Driveway and Concrete Removal
Breaking out concrete is the easy half. Getting rid of it is the real work.
- THE JOB
- Breaking out and hauling concrete, and leaving a base you can build on
- TYPICALLY
- Driveways, patios, walkways, slabs, steps and pool decking
- MEASURED BY
- Square footage, thickness, and whether it's reinforced
- THE HARD PART
- Weight. Concrete runs roughly two tons per cubic yard
- REINFORCEMENT
- Rebar and wire mesh are cut out and separated for recycling
- WHAT IS UNDER
- Checked before breaking. Utility lines often run shallower than expected
- AFTERWARD
- Base graded and compacted, ready for the new pour if there is one
- THE DEBRIS
- Hauled to be crushed and reused, not landfilled
- TIME ON SITE
- Most residential driveways take a day
Every one of these jobs is priced from the property itself, so there is no figure on this page to mislead you.
251-415-4545Call and we will come and look at it. The estimate is free and you get it in writing.
Breaking it is the easy half
Anyone with a rented jackhammer can crack a driveway. What makes concrete removal more than a weekend project is what comes after. Once it's broken, you own several tons of the heaviest debris a home produces, and it's sitting in your front yard.
Concrete runs about two tons per cubic yard. A modest 400 square foot driveway at four inches thick is around five cubic yards, or roughly ten tons of material, and that's before anyone mentions the apron, the steps or the walkway down the side. That's more than a wheelbarrow can handle. It takes a machine and a truck, and it's exactly why containers have weight allowances.
So if you want to do part of it yourself, the smart split is usually the reverse of what people assume. Breaking it up is the part we'd happily leave to you. Getting rid of it is the part worth handing over.
Breaking it up is the part we'd happily leave to you.
Rebar, mesh, and what's underneath
Older residential slabs around here are often plain, with no steel in them. Anything structural, anything commercial and most work from the last thirty years has wire mesh or rebar in it. Reinforced concrete doesn't break into pieces you can lift. It cracks and hangs together on the steel, so it has to be cut. The steel is pulled out and recycled separately, and that's worth the effort.
What's underneath matters more. Irrigation lines, a gas line to a grill, a low-voltage lighting loop, the water line and downspout drains all run shallower than people expect. If a slab sits over them, they went in first and the concrete was poured on top. We check before we break anything. A cut water line under a driveway turns a one-day job into a plumber and a hole.
Tree roots are the other thing to watch for. If a root lifted your driveway, that root is still under there, and taking the concrete off doesn't fix why it lifted. If the tree stays, the new pour needs to account for it.
What you're left standing on
The difference between a concrete removal and a good one is the base.
Once the slab is off, what's underneath is the sub-base the new pour will sit on. It's usually been packed down for twenty years and then torn up by the removal. We grade and recompact it before we leave, so your concrete contractor shows up to a base that's ready instead of a rutted, loose surface they have to fix first at your expense.
If nothing's going back in, the base still matters, for a different reason. A stripped area left rough holds water. Much of this county already drains slowly, and standing water is how you end up with a soft patch in the lawn.
Where it goes
Clean concrete is one of the few demolition materials with somewhere better to go than a landfill. It's hauled off to be crushed and comes back as aggregate and road base. The steel from it is recycled. We do that on every job, and you don't have to ask for it.
That also means it pays to keep clean concrete and mixed debris apart on site. If you're clearing a patio and a shed at the same time, keeping the concrete separate from the wood is worth the ten minutes.
If you'd rather load it yourself, a 10 yard container is the one for concrete. It's small and low-sided, and it's sized so a full one can still be lifted. Fill a 30 with concrete and nobody can pick it up. Prices are on the dumpster rental page.
Questions we get asked
Can I put broken concrete in a regular dumpster?
In a 10 yard, yes. That's what it's for. Not in a 20 or a 30, though. Filled with concrete, they weigh more than a truck can lift, which is why heavy debris has its own container size.
Do you remove the concrete and pour the new one?
We handle the removal and leave you a graded, compacted base. The pour is a job for a concrete contractor, and they'd much rather show up to a base that's ready.
What about a driveway with rebar in it?
That's normal. It's cut instead of broken, and the steel comes out and is recycled separately. It takes longer than plain concrete, so mention it when you call, because it changes the equipment.
Will you damage the lawn getting to it?
Machines and loaded trucks leave marks, and we'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise. Where the route matters, we lay down plates or plan a different one. Let us know if there's anywhere we shouldn't cross.
Do you take pool decking and coping?
Yes, and if the pool is going too, it should be one job. See pool removal.
How long does a driveway take?
Most residential driveways take a day, including hauling. Thickness, reinforcement and how close a truck can get are what change it.
Where we do this
We take this work anywhere in Mobile County, AL and Jackson County, MS, and the yard is in Theodore, so most of the territory is inside an hour.
Ground that drains slowly is common across the low-lying parts of the county, so a stripped area left rough tends to hold water here more than it would inland.
Service area
Mobile Theodore Tillman's Corner Grand Bay Saraland Satsuma Creola Chickasaw Prichard Semmes Wilmer Eight Mile Moss Point Pascagoula Gautier