Excavation and demolition in Opelousas usually starts with an old building that somebody finally wants gone. The city calls itself the third oldest in Louisiana, and the local housing stock clearly shows its age. Census figures put the median build year for a house in Opelousas at about 1971. Very few of the homes inside the city limits went up after the year 2000.
So most of what we take down here is vacant wood frame houses, leaning carports and empty mobile homes. Some were inherited by family members who live out of state and cannot keep the place up. Others sat empty after a storm, never got repaired, and lost the roof a winter or two later. The lot underneath usually still has value, and the ruined structure is the thing blocking it.
We work out of New Iberia, about 45 miles south, running up US 167 and I-49 through Lafayette. The other half of the calls we get in Opelousas are about land instead of buildings. A vacant lot on the edge of town can turn into a solid thicket in about two seasons. Call (337) 201-0594, and every estimate is free.
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Most of our Opelousas work is residential. We take down wood frame houses, mobile homes, detached garages, barns and carports, plus small commercial buildings. Concrete slabs and driveways come out on the same trip. Our page on house demolition in Opelousas lays out the full process.
Before anything moves, the power, gas and water get disconnected by the utility. Louisiana law also requires a call to Louisiana 811 at least two full business days before digging. That call is free, and each utility marks its own lines on the property. Then the structure comes down in sections and the debris gets sorted as it falls.
Debris leaves the site in roll off containers, and the slab or piers go with it. We backfill the hole and grade the lot so water runs off toward the ditch. Louisiana's asbestos notification rules apply mostly to commercial and multi unit buildings. Abatement is a separate licensed trade, and we schedule our work around it.
Inside the city limits, Code Enforcement inspects the structure and brings a condemnation recommendation to the city council. The council then votes on it. City code enforcement staff have said publicly that more than half of the residential property in Opelousas is blighted. Demolition costs are normally billed back to the owner.
Outside the city limits, the St. Landry Parish Council handles the same problem. Owners get notice by certified mail and regular mail, and the parish cross checks addresses with the assessor. An owner can appear at a council meeting and ask for more time. The parish has granted extensions of 90 days or more to owners who showed a plan.
Owners often hire the teardown themselves instead of waiting for the city to do it and bill the cost back. We quote the demolition and the haul off together. The container leaves with the lumber, roofing and slab, and our demolition debris removal in Opelousas page covers that. What is left is a graded lot you can sell or build on.
Empty lots in Opelousas fill in fast. Briars and privet crowd the fence line, then young hardwoods fill in the middle. After a few years it is a wall of green with trash and old fence wire inside. A compact track loader and a mini excavator take it back down to dirt.
Drainage decides a lot of these jobs. Roadside ditches and coulees carry most of the water in and around Opelousas, and they silt in over time. High water on Bayou Courtableau has put water over streets in town and into yards. Cleaning the ditch line and reopening a blocked culvert is often the first thing we do.
You can underbrush a lot and keep the mature oaks, or clear the whole thing to bare ground. Both jobs are covered on our land clearing in Opelousas page. The brush leaves in a dump trailer or a roll off container. Stumps get dug out of the ground with the excavator instead of ground down.
St. Landry Parish is farm country. Soybeans, sugarcane and rice cover the most acres, and sweet potatoes are a signature crop here. The parish was named the Equine Capital of Louisiana in 2022, and cattle and crawfish ponds are common. Work on that land means house pads, land leveling, lot grading and pond digging.
A new gravel driveway usually needs a culvert under it so the ditch keeps flowing. Sizing the pipe depends on ditch depth and how much water that run carries. LA DOTD permits a driveway connection on a state highway such as US 190, LA 182 or LA 31. The parish permit office handles connections on parish roads, so check with them before the pipe goes in.
LA 31 links Opelousas back to New Iberia along the west bank of Bayou Teche. It runs through Leonville, Arnaudville, Cecilia and Breaux Bridge on the way, and becomes Creswell Lane in town. That is the route our equipment often takes, along with I-49 and its Judson Walsh and Harry Guilbeau exits. We do the same kind of excavation work in Breaux Bridge on the way up.
Communities & areas we serve around Opelousas: Opelousas Historic District, The Hill, Brickyard, Carlton, Garland, Park Vista, Indian Hills, Royal Garden.
Opelousas ZIP codes served: 70570, 70571.
Free, no-obligation estimates throughout St. Landry Parish.
(337) 201-0594 We handle demolition on houses, mobile homes, garages, barns and carports, plus small commercial buildings. We also break out and haul off old concrete slabs and driveways. Free estimates across Acadiana.
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We clear overgrown lots and acreage around New Iberia. That means underbrushing, brush removal, briars, vines and small trees. The vegetation leaves the property in dump trailers or roll-off containers.
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We do dirt work across Acadiana: house pads, site prep, lot grading and yard leveling. Our excavators and track loader move, spread and pack fill to the grade you need. Call for a free estimate.
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We build new gravel driveways and rebuild the ones that have washed out or gone to potholes. Crushed limestone gets shaped with a crown so rain runs to the sides. Free estimates around New Iberia and Acadiana.
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We install driveway culverts and replace crushed or rusted pipe across Acadiana. Every pipe gets set to the ditch grade so water drains instead of backing up. Free estimates on culvert installation in New Iberia and the surrounding parishes.
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Debris removal for piles too heavy to move by hand. We load construction, demolition and storm debris with an excavator or track loader. The load leaves in a roll-off container or dump trailer.
View DetailsA few of the questions we hear most around Opelousas. If yours is not here, call and ask. The person who answers runs the jobs.
A structure that needs to come down, a lot to clear, a pad to build, or a driveway that floods? Call or send the form. We come 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.
