Tacoma Asbestos Removal provides pre-demolition asbestos abatement in Tacoma, WA, clearing asbestos from houses, garages, mobile homes and commercial buildings before they come down. The sequence is fixed: an AHERA pre-demolition survey of the whole structure, an Asbestos/Demolition Notification to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, abatement by certified workers, then demolition no sooner than 10 days after the notice was filed.
The City of Tacoma writes those steps into its demolition permit guidance and lists asbestos inspection and removal among the reviews a demolition can require, next to utility abandonment and historic preservation. We abate before demolition in Tacoma and surrounding communities, including University Place and Puyallup.
PSCAA’s demolition notice is triggered by roof area, not by what the survey finds: a detached garage, a mobile home or a house all qualify once the roof covers more than 120 square feet, and each waits 10 days. On the City side, Tacoma’s tip sheet exempts only residential sheds of 200 square feet or less standing at least six feet from other buildings. Friable asbestos is cleared out before any wall comes down.
Taking off a rear porch, a wing or an old addition sits between remodel and teardown. PSCAA defines demolition as making a structure permanently uninhabitable or unusable and treats other alterations as renovation, while Tacoma’s tip sheet covers partial demolitions under its demolition permit. Either way the survey has to cover everything being removed, and friable asbestos in that area comes out first.
Exterior materials are part of the pre-demolition survey. PSCAA allows nonfriable material, such as asbestos roofing that is not a cement product, to stay in place during demolition only while it remains nonfriable, after which it goes into containers labeled nonfriable asbestos waste. Cement asbestos-board siding falls under the agency’s friable definition, so it is normally taken off wet and whole before the machines arrive.
Beginning July 1, 2026, the City of Tacoma is developing a voluntary demolition salvage program to encourage recovering and reusing building materials, with possible permit-processing and donation incentives. Salvage is itself a disturbance; PSCAA’s definition of an asbestos project includes it. Wood, fixtures and trim pulled out for reuse should be cleared by the survey first.
Tacoma’s demolition tip sheet and PSCAA’s contractor demolition page fit together into one order of work:
Tacoma may send some demolitions to historic preservation review: buildings over 50 years old, buildings in a Mixed-Use Center or National Register historic district, and demolitions of 4,000 square feet or more on one parcel, single-family structures excepted. Those projects submit a Summary Demolition Report with photographs and building history. With more than half of Tacoma’s housing built before 1970 (ACS 2024), many teardowns meet the age test.
The 10-day clock starts with the PSCAA notification, not with the end of abatement, so filing early keeps a teardown date realistic. Start and completion dates on the notice are amended if they move. The notification, any amendments and the survey stay available for inspection at the site throughout.
No teardown proceeds without the inspection described under asbestos testing and surveys, and the main Tacoma Asbestos Removal page shows how demolition fits beside remodel work.
What is coming down, a house, garage, mobile home or commercial building, and roughly how big is it? Note whether a survey exists and give the site address. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (253) 322-1760