Concrete Preparation & Demolition

The work

What this actually involves

Stone, forms and a flat compacted base for the pour — and tearing out what has to come up first.

A slab is only as flat as what is under it

Concrete crews get blamed for problems that were built in before the truck arrived. Prep means stripping to firm ground, bringing in stone, compacting it in lifts and screeding it to a consistent thickness so the pour is the depth it was priced at. A base that dips by an inch across a garage floor is an inch of extra concrete across the whole thing, and a base that is soft in one corner is where the crack will be.

Tearing out what is already there

Old slabs, footings, foundations, barn pads and stone bases have to come up before anything replaces them, and the cost is usually in what happens to the material rather than in breaking it. Clean concrete can often be crushed and reused on site as fill or base; concrete with rebar, mesh, asphalt, tile or painted surfaces has to be sorted and hauled. Knowing which it is before the machine starts is what keeps the disposal bill from being a surprise.

Access, protection and what is left behind

Demolition near a standing building is mostly restraint — protecting the wall you are keeping, the drive the trucks are crossing and the utilities running under it, all located before anything is broken. When it is done the ground should be at a workable grade, clean of debris and ready for the next trade, not a rutted lot with rebar in it.