Concrete Removal & Replacement in Fort Worth, TX

Removal and haul-off alone typically runs $2 to $6 per square foot, depending on slab thickness, whether rebar or wire mesh has to be cut out, and how accessible the site is for a truck. A full tear-out and repour adds the cost of the new pour on top of that, which tracks the same $5 to $10 per square foot as any new flatwork, or $8 to $15 for a driveway. We give an exact number after seeing the slab and the access, not a phone estimate.

A slab that's cracked clean through in multiple places, heaved several inches out of level, or settled unevenly at more than one joint has usually crossed the point where patching just delays the same repair. A single hairline crack or a slab that's cosmetically worn but still flat and stable is a repair candidate covered on our [concrete repair](/concrete-repair) page instead. We inspect before quoting either option, since recommending a full tear-out when a crack repair would hold isn't how repeat customers get built.

Broken concrete gets hauled off-site to a licensed disposal or recycling facility rather than dumped, which is both the legal requirement in Tarrant County and the responsible option. Crushed concrete from demolition is routinely recycled into aggregate base material, which sometimes ends up as the base course under the next job rather than filling landfill space. Haul-off and disposal are included in a removal quote, not billed as a separate surprise line item once the job's finished.

A full tear-out removes an entire slab, driveway, or walkway and rebuilds the base underneath before repouring the whole surface — the right call when the damage or clay movement affects the slab broadly. A section replacement saw-cuts a clean line at the nearest control joints and removes just the failed panel, leaving the rest of the driveway or walkway intact and tying the new pour in flush. Section replacement costs less and is the more common call when only one corner or panel has actually failed.

South Fort Worth sits on expansive 'black gumbo' clay weathered from the Eagle Ford and Woodbine formations, with clay content that regularly exceeds 50% across Forest Hill, Benbrook, and Crowley alike. That clay swells several inches when saturated and shrinks hard through a dry Texas summer, and if the original base wasn't compacted properly or drainage wasn't graded correctly, that seasonal movement telegraphs straight up into the slab no matter how good the original concrete mix was. Replacing the slab without fixing the base underneath just repeats the same failure on a delay.

Demolition and haul-off for a single section typically takes 0.5 to 2 days depending on slab size and access, and a full tear-out and repour usually runs 1 to 3 days on site from breaking up the old slab through finishing the new pour. The new concrete then needs its own cure window — about 24 to 48 hours before light foot traffic, roughly 7 days before light vehicle traffic, and the full 28 days before heavy loads. We give a specific schedule once we've seen the scope of demolition involved.

It depends on which city the property sits in — Forest Hill, Benbrook, and Crowley each run their own building or permitting department for driveway and paving work rather than routing through Tarrant County, while unincorporated pockets fall under the county instead. Removing and replacing an existing slab in the same footprint sometimes requires less paperwork than new construction, but any work touching a driveway approach or the public right-of-way can trigger different rules. We confirm what applies to the specific address before demolition starts.

Yes — old driveway removal and replacement is one of the most common calls we coordinate, especially on Forest Hill's and Benbrook's mid-century driveways that are decades past their original pour. The process is demolition and haul-off of the old slab, excavation and compaction of a fresh base, then forming and pouring the new driveway reinforced to current standards. If the driveway is starting from bare ground with nothing to remove, [concrete driveways](/concrete-driveways) covers new installation instead.

Saw-cutting a clean, straight line at the nearest control joint is what keeps a section replacement from looking like a rough patch bolted onto an otherwise uniform slab, and it gives the new pour a proper joint to tie into instead of an irregular seam. Breaking out concrete freehand along a crack line leaves a jagged edge that's harder to form against and more likely to crack again at that same rough seam. It costs a little more time upfront but holds up better and looks like it was always one slab.

Warm, dry weather above 50°F gives the most reliable results for the new pour, which in North Texas generally means spring through fall rather than the coldest weeks of winter, since concrete placed in cold weather cures more slowly and needs extra protection. Demolition and haul-off can happen any time of year, but scheduling the repour around the forecast avoids a rained-out finish or a slow, cold cure that delays when the new slab can carry traffic. Calls come in around the clock so scheduling can work around the weather window that actually fits the job.