Concrete Removal in Palm Bay, FL

When does old concrete need to come out?

Concrete removal is the fix when the slab itself has failed. Sections heave up, sink or break into loose pieces. Rain moves sand out from under an old slab and leaves a void, and the concrete drops into it. Tree roots do the opposite and lift one panel above the next. Once the ground under a slab has moved, a new surface on top will not hold it flat. That kind of slab comes out, and the base under it gets rebuilt.

Cracks alone are not always a reason to tear out. Cracks in concrete cannot be prevented entirely, and joints are there to control where they form. A sound slab that still sits flat can take a new surface instead. Driveway resurfacing bonds a new top to the old concrete, so nothing gets broken out or hauled away. Resurfacing is not feasible on concrete that heaves or has severe cracks. We read the slab at the estimate and tell you which job it needs.

How we break out and haul off a slab

Breaking up a slab takes a jackhammer or a machine, depending on how big and thick it is. Most slab removal calls for a concrete saw as well. A slab with wire mesh or rebar takes more hammering and cutting. The steel gets cut as the slab comes apart, so each piece can be lifted and loaded. Thicker concrete often has to be cut into smaller chunks before it can be hauled away.

The broken concrete gets loaded and hauled off the property. From there it goes to a recycling center or a disposal site. Florida law counts uncontaminated concrete as clean debris, even with pipe or steel still in it. An old concrete pool deck comes out the same way. Inside a screened pool enclosure, though, no machine fits through the screen door. There, the broken concrete goes out by wheelbarrow, one load at a time, and that takes longer.

What has to happen before the breaking starts?

Florida's underground damage prevention law counts breaking out and removing a slab as demolition. A contractor doing that work has to notify the one-call system at least 2 full business days before starting. In Florida, that system is Sunshine 811. Each utility with lines nearby marks them with paint, flags or stakes within 2 full business days. Digging within 24 inches of a marked line calls for extra care, such as hand digging.

The end of a driveway near the street usually sits in the right of way. In Palm Bay, the right of way runs the roadway plus roughly 10 to 15 feet behind the curb or edge of pavement, and the exact line varies by location. Palm Bay Code 176.020 bars removing or rebuilding a driveway there without a driveway permit from Public Works. Outside city limits, Brevard County Code 86-101 sets the same kind of rule for county roads and easements.

The street end is where removal and permits meet. Driveway approaches are one of the uses Palm Bay lists for its right of way. So a cracked apron or a broken strip at the street often means permit work. That goes for the tear-out and the new pour alike. The permit question gets settled at the estimate. Our guide to driveway and patio permits in Brevard County covers Palm Bay, Melbourne, West Melbourne and unincorporated Brevard.

What goes in after the old slab comes out?

Removal is usually step one of a bigger job. Once the concrete is gone, we dig out any base that has failed, where the next surface needs it. Then the sand gets graded and compacted. A slab or a paver field stays flat only as long as its base does. From there the job becomes a new pour or a paver install. Around an existing pool, it becomes a new concrete pool deck.

Sometimes only part of a slab has failed, like one sunken panel or a broken strip at the street. A saw cut along a straight line or an existing joint gives the new concrete a clean edge to meet. The base under that section gets dug out and compacted again before the pour. New concrete will not match older concrete in color. The new section reads as a different shade next to the old one.

What drives the cost of concrete removal?

Size sets the starting point, since more slab means more breaking and more loads to haul. Thickness moves it from there, because thicker slabs need heavier equipment and take longer to remove. Wire mesh or rebar adds more, since reinforced concrete takes extra hammering and cutting. Access counts too. A machine that can reach the slab works faster than a wheelbarrow run through a screened pool enclosure. A narrow side gate slows the work the same way.

Haul-off is its own line, and a longer drive to the recycling center or disposal site adds to it. A failed base that has to be dug out adds work. So does a street-end section that needs a right of way permit. When the removal leads into a new surface, both get priced together on one visit. We measure the slab and price the actual job at a free on-site estimate.