Brick, Block & Masonry Disposal in East Tennessee

Brick and block disposal is a narrower problem than concrete, but it's nearly as annoying. You tear out an old chimney, demo a CMU foundation wall, or replace a brick facade, and you're left with pallets of hard, heavy material that doesn't fit in a roll-off dumpster without hitting the weight cap. It's too dense for regular trash and too specific for the average junk hauler to want to touch.

Here's how masonry rubble gets handled in East Tennessee, and what you can bring to the yard.

What We Accept on the Masonry Line

If it's fired clay or cementitious block, we probably take it, free when clean. The list covers most of what comes off a residential or light-commercial demo:

• Clean red brick and common brick
• Fire brick from old fireplaces and chimneys
• CMU block, also called cinder block or concrete block
• Old mortar in reasonable amounts, still attached to the brick or block
• Natural stone masonry from old chimneys, foundations, and fieldstone walls

You don't have to chip the mortar off. You don't have to sort brick from block. It all gets processed through a similar crushing and screening stream, so a mixed masonry load is fine. Concrete, with or without rebar, can ride along in the same load. See our full what we accept guide.

What We Don't Take

The exclusions are short but firm:

• Brick painted with lead-based coating. If the structure is pre-1978 and the paint hasn't been abated, we can't accept it.
• Asbestos-containing mortar. Rare, but possible on very old industrial or institutional buildings. If you know or suspect ACM, it needs a specialty abatement path, not our yard.
• Loads mixed with wood, drywall, insulation, roofing, or trash. If your load is mixed, call (865) 999-0857 before you haul.

If you're not sure what you have, call before you load up.

Why the Landfill Isn't a Fit for Masonry-Only Loads

Brick is heavy. That's the whole issue. When landfills charge by the ton, dense material like brick and block turns into an oversized bill for what's really a small pile by volume. The Blount County landfill runs about $60 a ton, is open weekdays only, and may turn away out-of-county haulers. Knox County convenience centers refuse brick and block outright. They're set up for household waste, not construction debris.

That leaves a very narrow window if you want to do it "the official way," and none of it is convenient.

Why Roll-Off Dumpsters Don't Work Great Either

Roll-off companies know brick is a weight bomb. Many cap heavy-material dumpsters at small sizes, and even then a single chimney demo or a CMU foundation wall can blow through the included weight allowance. Overweight fees stack fast. Some haulers ban brick, rock, and concrete outright. You'll see it in the fine print when you book online. More on that in can I put concrete in a dumpster.

So the dumpster shows up, you load it half full, and you get a call from the driver telling you he can't tip it as-is. That's a bad afternoon.

How SMSG Handles the Material

Once it's on the yard, the brick and block go through a crushing and screening process along with concrete. That material ends up in recycled aggregate products that go back into base and drainage applications. Here's how concrete recycling works from demo pile to driveway.

How the Drop-Off Works at the Gate

Drive up during hours. Staff will direct you where to dump. Dump, sweep out the bed, and you're back on the road. Clean masonry is free, whether you rolled up in a half-ton pickup or a tri-axle dump truck. No scale ticket, no per-ton math, no follow-up invoice.

That's the whole reason contractors like using the yard for masonry work. You can tell your customer disposal is covered before you swing a hammer.

Bringing a Load In

If you've got brick, block, or masonry rubble to move and you don't want to wrestle with a dumpster or a landfill scale, the yard is set up for exactly this kind of drop. Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel is at 245 Brookdale Road in Maryville, open Monday through Friday 7 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 8 AM to noon. See free concrete drop-off for the details, or call (865) 999-0857 if you want to confirm the load is a good fit before you drive over.