Anonymous Poster
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Check out the Concrete Demolition section on www.concretenetwork.com for some interesting solutions to this project.
Demolishing Concrete Wall
- Thread starter centex
- Start date
- Views: 6901
Franz, that is a very good site.
Everyone, thanks for all the good suggestions. I have been out working for the last week and did not get to respond to your inputs. I spent some more time this last weekend trying to do more demolition by hand. I tried one of Harv's suggestions about drilling a series of holes. This definitely helped but drilling the holes was not easy itself especially in the weather we have here. I have decided to look for a concrete demolition contractor and let them do the work of breaking up the concrete.
Everyone, thanks for all the good suggestions. I have been out working for the last week and did not get to respond to your inputs. I spent some more time this last weekend trying to do more demolition by hand. I tried one of Harv's suggestions about drilling a series of holes. This definitely helped but drilling the holes was not easy itself especially in the weather we have here. I have decided to look for a concrete demolition contractor and let them do the work of breaking up the concrete.
Boondox
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Harv -- Thanks for the excellent how-to guide! Lots of great info in that post!
Let me tap your expertise again. I have a 16x20' outbuilding that is being lengthened by four feet. The side of the building that's being added to has a 10" high concrete wall to protect the wood framing from contact with the often wet ground. If I add to that end of the building without cutting that short wall down to floor level, I won't be able to wheel my power tools around, i.e., I won't be able to take full advantage of the extra space.
The existing slab is 50 years old and is absolutely free of cracks even though the footings only go down 28". I'm afraid using a rotary or demolition hammer might weaken the existing slab. A contractor wants $400 to use a concrete saw to cut it flush.
I'm doing the slab extension this year, but a shortage of contractors makes it look like the shop won't be rebuilt till next spring. So I need that 10" concrete lip until then, and will have to remove it when the existing structure comes down. So it can't be removed before the new slab is poured...unless it's kosher to score it deeply at floor level with the wall in place, shim it till next spring, and detach it next year when the walls come down?
What would you do?
Pete
Let me tap your expertise again. I have a 16x20' outbuilding that is being lengthened by four feet. The side of the building that's being added to has a 10" high concrete wall to protect the wood framing from contact with the often wet ground. If I add to that end of the building without cutting that short wall down to floor level, I won't be able to wheel my power tools around, i.e., I won't be able to take full advantage of the extra space.
The existing slab is 50 years old and is absolutely free of cracks even though the footings only go down 28". I'm afraid using a rotary or demolition hammer might weaken the existing slab. A contractor wants $400 to use a concrete saw to cut it flush.
I'm doing the slab extension this year, but a shortage of contractors makes it look like the shop won't be rebuilt till next spring. So I need that 10" concrete lip until then, and will have to remove it when the existing structure comes down. So it can't be removed before the new slab is poured...unless it's kosher to score it deeply at floor level with the wall in place, shim it till next spring, and detach it next year when the walls come down?
What would you do?
Pete
wroughtn_harv
Super Member
A couple of questions Pete.
Is the contractor cutting and removing the wall for four hundred dollars or just cutting it?
Is he cutting it horizontally where only the wall is removed or is he cutting vertically where the footing is affected too?
If he's cutting and removing the wall and guaranteeing a smooth transition from the old slab to the new one I'd figure the four hundred as a good investment.
I was in a shop the other day of a bud of mine. This guy is so smart, well, he's just about the smartest guy I know. In his shop he has a gantry crane for moving lathes and mills around. It's attached to the ceiling using unistrut channel and ball bearing rollers.
That might be an alternative for you. Your addition could sit ten inches higher than the original slab and you could still have easy access for moving tools between slabs.
It'd make a great conversation piece and be handier than a pocket on a shirt.
Is the contractor cutting and removing the wall for four hundred dollars or just cutting it?
Is he cutting it horizontally where only the wall is removed or is he cutting vertically where the footing is affected too?
If he's cutting and removing the wall and guaranteeing a smooth transition from the old slab to the new one I'd figure the four hundred as a good investment.
I was in a shop the other day of a bud of mine. This guy is so smart, well, he's just about the smartest guy I know. In his shop he has a gantry crane for moving lathes and mills around. It's attached to the ceiling using unistrut channel and ball bearing rollers.
That might be an alternative for you. Your addition could sit ten inches higher than the original slab and you could still have easy access for moving tools between slabs.
It'd make a great conversation piece and be handier than a pocket on a shirt.
Boondox
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Harv -- He was going to cut and remove the wall for me, but only if the cutting was done before the new slab was added. (I guess he needs room to manuever in order to get a flush cut.) But since it looks like the shop cannot be rebuilt this year, cutting it now would leave me with a three-sided structure thru the worst of winter. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I love the crane idea. My wife suggested building up the floor. Also a good idea since it would let me work on wood instead on hard concrete. Ah, decisions!
Thanks!
Pete
I love the crane idea. My wife suggested building up the floor. Also a good idea since it would let me work on wood instead on hard concrete. Ah, decisions!
Thanks!
Pete
I have made a good bit of progress on this project and will update it. I have attached a picture of the current state of the wall. I used an electric jack hammer and as you can see in the picture, pump jacks for a scaffold. The scaffold was the key to making this work as I could not work on top of the wall without it.
I bought a Harbor Freight jack hammer for $400 and thought it should last at least 90 days for this project. Boy was I wrong. I went through three of them before I spent another $400 to replace the motor with a Bosch motor. It turns out they just bought a Bosch jack hammer ($1350 new) and tried to make an exact copy of it except for cosmetics. Well as I already knew, the Chinese cannot build motors period and especially not for severe applications. If you are thinking about buying one of these bargans - just be forewarned that you will be sorry.
I bought a Harbor Freight jack hammer for $400 and thought it should last at least 90 days for this project. Boy was I wrong. I went through three of them before I spent another $400 to replace the motor with a Bosch motor. It turns out they just bought a Bosch jack hammer ($1350 new) and tried to make an exact copy of it except for cosmetics. Well as I already knew, the Chinese cannot build motors period and especially not for severe applications. If you are thinking about buying one of these bargans - just be forewarned that you will be sorry.
Attachments
I still have a little ways to go on the wall but now the bridge is a bridge again and I started work on the really hard part of this project - fillinging in the washouts on both sides of the bridge. After clearing lots of trees and brush from the South side of the bridge I was left with a dished out area about 35 feet in diameter and anywhere from 8 feet to 4 feet deep. It took approximately 95 yards of fill which I dug and moved with my tractor to ge this side passable. The attachment is a before picture after the vegitation was removed.
