Concrete Removal Cost: Debris Tons, Truck Loads & Disposal Fees

How much does concrete removal cost?

Removal is three lines on a quote: breaking and loading, hauling, and disposal. The first is labor and equipment; the other two depend on how much the old concrete weighs. This page works out that weight so you can check a quote or price a DIY job with your own local fees. We do not print a national price per square foot, because tipping fees, truck rates and labor are set locally and we have found no primary source that publishes an average.

Removal cost = break and load (labor, equipment) + truck loads × price per load + debris tons × tipping fee per ton

Debris tons = length (ft) × width (ft) × thickness (in) ÷ 12 × 150 lb/ft³ ÷ 2,000

The calculator above is preset to a 12 × 40 ft driveway at 5 in and normal-weight concrete at 150 lb/ft³, the value WSDOT uses for plain concrete in its bridge design memo. Change the size and thickness to match your slab.

How much does the old concrete weigh?

Multiply the volume by the density. WSDOT uses 150 lb/ft³ for plain normal-weight concrete and 155 lb/ft³ for reinforced concrete; FHWA’s bridge research report gives a range of about 140 to 155 lb/ft³. The table uses 150 lb/ft³ and adds a reinforced column at 155.

Figures come from scripts/concrete-removal-cost.ts using concreteWeightLb in the site’s calc library. A quick rule from the same numbers: each 100 ft² of slab weighs 2.5 tons at 4 in, 3.125 tons at 5 in and 3.75 tons at 6 in. In metric, 150 lb/ft³ is 2,403 kg/m³, so a 100 mm slab is about 240 kg per m² and a 4 × 10 m patio at 100 mm is about 9.6 tonnes.

These are the weights of the concrete only. Thickened edges, footings, a gravel base dug out with the slab, or soil stuck to the pieces all add tons. Measure the thickness at a broken edge or a core hole rather than assuming 4 in.

How do I turn tons into haul and disposal cost?

Get two numbers from local businesses: the tipping fee per ton at the landfill, transfer station or concrete recycler, and the hauler’s price per load with the payload each truck can legally carry. Then:

Truck loads = debris tons ÷ payload per load (round up)  ·  Disposal = debris tons × fee per ton

The placeholders exist only to show the arithmetic; replace them with your quotes. Some sites charge by the cubic yard or by the load instead of the ton. If so, ask how they convert, because broken concrete takes more space in a truck than the solid slab did, and nobody has published a single standard for that swell.

What drives the price of concrete removal?

Weight sets disposal; access and reinforcement set labor. Ask for each line separately so quotes can be compared.

• Thickness and area. Tons scale directly with both. A 6 in drive weighs 50% more per square foot than a 4 in patio (75 vs 50 lb/ft²).
• Reinforcement. Rebar and wire mesh hold broken pieces together, so they must be cut. WSDOT’s 155 lb/ft³ for reinforced concrete adds about 3% to the weight.
• Access. A skid steer and breaker can reach a driveway from the street; a backyard patio behind a gate may be broken and wheeled out by hand.
• Disposal route. Clean concrete, free of soil, wood and trash, is accepted by many recyclers. Mixed debris usually goes to a landfill or transfer station at its own rate.
• Base and grade work. If you are replacing the slab, the old base may need to be dug out, compacted or topped up. Price that with the new slab: see cost to pour a concrete slab.
• Utilities and permits. Call 811 before cutting or digging below grade. Some cities need a permit for curb cuts or driveway work in the right of way; check local rules.

Should I recycle the concrete or send it to a landfill?

Recycle it if a recycler is near and the concrete is clean. EPA’s construction and demolition page says asphalt, concrete and rubble are often recycled into aggregate or new asphalt and concrete products, and that brick, concrete and masonry can be reused on site as fill, subbase or driveway bedding. In its 2018 estimate, the US generated 600 million tons of C&D debris; just over 455 million tons went to a next use and aggregate was the main one.

For a homeowner, that means three options to price: a concrete recycler (ask whether clean loads get a different fee), a landfill or transfer station, or reuse on site as fill. Pieces reused as fill should be broken small enough to compact, kept away from where you will dig later, and kept out of drainage paths.

Can I remove concrete myself?

Small, thin, unreinforced slabs are a realistic DIY job; driveways usually are not. The limit is less the breaking than the weight. A 12 × 16 ft patio at 4 in is 4.8 tons, which means a lot of wheelbarrow trips and either a rented dumpster rated for heavy debris or several trailer loads.

• Rent the right tool: a sledge for 4 in unreinforced slabs, an electric breaker for thicker or reinforced ones.
• Wear eye, hearing and hand protection. Breaking and cutting concrete makes silica dust; use water to keep dust down and a respirator if you cut.
• Check the trailer or dumpster weight limit in tons before loading. Concrete fills the weight limit long before the box looks full.
• Keep concrete separate from dirt and wood if you want the recycler rate.

Is resurfacing cheaper than removal?

When the slab is sound, usually yes: resurfacing skips the tons of debris entirely. A 12 × 40 ft driveway at 1/8 in takes about 17 bags of resurfacer, according to our concrete resurfacing cost page, versus 15 tons of concrete to break, haul and dispose of before anything new is poured. Cracked, heaved, sunken or crumbling slabs are not candidates for resurfacing, so removal and a new pour may be the only fix. For the new slab, use the concrete driveway cost or concrete patio cost calculators.

Common mistakes when pricing concrete removal

• Assuming 4 in. Many driveways are 5 or 6 in, and edges are often thicker. Measure at a broken edge.
• Pricing by area only. A per-ft² quote hides the tons. Ask for estimated tons and the fee per ton.
• Ignoring the payload. Dumpsters and trailers have weight limits; overweight loads cost extra or are refused.
• Mixing debris. Soil, wood or trash in the load can move it from the recycler rate to the landfill rate.
• Forgetting the base. Removal often uncovers base that needs work before a new pour.

For new-pour quantities, start with the concrete calculator home page or the concrete weight calculator.