How Much Does Concrete Removal Cost in Connecticut?

National cost guides put concrete removal at $2 to $7 a square foot, with the broken concrete hauled away. By the job, published ranges run from $250 for a set of concrete steps to $10,000 for an old foundation. One guide’s national average is $1,856, based on 600 square feet of sidewalk.

Those are market numbers, not our price list. All Star Wrecking does concrete removal in Monroe and across Fairfield County. We price each job after we look at the site. Your number moves with the concrete itself and with how a machine gets to it.

What do national cost guides say concrete removal costs?

Two national cost guides publish ranges for the more common concrete jobs. Both average the whole country, so read each row as a starting point.

The first guide puts the typical job at $500 to $5,000. The second puts the total at $275 to $7,500. It says steps sit at the low end and foundations at the high end.

How much does it cost to remove a 20 by 20 concrete patio?

Start with square feet. A 20 by 20 foot patio is 400 square feet. At $2 to $7 a square foot, removal and hauling come to about $800 to $2,800.

That lines up with the published patio ranges in the table. One guide says patios are typically not reinforced but may be thick. A new patio is a separate price from a concrete or paver contractor.

How much do thickness and rebar add?

Thickness comes first. One guide says standard slabs of 4 to 6 inches fall inside its $2 to $7 range. Past 6 inches, it says costs often double, because of the extra work to cut the concrete into smaller pieces.

Steel inside the concrete adds more. One guide puts concrete with rebar or wire mesh at $4 to $7 a square foot. Without steel, it lists $2 to $4. The other lists $4 to $6 and says the rebar has to be cut along with the concrete.

That guide adds that reinforced concrete is less likely to be recycled, so disposal costs more. A slab with steel in it costs more at both ends of the job.

How do access and hauling move the number?

Labor is the bulk of the price, one guide says. The more hand work a job takes, the higher the cost. If the pieces travel a long way by wheelbarrow, the guide says to expect higher costs.

An excavator needs a way in. A gate or a fence panel can often open one up. Where the way in is tight, the concrete comes out in smaller pieces.

Disposal is the other piece. One guide says $0.50 to $2 of each square foot goes to disposal. That share depends on whether the concrete can be recycled. The second guide lists disposal fees of $51 to $100 a ton.

What does the Monroe transfer station charge for concrete?

Monroe’s transfer station lists concrete among its demolition materials. The town’s published disposal rules charge $12.00 for every 125 pounds of demolition materials. That is about $192 a ton at that rate.

That is a homeowner drop-off rate for small loads, not what a contractor pays for bulk concrete. It shows how fast weight adds up. The same rules take no rocks or dirt with demolition materials, and the rate can change.

Connecticut’s rules count broken concrete and brick as clean fill. One national guide says many recyclers take concrete for free or for a small fee. Clean concrete can go to a recycler where one takes it.

Does an old foundation or footing cost more to remove?

It does. Old foundation removal runs $4,000 to $10,000 in one guide and $2,500 to $7,500 in the other. The first guide says the price depends on the size and how the foundation was reinforced.

Depth is part of it. Connecticut’s building code puts the frost line at 42 inches, and house footings can sit below it. The $350 to $500 footing figure covers a single footing, like the one under a basketball hoop.

Before anyone breaks out footings, a Call Before You Dig request goes in. Connecticut’s rules say anyone digging with power equipment calls the clearinghouse first. The notice goes in at least two full days ahead, not counting weekends and holidays.

The call is free. Lines a homeowner owns, like a feed out to a garage, are not marked, so point those out.

A whole house foundation usually comes out with the house. We cover that in what a house teardown costs in Connecticut. For the slab under an outbuilding, see what a garage, barn or shed teardown costs.

Do you need a permit to remove concrete in Connecticut?

It depends on what the concrete belongs to. Connecticut law says no one may demolish any building, structure or part of one without a permit. The permit comes from the town building official. A foundation that comes out with a building falls under that demolition permit.

The permit also needs a certificate from each utility with a service connection, saying the service is severed. Once a foundation is out, state law says the hole gets filled to grade and the debris removed.

A driveway, patio or walkway on its own is a different question. Your town building department tells you whether your job needs anything. We tell you what your town will ask for before work starts.

What goes in after the concrete comes out?

That depends on what the ground is for next. An old concrete driveway can go back as a gravel driveway, cut in, based with gravel and graded. The spot where a patio or walkway stood can become lawn after land grading, with topsoil spread and seed down.

Both of those are our work. New concrete, pavers, asphalt and sealcoating are other contractors’ work. We take the old concrete out and leave the ground graded for them. For the gravel option, see what a gravel driveway costs in Connecticut.

How do you get a real number for your concrete removal?

The real number comes from the concrete and the site around it. All Star Wrecking is based in Monroe and works across Fairfield County. The concrete is broken out with an excavator and hauled away. Then the ground is graded flat.

We look at the site first, and the estimate is free and in writing. Call (412) 944-9931, or read more about our concrete removal work.