"Cutting" concrete

[Norm Dion]

I want to cut an 18" X 18" square out of my concrete driveway to plant a shrub. The driveway butts up against the concrete foundation of the house, and one edge of this square would also butt up against the foundation. I realize I could buy a concrete blade for my skil saw, but that wouldn't get me up close enough to the foundation to do the job. Instead, could I use a concrete bit (carbide?) in an electric drill and drill a series of closely-spaced holes, enabling me to punch out the square with a sledge hammer? What are the ramifications? What size and type of bit would I use? What am I overlooking? TIA

[Edwin Pawlowski]

By hole six you will be tired of drilling and by the 4th or 5th bit you will realize it was a bad idea. Assuming you have to do three of the four sides (one is agains the house) if you drill a 3/8" hole and leave a space that big between, you will still have to drill at leae 72 holes.

Get both. Cut with the blade as close as you can and finish with the drill and chisel if needed. The saw will leave a nice clean edge also. You will have to drill or chisel the corners a bit unless you overlap the cuts. Ed

[ameijers]

Get thee to a rental store, and rent a real concrete saw and/or electric jackhammer. If you can score the surface to about half the depth of the slab, the jackhammer should break a clean edge.

Personally, I'd call the local concrete flatwork guy, and ask how much they would charge to do it on the way home from another job. If you can give them flexibility on the date, it may not be that expensive. With the 'real' air-powered tools, it'd only take a few minutes.

aem sends...

[MAG]

My thought: do you really want a tree, and it's roots, right up against your foundation? Sounds risky.

Marc

[Suzie-Q]

I was thinking the same thing, but he said "shrub," and a small shrub with small roots shouldn't damage the foundation.

8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail) ~~~~~~

"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

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[Murray Peterson]

"Norm Dion" wrote in news:Cggrb.108477$9E1.538582@attbi_s52:

Have you considered water drainage? You could be setting yourself up for a very wet basement.

[Robert Allison]

Most likely, the foundation and the driveway were poured at different times. These are rarely poured monolithically. Therefore, you would only need to cut the three sides left. You will still need to drill a few holes due to the fact that the circ. saw will not go completely up against the foundation.

It may appear to be continuous concrete due to underpinning or plastering, but I'll bet that if you chip a bit at the intersection, you will find a cold joint.