Driveway Replacement Cost in Los Angeles: Tear-Out, New Concrete or Pavers
Replacing a driveway in Los Angeles costs the demolition plus the new surface. Tearing out and hauling away the old slab typically runs $1,500 to $3,000. New concrete flatwork is $8 to $18 per square foot, pavers $15 to $25 or more. For a 600 square foot two-car driveway that puts a concrete replacement at roughly $6,300 to $13,800 and a paver replacement at $10,500 to $18,000 or more, all in. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.
Green Design and Build replaces driveways across Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. This page covers the full replacement: what comes out, what goes in, the apron at the street, and when you can park. For new-driveway pricing without a tear-out, read the companion guide, how much does a concrete driveway cost.
Why replacement costs more than a new driveway
The old driveway has to come out first, and that is a real day of work. A 4-inch slab is broken up with a breaker, loaded and hauled to a recycler. If it is 6 inches, reinforced, or poured over an even older slab, which we find more often than you would expect, the day gets longer. If the driveway is the only machine access, demolition is sequenced so the crew does not trap itself.
What is under the old slab moves the number more than its size: sometimes compacted base, sometimes fill, tree roots, an abandoned cleanout or the reason the driveway failed in the first place. We price the tear-out from a site visit, not from a photo.
Replacement cost by size
Each row is demolition plus the new surface, on a lot with normal access.
| Driveway size | Demolition | New concrete ($8–$18/sq ft) | Concrete total | New pavers ($15–$25+/sq ft) | Paver total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 sq ft (single car, 10 × 40) | $1,500–$3,000 | $3,200–$7,200 | $4,700–$10,200 | $6,000–$10,000+ | $7,500–$13,000+ |
| 600 sq ft (two-car, 20 × 30) | $1,500–$3,000 | $4,800–$10,800 | $6,300–$13,800 | $9,000–$15,000+ | $10,500–$18,000+ |
| 900 sq ft (long two-car, 20 × 45) | $1,500–$3,000 | $7,200–$16,200 | $8,700–$19,200 | $13,500–$22,500+ | $15,000–$25,500+ |
These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.
| Add-on | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Color or stain | +$2–$5 per sq ft |
| Exposed aggregate | +$3–$6 per sq ft |
| Stamped finish | +$4–$8 per sq ft |
| Thicker slab with rebar for RVs and work trucks | +$1–$3 per sq ft |
| Difficult access (rare on a driveway) | $500–$1,500+ |
| Trench drain or drain line | About $90 per linear foot |
These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.
The apron, the curb and the city sidewalk
The part of your driveway between the sidewalk and the street is not yours. The approach, the curb cut and the sidewalk sit in the public right-of-way, and replacing them is a separate permit from anything on your property.
In the City of Los Angeles, that work is permitted by the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, under what the City calls an A-Permit, which covers repair, construction or reconstruction of curbs, sidewalks, driveway approaches and gutters. The approach is built to the City’s standard plans and the Greenbook specification, its width is governed by the municipal code, and the City inspects it. This is separate from the Department of Building and Safety, which is why a driveway replacement in Los Angeles can involve two agencies even though the slab itself needs no building permit. Other cities have their own public works permit and standard drawings; we confirm before we quote.
Practically: if your apron is cracked, lifted or too narrow for the new driveway, replace it at the same time, with its own permit and inspection. The approach is poured to the City’s thickness and slope, not ours, and priced separately from the flatwork on your side of the line. And widening a driveway or moving it along the curb is a permit question before it is a construction question; on some streets the answer is no.
Thickness for heavy vehicles
Four inches of reinforced concrete over a compacted aggregate base is the standard residential driveway and handles cars, SUVs and pickups. If it will carry an RV, a boat trailer or a work truck, we pour 5 to 6 inches with #3 rebar on chairs at mid-depth. The upcharge is in the table above, and it is cheap next to a second replacement.
Two contractor notes. Wire mesh lying on the dirt, which is what we find in most failed driveways we open up, does nothing; reinforcement only works mid-slab. And a thicker slab does not fix a bad base. On the expansive clay across the San Fernando Valley we go deeper on base rock and moisten the subgrade before the pour, because a 6-inch slab on swelling clay still heaves.
