Breaking up concrete
 

Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

Breaking up concrete
 

1) You can rent an electric jack hammer from any tool rental place. They
are fairly inexpensive to rent and I think should probably work.

2) You can use a 4x4, or a strong crow bar, or something similar, as a
lever to raise one end of the concrete up. Then place something solid under
the raised piece of concrete. Then hit the concrete with a sledge hammer.
When the concrete is embedded in the dirt, hitting it with a sledge hammer
probably will not break it, but when it's raised up a few inches, hitting it
will cause it to crack and break.

3) You can dig a deeper hole next to and under the remaining piece of
concrete and just bury it deeper into the ground where it is.

"Dave Martindale" wrote in message
...
Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

Breaking up concrete
 

Breaking up concrete
 

On Apr 4, 11:26*am, (Dave Martindale) wrote:
Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. *When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. *There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. *The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. *But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. *This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. *I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. *I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. *What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

* * * * Dave

Yup, Dave, it's time to upgrade your tools for something that thick:

http://depave.org/index.php/how-to-depave/

Breaking up concrete
 

This animation link posted by "Mike" below is useful:

http://www.cornerhardware.com/howto/ht010.html

"Dave Martindale" wrote in message
...
Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

Breaking up concrete
 

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:26:27 +0000 (UTC), (Dave
Martindale) wrote:

Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.


The bright side is you have half of it out already.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

Try to lever one in up and place a brick, rock, lumber or such to hold
the concrete off the ground. Then try a sledge hammer. I would try to
break into two pieces - across the middle, then see if they are
manageable.

If you have a hammer drill and masonry bit; drill a few relief holes
across the center. Try the sledge again.

A rental unit will only take a few minutes to break it up:)

Breaking up concrete
 

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:26:27 +0000 (UTC), (Dave
Martindale) wrote:

Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the

It seems that someone had some leftover concrete, perhaps from pouring a
stairway nearby that goes from driveway level up to front lawn level,
and they simply dumped the excess concrete into the area that would
eventually be the flower bed. There is a chunk of concrete about 6
inches thick, 6 feet long, and 2.5 feet wide in there, with a few inches
of dirt over it. The concrete is not attached to the foundation or the
sidewalk, it's just lying there. But it's too heavy to move as a single
piece.

So I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete. I end up holding the chisel in
one hand and the hammer in the other until I get the chisel embedded far
enough to stand up on its own, then I switch to two hands on the hammer.
Sometimes this works in a half-dozen strikes, sometimes it never works
and I try moving the chisel somewhere else. I've probably spent a
couple of hours on this already, and it's down to half the original
size, but progress is discouragingly slow.

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave


Get a large wedge (or two) and a sledge hammer. A jack hammer would
make quick work of it too, but you still have to haul it out and away.
Protect your back, lift from the knees and never twist the body and
lift. Get a teenager or two to help you.

Breaking up concrete
 

On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:01:35 -0400, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
wrote:

Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

Read the thread, did you?!

Breaking up concrete
 

Dave Martindale wrote:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer.
What would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

I've always just used a sledge hammer, 6 to 9lb; used to have a 12lb but I'm
not as young as I used to be. Doesn't seem worth renting a power tool when
you're already half done. Smack the concrete a few inches from the edge and
it usually cracks and splits off. As other have pointed out, levering the
slab up (which means you need a 5' pry bar) and sticking wedges under it
makes it easier to break. Careful how you dispose of the pieces, most
municipalities don't like concrete in the trash, I got a warning about that
once, could have been a ticket.

Breaking up concrete
 

On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:42:38 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:20:38 -0400, Phisherman
wrote:

Get a teenager or two to help you.
That is harder than the concrete
Like talking to a brick wall.

Breaking up concrete
 

Dave Martindale wrote:

Our house has a flower bed immediately in front of the foundation.
There's a patch in the flower bed that has no significant plants growing
in it, and we decided to add some. When we tried to dig a hole to plant
them, we discovered why there aren't any plants the


Forget the monolith. Get some landscape timbers or concrete blocks,
build a perimeter, dump in
some dirt, and plant flowers in your elevated bed.

Breaking up concrete
 

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:01:35 -0400, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
wrote:

Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

Read the thread, did you?!

I read it too, but see nothing that indicates a back hoe would not work.
What did we miss?

Breaking up concrete
 

DGDevin wrote:
Dave Martindale wrote:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer.
What would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

Dave

I've always just used a sledge hammer, 6 to 9lb; used to have a 12lb but I'm
not as young as I used to be. Doesn't seem worth renting a power tool when
you're already half done. Smack the concrete a few inches from the edge and
it usually cracks and splits off. As other have pointed out, levering the
slab up (which means you need a 5' pry bar) and sticking wedges under it
makes it easier to break. Careful how you dispose of the pieces, most
municipalities don't like concrete in the trash, I got a warning about that
once, could have been a ticket.


