Quick answer
In the Village of Kenmore, NY, Dig Out WNY provides excavation, demolition and construction for homeowners, two-family owners and businesses. The work here includes tearing down old detached garages, ripping out cracked driveways, replacing sewer laterals, running sump and bubbler lines for the Village's pre-sale inspection, and digging footings for additions in a compact village of older homes. Call or text (716) 444-6613 for an estimate.
More than 100 city blocks fit inside Kenmore's roughly 1.44 square miles, with sidewalks on both sides of every street. That density is the first thing we plan around. A backyard garage may have exactly one way in, the driveway, and the house next door may be close enough that dust, vibration and a swinging bucket all matter. Before anything gets priced, we walk the lot and work out where a machine can travel, where the spoils go and how the sidewalk gets crossed without damage.
The other thing that sets the village apart is paperwork. Kenmore keeps its own municipal code, separate from the Town of Tonawanda's, so taking down even a detached garage needs a demolition permit from the Board of Trustees, and a house sale can hinge on where the sump pump drains. We line the digging up with those steps so the approvals and the equipment arrive in the right order. Call or text us, or send the job details and a few photos and we'll set up a time to look.
Buffalo's First Suburb, Built on Reddish Lake Clay
Kenmore governs itself as a village, yet it lies within the Town of Tonawanda in Erie County. The City of Buffalo borders it on the south and the town wraps around the other three sides. Delaware Avenue is the main street. The residential streets mostly run east-west, and the horse path, a car-free corridor about a mile long, cuts across them to link homes in the western part of the village with Mang Park.
The houses are old, and that drives the work. The first went up in 1889, ten years before incorporation. In the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, 3,497 of the village's 7,213 homes and apartments were built in 1939 or earlier, about 86 percent predate 1960, and the survey counts none built in 2010 or later. On a typical lot, the sewer lateral, footing drains and garage slab may be original or close to it.
Under the lawns is lake clay, not rock. USDA soil mapping puts about two-thirds of the village in the Urban land-Schoharie complex. Schoharie soils formed in reddish, clayey, lake-laid sediment: a subsoil of silty clay loam and silty clay to about 31 inches, then varved silty clay below. Most of the rest is Urban land-Cayuga, where a mantle of lake clay sits on gravelly glacial till. The county soil survey says both carry a perched water table in spring, drain slowly, and have bedrock more than five feet down. It also notes that new building in these complexes happens mostly on the sites of demolished buildings, which describes this village well.
Water had its own route here once. The 1925 village history describes Cornelius Creek, which rose in the northeast section near McKinley Avenue and Colvin Boulevard and ran down Myron Avenue and across Delaware toward Scajaquada Creek, until it was drained into the sewers. The same book calls the surrounding farmland fields of clay soil, none too fertile for farming.
Services in Kenmore
What we do in Kenmore
Housing this old points to a handful of recurring jobs. Old detached garages come down through our garage tear-down service, slab and footings included, and cracked concrete goes out with driveway rip-outs. Below grade, sewer lateral repair and replacement in heavy lake clay comes up often with pipes this old, and we run the sump discharge and bubbler lines the pre-sale inspection looks for as part of our storm water drainage work. Residential or commercial, the order is the same: look first, then dig.
Demolition & Removal
Excavation & Earthwork
Building & Foundations
Sewer, Water & Utilities
Driveways & Finish Work
Why a Garage Tear-Down Goes Before the Village Board
Taking down any building or structure here, or any part of one, needs a demolition permit issued by the Board of Trustees, on top of the regular building permit. That wording covers a detached garage, and taking off part of a building, such as a porch or rear addition, counts too. Only interior work that leaves the exterior standing is exempt.
The application is a letter. Under Section 7-121 of the village code it should explain why the structure has to come down, address compliance with asbestos regulations, and speak to the criteria the board weighs:
- the structure's condition and whether repair is feasible
- public health and safety
- aesthetic effects, streetscape and community character
- plans for reuse, and whether another structure could feasibly be built on the lot afterward
The board then holds a public hearing and completes state environmental review (SEQRA) before deciding in writing, and it can attach conditions. An approved permit expires one year after it's issued. Once it's in hand, the physical job is familiar demolition work: take the structure down, break out the slab and footings, carry the debris out through the driveway, backfill in compacted lifts and grade the spot so water runs away from your house. Grading matters in a village this compact: the Village's public works guidance warns that improperly directing water onto a neighbor's property may violate state and local property maintenance codes.
Sewer Laterals: Your Pipe, the Village's Connection
Kenmore's code defines the building sewer as the pipe running from five feet outside your house wall to the public sewer, and it makes the owner pay to install and connect it. The DPW's own guidance says the same about trouble: a backup caused by a blockage between the house and the main is the property owner's to fix, while the Village handles its main line.
Two village rules shape a replacement. Opening or connecting to the public sewer takes a written permit from the superintendent of public works, and the new connection is made under the superintendent's supervision. An old lateral can't be reused for a new building until the superintendent examines and tests it, which matters when a new house replaces an old one on the same lot.
In the trench, expect firm reddish clay that is heavy to dig and slow to drain. Spring water perched in the subsoil can soften the walls, so we keep the trench open only as long as the pipe needs, bed the new line, then backfill in compacted layers, which keeps the lawn or sidewalk above from settling. The code also wants the dig barricaded and lit, and any disturbed sidewalk restored. More on the method is on our sewer line replacement page.
