What drives the price
Concrete removal is one of the more predictable demolition jobs to quote, because three factors account for almost all of it.
Thickness and reinforcement. A 75mm unreinforced path and a 150mm slab with mesh and edge beams are very different pieces of work. Plain concrete can often be lifted and broken with a bucket. Reinforced concrete needs a hydraulic hammer, and then the steel has to be cut out and separated before the rubble can be loaded efficiently.
Volume, by weight. Concrete is heavy and disposal is charged by tonne. This is the largest line in most concrete removal quotes, which is why the area and the thickness both matter — doubling the thickness doubles the disposal.
Access. Whether a machine and a truck can reach the concrete, and how far the material has to travel to the truck. On the tighter blocks common through the older Illawarra suburbs this can mean smaller machines and more passes.
Keeping it clean pays
Clean concrete goes to a dedicated recycling stream at a considerably better rate than mixed construction waste. Concrete contaminated with timber, plastic, soil or general rubbish goes out at the mixed rate.
That means the sequencing on site is worth money. Concrete broken and loaded on its own, with reinforcement separated for scrap, disposes for less than the same material mixed into a general load. It is also the better environmental outcome, which is a pleasant coincidence rather than the reason it happens.
If you are getting quotes, it is worth asking whether the price assumes separated or mixed disposal. They are not the same number.
The footings nobody mentions
A slab is the part you can see. Under and around it there are usually footings, edge beams and sometimes piers, and they are a common omission from cheap quotes.
Whether they need to come out depends on what happens next. If the area is becoming lawn or garden, leaving footings in place is often fine. If anything is being built there, they are in the way — and discovering them after the builder has started is far more disruptive and expensive than removing them while the demolition machine is already on the block.
Ask the question explicitly and get the answer in writing.
What is left, and what fills it
Removing a 150mm slab leaves a 150mm depression. That is obvious once stated and routinely overlooked.
If the area needs to come back to existing grade — for lawn, for paving, for a driveway — then fill, spreading and compaction have to be part of the scope. If it is being excavated further for a new slab anyway, they do not. Establish which before the quote, because backfill on any meaningful area is a real cost.
Typical Illawarra jobs
The most common concrete removals we quote are old driveways being replaced, shed and garage slabs after the structure has gone, cracked paths and patios, and slab areas around a pool removal. Concrete removal is also usually part of a full house demolition, where the slab and driveway go with the building.
We work across Wollongong, Dapto, Shellharbour, Kiama and the northern suburbs.
Driveways and the council crossover
Replacing a driveway involves one detail people routinely miss: the crossover, the section between the property boundary and the road.
That portion typically sits on public land and is subject to council requirements, which usually means a separate approval and construction to the council's specification. It is not something a demolition contractor simply removes and replaces at the same time as the rest of the driveway.
If your driveway removal reaches the boundary, establish early who is handling the crossover and what your council requires. Discovering it after the old driveway is gone leaves you without vehicle access while the process runs — which is an avoidable and genuinely irritating problem.
One safety note
Concrete in older buildings sits alongside materials that may contain asbestos, and some older concrete structures had asbestos-containing products incorporated in adjacent linings or sheeting. On a pre-1990 property, the asbestos question is worth asking before anything is broken.
Call 02 4214 4202 or send the area and thickness through if you know them — a photo helps.
Frequently asked questions
How much does concrete removal cost?
As a 2026 planning guide, most Illawarra concrete removal falls between $50 and $120 per square metre, with unreinforced paths at the bottom and heavily reinforced or thick slabs at the top. Thickness, reinforcement and access explain nearly all of the variation, and disposal weight is the single biggest line in the price.
Is reinforced concrete more expensive to remove?
Yes, meaningfully. Plain concrete can often be broken with a bucket. Reinforced concrete needs a hydraulic hammer to break it and then the steel has to be cut and separated from the rubble. That is more machine time, more labour and a slower load-out — though the recovered steel does offset a little of the disposal cost.
Can the concrete be recycled?
Clean concrete is one of the more readily recycled construction materials and goes to a dedicated stream at a better rate than mixed waste. Keeping it clean is the point — concrete separated on site and loaded on its own costs less to dispose of than the same material mixed with timber, plastic and general rubbish.
Do you remove the footings as well as the slab?
Only if it is in the scope, so ask. Footings and edge beams sit below the visible slab and are frequently left behind on a cheap quote, then discovered by whoever excavates next. If you are building on the area, get the footings included — dealing with them later, once other work has started, costs considerably more.
What is left behind afterwards?
It should be clean ground at the depth you agreed, free of rubble and ready for whatever comes next. Confirm whether backfill and levelling are included — removing a 150mm slab leaves a 150mm depression, and if it needs to come back to grade, that is fill and compaction that has to be quoted.