Just bury the pieces in the hole in the back yard where you rob the soil
to fill up the hole you are creating.

---
aem sends....

Breaking up concrete
 

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:01:35 -0400, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
wrote:

Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

Read the thread, did you?!

I read it too, but see nothing that indicates a back hoe would not work.
What did we miss?


He is down to a 3' x 2.5' slab, 2 more hours of chipping away with the
little hammer or get 3 more guys and carry it out in one piece. Sure,
backhoe and dump truck should work too.

Breaking up concrete
 

On Apr 4, 2:26 pm, (Dave Martindale) wrote:

I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete.

Maybe not, but there's a picture of a guy doing just that in my
dictionary under "ambition".
-----

- gpsman

Breaking up concrete
 

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:42:38 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:20:38 -0400, Phisherman
wrote:

Get a teenager or two to help you.
That is harder than the concrete
Like talking to a brick wall.

Except brick wall don't talk back.

Breaking up concrete
 

"gpsman" wrote in message
...
On Apr 4, 2:26 pm, (Dave Martindale) wrote:

I've been breaking it up into smaller pieces, using a single-point
concrete chisel and a 3 pound club hammer. This just doesn't work very
well for breaking 6 inch thick concrete.

Maybe not, but there's a picture of a guy doing just that in my
dictionary under "ambition".
-----

- gpsman

That brings to mind the movie Shawshank Redemption, given "ambition" and
time, one could do wonders with even a tiny hammer.

Breaking up concrete
 

" Frank" wrote in message
. ..

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:01:35 -0400, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
wrote:

Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

Read the thread, did you?!

I read it too, but see nothing that indicates a back hoe would not work.
What did we miss?


He is down to a 3' x 2.5' slab, 2 more hours of chipping away with the
little hammer or get 3 more guys and carry it out in one piece. Sure,
backhoe and dump truck should work too.


It will work if you consider that a fun way to spend your day. I'd have
gotten the jack hammer from the start. Or the back hoe

Breaking up concrete
 

"BETA-33" writes:

2) You can use a 4x4, or a strong crow bar, or something similar, as a
lever to raise one end of the concrete up. Then place something solid under
the raised piece of concrete. Then hit the concrete with a sledge hammer.
When the concrete is embedded in the dirt, hitting it with a sledge hammer
probably will not break it, but when it's raised up a few inches, hitting it
will cause it to crack and break.

Though I didn't mention it, I'm already doing this. Using a heavy
shovel and a digging fork, I've been prying up one end of the concrete
and putting a rock underneath it, a few inches back from the end, so
that the concrete is unsupported at the end and stresses in the concrete
are concentrated around the rock. Without that, I would have gotten
nowhere with the hammer and chisel.

It seems the most common recommendation is to just get a bigger hammer
and hit the concrete with it directly, forgetting about the chisel. So
I think I'll try that.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Dave

Breaking up concrete
 

Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

That would be efficient alright, particularly if I happened to have
either the backhoe or the dump truck.

However, the concrete is in a restricted space that would make this
tricky. The concrete I want to get rid of is in a flower bed that is
located between the house foundation and the front sidewalk, and it
needs to come out without damaging either the foundation or sidewalk.
In addition, the house overhangs the flower bed by a few feet so there's
no clear vertical space above the junk concrete. It might be difficult
to get a backhoe bucket in there without touching the house.

Maybe a little Bobcat-sized backhoe would be OK, though I don't happen
to have one of those either.

Dave

Breaking up concrete
 

"Dave Martindale" wrote in message
...
"BETA-33" writes:

2) You can use a 4x4, or a strong crow bar, or something similar, as a
lever to raise one end of the concrete up. Then place something solid
under
the raised piece of concrete. Then hit the concrete with a sledge hammer.
When the concrete is embedded in the dirt, hitting it with a sledge hammer
probably will not break it, but when it's raised up a few inches, hitting
it
will cause it to crack and break.

Though I didn't mention it, I'm already doing this. Using a heavy
shovel and a digging fork, I've been prying up one end of the concrete
and putting a rock underneath it, a few inches back from the end, so
that the concrete is unsupported at the end and stresses in the concrete
are concentrated around the rock. Without that, I would have gotten
nowhere with the hammer and chisel.

It seems the most common recommendation is to just get a bigger hammer
and hit the concrete with it directly, forgetting about the chisel. So
I think I'll try that.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Dave


Call the police and tell them John Wayne Gacy rented the house years ago and
your smelling something foul coming through the concrete. You'll have a crew
there in no time.

