tearing up old slabs

[bchap56]

I have a 8x8 slab left from a old shed that I need to remove. What would be the best way to remove it. I was thinking of drilling a bunch of holes with a hammer drill and breaking it up with a sledge hammer.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Krodad]

Depends how thick and how much, if any, steel is in the slab. Might want to think about a concrete saw to score the slab and get through any rebar in there. The steel is the hardest part about the demo work on a slab, especially when doing it by hand.

 

[sharpshooter]

rent you a bobcat, that will make things a whole lot easier, if its only an 8x8 it shouldnt take to much

 

[Ryan87LX]

rent you a bobcat, that will make things a whole lot easier, if its only an 8x8 it shouldnt take to much

True. I spent two weekends ripping up an old slab (without rebar too) and only got about 1/2 way through. In the end, I brought a guy with a bobcat in, and...well in 30 minutes he completely finished the job, had the whole area cleaned and levelled, and had the waste loaded into the back of his dumptruck. Total cost, $80.

I was pretty choked. I wasted two weekends thinking I was going to save money doing it by myself and for what it would have cost I would much rather have had that time to do other things.

 

[URY914]

Take a sledge hammer and see if you can break off a corner of the slab. If it was just a shed slab I doubt it is very thick. Also try to dig a little dirt out from under it on the side and than wack it with the sledge. It should break right off.

 

[sjsfire]

Take a sledge hammer and see if you can break off a corner of the slab. If it was just a shed slab I doubt it is very thick. Also try to dig a little dirt out from under it on the side and than wack it with the sledge. It should break right off.

I agree, a sledge and start at the corner. If you have a drill and masonary bits you could drill a few holes. I'd start with the sledge and see what happens. 8x8 isn't that much. Then decide if you need a bobcat or such. If you have a tool rental place they rent electric jack hammers 120volt too.

 

[boiler7904]

Unless you have a place to dump the broken concrete and some time to kill, I'm with Ryan - hire it out. A guy with a bobcat will get rid of it and touch up the grade where it was in an hour.

If you've other projects in your yard, rent a bobcat for a day. I want to say it's around $150 or so for an 8 hour rental.

 

[cc_rider]

You need three things: Bobcat, Bobcat, Bobcat. You'll kill yourself busting up the old one on your own. I had about 50 feet of driveway removed in one day. And it's probably about the same price to pay someone as it is to rent the thing, although they are kind of fun to drive (for a little while, anyway). Around here bobcats run about $300/day, and you'll waste time learning how to manipulate the thing, so hiring an expert might actually be cheaper.

c.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Have you considered just diging a hole near by and breaking the thing up and burying the pieces,, beats all this laoding and hauling and once its covered with several inches of topsoil its like it never was there.........why care if its buried?

 

[PAToyota]

Personally, I'd say 8'x8' isn't that big to do by hand. Trick is to use a digging iron and a sledge hammer. Lever a corner up with the digging iron and set a rock (or piece of the concrete) under it. Then hit it with the hammer. If it is old and doesn't have mesh it should go very quickly. That is the way I've broken up sidewalks.

 

[Wolfy948]

I'm planning on breaking up a slab too. Mine is a 21X9 and I will be using a rented electric jackhammer. Cheap rental at $40 for the day and it runs on 110. The nearby Ace store has them and they work really well. Better than spending a couple of days breaking it up with a sledge and you can have the slab broke up in about 2 hours or less.

 

[bchap56]

I broke about a fifth of it with a sledge in about an hour. SHouldn't be too hard to finish it that way. The only problem with buring it is makeing the hole.