Contractors in Swannanoa, NC
Swannanoa fills the valley between east Asheville and Black Mountain, along the river that gives it its name. It has long been the working end of the valley — quarries, ready-mix, building supply, and the grading and paving outfits that keep them busy.
That’s exactly what the list looks like: excavating and grading, paving and concrete, stone and ready-mix suppliers, roofing, HVAC, tree service, and gutter work. If you are building, hauling, or moving dirt anywhere on the east side of Buncombe County, there is a good chance the material or the machine came from Swannanoa.
The valley flooded severely in 2024, and the recovery is visible in what these companies have been doing since. For grading, paving, or tree work near the river, ask what a company has handled in the valley in the last two years. The answers will be specific.
One practical note: because the suppliers are here, material lead times out of Swannanoa are often shorter than quotes from farther out. If a project is waiting on stone, block, or concrete, it’s worth asking where it’s coming from.
Appalachian Paving & Concrete, Inc.
Appalachian Paving and Concrete is a licensed and fully insured paving and concrete construction company. We have been serving the Asheville area for more than 15 years, specializing in custom turn-key asphalt and concrete work.
Balken Roofing
Balken Roofing is a family-owned roofing contractor in Swannanoa that has been working across Western North Carolina since 1995. They handle both residential and commercial roofs, along with inspections, ongoing maintenance, gutters and downspouts, and skylight work. The company is a VELUX 5-Star factory-trained installer, which matters if a skylight or sun tunnel is part of the job — that's a different install from a straight shingle replacement. Balken holds GAF Master Elite certification, a status GAF limits to roughly three percent of contractors nationally, and belongs to the National Roofing Contractors Association and the Asheville Home Builders Association. They also run the local "No Roof Left Behind" program, which gives away a free roof to a nominated family. Beyond Asheville and Swannanoa, they cover Waynesville, Hendersonville, and Brevard.
- Residential
- Commercial
Bee Tree Hardwoods
Bee Tree Hardwoods is a family-owned lumber operation on Bee Tree Road in Swannanoa, about ten miles east of downtown Asheville and a couple of minutes off I-40. They work in Appalachian hardwoods and softwoods, and the reason to know about them is that they saw, kiln-dry, and mill it themselves. That's a different transaction than buying off a rack. It means you can bring them a dimension rather than choosing from stock sizes, and it means the wood in your house came from these mountains instead of a distribution center. The things people usually come here for are mantels, butcher block countertops, stair treads, flooring, and doors. If you have a specific idea — a single slab for an island, treads to match an existing staircase, a mantel cut to a particular length — this is the shop that can actually make it rather than order it. Open weekdays, 8:30 to 4:30. Worth calling ahead if you want something milled, since that's scheduled work rather than something you pick up off the floor.
- Residential
- Commercial
Carolina Ready Mix & Builders Supply, Inc.
Carolina Ready Mix & Builders Supply is a Swannanoa concrete plant and building supply yard, founded in 2007 out of a family tradition in the ready mix business going back more than 75 years. They batch commercial, NCDOT-approved, lightweight, and integrally colored concrete, and the supply side carries what goes around it — steel reinforcing, masonry products, foundation and slab prep materials, aggregates, Verti-Block retaining wall systems, and tools. For a homeowner pouring a slab or a small wall, this is where the material comes from rather than the crew placing it. The company runs four locations across Western North Carolina and is BBB accredited, with memberships in NRMCA, CRMCA, the Asheville Home Builders Association, and the Madison County Chamber.
- Residential
- Commercial
Gentry Service Group
Open nowGentry Service Group is the Swannanoa heating and cooling company founded in 1963 as Gentry Heating, still family-owned and on Buckeye Access Road. Founder Duane Gentry retired as president in 2021 and stays on as an advisor. They are a Factory Authorized Carrier Dealer and a Carrier President's Award winner. The heating side covers furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and ductless systems, with Generac standby generators and electrical work as well. NC license #31602. Emergency service runs 24 hours a day, weekends and holidays included. Repairs carry a one-year parts and labor warranty. Coverage includes Asheville, Black Mountain, Fairview, Weaverville, Candler, Leicester, Arden, Fletcher, Hendersonville, Canton, and Old Fort.
- Residential
- Commercial
- 24/7 Emergency
Grey Eagle Grading, LLC
Grey Eagle Grading is a Swannanoa outfit handling excavating, grading, hauling, demolition, land clearing, and driveways, plus forestry mulching for overgrown acreage. They carry a 5.0 rating across 42 Google reviews. Grading is a different conversation here than it is on flat ground, for two reasons. Driveways on mountain lots fail from water rather than traffic — get the crown and the ditch line wrong and you are regrading every few years instead of every couple of decades. And clearing gives you a choice between hauling material off or mulching it in place. Mulching is usually cheaper and leaves the root mat holding the slope together, which counts for a lot on anything steep. They don't publish a website, so get the scope in writing and confirm insurance before anyone starts moving dirt. If the work disturbs much ground or comes near a stream bank, ask who is pulling the erosion control permit — you or them.
Newcomb Tree Service, Inc.
Newcomb Tree Service is a locally owned tree company on US-70 in Swannanoa, operating since 2006 with crews that carry more than 20 years of tree work in Western North Carolina between them. Along with standard trimming and removals, they do lot and land clearing and storm damage cleanup, and they run grading and excavating equipment — useful on jobs where the stumps and the site work are the same project. A woodworking arm, Newcomb Woodworx, mills material from removals. The company is fully insured, offers free estimates, and takes emergency calls around the clock. Service area is Buncombe County and the surrounding Western North Carolina region. They do not advertise an ISA Certified Arborist on staff — worth asking about directly if your job involves diagnosing a tree rather than removing one.
- Residential
- Commercial
- 24/7 Emergency
Stickels Service Company
Stickels Service Company is a family-owned heating and cooling business on Bee Tree Road in Swannanoa. Brad and Leah Stickels started it in Atlanta in 1986, moved it to Fairview in 1996, and their children now work in it. What stands out is the licensing. Stickels holds North Carolina heating licenses in all three groups (H-1 for boilers and hot water, H-2, and H-3), plus fuel piping. So the same company can work on a radiant or boiler system and a heat pump in the same house. Gas furnaces, heat pumps, geothermal, mini splits, ventilation, and custom ductwork round it out. They are an ENERGY STAR certified HVAC contractor and work within about twenty miles of Asheville. Call or text.
- Residential
- Commercial
- Green Building
