Breaking up concrete

[Stormin Mormon]

Like talking to a brick wall wearing an ipod?

[Dave Martindale]

Though I didn't mention it, I'm already doing this. Using a heavy shovel and a digging fork, I've been prying up one end of the concrete and putting a rock underneath it, a few inches back from the end, so that the concrete is unsupported at the end and stresses in the concrete are concentrated around the rock. Without that, I would have gotten nowhere with the hammer and chisel.

It seems the most common recommendation is to just get a bigger hammer and hit the concrete with it directly, forgetting about the chisel. So I think I'll try that.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Dave

[Dave Martindale]

That would be efficient alright, particularly if I happened to have either the backhoe or the dump truck.

However, the concrete is in a restricted space that would make this tricky. The concrete I want to get rid of is in a flower bed that is located between the house foundation and the front sidewalk, and it needs to come out without damaging either the foundation or sidewalk. In addition, the house overhangs the flower bed by a few feet so there's no clear vertical space above the junk concrete. It might be difficult to get a backhoe bucket in there without touching the house.

Maybe a little Bobcat-sized backhoe would be OK, though I don't happen to have one of those either.

Dave

[Rich]

Call the police and tell them John Wayne Gacy rented the house years ago and your smelling something foul coming through the concrete. You'll have a crew there in no time.

[Dan Espen]

Yeah, now you tell me.

Actually, I did a large patio and didn't pay much attention to how I held the hammer. I had bruises all over my legs but didn't notice much pain. Must have been too tired to care.

[HeyBub]

Do you have a (really) long chain and a bumper?

[Oren]

I call that Silent Contempt.

[Dave Martindale]

"Get a bigger hammer" turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I bought an 8 pound sledgehammer today. It took two blows to break the remaining concrete in half. Three more blows and it was in 5 pieces, all small enough to pick up easily. I was done in 5 minutes.

I sure wish I'd bought the larger hammer at the beginning of the project!

Dave

[aemeijers]

So now, grasshopper, you understand why the term 'BFH' is used so often in this group. Don't need it often, but when you do, there really is no substitute.

-- aem sends...

[Stormin Mormon]

Oops! I'll try to do better.

Oh, be sure to use two hands holding a Sawzall, so you don't cut the index finger off your left hand. You'll need to know that in about two years. I didn't want to be late again.

[Stormin Mormon]

Usually meant in jest. But this time, it was the real advice.

Thanks for letting us know how it worked out.

[Stormin Mormon]

The other essential time is removing wheel studs from your car or truck. The one time I couldn't get a wheel lug off, and drilled a bunch of metal off it to get it loose. Damaged the threads. I bought a replacement stud. Tried heat and a big C-clamp to get it out. No such luck. The BFH came out, and that popped the stud loose.

[Harry K]

Nothign beats a precision calibrated BFH when you need one.

Harry K

[Oren]

So,you have about 2 hours and 5 minutes into the removal :))

If you ever need a "Big Red Hammer" look at cutting torches. Not to be confused with a fireman's axe.

[aemeijers]

Big Red Hammer? We always called them smoke wrenches.

-- aem sends...

[Stormin Mormon]

Calibrated in inch pounds, yard pounds, and sometimes foot pounds (ouch).

[Harry K]

As long as it isn't finger pounds on a cold day.

Harry K