Removing hard concrete

[jonb]

Gday

Today we removed a fair bit of concrete from our backyard - it wasn't too hard with the jackhammer as it was about 8cm thick with no reo (the previous owners had a caravan and over half the yard was concrete).

There is another smaller slab in the corner of the garden that used to have an incinerator on it. When it was hit with a sledgehammer, it sounded much harder. We tried the jackhammer near a corner - it went in but didn't break off the corner. It was a much finer powder around the hole.

We think we may have to keep it if it's not to be a huge removal job, but I wondered if anyone had any ideas on what it might be and how to get rid of it.

Thanks

Jon

[echnidna]

It might have been made with stone dust instead of sand.

Jackhammer it into manageable pieces
or can you remove the slab in 1 piece?

[jonb]

Thanks - it's about 2.5m square so too big to pull out and pretty deep. Sounds like it's just hard work then.

[Shane Watson]

sounds like what i just spent all day doing! Nothing like jack hammering up really hard thick concrete on a drizzley day :eek:

[Shedhand]

Drill a dozen 12mm - 19mm holes in a grid pattern with a rotary hammer drill to a good depth then use those holes as a starting point for the jackhammer. You should end up with nice manageable chunks. Don't rock the jackhammer bit in a tight hole or the heat build up will snap the point off the jackhammer bit.

[MrFixIt]

Hi

A concrete cut off saw will enable you to cut it to ANY size you want

You just have to pay the hire cost approx $70 for a half day (I think).

[jonb]

Thanks everyone. Will see how we go.

Jon