Hi all I need to break up a section of concrete roughly 9 feet by 4 feet
from the corner of the wash area in front of my garage to get the
foundations for my house extension in.
The concrete was laid in 1974 and is roughly 12X12 feet with a drain in the
middle and diagonal expansion joints-it is approx 8 inches thick.
Is this a job for a self powered concrete breaker?.
Will cutting the slab with a Stihl saw help to make the concrete easier to
get in the skip?.
My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade hitting
steel reinforcing.
How deep should sawcuts be?.

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:46:23 GMT, "tom patton"
wrote:

Hi all I need to break up a section of concrete roughly 9 feet by 4 feet
from the corner of the wash area in front of my garage to get the
foundations for my house extension in.
The concrete was laid in 1974 and is roughly 12X12 feet with a drain in the
middle and diagonal expansion joints-it is approx 8 inches thick.
Is this a job for a self powered concrete breaker?.
Will cutting the slab with a Stihl saw help to make the concrete easier to
get in the skip?.
My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade hitting
steel reinforcing.
How deep should sawcuts be?.


Some diamond blades will cut embedded steel reinfocements, some won't.

You will have a machine in to dig the foundations, so get it to lift
this up, and the use the machine to give it a good wack, or you could
cut it into 4, so each bit fits in the skip.

If you are digging foundations by hand, a mini digger costs you 60
quid a day, and will be much more fun .........

Rick

A wife is much cheaper than a mini digger------------.
We used a rotovator wheelbarrow spades and skip to remove 8 cubes of closely
packed stony soil.
There s no space for a machine as the longest foundation 9 metres by point
six cubed is in line with my garage so a straight mechanical pull is not
possible.
Only 8 cubes to go-----------plus concrete.
I intend to sack barrow the broken concrete into the skip bottom.

"Rick" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:46:23 GMT, "tom patton"
wrote:

Hi all I need to break up a section of concrete roughly 9 feet by 4 feet
from the corner of the wash area in front of my garage to get the
foundations for my house extension in.
The concrete was laid in 1974 and is roughly 12X12 feet with a drain in
the
middle and diagonal expansion joints-it is approx 8 inches thick.
Is this a job for a self powered concrete breaker?.
Will cutting the slab with a Stihl saw help to make the concrete easier
to
get in the skip?.
My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade
hitting
steel reinforcing.
How deep should sawcuts be?.


Some diamond blades will cut embedded steel reinfocements, some won't.

You will have a machine in to dig the foundations, so get it to lift
this up, and the use the machine to give it a good wack, or you could
cut it into 4, so each bit fits in the skip.

If you are digging foundations by hand, a mini digger costs you 60
quid a day, and will be much more fun .........

Rick

I'd say a big breaker is the best tool for the job. It will break the
concrete into small pieces anyway if you do it right - ask at the tool
hire shop.

Dave

tom patton wrote:

My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade hitting
steel reinforcing.

Can't see any reason why this would have any steel reinforcement. But
breaking is going to be a better bet than cutting I would have thought.

David

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:41:44 GMT, "tom patton"
wrote:

A wife is much cheaper than a mini digger------------.
We used a rotovator wheelbarrow spades and skip to remove 8 cubes of closely
packed stony soil.
There s no space for a machine as the longest foundation 9 metres by point
six cubed is in line with my garage so a straight mechanical pull is not
possible.
Only 8 cubes to go-----------plus concrete.
I intend to sack barrow the broken concrete into the skip bottom.


I got a 3 tonne machine into my front room, and took out upto 1m of
"stuff", my front room being 24x12 foot. A 750KG machine will fit into
a toilet cubicle, and dig. Only once you have hired a machine will you
realise that the 60 quid it costs is such a great way of saving money.

Rick


"Rick" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 13:46:23 GMT, "tom patton"
wrote:

Hi all I need to break up a section of concrete roughly 9 feet by 4 feet
from the corner of the wash area in front of my garage to get the
foundations for my house extension in.
The concrete was laid in 1974 and is roughly 12X12 feet with a drain in
the
middle and diagonal expansion joints-it is approx 8 inches thick.
Is this a job for a self powered concrete breaker?.
Will cutting the slab with a Stihl saw help to make the concrete easier
to
get in the skip?.
My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade
hitting
steel reinforcing.
How deep should sawcuts be?.


Some diamond blades will cut embedded steel reinfocements, some won't.

You will have a machine in to dig the foundations, so get it to lift
this up, and the use the machine to give it a good wack, or you could
cut it into 4, so each bit fits in the skip.

If you are digging foundations by hand, a mini digger costs you 60
quid a day, and will be much more fun .........

Rick

My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade
hitting
steel reinforcing.

Can't see any reason why this would have any steel reinforcement. But
breaking is going to be a better bet than cutting I would have thought.

Many slabs of this size will have reinforcement, usually in the form of
mesh, rather than thick rebar. It is there to stop the surface cracking.

Christian.

tom patton wrote:
Hi all I need to break up a section of concrete roughly 9 feet by 4 feet
from the corner of the wash area in front of my garage to get the
foundations for my house extension in.
The concrete was laid in 1974 and is roughly 12X12 feet with a drain in the
middle and diagonal expansion joints-it is approx 8 inches thick.
Is this a job for a self powered concrete breaker?.
Will cutting the slab with a Stihl saw help to make the concrete easier to
get in the skip?.
My brother in law is making dire predictions aboit the diamond blade hitting
steel reinforcing.
How deep should sawcuts be?.

Get an electric concrete breaker from some hire shop (Jewson or
whichever BM or a specialist). It will come with a couple of bits,
you will be charged for re-sharpening on top of the total cost but
will probably only need 1 bit. Just sit it on the concrete near an
edge and start breaking. If you need to cut the rebar, a pair of
bolt croppers or even a hammer and sharp chisel will do the job.
Don't try to cut it into very big lumps, which are hard to handle.

"Chris Bacon" wrote in message
...
tom patton wrote:
snip
Get an electric concrete breaker from some hire shop (Jewson or
whichever BM or a specialist). It will come with a couple of bits,
you will be charged for re-sharpening on top of the total cost but
will probably only need 1 bit. Just sit it on the concrete near an
edge and start breaking. If you need to cut the rebar, a pair of
bolt croppers or even a hammer and sharp chisel will do the job.
Don't try to cut it into very big lumps, which are hard to handle.

Also, confirm there are no services (drainage, gas, electricity) running
under the pad, especially near the surface.

Scared myself a while back with a concrete breaker when I dicovered gas and
electric side by side about 2" down.

I had naively assumed they would be much deeper.

HTH
Dave R