling · garage, yard, forty years of everything. Fair price, no judgment, and they were done in an afternoon.
San Pablo Demolition Questions
Does the City of San Pablo or the County permit my job?
It depends on the parcel, not the mailing address. San Pablo is a small incorporated city surrounded by unincorporated Contra Costa County · Tara Hills, Montalvin Manor, Bayview, Rollingwood and East Richmond Heights are all county, and several of them use San Pablo addresses. Inside city limits the City of San Pablo handles it. Outside, it’s the County at 30 Muir Road, Martinez · 925-655-2700 · epermits.cccounty.us. We confirm your parcel before quoting.
Why don’t you list San Pablo’s exact permit requirements?
Because we won’t publish a checklist we can’t stand behind. City requirements and fee schedules change, and a small department’s process isn’t something to guess at from a webpage. We confirm current requirements with the city on every San Pablo job and put what they tell us in your written scope. The state and regional rules · air district notification, Cal/OSHA utility control, 65% diversion, 811 · we can and do state, because they apply either way.
Do I need a permit just to remove a driveway or patio?
Often not · plain flatwork removal frequently doesn’t require one. But it depends on scope and jurisdiction: if you’re changing drainage, working in the right-of-way near the sidewalk or apron, or moving enough material to hit a grading threshold, the answer changes. We check it as part of the estimate instead of assuming. More on slab and driveway permits →
Can you take the garage down for an ADU?
That’s one of our most common San Pablo jobs. Two-car garage demolition runs $2,500-$6,500, and removing the slab with it runs $2-$5 per square foot. On a compact lot we’ll also level and clear the footprint so your ADU builder starts on ready ground rather than a debris pile. See ADU site prep →
Who handles waste and recycling out here?
West Contra Costa, including San Pablo, is served by RecycleMore · the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority. Neighboring unincorporated County areas fall under RecycleSmart, which requires a registered C&D transporter and an approved processing facility. Either way, California’s 65% diversion minimum stands and you need documentation. We keep the tickets. See debris hauling and recycling →
Can you do junk removal and demolition in the same visit?
Yes, and it usually saves money. Mobilization is a real cost, so combining a garage teardown, a concrete removal and a property cleanout into one visit beats three separate trips. Junk removal alone runs from a $70-$100 minimum up to $500-$700 for a full load. See junk removal →
Send Us The Address.
We’ll confirm which agency permits your parcel, walk the site, and put a fixed number on paper. No guessing which counter you belong to.
Legacy Demolitions LLC · 4533 Appian Way, El Sobrante, CA 94803 · CA License #1122603