Concrete Removal and Slab Tear-Out in Spartanburg, SC
Broken out of the red clay.
Spartanburg was a mill town with about forty cotton mills by the early 1900s, and the houses around them have concrete nearly as old: cracked drives, sunk porches, slabs where a garage used to be. McKinley breaks it out, hauls it off and grades the red clay back so the lot is ready for gravel, a pad or a drain.
- Free on-site estimates
- Owner-run by McKinley
- WNC & Upstate SC
Concrete Removal in Spartanburg
Mill-village concrete and new subdivisions
Spartanburg sits at about 745 feet in the Piedmont, a long way down from the mountains McKinley works most days, and the ground is different. The old neighborhoods have concrete that has been in the clay for most of a century. Hampton Heights, with houses from the 1900s to the 1930s. The Beaumont mill village north of downtown. The streets around Converse Heights.
The subdivisions pushing out along every highway have concrete that is newer and sometimes worse, poured on fill that was never compacted. Both end the same way: cracked, tilted and in the way of what the owner wants to do next.
What Cecil red clay does to a slab
Most of Spartanburg County is on Cecil soil, the red clay that runs across the whole Piedmont. It drains well when it is undisturbed, but once a machine compacts it, it does not recover, and once it is bare it sheds water fast. A drive poured on it tends to lose its base at the downhill edge and then crack along the panel joint. A patio poured on fill sinks toward the house.
Breaking the concrete out is the easy part. What takes the time is the ground underneath, because that is why the slab failed, and the gravel or the pad that goes back has to sit on something better.
The order of the job
He breaks the slab with the excavator, working from one edge so the pieces lift clean rather than crumbling into the dirt. The pieces go on the dump truck and off the lot. Then the base is dug out if it is bad, the hole is filled and compacted, and the surface is graded to a fall.
If the concrete was under a shed or carport, the structure comes down first and the slab and footings follow. Steps, a front walk and the block foundation wall from an old garage all go the same way.
Gravel, a pad or a drain where it was
McKinley does not pour concrete. In Spartanburg the tear-out most often turns into a gravel driveway on a compacted stone base. It costs less than a new pour and can be regraded when the clay moves.
On the flat lots, taking out a patio that trapped water is the first step of a drainage fix. The ground is regraded away from the house, or a French drain is laid where the slab was. On a lot with an old garage pad, the hole becomes the base for a new pad or a shop.
SC811 and Spartanburg County permits
South Carolina's damage prevention law runs through SC811, and the locate request goes in before anything is dug. The state updated that law in 2026, and the center's own site has the current rules. Water, gas and electric to an old mill house often run under the front walk or the drive. Private lines past the meter are not marked, so he asks and probes first.
Spartanburg County Building Codes, on North Church Street, handles permits in the unincorporated county, and its residential fee schedule lists a demolition permit for structures. Inside the city limits, the City of Spartanburg has its own permit office. A slab on its own rarely needs a permit, but ask before a new drive entrance or a new building.
What the price depends on
He comes down from Asheville and looks at it on the ground. The number depends on the thickness and whether there is wire or rebar, how far the truck can get from the slab, and what is going back. You get one figure with the hauling and the grading in it.
He also says when the concrete is sound and the money is better spent on a drain or a regrade. If a gravel drive is the plan, the Upstate gravel driveway cost guide is the place to start. The main concrete removal page explains how the job runs from the first call.
Concrete Removal
Driveways, patios, slabs, sidewalks, steps and footings broken out, loaded and hauled off, then graded back.
See the serviceTalk to McKinley(828) 540-6856
Two photos of the concrete and the street in front of it. McKinley prices the tear-out and the gravel or drainage that follows as one figure.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Mill-house driveways. Old single-car drives cracked into pieces, broken out and hauled.
- Patios and walks. Settled slabs that trap water, removed and the clay regraded.
- Garage and shed pads. Slab and footings broken out, with the building if it is going too.
- Steps and block walls. Stoop steps and old block foundation walls broken down and loaded.
Spartanburg, SC
The Upstate side of the business: Piedmont red clay, older mill-village neighborhoods and new subdivisions pushing out along every highway from the city.
Town pageAlso in SpartanburgDemolition in Spartanburg, SC
See the pageAlso in SpartanburgGravel Driveway Installation in Spartanburg, SC
See the pageAlso in SpartanburgLand Clearing in Spartanburg, SC
See the pageAlso in SpartanburgForestry Mulching in Spartanburg, SC
See the pageThe serviceConcrete Removal
Driveways, patios, slabs, sidewalks, steps and footings broken out, loaded and hauled off, then graded back.
Main service pageSpartanburg and the towns nearby
Spartanburg is the center of McKinley's Upstate work. He does the same concrete tear-outs in Greer on the county line, and Boiling Springs, Inman, Duncan, Pacolet and Landrum are on the same highways out of the city. Back up I-26 he covers Hendersonville and the rest of the mountains. The full list of what he does in Spartanburg County, from clearing to gravel drives, is on the Spartanburg page.
You get McKinley. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or text. McKinley 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 finish grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled, water is given a way out, and the ground is left so you can build, pour or seed.
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 (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.
Do I need a permit to remove a driveway in Spartanburg?
Usually not for the slab alone. In the unincorporated county the office is Spartanburg County Building Codes on North Church Street; inside the city limits it is the City of Spartanburg. Call before a new drive entrance onto a public road or a new building on the old pad, and check your HOA if you have one.
Can you take out a patio and fix the drainage at the same time?
Yes, and that is the right order. The patio that was trapping water comes out, the compacted clay under it is broken up, and the ground is regraded away from the house. If the lot is flat enough that regrading alone will not do it, a French drain goes in the trench the slab left.
Will the clay hold up a gravel drive after the concrete is gone?
It will if the base is built right. Cecil clay compacted under an old slab does not drain, so it is broken up or dug out before stone goes down. A compacted stone base with a crown sheds water off the drive instead of into it, and it can be regraded later instead of replaced.
Can you take out an old garage slab and the block walls around it?
Yes. The block walls are broken down, the slab is broken out, and the footings under both are dug out from below grade so nothing is left to heave later. It all goes on the truck, and the hole is filled, compacted and graded so a new pad or lawn can go there.
Do you come to Spartanburg from Asheville for a small job?
The Upstate is a regular part of the work, not a special trip, and McKinley is in Spartanburg County often. Send a couple of photos of the concrete and the route to it, and he will tell you whether it makes sense to price on its own or to pair with the gravel or drainage work that usually follows.
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
Gravel Driveways
A new drive cut into the hill, based in lifts and crowned to shed water.
Learn moreDriveway Repair & Grading
Washouts, ruts and potholes fixed at the cause, not just regraded.
Learn moreDrainage & Erosion Control
French drains, catch basins, culverts and riprap so the property sheds water.
Learn moreRetaining Walls
Block, boulder and riprap walls that hold a cut bank up.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Lots, building sites and overgrown acreage cleared, stumps and root mat out.
Learn moreHouse Pads & Site Prep
Pads cut, filled and compacted on ground that started at anything but level.
Learn moreFree estimate in Spartanburg.
Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now. We come out, walk it, and give you a real number.
- Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
- One crew from clearing through to the last load of stone
- Drainage designed in, not sold to you afterwards
Need concrete removal in Spartanburg?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.