Pool Demoltion & Removal - lots of pix

[hazmat]

Here are some pix from the Main ST recreational pool removal and patio betterment project phase 1 - pool demolition. phase 2 patio installation will be next summer.

Brand spanking new (10 hours on the clock) Volvo BL60 delivered Thursday afternoon with demolition hammer.

pic 1 before
pic 2 drained
pic 3 4 hours with the hoe & hammer

 

[hazmat]

Friday 3 buddies show up to help me (2 had the day off, 1 took the day off - it's amazing how motivated guys are with the promise of food, beer & a chance to run a backhoe.

Not too many pix today - wifey was working.

Filled 1 20 yard dumpster in 1/2 day. Only slow down was busted O ring on hammer hydraulic line - Luckily right at lunch time - we ate while waiting for service truck.

coffee break yum home baked cookies...
outside the pool
inside the pool
This machine is waaay better than my 1972 Case 580
side view
loading the dump trailer

 

[hazmat]

Saturday - rain very bad Got everything stuck. Blew tire off rim on dump trailer trying to nudge it out of the mud with the hoe. Luckily no permanent damage. Had to discontinue use of dump trailer as TC18 couldn't pull it up the muddy hill. Slowed productivity way down.

mud
hoe
loading TC18
hoe again
refueling TC18
Eddie Walker Warning These pvc pipes look like snakes
rough terrain

 

[hazmat]

Sunday - The adventure continues - Police showed up to investigate noise complaint. Couldn't make me stop as the noise ordinance only prevents contractors from working on Sunday (gotta love MA & all our rules). I though we were being reasonably courteous - didn't start any machines before 8am, shut down at 7. Didn't start hammering until 11am on Sun.

TC18
backdraging w/ hoe
2 machines together
big loader
demo saw
hammering floor
hammering floor 2
what is all that racket out there?

 

[hazmat]

Monday I worked alone - alas all my buddies had to return to their day jobs. I had 8 different guys show up over the course of the weekend. I couldn't have done it without them. We finished breaking up all the concrete on Sunday. I spent Monday removing rebar & burying the remaining concrete. We removed (3) 20 yard roll off containers worth.

Tues rough graded with the backhoe.

Wednesday - took some pix with my daughter. Picked up new (used) landscape rake - started working on final grade (pix tonight)

Rough grade
So this is what all that racket was
Daddy - I want to drive this when I grow up

 

[hazmat]

Lessons learned:

1 - I have newfound appreciation for why excavation contractors remove topsoil before digging a foundation - organic mud is slippery Also why they shut down if it rains.

2 - It would have been more expensive, but renting a 15,000# excavator w/ the hammer and a bobcat with a rock bucket would have been faster. We pretty much manually loaded all the concrete into the dump trailer or TC18 bucket for transport to the dumpsters.

3 - The country manufacturing dump trailer wouldn't hold up to this abuse for much longer. It already needs some R&R - busted boards, bent sides out so that the tailgate doesn't fit.

4 - If ordering bolt cutters from Harbor freight to manage rebar - place order 2 weeks ahead of time - they came Tuesday evening

5 - new toothbar on loader is great for popping out rocks.

6 - A backhoe is a wonderfull tool. I had a blast running it

7 - A cab is much quieter than an open tractor airconditioning and a radio make it like you aren't even working...

8 - The shuttle trans on the hoe (no clutching) was almost as easy to run as a HST trans

9 - I want an auto leveling loader - it even returned automatically to "level" after dumping

10 - A 82HP backhoe uses lots of fuel ~50 gallons for the weekend.

11 - The 4 in 1 bucket was great for rough grading

12 - A landscape rake with wheels worked well better than expected for final grade.

 

[rswyan]

Haz,

I dunno if you posted on it another thread ....... just curious - why did you decide to remove the pool ?

 

[hazmat]

Haz,

I dunno if you posted on it another thread ....... just curious - why did you decide to remove the pool ?

Several things conspired to out the pool in no particular order:

Generally the pool was poorly built & poorly placed (about 10ft from house) due to wetlands setback requirements. It is only 6 years old, but in the 4 years that we've owned it, it has required more than normal maintainence just about every year - busted plumbing required new filter valve as they had cemented that part together, motor quit, now tiles & plaster.

We live on busy street - so we want our daughter to be able to play in fenced yard - requiring a second fence around pool

Aluminum "wrought iron look" fence around pool - $7,000 (materials $4,000)
Automatic pool cover due to terraced design - "Unless you're a millionaire, you don't want to know how much"

Replaster pool $10,000
Repair tiles $2,000 - no garuntee as there is no coping on 2 sides of the pool to keep the water from getting behind the tiles.

So we were looking at spending upwards of $20,000 for something that the dog uses more than we do. We probably spend more time cleaning & maintaining the pool than swimming in it. I'd rather spend my summer days on a boat. We are only 20 minutes from the ocean.

 

[hazmat]

Almost forgot - here is a short video. Sorry - wife thought it was boring and didn't shoot more. The sound is pretty cool though.

youtube backhoe video

 

[EddieWalker]

Hazmat,

Thanks for the great post!!! The pictures really showed what was involved with breaking it up, and your descripitions of getting rid of the material really puts it into perspective. It's sure a bigger job than I thought it would be!!!

Congratulations on a job well done.

Eddie