Concrete Removal and Slab Tear-Out in Weaverville, NC
Farm slabs out, lots ready.
Weaverville grew by nearly half between 2010 and 2020, and much of that growth landed on old farm ground with a concrete past: a barn slab, a milk-house floor, a driveway poured for a house that is being replaced. McKinley breaks it out, hauls it off and grades the ground back so you can build, drive or drain on it.
- Free on-site estimates
- Owner-run by McKinley
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Concrete Removal in Weaverville
Farm concrete on new lots
Weaverville is nine miles north of Asheville up I-26, on the ridge the first settlers called Dry Ridge. From its charter in 1875 it was the market town for the farms around it. The farms are becoming subdivisions now. When a few acres off Reems Creek Road or Ox Creek are sold for houses, the concrete that came with the farm is in the way.
A slab where the dairy barn stood. A loading ramp. A well-house footing. A feed-room floor. It is often thicker than it looks and has old rebar through it. McKinley breaks it out with the excavator and hauls it, so the pad or the drive can go where the farm building was.
Driveways on Dry Ridge
In town, the older streets around Main Street and Lake Louise have concrete drives that have been there since the houses were built. The ground under them is red mountain clay that heaves and settles with the seasons. The panels crack, a corner drops, and the drive becomes a trip hazard with a tree root under it.
He takes the whole thing out rather than a piece, because a patched drive on bad base cracks again at the patch. What usually goes back is gravel on a compacted base, which moves with the clay instead of breaking against it.
Reems Creek and the water question
Reems Creek runs through town beside Lake Louise, and Helene in September 2024 showed what it can do. The town's water plant went under eight feet of water, there were water rescues in Weaverville neighborhoods, and the old waterwheel on Reems Creek was torn off its mount. Lots along the creek and its branches sit on soft, wet ground.
A slab out of that ground leaves a hole that fills, so the backfill goes in compacted in lifts and graded to a fall. On the steeper lots up Ox Creek, the concrete was often the only thing holding a cut. Once it is gone, the bank needs drainage or stone before the next big rain.
What the ground is ready for after
McKinley does not pour concrete, and most people in Weaverville who call him do not want it back. They want a gravel drive that can be regraded instead of replaced, a compacted pad for a shop or a carport, or a yard that stops holding water. The removal and the next job get priced together.
If the slab is under a barn or a shed that is coming down as well, the demolition happens first. The slab comes out in the same visit, footings and all. One machine, one truck, one pile gone.
Town zoning, county permits, NC811
Weaverville has its own Planning and Zoning Department at Town Hall, which handles zoning permits. Building permits and inspections inside the town are done by Buncombe County Permits and Inspections under contract. Removing a slab is rarely a permit matter on its own. A new pad, a new drive entrance or anything near Reems Creek is worth a call to the town before a date is set.
NC811 locates the public utilities, and the request goes in three working days ahead. Old farm sites have private water lines, power to outbuildings and sometimes a buried tank that nobody marked, so he walks the ground and asks what used to be there.
Getting a figure
He comes out and looks at it with you. He wants to know how thick the concrete is, whether there is steel in it, how far the truck can get from the slab and what you want there afterward. Then you get one number with the breaking, the hauling and the grading in it.
If the drive is being replaced with gravel, the gravel driveway permit guide for North Carolina covers the entrance question. The main concrete removal page has more on how the job runs, and a free on-site estimate is a call or a text away.
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
Send a photo of the slab and say whether a building is coming down with it. McKinley prices the whole sequence as one job.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Barn and farm slabs. Thick, reinforced farm concrete broken out, footings included.
- In-town driveways. Cracked and heaved drives on clay taken out whole, not patched.
- Patios and walks. Slabs that hold water against the house removed and regraded.
- Steps and block. Old steps, stoops and block walls broken down and loaded.
Weaverville, NC
Fifteen minutes north of Asheville on US-19/23 and I-26, growing fast with new subdivisions on old farm ground and mountain lots up Reems Creek and Ox Creek.
Town pageAlso in WeavervilleDemolition in Weaverville, NC
See the pageAlso in WeavervilleRetaining Walls in Weaverville, NC
See the pageAlso in WeavervilleYard Drainage & French Drains in Weaverville, NC
See the pageAlso in WeavervilleGravel Driveway Repair in Weaverville, NC
See the pageThe serviceConcrete Removal
Driveways, patios, slabs, sidewalks, steps and footings broken out, loaded and hauled off, then graded back.
Main service pageWeaverville and the towns nearby
Weaverville is the north end of McKinley's Buncombe County run. He does the same concrete tear-outs down I-26 in Asheville and on south in Arden and Hendersonville. Woodfin, Alexander, Barnardsville and Jupiter are on the same roads, and the lots up Reems Creek and Ox Creek are a few minutes from town. The rest of what he does north of the city is on the Weaverville 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 in Weaverville to take out a driveway?
Not usually for the removal itself. Zoning in town is handled by Weaverville's Planning and Zoning Department, and building permits by Buncombe County Permits and Inspections under contract with the town. Ask before a new drive entrance onto a town street, a new building, or fill on a lot near Reems Creek.
There is a barn slab in the middle of my lot. Can it go with the barn?
Yes, and that is the usual order. The barn comes down and is hauled, then the slab and the footings under it are broken out in the same visit. Farm slabs are often thick and reinforced, so McKinley checks that before he prices it, and the hole is filled and compacted so the pad can go there.
My lot is near Reems Creek. Does that change anything?
It changes the fill. Ground near the creek is soft and wet, and a hole left after a slab fills with water. The backfill goes in compacted in lifts and graded to a fall. If the lot is in the mapped floodplain, ask the town before bringing in fill, because that can need a permit.
Can you replace the drive with gravel?
Yes. Once the concrete is out, the old base is dug out if it is bad, and a gravel drive goes in on a compacted stone base with a crown so water runs off. On Weaverville's clay that holds up better than a new pour, and it can be regraded later instead of replaced.
How long does a tear-out take?
It depends on thickness, steel and how far the truck is from the slab. A thin walk at the street is a short job; a reinforced barn floor at the back of ten acres is not. You hear what to expect when he looks at it, and the figure covers the whole thing.
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 Weaverville.
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 Weaverville?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.