Concrete Removal and Hauling in Toledo

Published 2026-10-16 · iHaul Toledo

Old concrete does not age gracefully. Driveways crack and heave from frost cycles. Patio slabs sink unevenly as the ground beneath them settles. Sidewalk sections lift where tree roots push from below. Steps crumble at the edges where water has been freezing and thawing for decades. At some point, patching and filling stops making sense — the concrete needs to come out entirely so something new can go in its place, or so the ground can be used for something else. Concrete removal is straightforward but physically demanding work, and the biggest challenge is almost always getting rid of the broken material afterward.

Types of concrete removal

The approach depends on what is being removed and how thick it is:

Driveways

Residential driveways in the Toledo area are typically 4 inches thick, poured over a gravel or compacted sand base. A standard two-car driveway (roughly 16 by 20 feet) contains about 4 to 5 cubic yards of concrete, which weighs approximately 8,000 to 10,000 pounds. Driveway removal involves breaking the concrete into manageable pieces (usually with a jackhammer or skid steer with a breaker attachment), loading the pieces into a truck or dumpster, and hauling them to a concrete recycling facility or landfill.

Driveways with wire mesh reinforcement are more labor-intensive — the mesh tangles in the broken pieces and has to be cut with bolt cutters or an angle grinder as the concrete is broken up. Rebar-reinforced driveways (less common in residential work) are even more difficult because the rebar holds large sections together and requires cutting between pieces.

Patios and slabs

Backyard patios and shed slabs are usually 3.5 to 4 inches thick and smaller in area than driveways. Access is the main challenge — a patio behind a house often cannot be reached by heavy equipment, so the concrete may need to be broken up by hand (sledgehammer and pry bar) and carried out in a wheelbarrow. If there is side-yard access wide enough for a skid steer (about 5 feet minimum), the job goes much faster.

Sidewalks

Public sidewalks in Toledo are the homeowner's responsibility to maintain (Toledo Municipal Code Chapter 901). If the city issues a notice to repair a sidewalk, the homeowner pays for the repair or replacement. Sidewalk sections are typically 4 feet wide and 4 inches thick, divided into panels by control joints every 4 to 5 feet. Individual panels can be removed and replaced without disturbing adjacent panels.

Steps and stoops

Concrete front steps and stoops are often much thicker than flatwork — the solid concrete mass of a front stoop can be 12 to 18 inches thick at the base and weigh several hundred pounds per step. Breaking up steps requires a jackhammer or a heavy electric demolition hammer. Steps that are attached to the house foundation need careful removal to avoid damaging the foundation wall.

Footings and foundations

Garage slab removal, old building foundations, and footer removal are heavier jobs that often involve 6 to 12 inches of reinforced concrete. These typically require powered equipment — a jackhammer alone is slow for anything over 6 inches thick. A skid steer with a hydraulic breaker or an excavator with a breaker attachment handles thick concrete efficiently.

DIY concrete removal

Homeowners can remove small to medium concrete projects (a patio, a sidewalk section, a set of steps) with basic tools:

Tools: Sledgehammer (10 to 12 pounds), pry bar, wheelbarrow, bolt cutters (for mesh), safety glasses, hearing protection, heavy gloves, steel-toed boots. For anything thicker than 4 inches, rent an electric demolition hammer (about $50 to $75 per day from a rental center)
Technique: Start at an edge or an existing crack. Hit the concrete near the edge to create a starting fracture, then work inward. A sledgehammer breaks 4-inch unreinforced concrete effectively. Let the concrete break along its own fracture lines rather than trying to make small uniform pieces — the goal is pieces small enough to lift into a wheelbarrow (roughly 25 to 50 pounds each)
Mesh and rebar: As you break sections, cut the mesh or rebar between pieces with bolt cutters or an angle grinder so the pieces separate. Leaving mesh attached creates tangled, awkward pieces that are difficult to handle and load
Time estimate: One person can break up and remove about 50 to 75 square feet of 4-inch slab per day by hand. A 10x12 patio is a full day of hard physical work. A two-car driveway is a multi-day project even with a rented demolition hammer

Disposal and recycling

Getting rid of the broken concrete is often the hardest part of the project:

Concrete recycling. Clean concrete (no rebar, no dirt, no other materials mixed in) can be recycled — it is crushed and used as aggregate for road base and construction fill. Recycling facilities often accept clean concrete for free or at a lower cost than landfill disposal. Check with local facilities in the Toledo area for current acceptance policies and fees
Landfill disposal. The Lucas County Transfer Station accepts concrete. Fees are based on weight. Concrete is heavy — a small pickup truck loaded with concrete pieces can easily weigh 2,000 to 3,000 pounds in the bed, and many landfills charge by the ton
Dumpster rental. A 10-yard roll-off dumpster is the most common rental for concrete removal projects. Important: concrete is heavier than most debris, so the dumpster's weight limit (typically 2 to 4 tons for a 10-yard) may be reached before the dumpster is full. Ask the rental company about their weight limit for concrete loads specifically — some charge overage fees per ton above the limit, and some offer concrete-specific dumpsters with higher weight allowances
Reuse on-site. Broken concrete pieces (sometimes called urbanite) can be reused as fill material, garden bed borders, retaining wall material, or stepping stones. If you are regrading the area anyway, clean broken concrete makes acceptable fill under a new slab or patio base

Professional concrete removal

A professional crew brings the right equipment for the job — jackhammers, skid steers, demolition hammers, trucks — and handles both the breaking and the hauling:

Equipment matches the job. A 4-inch patio gets a demolition hammer; a 12-inch garage slab gets an excavator-mounted breaker. The right tool makes the difference between a half-day job and a multi-day struggle
Hauling is included. The crew loads and removes all the broken concrete. No renting dumpsters, no trips to the landfill, no weight-limit surprises
Grading after removal. Once the concrete is out, the exposed ground is usually uneven — high spots where the concrete was thinnest, low spots where it was thickest. A professional crew grades the area level and compacts the base, whether the plan is new concrete, landscaping, or just open yard
Timeline: a standard driveway or patio removal takes half a day to a full day. Larger projects (multiple slabs, thick foundations, limited access) may take two days

When to remove vs repair

Not all concrete problems require full removal:

Cosmetic cracks. Hairline cracks and surface scaling are normal aging. They can be filled and sealed without removing the slab
One sunken section. A single sidewalk panel or patio section that has sunk can sometimes be raised with mudjacking (pumping material under the slab to lift it) rather than removed and replaced
Extensive damage. When more than a third of the surface is cracked, heaved, or sunken, removal and replacement is usually more cost-effective and longer-lasting than patching multiple areas
Frost heave. In the Toledo area, freeze-thaw cycles cause concrete to heave and crack over time. If the base underneath the concrete has eroded or was not properly compacted, patching the surface only delays the problem — the slab will continue to move. Removing the concrete, fixing the base, and pouring new is the lasting fix

Concrete removal in Toledo

iHaul Junk Removal handles concrete removal throughout Toledo and the surrounding area — driveways, patios, sidewalks, steps, slabs, and foundations. We break it up, load it, and haul it away. The area is left graded and clean.