Drainage toward the street
A driveway should fall toward the street at roughly a quarter inch per foot so rain leaves the garage door and the foundation. Where the garage sits below street level in the hills, or an older driveway has settled toward the house, a trench drain across the garage apron runs to the curb or a dry well. We set the finished grade at the garage slab first and work down to the street.
If the new driveway is pavers, the joints let some water through, but the base and slope still carry the rest. The paver driveway and side yard project in Anaheim shows the sequence on a lot that started as bare dirt: excavation, base, pavers with flush drains at the low points.
Concrete or pavers for the replacement
Concrete is cheaper and reads as one plane. Pavers cost more, can be lifted and reset if a root or a utility line needs attention, and shrug off an oil drip because one stained stone can be swapped. Our rule of thumb: a mature parkway tree with roots under the driveway, or a sewer lateral that has already had a repair, points to pavers. A flat lot with nothing beneath points to concrete, and we will say so. If you want the look of stone at a concrete price, read stamped concrete cost first; on a driveway in full sun the resealing schedule is part of the decision.
Timeline and when you can park
A replacement is 3 to 7 days on site: a day or two of demolition, a day of base, forms and reinforcement checked for fall, and a morning to pour, with joints cut the same day or the next. Then you wait: stay off it for 24 hours, keep cars off for 7 days, and keep RVs, boats and loaded trucks off until the 28-day cure. A paver driveway can take cars the day after the joints are sanded and compacted, a real advantage when the driveway is your only parking.
On a narrow street in Silver Lake or a permit-parking block in Long Beach, the days you cannot park are a genuine cost of the project, and we schedule the pour so the 7-day window does not land on a week you need the garage.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to replace a driveway in Los Angeles?
Demolition of the old slab is typically $1,500 to $3,000, then the new surface is $8 to $18 per square foot for concrete or $15 to $25 or more for pavers, so a 600 square foot two-car driveway is roughly $6,300 to $13,800 in concrete. These are typical Los Angeles budgeting estimates, not a price list or a quote. Your project can come in lower or higher depending on the house, the scope and the finishes; the only real number is a written proposal after a site visit.
Do I need a permit to replace my driveway?
The slab on your property normally does not need a building permit; in the City of Los Angeles, driveways not more than 30 inches above grade are exempt. The approach, curb cut and sidewalk in the public right-of-way are different: in the City of Los Angeles that work is permitted and inspected by the Bureau of Engineering, and other cities have their own public works permit. We confirm both before we quote.
Can I just pour new concrete over the old driveway?
We do not recommend it. A thin overlay bonds poorly, cracks wherever the old slab is cracked and raises the driveway above the garage slab and the apron. If the old driveway failed, the base under it is the problem, and an overlay leaves it in place. Tear-out plus a compacted base costs more on the day and is the last time you pay for it.
How thick should a replacement driveway be?
Four inches, reinforced, over a compacted aggregate base for cars and SUVs. Five to six inches with #3 rebar on chairs if an RV, boat trailer or work truck will use it. Reinforcement has to sit at mid-depth to do anything; mesh on the dirt is what we find in most failed driveways, and a thicker slab on uncompacted clay still heaves.
How long before I can park on a new driveway?
Seven days for a car on a concrete driveway, and 28 days for anything heavy such as an RV, a boat or a loaded truck. Foot traffic is fine after 24 hours, 48 for stamped. A paver driveway can usually take a car the day after the joints are sanded and compacted.
Should I replace the driveway with concrete or pavers?
Concrete if the lot is flat and nothing under the driveway will need attention. Pavers if a parkway tree, a sewer lateral or an irrigation main runs beneath it, because a paver section can be lifted and reset and a concrete slab cannot. The paver premium is the price of never cutting the slab, and on some lots that is worth it.
If your driveway is cracked, heaved or too small for the cars you own, we will come out for a free site visit anywhere in our five-county area, check the apron, the slope and what is under the old slab, and send a written proposal within 48 hours pricing both concrete and pavers.