When to Remove Your Driveway
Sometimes it’s obvious your driveway is done – massive cracks, chunks missing, water pooling everywhere after rain. But other times, homeowners aren’t sure if they should patch things up or start fresh. Here’s when removal and replacement is your best option.
Extensive Cracking and Structural Damage
Small hairline cracks are one thing. But when you’ve got multiple large cracks spreading across your driveway, especially ones wider than 5mm or getting worse each year, that’s your driveway telling you it’s failed. In Townsville, our clay soils expand and contract with wet and dry seasons. Once a concrete slab starts breaking apart, those cracks just keep growing. Patching might buy you 6-12 months, but the underlying problem isn’t going away.
Sinking and Uneven Surfaces
Notice how one side of your driveway sits lower than the other? That’s soil settlement creating trip hazards and water pooling issues. Once a driveway has sunk significantly, there’s no economical way to fix it without removal.
Poor Drainage Issues
If your driveway consistently pools water after rain or directs water toward your house, that’s a drainage design problem. When you remove and replace, you can fix the levels and slopes properly.
Preparing for Renovations
Extending your house, adding a carport, or widening your driveway to fit your boat and caravan? Professional removal gives you a clean slate to work with.
Outdated Appearance Affecting Resale
A cracked, stained driveway hurts your sale price. Buyers see that damaged driveway immediately and they’re already thinking about repair costs. Fresh concrete can add serious value and help your home sell faster in the Townsville market.
Our Removal Process
We keep driveway removal straightforward. No surprises, no hidden steps, and definitely no leaving you with half a job done while we disappear for two weeks.
Free Site Assessment and Quote
First, we come out to your property and have a proper look. We measure your driveway, check what material it is (concrete thickness matters for pricing), look at access for our equipment, and spot any potential issues. You get a written quote that includes everything – removal, waste disposal, site cleanup, the lot. What we quote is what you pay.
Service Location and Safety Checks
Before any machinery fires up, we run dial-before-you-dig checks to map out what’s under your driveway. Water, power, phone, internet – we locate it all. This step isn’t optional, it’s how we protect your services and avoid turning a driveway job into a plumbing emergency.
The Actual Removal Work
We bring in our bobcat or excavator depending on your driveway size, set up dust suppression if you’ve got close neighbours, and start breaking up the old surface. Concrete gets jackhammered or broken with hydraulic attachments, then loaded straight onto our tippers. For neat edges where your driveway meets retained areas, we saw cut first so everything stays clean.
Cleanup and Site Prep
Once all the old material is loaded and gone, we rake and level your base, remove any damaged substrate if needed, and compact everything ready for new construction. The whole process typically takes 1-2 days for a standard residential driveway. You’ll have a clean, level site ready for whatever comes next.
Cost Factors
Nobody wants to hear “it depends” when they ask about pricing, but driveway removal costs genuinely vary based on a few key things. Here’s what affects your quote.
Remove and Replace Packages
If you’re removing your old driveway, chances are you want a new one installed straight after. That’s where our remove and replace packages make life simpler and save you money.
Single Contractor Simplicity
Instead of hiring one crew to remove your driveway, waiting around, then finding another contractor to install the new one, we handle everything. One quote, one company, one warranty. You’re not coordinating between multiple tradies or dealing with finger-pointing if something goes wrong.
Cost Savings on Combined Work
When we’re already on site with our equipment doing the removal, rolling straight into the new installation costs less than two separate jobs. We’re not mobilising equipment twice, and we can prepare the base exactly how we need it for the new concrete. Those efficiencies get passed on to you.
Faster Overall Project
Remove and replace packages typically finish in 3-5 days depending on driveway size – removal one day, base prep and forming the next, then concrete pour and finishing. Compare that to removing your driveway, waiting weeks for another contractor, then finally getting new concrete poured. We keep your property disruption to a minimum.
Warranty Coverage
Our new driveway installations come with warranty coverage, and because we handled the removal and base prep ourselves, there’s no question about who’s responsible if issues come up. We control the entire process from start to finish, which means better quality control and peace of mind for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most residential driveways in Townsville take 1-2 days to remove completely. A standard single-car driveway usually finishes in a day. Larger double driveways or ones with heavy reinforcement might stretch to two days. We work standard hours and clean up fully at the end of each day.
We can remove driveways year-round, but installation of your new driveway needs dry conditions. If you’re doing a remove and replace package between December and March, we schedule removal first, then wait for a clear weather window to pour new concrete. We’ll work with you on timing that makes sense.
We load everything onto our tippers and take it to licensed disposal facilities. Concrete can often be recycled and used as road base material. All disposal costs are included in your quote – you don’t pay extra for waste removal.
We take care to protect your property. We’ll discuss access routes before starting, use boards to protect grass areas where needed, and clean up any mess. Our operators have years of experience working in tight residential spaces without causing damage.
Removal itself doesn’t typically require council approval, but installing a new driveway might depending on your property and what you’re planning. We can advise you on what’s needed for your specific situation during the quote process.
Costs vary based on size, material, and access, but most residential driveway removals range from $40-$80 per square meter including disposal. We provide free quotes with exact pricing after seeing your property.
Ready to Remove Your Old Driveway?
That damaged driveway isn’t getting any better sitting there. Every wet season, every heat wave, every time you look at it thinking “I should really do something about that” – it’s just getting worse and costing you more in the long run.
We’ve removed hundreds of driveways across Townsville suburbs, and we know exactly what works in our local conditions. Whether you need a straightforward removal so you can install pavers yourself, or you want us to handle a complete remove and replace package, we’ll give you honest advice and transparent pricing.
Get Your Free Quote Today
Give us a call or fill out our quote form, and we’ll arrange a time to come out and assess your driveway. No pressure, no obligation – just a straightforward quote that includes removal, waste disposal, and site preparation. We’ll explain exactly what needs doing and how long it’ll take.
Most quotes are turned around within 24-48 hours, and we can usually schedule removal within 1-2 weeks depending on the time of year.
Phone: 0744483197
Email: info@concretetownsville.com.au
Service Areas: All Townsville suburbs including Annandale, Hermit Park, Kirwan, Mount Louisa, Idalia, Rasmussen, Burdell, Bushland Beach, and surrounding areas.
Your new driveway starts with proper removal. Let’s get it done right.
