Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
My neighbor hired some contractors (using the term loosely) to build a cinderblock wall along our shared property line. It actually turned out better than I would have thought, but towards the end of the job the guys must've gotten lazy because they stopped troweling off the concrete that seeped out of the joints and just let it ooze out. The top half of the wall is built in this fashion. The bottom is built cleanly. I didn't see the work until a few days later. Is there any way to clean this up without creating a bigger mess? Chisel? Sanding? I am annoyed they couldn't just run a trowel over it when it was wet. It would've taken 10 minutes. They obviously didn't give a rat's. What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Dimitri |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos wrote:
My neighbor hired some contractors (using the term loosely) to build a cinderblock wall along our shared property line. It actually turned out better than I would have thought, but towards the end of the job the guys must've gotten lazy because they stopped troweling off the concrete that seeped out of the joints and just let it ooze out. The top half of the wall is built in this fashion. The bottom is built cleanly. I didn't see the work until a few days later. Is there any way to clean this up without creating a bigger mess? Chisel? Sanding? I am annoyed they couldn't just run a trowel over it when it was wet. It would've taken 10 minutes. They obviously didn't give a rat's. What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Dimitri Does your jurisdiction require permits for this kind of work? Has the final inspection been done? Why not let your neighbor solve the problem for you. After all, it is his fence and his responsibility. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article ,
Travis Jordan wrote: Does your jurisdiction require permits for this kind of work? Has the final inspection been done? No, no. Why not let your neighbor solve the problem for you. After all, it is his fence and his responsibility. My neighbor is a very, very old man in ill health. For sake of argument, let us assume he wants to "solve the problem". What can be done short of tearing the whole thing down?! This is a technical question, not a political one. Dimitri |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos wrote:
In article , Travis Jordan wrote: Does your jurisdiction require permits for this kind of work? Has the final inspection been done? No, no. Why not let your neighbor solve the problem for you. After all, it is his fence and his responsibility. My neighbor is a very, very old man in ill health. For sake of argument, let us assume he wants to "solve the problem". What can be done short of tearing the whole thing down?! This is a technical question, not a political one. Dimitri Try striking the mortar off the joints with a hammer and cold chisel. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
Travis Jordan wrote:
D. Gerasimatos wrote: In article , Travis Jordan wrote: Does your jurisdiction require permits for this kind of work? Has the final inspection been done? No, no. Why not let your neighbor solve the problem for you. After all, it is his fence and his responsibility. My neighbor is a very, very old man in ill health. For sake of argument, let us assume he wants to "solve the problem". What can be done short of tearing the whole thing down?! This is a technical question, not a political one. Dimitri Try striking the mortar off the joints with a hammer and cold chisel. And don't forget your safety glasses. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos wrote:
What can be done short of tearing the whole thing down?! This is a technical question, not a political one. It should knock off easily. Might have to use a chisel sometimes. Sooner it is done the better, gets harder as time passes. -- dadiOH _____________________________ dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico ____________________________ |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos writes:
What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Diamond planer wheel in an big angle grinder. Very common operation these days. With some effort you can get a smoother-than-troweled finish. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos wrote:
My neighbor hired some contractors (using the term loosely) to build a cinderblock wall along our shared property line. It actually turned out better than I would have thought, but towards the end of the job the guys must've gotten lazy because they stopped troweling off the concrete that seeped out of the joints and just let it ooze out. The top half of the wall is built in this fashion. The bottom is built cleanly. I didn't see the work until a few days later. Is there any way to clean this up without creating a bigger mess? Chisel? Sanding? I am annoyed they couldn't just run a trowel over it when it was wet. It would've taken 10 minutes. They obviously didn't give a rat's. What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Dimitri Where do you live? They must have used the same contractor as my neighbor did this earlier year. G I've always said that since personal taste varies greatly, your visual property rights extend only as far as your property line. If you don't like the "looks" of something that's "legal" on a neighboring lot, that's your problem to solve. Hence, I was hoist by my own petard and it would have been hypocritical of me to grumble about the job the neighbor's contractors did, which left us with a view of something that looked like the aftermath of a building demolition. I solved the problem by getting some good exercise last month digging holes and planting 16 arborvitae trees to block the view. Maybe you should do something like that, a cinderblock wall isn't the most pastoral of sights, even on a "good day". My "solution" is visible at: http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/mmiv.html While my neighbor is nice guy, he just can't see things from my side. G When I got through with my plantings, he came over and insisted on paying me for the cost of the trees I'd bought. I settled for his writing a nice check to a charitable foundation dear to my heart, and we all came out feeling good. Just my .02, Jeff -- Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE) "My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying." |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
