Concrete removal cost in Columbia, MO runs $3 to $5 per square foot for a standard 4-inch slab and $5 to $8 per square foot for 6-inch reinforced concrete, broken out, loaded, hauled and the ground left level. A 600-square-foot driveway is $1,800 to $3,000. A 12,000-square-foot parking lot is a different animal, $18,000 to $72,000 depending on whether it is asphalt or concrete.
This is our main post on concrete removal pricing. We tear out driveways, patios, walks, slabs, footings and parking lots across Mid-Missouri, and pour the replacement under the same contract when you want it back. Here is how we price it in 2026.
In This Guide:
Concrete Removal Cost Per Square Foot
Per-square-foot is the right way to think about flatwork. Foundations and footings price by the job because depth and reinforcement vary too much. Everything in the table is a typical all-in range for Columbia and the surrounding counties, including disposal. A site visit turns it into a firm number.
| Concrete type | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| 4-inch unreinforced slab (patio, walk, shed pad) | $3 - $5 per sq ft |
| 6-inch reinforced slab (driveway, garage floor, apron) | $5 - $8 per sq ft |
| Sidewalks and patios | $3 - $6 per sq ft |
| Asphalt parking lot | $1.50 - $3.50 per sq ft |
| Concrete parking lot | $3 - $6 per sq ft |
| Foundations and footings | $4,000 - $12,000 per job |
| Disposal (pass-through at actual loads and tonnage) | $40 - $90 per ton |
How the bid is structured: mobilization, the excavator, the skid steer and the crew are a fixed price. Disposal is a pass-through. You pay what the recycler or landfill charges us, at actual loads and tonnage, scale tickets attached. Clean concrete going to a recycler sits at the low end of that $40 to $90 range; concrete mixed with dirt, asphalt or rebar goes to the landfill at the high end.
For sizing the disposal line: 4-inch concrete weighs about 50 pounds per square foot, 6-inch about 75. A 600-square-foot driveway at 4 inches is 15 tons, two or three truckloads, $600 to $1,350 in disposal before anyone touches a breaker.
Small jobs have a floor. Trailering the excavator out and back costs the same for a 40-square-foot stoop as for a 400-square-foot patio, so expect a mobilization minimum around $600 to $1,000.
Want a Firm Number?
Send us the address, the rough square footage and a couple of photos. We will measure it, check the thickness and give you a written bid with the fixed price and the disposal estimate as separate lines.
Worked Examples
Three jobs we price all the time, with the math shown.
600 sq ft driveway, 4-inch, wire mesh, straight shot from the street
The most common residential removal. Two-car driveway, 20 by 30 feet, cracked and heaved. The Cat 308 with the breaker busts it into loadable pieces, the skid steer loads the roll-off, and the mesh gets pulled and cut as we go. About 15 tons, one day on site.
- Removal: 600 sq ft x $3 to $5 = $1,800 to $3,000
- Of that, disposal at 15 tons x $40 to $90 = $600 to $1,350, billed at actual
- If the driveway is 6-inch with rebar (common on newer builds and anything a truck parks on): 600 x $5 to $8 = $3,000 to $4,800
1,200 sq ft patio and walkway, backyard, through a fence gate
A big 4-inch patio behind the house plus a walk around the side. Access is the whole story. Pull two fence panels and drive the 308 in, and it is a one-day job. A 36-inch gate and a slope means a stand-up mini skid steer, a lot more handling, and 20 to 30 percent more.
- Removal: 1,200 sq ft x $3 to $6 = $3,600 to $7,200; most land at $4,200 to $5,500 with decent access
- Disposal: 30 tons x $40 to $90 = $1,200 to $2,700
- Saw-cut where the walk meets the front stoop you are keeping: a few hundred dollars, priced by the linear foot
12,000 sq ft parking lot, commercial
A 40-space lot for a church, a small retail strip or a shop building. Asphalt comes up in sheets with the excavator bucket and goes to a recycler that wants it. Six-inch concrete with rebar has to be broken and cut, piece by piece. Three to six days on site with a 13- to 15-ton excavator rented for the job.
