Jack hammer

[Jonathan Curtis]

Hi

I've been asked by my mother inlaw to remove a concrete foundation which had a wall on it at some stage. The foundation is 10 feet long and 10 inches deep and also 10 inches thick. I've never used a jack hammer before so can someone please tell me how long I should allow for breaking up and removing (not disposing of) the concrete. Is it a very demanding job- as I have an occassional bad back?!

Thanks for any help

Jon

[Dave Plowman]

It really depends on the quality of the concrete. Hopefully, since it was only wall footings it won't be too hard, and if this is the case an easy half day should see it bagged up.

However, if you've got back problems, couldn't you tell your mother-in

-law to get it done by a pro? It's the sort of thing landscape gardeners do plenty of.

[Mark S.]

Sledgehammer on a Friday after work. ;-)

Mark S.

[a]

I help my bro-in-law dig up the concrete base of a compost heap a couple of weeks ago. It was about 3'x9'x8" reinforced concrete (for a compost heap!?) and had 8 concrete posts stuck in it too. We used a sledgehammer and pick axe and it took 3 of us a good few hours to get rid of it, and my hands took about a week to recover! (it really got to the muscles around the thumbs)

[Nick Brooks]

[Michael McNeil]

It sounds a strange thickness for good concrete. Is it just lime rubble?

If you have a decent jack hammer and compressor the trick is to work near the edge of the concrete. Work say 2 foot from one side and nibble through it in four inch bites that should leave you about 5 x

18" or so blocks to dispose of. Or just keep taking 3 or 4 inches off the end until you have a pile of rubble.

There should be plenty of takers for a few quid at your local pub if you need an hand. The 10 inch thickness will take forever with a sledge hammer if it's good stuff and your back is bad. If you can undermine it though....

[Steve Dawson]

Hire a hydraulic powered breaker, very easy to use and you will be done in half a day, then all you have to do is dig out the lumps,

If you hire an electric you will need a big Kango machine as the Hilti TE905 is not quite tough enough.

Regards

Steve Dawson