Concrete Removal and Driveway Tear-Out in Niles, OH
Niles is a mill town laid out in the 1800s and filled in after the war, and most of its concrete is older than the people living behind it. A drive cracked into plates, a patio that tilts toward the basement, a garage pad on the alley. Jeff breaks it out, hauls it and grades the ground back.
Concrete Removal in Niles
Mill-era streets and postwar concrete
Niles sits between Warren and Youngstown where Mosquito Creek runs into the Mahoning River. The old part of town was built for the steel mills, with alleys behind the houses and garages facing them. The neighborhoods out toward Route 46 and the Eastwood Mall came later, on flat clay, with concrete drives and patios poured as the houses went up.
Either way, the concrete has had fifty or sixty years to crack, heave and settle. That is where most of the calls in Niles come from. Nobody wants to look at a broken patio, and a driveway that has turned into loose plates is a trip hazard every winter.
The alley garage pad
On the older streets, a single-car garage on the alley is often gone or on its way, and the pad underneath is what is left. These pads were poured thin, with a block wall sitting on a footing around the edge. The field breaks up easily. The footing and the block take more digging.
The excavator lifts the slab in pieces, pulls the footing and loads it all for hauling. If the garage is still standing, demolition in Niles covers taking it down, and the pad comes out on the same trip. The hole is filled and graded so the back of the lot can be mowed or graveled.
Patios that settled toward the house
Flat clay settles unevenly, and a patio poured against the back wall sixty years ago has often dropped on the house side. Rain runs along the slab, straight to the foundation. People notice it as a damp basement wall before they notice the patio.
Taking the patio out is the first half of the fix. The second half is grading the ground so it falls away from the wall, and sometimes a buried downspout or a short French drain. Yard drainage in Niles covers that side of the job, and it can be priced together with the tear-out.
Low ground by the river and the creek
The city's Building Department names Mahoning Avenue, Vienna Avenue and North Road among the areas that lie in the mapped floodplain, along with the ground near the waterways. The flood of 1913 is still part of local memory in Niles for a reason.
That matters for concrete removal in one way. When a slab comes out, the hole gets filled, and bringing fill into a mapped floodplain is something to ask about first. The person to ask is the city's Flood Plain Administrator, who works out of the Building Department at 34 West State Street. For most Niles lots it is not an issue, but the low streets are worth a call.
Permits, OHIO811 and the sidewalk
The City of Niles Building Department issues permits for demolition and for sheds and other structures, so if a building is coming down with the concrete, ask them before a date is set. Breaking out a patio on your own lot is a different matter, but the sidewalk and the apron at the street are public, and the city has a say there.
Ohio law requires notice to OHIO811 before any digging, and the bucket goes under the slab, so the locate gets called in first. Gas and water services in old neighborhoods often run under the drive, and the marks keep the job from turning into an emergency.
Gravel, grass or a new pad
Most people in Niles replace a broken concrete drive with gravel, because it costs less and handles frost better on this ground. Jeff builds the drive on the same visit: the old concrete out, a limestone base in, crowned and compacted. See gravel driveways in Niles and the guide on how to build a gravel driveway.
If grass is the plan, the hole is filled and graded ready to seed. If a new slab is the plan, Jeff does the tear-out and the base, and a concrete crew pours. The concrete removal page covers the work across the area, and the Niles page has the rest of what he does in town.
Concrete Removal
Driveways, patios, slabs, sidewalks, steps and footings broken out, loaded and hauled off, then graded back.
See the serviceTalk to Jeff(330) 625-5754
Send a photo of the concrete and the street name. Jeff comes out, looks at the slab and the way in, and gives one figure with hauling in it.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Driveways in plates. Cracked and heaved drives lifted, loaded and hauled off the lot.
- Alley garage pads. Thin pads, footings and old block dug out, not left buried.
- Settled patios. Patios that tilt toward the house taken out and the grade corrected.
- Walks and steps. Front walks, stoops and steps broken out and the ground filled.
Niles, OH
Between Warren and Youngstown on the Mahoning River, 25 minutes from Farmdale, with mill-era streets and postwar neighborhoods on flat clay.
Town pageAlso in NilesDemolition & Removal in Niles, OH
See the pageAlso in NilesYard Drainage & French Drains in Niles, OH
See the pageAlso in NilesGravel Driveways in Niles, OH
See the pageThe serviceConcrete Removal
Driveways, patios, slabs, sidewalks, steps and footings broken out, loaded and hauled off, then graded back.
Main service pageNiles and the towns nearby
Niles is on the way to most places Jeff works. The same concrete tear-outs run north up Route 422 into Warren and south along the river into Youngstown, and McDonald, Girard, Mineral Ridge and Howland are all within a few minutes of town. Boardman and Hermitage are on the list too. The full map of the towns Logan Earthworks covers in Trumbull, Mahoning and Mercer counties is on the service area page.
You get Jeff. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or send the form. Jeff comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled and the ground is graded back so you can build, seed or just mow.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full concrete removal service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (330) 625-5754 and ask Jeff, or read the guides.
Do I need a permit to remove a driveway or patio in Niles?
Concrete on your own lot is normally yours to remove. The City of Niles Building Department at 34 West State Street issues permits for demolition and for structures, so if a garage or shed is coming down with the slab, ask them first. The sidewalk and the apron at the street are public, so ask about those too.
My lot is near Mosquito Creek. Does that change anything?
It can. The city names the ground near its waterways, along with Mahoning Avenue, Vienna Avenue and North Road, as mapped floodplain. Taking a slab out is fine, but the hole gets filled afterwards, and bringing fill into the floodplain is something to ask the city's Flood Plain Administrator about before the job.
What happens to the old concrete?
It is broken up, loaded and hauled off. Clean concrete is usually recycled as crushed base rather than dumped. The hauling is part of the one figure you get, with the breaking and the grading, so there is no separate charge for it. Rebar and wire mesh come out with the pieces.
Can the old drive be replaced with gravel the same day?
Often, yes. Once the concrete is out, Jeff can cut the soft ground, lay a limestone base and crown it on the same visit, so you are not parking on the street for a week. The gravel driveway cost guide explains what drives the price. He does not pour new concrete.
Will a machine fit between the houses on my street?
On most Niles lots, yes. Older streets have narrow side yards and alley access, newer ones have wider drives. The way in gets looked at before you get a number, and tracked machines turn in a small space without tearing up the lawn. If access is tight, say so when you call.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Concrete Removal in other towns
Land Clearing & Brush Removal
Overgrown lots, fields and wooded acreage cleared and left ready to use.
Learn moreForestry Mulching
Brush and small trees ground into mulch in place. No piles, no burning.
Learn moreExcavation & Site Prep
Digging, pads, trenching and dirt work on rural and suburban lots.
Learn moreGravel Driveways
New drives cut, based and crowned; ruts, potholes and soft spots rebuilt.
Learn moreDrainage & French Drains
Standing water moved off yards and foundations on slow-draining clay.
Learn moreStump Grinding
Stumps ground below grade and the hole filled.
Learn moreFree estimate in Niles.
Send the details and Jeff will come out and look at it. If it is easier to talk it through, call him directly.
Farmdale, Warren, Niles, Cortland, Youngstown, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, Hubbard and Trumbull and Mahoning counties, over into Mercer County, PA.
Need concrete removal in Niles?
Call Jeff or send a few details. Estimates are free.