On Sep 24, 11:08 am, terry wrote:
On Sep 24, 12:37 pm, RickH wrote:

On Sep 23, 5:37 pm, (Lacustral) wrote:

How would you demo a small cinderblock wall? It's about 20 cinderblocks
long, not attached to anything except to a section of wall I want - but
there's a crack between the section I want to take out and the section I
want, so that may be fine. It's about 3 cinderblocks high, the bottom
cinderblock was apparently halfway buried in the ground as a footer. It's
mortared. I don't know if it has any metal reinforcement, it probably
doesn't need any.

Laura

Three Mexicans from you local Home Depot and it will be down and in
your dumpster in an hour.

If cinder blocks reasonably clean keep them or give them to someone
who can use them. We always have a few lying around here. Very useful
as extra blocks under if/when working on a car etc. In some areas just
stack em outside near the sidewalk and they'll be gone in the morning!
In windy condtions a cinder block or two hung on ropes can hold down a
tarpaulin over a roof etc. Keep a few anyway.

Real cinder blocks do not make good makeshift jackstands, countless
redneck jokes notwithstanding. It's rare, but possible that they may
crumble under the concentrated weight of a car frame sitting on them,
which would be bad if you happened to be underneath the car at the
time and still inconvenient even if you weren't.

nate

N8N wrote:
Real cinder blocks do not make good makeshift jackstands, countless
redneck jokes notwithstanding. It's rare, but possible that they may
crumble under the concentrated weight of a car frame sitting on them,
which would be bad if you happened to be underneath the car at the
time and still inconvenient even if you weren't.

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in someone's
front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.

"HeyBub" wrote in message

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in
someone's front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.


Probably will sit many more decades. OTOH, a block that was sledged out of
a wall may not be quite as strong or can have stress cracks in it. I'd not
trust my life to it.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:NYTJi.6028$ax2.4483@trndny08...

"HeyBub" wrote in message

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in
someone's front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.


Probably will sit many more decades. OTOH, a block that was sledged out
of a wall may not be quite as strong or can have stress cracks in it. I'd
not trust my life to it.
Even as a kid, I knew to only use SOLID concrete blocks under a car. I
preferred to use timbers, if I had them on hand. Even with a solid block,
I'd use a piece of 2x above it to reduce the chance of a metal edge
splitting the block. And I'd never crawl completely under a car held up like
that, just use it to hold up a corner where I had a wheel off or something.

aem sends...

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:19:02 GMT, "aemeijers"
wrote:


"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:NYTJi.6028$ax2.4483@trndny08...

"HeyBub" wrote in message

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in
someone's front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.


Probably will sit many more decades. OTOH, a block that was sledged out
of a wall may not be quite as strong or can have stress cracks in it. I'd
not trust my life to it.
Even as a kid, I knew to only use SOLID concrete blocks under a car. I
preferred to use timbers, if I had them on hand. Even with a solid block,
I'd use a piece of 2x above it to reduce the chance of a metal edge
splitting the block. And I'd never crawl completely under a car held up like
that, just use it to hold up a corner where I had a wheel off or something.

aem sends...

I wouldn't use anything but solid blocks either, all the cautions you
all have said, no matter how many cars have sat on open ones.

I had a pair of steel jackstands, the kind about 15 inches high with
three angle iron legs leading up to an adjustable pipe in the middle,
rated by the manufacturer at far more than the load that was on the
one I was using.

It only had the plymouth version of a Chrysler LeBaron, a K-car, and
lt crumbled. Worse yet, it happened when I was in the house and I had
left an 18 year-old boy with the car. Fortunately he wasn't under the
car. And it didn't bend all the way down, and he was pretty thin, so
he might have made it.

I wouldn't use anything but solid blocks either, all the cautions you
all have said, no matter how many cars have sat on open ones.

I had a pair of steel jackstands, the kind about 15 inches high with
three angle iron legs leading up to an adjustable pipe in the middle,
rated by the manufacturer at far more than the load that was on the
one I was using.

It only had the plymouth version of a Chrysler LeBaron, a K-car, and
lt crumbled. Worse yet, it happened when I was in the house and I had
left an 18 year-old boy with the car. Fortunately he wasn't under the
car. And it didn't bend all the way down, and he was pretty thin, so
he might have made it.



I was going to use a pair of jackstands, until I saw "Made in China" on
them. Shoot, if their ethics allow lead paint, why would I trust their
welders?

According to Edwin Pawlowski :

"HeyBub" wrote in message

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in
someone's front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.

Probably will sit many more decades. OTOH, a block that was sledged out of
a wall may not be quite as strong or can have stress cracks in it. I'd not
trust my life to it.

Depends on the circumstances.

Up here, a cinder block that hasn't been "filled" with concrete
partially embedded in moist dirt won't last through more than
one or two freeze-thaw cycles. Of the 9 cinderblocks under the
14'x14' shed we renovated (including raising the whole thing 8"
to put another support beam under it), 4 of the 9 cinder blocks
had disintegrated.

Secondly, I watched an electrician "drill" a 2" conduit hole
through a new cinder block wall with only a 2lb hand sledge ...

Surprisingly neat hole too.

Cinder blocks aren't very durable. They shatter easy. Not
a good thing to stick under a car, unless you're not terribly
concerned it might fall down.
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:25:40 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

N8N wrote:
Real cinder blocks do not make good makeshift jackstands, countless
redneck jokes notwithstanding. It's rare, but possible that they may
crumble under the concentrated weight of a car frame sitting on them,
which would be bad if you happened to be underneath the car at the
time and still inconvenient even if you weren't.

I suppose it could happen, but I've seen cars on cinder blocks, in someone's
front yard, for DECADES and the blocks haven't crumbled yet.


Some folks have mistakenly/wrongly placed or stacked blocks on their
side. They should collapse; almost immediately with a car lowered to
the block.

Front yard cars for decades are called "yard ornaments"

--
Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

Some items to try:

Car bumper
sledge hammer
jack hammer
large chisels and points
concrete saw
pry bar
shovel
pick
stout chain and 4wd truck
hand grinder to cut rebar

Depending on how it was put in, removal will require some combination of the
above items.

Might be a piece of cake; might be a real MOFO.

Steve