- Asphalt, 3 inches: 12,000 x $1.50 to $3.50 = $18,000 to $42,000; roughly 215 tons of millings
- Concrete, 6 inches reinforced: 12,000 x $3 to $6 = $36,000 to $72,000; roughly 450 tons
- Curbs, islands and light-pole bases are line items on top
Full details on the commercial side are on the parking lot removal page.
What Drives the Price
Thickness
Four inches breaks with the bucket and a breaker. Six inches needs the breaker on every square foot. Eight inches and up, common on old commercial slabs and loading docks, takes twice the time per square foot of a residential patio. Thickness also drives tonnage, and tonnage drives disposal.
Rebar and wire mesh
Wire mesh holds the pieces together so they have to be pulled apart and cut. Rebar on 12- or 18-inch centers is real work: every bar gets cut with the shear or a torch before the piece can be loaded, and a recycler will reject loads with too much steel. Reinforced concrete is $2 to $3 per square foot more than unreinforced. We tell you which you have on the site visit by probing a crack.
Access
Front-yard driveway with a curb cut: easy. Backyard patio through a 36-inch gate: slow. Basement slab in a house that is staying: slowest, because everything comes out with a stand-up mini or a wheelbarrow. If the roll-off cannot get within 50 feet of the concrete, we are double-handling every ton.
Saw-cutting
Anywhere the removal meets concrete you are keeping (garage floor at the apron, city sidewalk at the driveway) we saw-cut a straight line first so the edge is clean and the new pour has something to butt to. Priced by the linear foot, typically a few hundred dollars on a residential job, more for full-depth cuts through reinforced slab.
Distance to the recycler
Clean concrete goes to a recycler in or around Columbia that crushes it into base rock. From Fulton, Boonville or Moberly the round trip is 45 to 90 minutes per load on a job that is already several loads. A few hundred dollars on a driveway, a few thousand on a parking lot.
Removal vs. Removal and Replacement
About half the people who call about concrete removal want new concrete in the same spot. We do both under one contract. The tear-out is our crew and equipment; the pour is done by our concrete crew, subcontracted under our contract and warranty. One bid, one schedule, one phone number. Asphalt replacement is offered the same way.
| Scope | Removal only | Removal + replacement |
|---|---|---|
| 600 sq ft driveway, new concrete at $8 - $14/sq ft | $1,800 - $3,000 | $6,600 - $11,400 |
| 600 sq ft driveway, new asphalt at $4 - $8/sq ft | $1,800 - $3,000 | $4,200 - $7,800 |
| 12,000 sq ft lot, asphalt out, asphalt in | $18,000 - $42,000 | $66,000 - $138,000 |
Replacement pricing depends on thickness, reinforcement, finish and whether the base under the old slab is usable. A driveway that failed because the base washed out needs new base rock before the pour, and that is in the bid. Details and photos are on the driveway replacement page.
Why We Don't Do Leveling or Mudjacking
People ask if we can lift a sunken slab instead of replacing it. We do not do concrete leveling, mudjacking, foam injection or patch repair, on purpose. Leveling fixes a symptom. The slab sank because the base under it failed, and pumping material under it does not fix the base. A lot of leveled slabs are back on the ground in three to five years, cracked from being lifted.
When a slab is heaved, cracked through, or sunk more than an inch or two, our answer is tear it out, fix the base, pour it right. It costs more up front and it is done for 25 to 30 years. If the slab is sound and just needs a cosmetic lift, a leveling company is the right call and we will tell you so.
What's Included
- Breaking out the slab with the Cat 308 and hydraulic breaker, or a skid steer with a breaker on tight sites
- Cutting and separating rebar and mesh
- Saw-cutting at the edges we are not removing
- Loading, hauling and disposal at a recycler or landfill, billed at actual tonnage
- Rough grading the exposed ground so it drains and does not hold water
- Utility locates through Missouri One Call
Quoted separately, on the same bid: new base rock, finish grading, topsoil and seed if the area is becoming yard, and the replacement pour. If the concrete is part of a bigger teardown, see demolition; for grading and pad prep after the concrete is gone, see site work.
Recycling and Disposal
Missouri DNR treats clean, uncontaminated concrete as clean fill, not solid waste. It can be crushed and reused as base rock, placed as fill on an approved site, or taken to a construction and demolition landfill. We send it to a recycler whenever the load is clean enough, which is most residential flatwork, and the recycler's lower gate rate shows up on your disposal line because it is billed at actual cost. Loads with a lot of rebar, dirt and roots, or paint and sealer go to the landfill. On a parking lot we separate asphalt from concrete as we go so each stream goes to the right place.