Did they put in a footing? If not you can forget the wall lasting more than
a few years. "D. Gerasimatos" wrote in message ... My neighbor hired some contractors (using the term loosely) to build a cinderblock wall along our shared property line. It actually turned out better than I would have thought, but towards the end of the job the guys must've gotten lazy because they stopped troweling off the concrete that seeped out of the joints and just let it ooze out. The top half of the wall is built in this fashion. The bottom is built cleanly. I didn't see the work until a few days later. Is there any way to clean this up without creating a bigger mess? Chisel? Sanding? I am annoyed they couldn't just run a trowel over it when it was wet. It would've taken 10 minutes. They obviously didn't give a rat's. What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Dimitri |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article .net,
Art wrote: Did they put in a footing? Yes. What this has to do with my question I do not know. Dimitri |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
I've seen guys throw up a wall without one. Seemed possible since they
didn't trowel the mortar. Usually anything that requires a footing requires inspection. Did they put steel rods in to tie the wall to the footing? As for your question, I've had a mason doing brick work on my house for over a year off and on. Wear safety goggles and you will probably need a heavy duty grinder and dust mask. But might as well try the chisel first. "D. Gerasimatos" wrote in message ... In article .net, Art wrote: Did they put in a footing? Yes. What this has to do with my question I do not know. Dimitri |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article . net,
Art wrote: Did they put steel rods in to tie the wall to the footing? No idea. I left as they were digging the footing. Dimitri |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
D. Gerasimatos wrote:
In article .net, Art wrote: Did they put in a footing? Yes. What this has to do with my question I do not know. I think he was implying that it might not be worth worrying about. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article ,
Dan Hartung wrote: I think he was implying that it might not be worth worrying about. Well, it will fall eventually. Here in CA an earthquake might even knock it over. However, in the interim it's there. It's slim comfort if it tumbles down in 3 years. Dimitri |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:21:03 +0000 (UTC), someone wrote:
Did they put in a footing? Yes. What this has to do with my question I do not know. Maybe he was hoping that in a few years the entire thing would have fallen down (thus creating perhaps an even worse mess). Dim, you've been out here long enough to know that these threads often take on a direction of their own. The basic method is to strike off the excess with a hammer & chisel. Don't grind any more than you have to, after you see what comes off with the whammer. How high is the wall, and did they work from your side of the line also? One scenario is that, working from one side only, the mason can reach over and strike the joints on the opposite side easily when the wall is low. As it gets higher he cannot reach (without more scaffolding). Don't have enough detail on your situation to know if this might be the reason. -v. |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article ,
v wrote: How high is the wall, and did they work from your side of the line also? One scenario is that, working from one side only, the mason can reach over and strike the joints on the opposite side easily when the wall is low. As it gets higher he cannot reach (without more scaffolding). Don't have enough detail on your situation to know if this might be the reason. I think this is what happened and it is my theory also. I told him he could come over to my side, but I think he was too lazy to bother going around. Dimitri |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In alt.home.repair D. Gerasimatos wrote:
My neighbor hired some contractors (using the term loosely) to build a cinderblock wall along our shared property line. It actually turned out better than I would have thought, but towards the end of the job the guys must've gotten lazy because they stopped troweling off the concrete that seeped out of the joints and just let it ooze out. The top half of the wall is built in this fashion. The bottom is built cleanly. I didn't see the work until a few days later. Is there any way to clean this up without creating a bigger mess? Chisel? Sanding? I am annoyed they couldn't just run a trowel over it when it was wet. It would've taken 10 minutes. They obviously didn't give a rat's. What are the options to clean up the unattractive concrete in the places they let it seep out? Some people actually like that look, but I agree with you: it's horrid. In any case, go out ASAP and you can likely cut it off with a trowel now. Mortar can take a while to come to full strength, and if it's still in the first day or so, you can still pick it apart/alter it. John -- Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome. Ask me about joining the NRA. |
#18
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:42:00 GMT, someone wrote:
Some people actually like that look... Yes, I have seen entire custom homes, brick exterior, finished off in this manner. But then its the whole wall, not half and half as Dim has. -v. |
#19
|
|||
|
|||
Way to clean up messy concrete on wall?
In article ,
v wrote: On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:42:00 GMT, someone wrote: Some people actually like that look... Yes, I have seen entire custom homes, brick exterior, finished off in this manner. But then its the whole wall, not half and half as Dim has. It is stylistic when it is done with brick and it can look alright depending on other variables. I've never seen it done with cinderblocks! This was just laziness, as they started out doing it. Dimitri |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Concrete Pad with single brick wall on 3 sides | UK diy | |||
Concrete retaining wall issue revisited | Home Ownership |