Breaking up concrete
 

"Stormin Mormon" writes:

Friends tell me to hold the electic jack hammer away from your body. If you
lean it against your body while it's running, you'll hurt yourself.

Yeah, now you tell me.

Actually, I did a large patio and didn't pay much attention to
how I held the hammer. I had bruises all over my legs
but didn't notice much pain. Must have been too tired to care.

Breaking up concrete
 

Dave Martindale wrote:
Rent a back hoe and dig it up and put it in a dump truck.

That would be efficient alright, particularly if I happened to have
either the backhoe or the dump truck.

However, the concrete is in a restricted space that would make this
tricky. The concrete I want to get rid of is in a flower bed that is
located between the house foundation and the front sidewalk, and it
needs to come out without damaging either the foundation or sidewalk.
In addition, the house overhangs the flower bed by a few feet so
there's no clear vertical space above the junk concrete. It might be
difficult to get a backhoe bucket in there without touching the house.

Maybe a little Bobcat-sized backhoe would be OK, though I don't happen
to have one of those either.


Do you have a (really) long chain and a bumper?

Breaking up concrete
 

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 21:46:38 -0700, " Frank"
wrote:


"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:42:38 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:20:38 -0400, Phisherman
wrote:

Get a teenager or two to help you.
That is harder than the concrete
Like talking to a brick wall.

Except brick wall don't talk back.


I call that Silent Contempt.

Breaking up concrete
 

Breaking up concrete
 

Dave Martindale wrote:
(Dave Martindale) writes:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

"Get a bigger hammer" turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I
bought an 8 pound sledgehammer today. It took two blows to break the
remaining concrete in half. Three more blows and it was in 5 pieces,
all small enough to pick up easily. I was done in 5 minutes.

I sure wish I'd bought the larger hammer at the beginning of the
project!

Dave

So now, grasshopper, you understand why the term 'BFH' is used so often
in this group. Don't need it often, but when you do, there really is no
substitute.

--
aem sends...

Breaking up concrete
 

On Apr 5, 6:21*pm, aemeijers wrote:
Dave Martindale wrote:
(Dave Martindale) writes:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. *What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

"Get a bigger hammer" turned out to be an excellent suggestion. *I
bought an 8 pound sledgehammer today. *It took two blows to break the
remaining concrete in half. *Three more blows and it was in 5 pieces,
all small enough to pick up easily. *I was done in 5 minutes.

I sure wish I'd bought the larger hammer at the beginning of the
project!

* *Dave

So now, grasshopper, you understand why the term 'BFH' is used so often
in this group. Don't need it often, but when you do, there really is no
substitute.

--
aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Nothign beats a precision calibrated BFH when you need one.

Harry K

Breaking up concrete
 

On Sun, 6 Apr 2008 00:31:09 +0000 (UTC), (Dave
Martindale) wrote:

(Dave Martindale) writes:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?

"Get a bigger hammer" turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I
bought an 8 pound sledgehammer today. It took two blows to break the
remaining concrete in half. Three more blows and it was in 5 pieces,
all small enough to pick up easily. I was done in 5 minutes.

I sure wish I'd bought the larger hammer at the beginning of the
project!

Dave

So,you have about 2 hours and 5 minutes into the removal :))

If you ever need a "Big Red Hammer" look at cutting torches. Not to be
confused with a fireman's axe.

Breaking up concrete
 

Oren wrote:
On Sun, 6 Apr 2008 00:31:09 +0000 (UTC), (Dave
Martindale) wrote:

(Dave Martindale) writes:

The two ways to improve the situation seem to be: get a bigger hammer
(e.g. a long-handled sledgehammer), or some sort of power hammer. What
would be suitable for 6 inch concrete?
"Get a bigger hammer" turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I
bought an 8 pound sledgehammer today. It took two blows to break the
remaining concrete in half. Three more blows and it was in 5 pieces,
all small enough to pick up easily. I was done in 5 minutes.

I sure wish I'd bought the larger hammer at the beginning of the
project!

Dave

So,you have about 2 hours and 5 minutes into the removal :))

If you ever need a "Big Red Hammer" look at cutting torches. Not to be
confused with a fireman's axe.
Big Red Hammer? We always called them smoke wrenches.

--
aem sends...

Breaking up concrete
 

On Apr 7, 3:06*pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Calibrated in inch pounds, yard pounds, and sometimes foot pounds (ouch).

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"Harry K" wrote in message

...

Nothign beats a precision calibrated BFH when you need one.

Harry K

As long as it isn't finger pounds on a cold day.

Harry K