Timeline
- Site visit: usually within 2 to 4 days. We measure, check thickness at a crack, probe for rebar, look at access.
- Written proposal: within 1 to 2 days. Fixed price for the work, disposal estimate with tonnage, replacement as a separate line if you want it.
- Locates: Missouri One Call marks utilities within 3 working days.
- Removal: patios and walks are half a day to a day; driveways one day; foundation slabs 1 to 2 days; parking lots 3 to 6 days.
- Replacement pour (if included): forms and base within a few days of the tear-out, pour on the next dry day, 7 days before you drive on it.
Permits
Standalone concrete removal in Columbia and Boone County does not need a demolition permit. Two exceptions: concrete that is part of a structure coming down is covered by the demolition permit from City of Columbia Building and Site Development (inside city limits) or Boone County Resource Management (outside), and a new driveway approach or sidewalk in the city right-of-way needs its own permit. We handle both. See our demolition permit guide.
Get a Written Bid on Your Concrete Removal
Fixed price for the work, disposal at actual tonnage, replacement priced on the same bid if you want it. Serving Columbia, Jefferson City, Fulton, Moberly, Fayette, Boonville, Ashland and the rest of Mid-Missouri within about 45 minutes of Columbia.
Get a Written Bid Concrete Removal ServiceFrequently Asked Questions
How much does concrete removal cost per square foot in Columbia, MO?
$3 to $5 per square foot for 4-inch unreinforced concrete and $5 to $8 for 6-inch reinforced, including breaking, loading, hauling and disposal. Sidewalks and patios run $3 to $6. Asphalt parking lots are $1.50 to $3.50 and concrete lots $3 to $6. Disposal is billed as a pass-through at $40 to $90 per ton.
How much does it cost to remove a concrete driveway?
A typical 600-square-foot two-car driveway is $1,800 to $3,000 to remove if it is 4-inch with mesh, and $3,000 to $4,800 if it is 6-inch with rebar. That is about 15 to 22 tons of concrete and one day on site. Long rural driveways and ones with poor access price higher.
How much does it cost to remove and replace a concrete driveway?
Removal plus a new 4-inch reinforced pour on a 600-square-foot driveway runs $6,600 to $11,400, using $8 to $14 per square foot for new concrete. Replacing with asphalt instead is $4,200 to $7,800. We do both under one contract; the pour is done by our concrete crew under our warranty.
How much does parking lot removal cost?
Asphalt lots run $1.50 to $3.50 per square foot and concrete lots $3 to $6, so a 12,000-square-foot lot is $18,000 to $42,000 in asphalt or $36,000 to $72,000 in concrete. Curbs, islands and pole bases are extra. Plan on three to six days on site.
Can you level or mudjack my slab instead of removing it?
No. We do not do concrete leveling, mudjacking, foam injection or patch repair. Leveling does not fix the failed base that caused the slab to sink, and lifted slabs often crack or settle again within a few years. If a slab is heaved, cracked through or sunk more than an inch or two, we remove it, fix the base and pour it right.
How long does concrete removal take?
Patios and walks take half a day to a day. A driveway is one day. Foundation slabs take one to two days, parking lots three to six. From your call to a finished job is usually one to two weeks, most of it waiting on the utility locate and scheduling.
Do I need a permit to remove concrete in Columbia, MO?
Not for a standalone driveway, patio or sidewalk removal. If the concrete is part of a building demolition, the demolition permit from City of Columbia Building and Site Development or Boone County Resource Management covers it. New work in the city right-of-way, like a driveway approach, needs its own permit. We handle both.
Next Step
Whether it is a heaved driveway, a backyard patio, a foundation slab or a full parking lot, get a written bid or send us the address and we will come measure it. We serve Columbia, Jefferson City, Fulton, Moberly, Fayette, Boonville, Ashland and the rest of Mid-Missouri.
Related: concrete removal in Columbia by project type, how debris disposal is priced, house demolition costs, and the concrete removal, parking lot removal and driveway replacement service pages.