Concrete Removal

Not every removal is the first half of a replacement. Homeowners take out old slabs to return an area to lawn, to make room for planting, to clear a footprint before a build, or to get rid of a cracked patio that is not being replaced in the same place. We do removal as a standalone job, and it is priced on volume and access rather than on area alone, because a thick reinforced slab behind a house is a completely different proposition from a thin one at the kerb.

The cost driver in demolition is what is actually in the slab. A four-inch unreinforced residential driveway breaks up quickly. A six-inch slab with steel mesh or rebar has to be broken and then cut free of its reinforcement, which is slower and generates heavier, more awkward debris. Older slabs sometimes have surprises in them — a previous slab poured over, a buried footing, or a course of brick used as fill. We would rather find that on site during the estimate than discover it on the day.

Weight is the constraint. Concrete runs roughly 1.3 tons per 100 square feet at four inches thick, so even a modest patio is several tons of material that has to physically leave the property. Where a machine can reach the slab, removal is fast. Where it cannot — a courtyard, a fenced back garden, a slab behind a narrow side gate — the material comes out by barrow, and that is the difference between a half-day job and a two-day one.

Broken concrete is recyclable and we take it to be crushed rather than landfilled where the material is clean. Clean means concrete without significant contamination from soil, asphalt, or embedded material. It is a better outcome environmentally and it is usually cheaper on disposal, which is reflected in the quote.

A removal leaves a depression, not a finished surface. If the area is going back to lawn, it needs backfilling with soil and grading to meet the surrounding level, otherwise it becomes a permanent puddle. We include that as part of the scope rather than leaving a hole and calling it done. If a new pour is following, the excavation is left at the right grade for base preparation instead.