Remove one section concrete sidewalk?

[snoopy_]

Can anyone tell me the best method to remove one section of concrete from a sidewalk? I have one row of 4' x 4' of concrete blocks and one is pretty bad. I thought of patching it, but I'd rather just remove it and repour that section. I rented a cut-off saw, but I couldn't get the damn thing started and was so mad that I took it back the next day for a refund. Now I am wondering if I could buy masonary blades and use them on an old circular saw and use that, but they are only 7" blades (depth of cut is 2 3/8"). At that depth the cut wouldn't go all the way throught the 4" slab. Could I cut the 2 3/8" and then just use a sledge and hope the break happens along the control joints? Is there another method?

I've broken up concrete before with a sledge and pick-axe, but I am afraid of trying to remove this middle section because I don't want to repair more than just one section if I don't have to.

The cut-off saw cost me $89 ($50 for the saw and the rest for two throwaway blades). And I'm guessing that a contractor would charge me $300, plus they remove/recyle the concrete.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Paul Franklin]

The cutoff saw is the safe way; saw all the way through and break up the piece. Cutting halfway through makes it pretty likely it will break on the joint, but it's not certain. Usually it just chips out on the bottom leaving a clean line on top, but I've had it go both ways.

$300 sounds high, but around here (NE Ohio) I'd have trouble getting someone to even do such a small job.

If you diy, you might want to drill a few holes in the edges of the old slabs and insert short pieces of rebar that stick out into the new slab to tie the parts together.

Keep in mind it's not going to match...

Good luck,

Paul

[Joseph Meehan]

I will add that not only is not going to match, but it is likely that the rest of the walk, which is likely the same age and have been subject to the same conditions, is likely to need replacement soon.

[hallerb]

I had a couple sections replaced over 10 years ago when the sewer authority replaced the main in front of my home and accidently damaged the last section of my sidewalk.

sewer folks paid for one I paid for another, it was badly cracjed they ALL look great today. color didnt match initially but over ther years its much less noticeable.home built in 1950...

it was well worth the little it cost at the time.

our old home had one bad section that was replaced when I was a kid near 50 today. just drove by there last week the entire sidewalk is fine.

so sectional replacements do work.

[<aemeijers]

On properly laid sidewalks. yes. Just driving around as they finish up street repair season around here, and seeing how thin ,edge to edge, a lot of the curb&#39;n&#39;sidewalk patches they are putting in look, not so sure about the future. I almost never see staked steel forms any more- just hammer out the busted parts, puddle some stiff crete in there, and trowel by eye to match the neighboring sections. Walking around the old parts of town, the original slabs usually look better than the patches.

aem sends...

[snoopy_]

I realize it will look different, but the remainder of the walk looks fine now. Patch jobs always look ugly to me so I want to avoid it. I would love to do the whole walk, but I never finished concrete before so I am a little tenative about busting up a 25-35 X 4&#39; section. First, what to do with the old concreate (rent a truck from home depot and take it to a recycling center?). When I priced a few yards of concrete to be delivered a few years ago it was fairly cheap, about $100. However, the whole idea of laying that much concreate, as well as the truck driver is watching you work is intimidating.

It doesn&#39;t look that difficult, but it could be deceiving too :-)

It&#39;s funny what you say about the old not mathing the new sections. I lived in a city and had a almost our entire front sidewalk replaced and I asked the contractor if he could make it look like the old. In the old the aggregate was visable, and in neighboring sidewalks it looked bright white. Anyway, the old Italian guy laughed, he said the olds stuff that I liked is after rain and erosion wash away the top layer. That when new it looked nice and white too. He did offer to wash off the top layer with a hose to get that look, but he said new concrete should look white. Just a funny story to my ignorance.

wrote:

[grg2006]

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in news:4vFMg.1019$ [e-mail]:

Not necessarily. I have one bad section and the rest are fine.

[Italian Mason]

One way to tone down the whitness of todays mixes is to add a bit of black color to the mix, we do this often when doing a job next to old concrete it doesnt mach but it removes the brightness of the new concrete so it doesnt stick out, this is what you should do for your situation. Redoing the entire sidewalk really could turn out badly for you. Yes it is VERY deceiving.. to watch someone that knows what they are doing finishing concrete it looks easy but there are many things to worry about in a short period of time and once its hard...game over. I grew up back east and the sidewalk story you mention is close to me. I also really like the worn sidwalk look and although it was my fathers bread and butter to replace all that old stuff I loved it...so much so that I recreated the look in all the concrete at my home. I cannot remember if you mentiond where you are but if the sidewalks are like that (almost an exsposed look) you can recreate this in the new section you replace. If it is meerly a color issue use the black color and then pressure wash the old stuff and you will be pretty close. If you want to exspose the top let me know and I will instruct....

snoopy [e-mail] wrote:

[snoopy_]

I lived in Philadelphia.

How would you do that? I thought that while it was still wet, shortly after final toweling, I could take a regular hose and knock off the top slurry. But from your reply it sounds like you have a better technique. Do you wait until it&#39;s completely dry and then use a pressure washer to erode the top surface?

Italian Mas> One way to tone down the whitness of todays mixes is to add a bit of