Anyone ever demolish concrete?

[Xithras]

I have a fairly small backyard, and my homes previous owner decided to fill the whole thing with concrete and make one huge patio. I HATE this, and plan on putting in a new lawn next spring. To do that, I need to start ripping up the concrete and installing the sprinkler system soon. My problem? I've never removed concrete before.

The concrete is about three inches thick, and I've already removed a 12"*12" corner with a sledge, without any difficulty, but staring at the rest of that 55' x 20' slab is a bit intimidating. Are concrete saws or jackhammers any easier on the body (back, muscles, ears) than a simple sledge? Is there anything I can do to the concrete that will make it easier to break up? And most importantly, is this really a DIY job, or am I risking injury here by trying to remove that much concrete by myself?

[eleny]

1. That seems like a huge job

During major renovations last year, we had to have new water pipes installed and they had to take out the sidewalk right up against the house. The contractor hired a guy with a back hoe. The operator broke up the concrete with the front bucket and loaded it into the dumpster. Even that stretch of narrow sidewalk was lots of work.

Good luck with your project however you decide to go. Your yard will be lovely, I'm sure, when the project is completed. We want pictures! :D

[Jersey Devil]

2. You can rent a jackhammer pretty cheaply

I rented one to bust up steps and concrete walks this summer at Home Depot (probably also at Lowes). I think it was something like $70 for the day and it made my 18 year old son so happy that he could do something destructive that I approved of. BTW, 3" is a pretty thin slab and the jackhammer should have no problem with it. If you do it be sure to get a cheap pair of ear protectors, wear safety goggles (a lot of chips) and heavy gloves to protect from the vibrations. It also helps to have a 6'3" healthy 18 year old kid with nothing to do, which you probably can rent if you don't have one of your own. Kids love to destroy stuff.

Also, you might consider hiring one of those "cleanout" companies to do it for you and take it all away in one fell swoop. Though I busted it up myself I had to pay $300 for someone to haul the concrete away.

[NMDemDist2]

3. we used a jack hammer to pull up a curb across the garage front

it was a bitch, but easier than just using a sledge.

the hammer will beat you up a bit, then when the crete is in manageable pieces, you still get to load it out and get rid of it

may be worth calling someone with a small backhoe like the poster above suggested. It wouldn't take them more than a couple hours if you had a dumpster ready.... $500 maybe all together?

[Jersey Devil]

4. Better yet - bury it

If the guy is there with a backhoe all he has to do is dig a hole, dump the concrete in and then cover it with dirt. Would save lots of money on dumping fees I think and would make one hellova drywell in the yard if there is a water problem.

[Xithras]

5. Backhoe's not an option.

There's not enough clearance between the houses to even get a little Bobcat back there (zero lot line homes, no alley). I can't even bring it in from the end of the block because I live on a cul-de-sac and the neighbor between me and the end of the block has a yard sized pool.

Nope, this has to come out by hand.

[stevebreeze]

6. don't mess around use the jackhammer

you can do it faster then you might think with just a sledgehammer but there is a greater risk of injury or damage to the house, from flying chunks.

[welshTerrier2]

7. a slab at our entry door

we had a large concrete slab at our entry door ... i hired a guy to remove it because we wanted to replace it with a small wooden deck ...

he started off with a small backhoe but quickly ran into a problem ... the builder had run rebar through the slab into the concrete foundation of our house ... using heavy machinery would have done some serious damage to the foundation ...

a jackhammer worked out great ... make sure you add something to your budget to get rid of the broken up concrete ...

[AlCzervik]

8. I had a 10 x 20 4inch thick concrete slab removed

I found a guy in the local paper that did for $500 with a jackhammer. Hire someone if you can afford it, it back breaking work.

[yardwork]

9. Just playing devil's advocate here....

but maybe you could put that patio to work for you instead of having to remove it? You can paint or dye concrete to look like old mosaic or tilework, and you could put raised beds full of plants and flowers on top, along with tables, chairs, and patio umbrellas. You could create a beautiful oasis of plants that would be more carefree than a grass lawn, which requires a huge amount of upkeep.

[NMDemDist2]

10. and such a space would be cooler than just lawn in the summer n/t

[Xithras]

13. "Lawn" wasn't the right word

Less than 1/3 of it will actually be grass. The majority of the space will be four new trees with an understory of flowering shrubs, fern, and various ground flowers around a small pond to replicate this type of look:



The yard is on the north side of our home and it's light is already filtered by a large oak in our neighbors yard, so we really want to capture that whole "secret garden" feel and replicate the idea of the English forest understory.

How well that understory will withstand our 105 degree Central Valley summers remains to be seen. The hope is that the four new trees, in combination with the existing oak, will provide enough shade to cool the yard considerably and also prevent our intense summer sun from directly drying the plants out.

[cally]

11. My Dad taught a friend a trick

My Dad grew up laying concrete with my Grandfather. He joined my when I stopped by at a friend's house. They had been whacking away at a patio with a sledgehammer for a week. My 75 year old Dad offered to help, and we all said no. My Dad is stubborn and walked out and within 15 minutes (the friend helped) had done about 1/2 as much as they had. The trick is to lift up the slab as much as possible before each swing of the sledgehammer. I haven't done it, but we all were pretty amazed at the results.

[NMDemDist2]

12. right I remember that..... we used a chunk we stuck under the next

section that worked as kind of a fulcrum the crete shattered around

[Caution]

14. Absolute easiest method other than paying someone else?

not the cheapest, but you can rent a bobcat for a day with a jackhammer attackment. Take you about two hours to demolish that whole slab and it's a helluva lot of fun.

Next best is to simply rent an actual jackhammer. Either way make sure you get ear protection!!! and take frequent breaks if you use a jackhammer. Those things are murder on your shoulders if you have never used one before, as with the sledge, you want to lift the bit you are working on if at all possible, however be very careful doing thisbecause it increases the likelihood the jackhammer jumps unexpectedly.

[NMDemDist2]

15. well how's it going? n/t

[Xithras]

16. Slowly

I decided that it wasn't worth hurting myself over, so I found a different way to do it. I have a 5 foot long 300Lb hardened steel pole sitting on the side of my house (it's actually the driveshaft from an old milling machine). Every evening I walk out back, pick up the pole, and take a few more whacks at it ("whacking" consists of lifting the pole a few feet and dropping it on a corner of the remaining slab). I've only removed about half the slab so far, but I haven't injured anything yet so I'm OK with that pace :)

Your suggestion to lift the concrete has been confounded by two other problems. First, the individual slabs were poured in 8 foot squares, so there's too much weight to reasonably lift. To make it worse, the ground under the slabs apparently wasn't level when it was poured, so the slab thickness actually varies between three and seven inches. I end up having to smash around the thick spots because they're essentially unbreakable without heavy equipment. Lifting that would be out of the question.

My goal is to have the entire yard done (concrete removed, garden and sod installed) by Easter, and at my current pace I shouldn't have any problem achieving that goal. With a little luck, I may even have full use of my back when it's done :)

[NMDemDist2]

17. smart solution

well done!

i'm eagerly awaiting pics :)