Basement Windows
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OK, here's Mark with the new saw. He checked into renting concrete cutting saws (circular saws) and hiring it done. It was cost effective for him to purchase this saw and do his two windows, two at his dad's then sell it. Even without selling it he's better off. It was something around $1300 and is a chain saw with diamond teeth. The chain alone is $300 but he was told he could get the four windows cut with only 75% of the chain.
The unit is Italian made by ICS and has a hollow bar through which water runs. It hooks up to a garden hose. Very messy, but very effective. You score your cut line with the nose of the bar. Then go over it again to a depth of two inches. Then make a plunge cut and follow the score line. Big advantage is no overcutting necessary to make the corners. His windows were four feet square and the four sides took a total of about an hour to cut. He said it was pretty tiring holding the saw, particularly on the horizontal cuts /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
The unit is Italian made by ICS and has a hollow bar through which water runs. It hooks up to a garden hose. Very messy, but very effective. You score your cut line with the nose of the bar. Then go over it again to a depth of two inches. Then make a plunge cut and follow the score line. Big advantage is no overcutting necessary to make the corners. His windows were four feet square and the four sides took a total of about an hour to cut. He said it was pretty tiring holding the saw, particularly on the horizontal cuts /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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Before any cutting, we drilled and placed some lag bolts. Here, Mark is bolting on a chain to move the slab. Due to the wall thickness, there was no danger of it falling on it's own so we pulled on the top while another neighbor pryed from the inside to wiggle it out. Of course, what does one do with a 4X4X8" piece of concrete? It does need to be considered /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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And finally, daylight shines in the basement. We let the slab fall onto a couple of timbers to aid in pulling it out. I knew my tractor wouldn't lift it but we thought we'd try an angled pull up a ramp of sorts. After putting more air in my front tires all was well. Should have pulled from the rear but with the backhoe on the attach points are limited. We used the hook on my bucket and all was well /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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Mark now has an interesting lawn ornament. I suggested burying it but he has another buddy with a conventional concrete saw. That will be a breeze with it laying on the ground. He'll cut it in quarters and haul it to the local concrete recycling yard. I do believe this was the heaviest load I've had on my FEL /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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bgoodman
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Looks like an Extra-Heavy Duty AC pad...
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The day is wearing on... which means fewer pictures taken.
While Mark made the cuts on this window, I dug the second one. No pictures but it was much more of a surgical dig with sprinkler lines and a gas line. I tagged one sprinkler line but never got close to the gas line thankfully. I also moved a lot of dirt to a back corner of his lot for a landscape island. He has plenty more dirt to deal with.
Once we got the slab out we lowered a section of retaining wall that he pre-fabbed. Had to use the backhoe as a crane but didn't get any pics. Here it is in place /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
While Mark made the cuts on this window, I dug the second one. No pictures but it was much more of a surgical dig with sprinkler lines and a gas line. I tagged one sprinkler line but never got close to the gas line thankfully. I also moved a lot of dirt to a back corner of his lot for a landscape island. He has plenty more dirt to deal with.
Once we got the slab out we lowered a section of retaining wall that he pre-fabbed. Had to use the backhoe as a crane but didn't get any pics. Here it is in place /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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The rest of the wall was built up one layer at a time. Mark pre-built the sides/back so it went pretty fast. The wall opposite the window has three steps that meet egress code as well as let in a lot of light. Here's a well deserved break /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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And that's it for today. We got the window framed with treated lumber and set the window unit. What we thought would only take a half day turned into a full day project but the second one should go faster. The only tractor work left on the second one is getting the slab out and maybe some backfill work. Couldn't think of a more fun way to spend a nice fall day /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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That project was very impressive, to say the least. Very glad to see it move with no major hitches, and having the right tools certainly does pay off.
Also can tell there was some good, experienced planning that went into this project.
Thanks for the pictures.
One comment, you said it 'couldn't fall in' and I didn't catch 'why'. Superman was inside? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Also can tell there was some good, experienced planning that went into this project.
Thanks for the pictures.
One comment, you said it 'couldn't fall in' and I didn't catch 'why'. Superman was inside? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Question on the concrete saw. How does it deal with the re-bar in the wall?
I have two doorways I would like to cut in my basement wall.
If I get serious, maybe I should PM you and ask about buying that slightly used saw from your buddy
.
- Rick
I have two doorways I would like to cut in my basement wall.
If I get serious, maybe I should PM you and ask about buying that slightly used saw from your buddy
.- Rick
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RobS
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<font color="blue"> One comment, you said it 'couldn't fall in' and I didn't catch 'why'. Superman was inside? </font>
No Superman, just simple geometry. First, you have to understand that Mark and I work together and are both engineers. Geeks, if you will.
Then the math takes over. The wall was eight inches thick and the saw kerf was only 1/4 inch. The shear weight of the slab (had to be over 1000 lbs) prevented it from sliding straight out on it's own. The thin kerf and thick wall prevented it from tipping. The edge hit long before it tipped out. To get it out it had to be pryed from inside along the bottom. We just kept some tension on the top via the chain to direct it's fall onto our timbers.
A bit like a cork in a wine bottle. You can't tip it out, you have to pull it straight /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
No Superman, just simple geometry. First, you have to understand that Mark and I work together and are both engineers. Geeks, if you will.
Then the math takes over. The wall was eight inches thick and the saw kerf was only 1/4 inch. The shear weight of the slab (had to be over 1000 lbs) prevented it from sliding straight out on it's own. The thin kerf and thick wall prevented it from tipping. The edge hit long before it tipped out. To get it out it had to be pryed from inside along the bottom. We just kept some tension on the top via the chain to direct it's fall onto our timbers.
A bit like a cork in a wine bottle. You can't tip it out, you have to pull it straight /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
