Concrete Removal in Thornton, CO

Thornton Concrete Driveway takes out old concrete at homes across Thornton. We look at the slab first, and you get a written quote before we break anything out.

What we take out

We remove cracked or sunken driveways, old parking pads, patios, walkways and steps. We take out a slab when you want the space back for a lawn or a garden, or when you want a new slab poured in its place.

Before we take out a driveway or pad to make room for lawn, we ask where the cars will go. The City of Thornton says you may park your cars, campers, trucks, boats or RVs in your driveway if they run and have valid license plates. The city says they may not be parked on the lawn or on a dirt area.

How we break out old concrete

First we call in the buried lines. The City of Thornton says all requests to have buried utility lines marked should go through Colorado 811. The city marks its own lines, such as water, sewer and fiber, in the right-of-way, which we'd describe as the public land along the street.

Then we saw a clean line where the old concrete meets anything that stays, such as the sidewalk, the garage floor or a neighbor's driveway. We break the slab into pieces, lift them out and load them up. We dig out the soft base under the slab if new concrete is going in.

OSHA, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says cutting, sawing and crushing concrete creates very small particles of crystalline silica. It says workers who breathe them in are at higher risk of serious diseases, including silicosis, an incurable lung disease. We keep kids and pets well back while we saw and break out the old slab.

We keep the dust and the gray water from sawing out of the street gutter. The City of Thornton says runoff picks up oil, grease, litter and chemicals as it flows over the ground and carries them to creeks like Big Dry Creek without treatment, and all of them flow to the South Platte River.

Where the old concrete goes

The City of Thornton's Click & Haul pickup for large items does not take driveway concrete, wall blocks or gravel, and it does not take dirt or sod. We haul the broken concrete off ourselves as part of the job.

The EPA says asphalt, concrete and rubble are often recycled into new asphalt and concrete products. It also says old concrete, brick and masonry can be recycled right on site as fill or as bedding for a driveway. We tell you on your quote where the broken concrete is going.

City rules when the work reaches the street

If the slab touches the public sidewalk or the street, we check with the city whether the job needs a right-of-way permit. The city says it only issues right-of-way permits to contractors with a Thornton contractor license. It also says that once a sidewalk has been cut, the whole panel has to be replaced, not just the piece that was cut.

If a new driveway goes in after we take the old one out, the City of Thornton says residential driveway installations need a permit from Planning & Zoning. Our concrete driveway replacement page covers that work.

What to get in writing

Ask for these in writing, whoever you hire:

• What comes out, and how many square feet that is.
• Where the saw cuts go, and what stays in place.
• Whether the base under the slab comes out too.
• Who calls in the buried lines before any digging.
• Where the broken concrete is going.
• What the ground looks like when we leave: bare dirt, fill, or ready for a new pour.
• Whether any city permit is needed, and who gets it.

Questions about concrete removal in Thornton

Get a quote for concrete removal

Call us, or send the quote form with your ZIP code and a note about the concrete you want gone. We'll come out and look at it, go through the options with you, and give you a written quote. To see the other work we do, go to the Thornton Concrete Driveway home page.