Sump Lines, Bubblers and the Pre-Sale Inspection
Before most property sales in the village, an inspector looks at the downspouts, the yard and footing drains and the sump, then issues a certificate of compliance that is good for two years. None of that water may reach the sanitary sewer. A sump passes only when it discharges into an operational underground bubbler system connected to the storm drain or a French drain, and a separate section of the code holds any sump pump system that gets installed to the same standard, sale or no sale.
Meeting it usually means some digging:
- cutting a downspout or footing drain off a sanitary connection and sealing it
- running a new sump discharge line out to a bubbler
- replacing a crushed or root-choked bubbler line in clay that sheds water slowly
The Village takes responsibility for storm water once it reaches the street; drainage inside the lot is yours. If a new line has to cross the driveway, pairing it with a driveway rip-out means the concrete only comes out once. Start well before a listing goes live, because a failed inspection needs corrections before the certificate issues.
Kenmore Village Permits, Sewer Sign-Offs and 811
Permits come from the Village of Kenmore, which keeps its own municipal code and Building Department even though the village sits inside the Town of Tonawanda. The ones that matter most for digging and demolition:
- Demolishing any structure: a Board of Trustees demolition permit plus a building permit
- Opening or connecting to the public sewer: a written permit from the Village superintendent of public works, with the connection made under the superintendent's supervision
- Selling a property: a certificate of compliance covering the sump, footing drains, yard drains and downspouts
The owner pays to install and connect the sewer lateral and to clear blockages between the house and the main. Before any excavation, 811 gets called so the utilities can mark their lines; private runs, such as a buried feed out to a garage, aren't part of that locate. Requirements get revised, so check with the Village of Kenmore Building Department before you schedule the work.
Questions & answers
Questions from Kenmore homeowners
Do I need Village Board approval to tear down my garage in Kenmore?
Yes. Kenmore's code requires a demolition permit from the Board of Trustees for any building or structure, detached garages included, in addition to a building permit. You apply by letter, the board holds a public hearing and completes environmental review, and then it decides in writing, sometimes with conditions. An approved permit expires a year after it's issued. Interior-only work that leaves the outside of the building standing doesn't need one.
Who pays to fix a clogged or broken sewer lateral in Kenmore?
The property owner does. The Village code puts the cost of installing and connecting the building sewer on the owner, and the DPW treats backups caused by a blockage between the house and the main as the owner's responsibility. The Village steps in when the problem is in its main line. Opening or reconnecting to the public sewer also needs a written permit from the superintendent of public works, who supervises the connection.
Can my sump pump drain into a floor drain or laundry tub in Kenmore?
No. Sump water, downspouts and footing drains aren't allowed into the sanitary sewer here. The village code requires every sump pump system to discharge into an operational underground bubbler system connected to the storm drain or a French drain. A discharge hose into a tub or floor drain sends clear water to the sanitary side, and the sump system is one of the things checked before a sale, so it's worth rerouting before you list.
What does the Village check before I can sell my house in Kenmore?
For most sales, title can't transfer until a Village inspector has looked at the sump, footing drains, yard drains and downspouts and signed off with a certificate of compliance. That certificate lasts two years. The sump has to feed a working underground bubbler tied to the storm drain or a French drain. If corrections can't be finished before closing, the code allows a temporary waiver only when the buyer files a written guaranty to fix the problems and posts an escrow deposit that the Village keeps if the work isn't finished on time.
Will we hit rock digging footings for an addition in Kenmore?
Not at normal footing depth. The Erie County soil survey puts bedrock deeper than five feet under the Schoharie and Cayuga soils that cover most of the village. What you get instead is reddish silty clay that sheds water slowly and carries a perched spring water table, and the survey flags the undisturbed Schoharie clay for low strength. Footing trenches for a home addition are about keeping water out and reaching firm bearing at the depth the Building Department requires.
Does the Town of Tonawanda handle permits for Kenmore properties?
No. Kenmore is a village inside the Town of Tonawanda, but it has its own municipal code and Building Department, so demolition, sewer and pre-sale rules come from the Village. Just outside the village line, a property falls under the town's rules, or the City of Buffalo's along the southern edge, which is why our Town of Tonawanda page reads differently. If you aren't sure which side of the line a property is on, ask the Village Building Department before you apply.
Service areas
Other towns we serve
The same crew and the same approach across Erie and Niagara counties.
Sources and further reading
- Village of Kenmore Code, Ch. 7, Art. VI: Demolition of Structures (Sec. 7-120 to 7-128) (opens in a new tab)
- Village of Kenmore Code, Ch. 18: Sewers (building sewers, sump pumps, transfer inspections) (opens in a new tab)
- Village of Kenmore DPW: Flooding and Drainage Problems (opens in a new tab)
- American Planning Association, Great Places in America: Village of Kenmore (2009) (opens in a new tab)
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year, B25034 Year Structure Built: Kenmore village (opens in a new tab)
- USDA Soil Conservation Service, Soil Survey of Erie County, New York (1986) (opens in a new tab)
- Frederick Parkhurst, History of Kenmore (1925), linked from the Village history page (opens in a new tab)
Old Garage or Tired Lateral in the Village?
Text a few photos and your street address to (716) 444-6613, or call. We'll walk the lot, map the access and give you an estimate.