We handle demolition and interior demolition across San Francisco, and we cover the Peninsula through San Carlos on the same run. Roughly 44 percent of San Francisco homes were built before 1940. Most work here happens inside a building that is staying up.
Riverbank Environmental & Demolition has been a family company since 1967. We carry CSLB #247684 and CAL OSHA #507. San Francisco jobs are tight. Crews work inside occupied buildings, with the sidewalk a few feet from the door.
Tell us about the job and we’ll get right back to you.
Downtown office space keeps changing hands. Tenant improvement permit values in the city dropped to about $442 million in 2023. They climbed back to roughly $1.1 billion in 2025, much of it from AI companies. Vacancy still sat at 27.2 percent in the second quarter of 2026, down from 31.6 percent a year earlier.
That leaves plenty of dated floors waiting on a tenant. We do interior demolition and office strip-outs in San Francisco on those floors, down to the bare deck. Flooring removal and surface preparation follows. Ultra high pressure water blasting at 40,000 psi takes glue and coatings off the concrete.
The median San Francisco home was built in 1948. That is the third oldest median among the 100 largest counties in the country. Most buildings here date from the years when asbestos went into floor tile and pipe insulation. A certified asbestos consultant surveys the building first, and we take the removal from there.
The Bay Area Air District wants notice at least 10 working days before any demolition, whatever the asbestos content. Renovations need the same notice once the removal passes 100 square feet of asbestos material. The district issues a J number, and the start date on it is firm. We handle asbestos removal and abatement in San Francisco buildings and file the notice before work starts.
Tearing down a whole building here is uncommon, and the rules explain why. Planning Code Section 317 treats the loss of any dwelling unit as a Planning Commission matter. Removing one usually needs Conditional Use Authorization. Heavy alterations can count too, under the tantamount to demolition tests.
The permit side runs through the Department of Building Inspection at 49 South Van Ness. Full demolition uses DBI Form 6, and the Bay Area Air District J number goes with it. Residential demolition and commercial building demolition are both work we take on. Two to three stories is our range, and taller buildings run through partner companies.
Concrete demolition in the city happens in tight spots. Garage slabs and basement floors sit behind buildings with no yard to stage in. We break the concrete and carry it out through the same door people walk in. Saw cutting keeps the noise and dust down on shared walls.
Fire damage cleanup is the other half of this work. Many San Francisco flats share a wall with the building next door, so one fire can damage both. We strip out the burned framing and finishes so a contractor can rebuild. The char and smoke soaked material leaves the site as demolition debris.
San Francisco keeps demolition debris out of the landfill. Since January 2022, mixed debris has to move in a permitted box to a city registered facility. Each box or truck needs its own permit from the Environment Department. Full demolition under Form 6 has to recycle or reuse at least 75 percent of the material.
Parking the box is its own job in this city. A street space permit covers the box, and no parking signs go up 72 hours ahead. A full box has to be off the street within two business days. We plan the box swaps around that before the first wall comes down.
Communities & areas we serve around San Francisco: SoMa, Mission, Bayview, Sunset, Richmond, Potrero Hill, Noe Valley, Dogpatch.
San Francisco ZIP codes served: 94102, 94103, 94107, 94110, 94114, 94122.
Free, no-obligation estimates throughout San Francisco County.
(209) 652-9206
We handle asbestos removal and abatement for homes and commercial buildings across Northern California. Work runs under sealed containment with negative air machines, and the waste goes to a landfill approved to take it.
View Details
We handle residential demolition across Northern California. That covers whole houses, garages, sheds, and mobile homes. Work starts with an asbestos survey and permits, then the teardown and haul-off. A family company since 1967.
View Details
Commercial demolition for retail buildings, small offices, warehouses and ag structures. We handle the asbestos abatement, the utility cuts, the teardown and the debris loads. Buildings up to two or three stories are our size range.
View Details
Interior demolition for remodels and tenant improvements across the Central Valley and Bay Area. We gut spaces down to the studs and hand back a clean shell your builder can start in.
View Details
We break out and haul away old concrete. Driveways, garage slabs, patios, walkways, foundations and footings all come out the same way. Broken concrete goes to a recycling yard and gets crushed into base rock.
View Details
Fire damage cleanup starts once the fire is out and the building is cold. We take down burned structures and haul the debris to permitted disposal sites. The lot is left clear for your rebuild contractor.
View DetailsA few of the questions we hear most around San Francisco. If yours is not here, call and ask. The person who answers runs the jobs.
A building that needs to come down, a space to gut, asbestos in the survey, or a fire to clean up after? Call or send the form. We look at the property, price the job in person, and give you a number that holds. Estimates are free.
Tell us about the job and we’ll get right back to you.
