How to Bust out and Remove Concrete???

Question

We need to remove the concrete around our pool. We're not going to hire someone. What tools should we use? Jackhammer? I've heard of hammer drills, is that the same thing? Please help!!!

Answer 1

Use a jack hammer.Depending on the thickness of the slab you may need an air hammer.If the slab is thicker than 6" an electric jack hammer will take forever.Probably need some wire cutters to cut the mesh if there is any in there.Pry bar to pry the pieces apart.Jack hammer into manageable pieces.Throw them in a wheel barrel and unload into a dumpster.The dumpster will fill up very quick.Tore out a 20x20 patio last week and it took two very full dump trailers to get rid of it.It was thicker than we expected between 6 and 8 inches.Took 4 guys 9 hours busting our butts the whole time just to give you an idea what your in for.We pour concrete every day.Have fun

Answer 2

Hammer drills? DO NOT try to use that. It'd take you forever. They are used to drill small holes into exsisting concrete.

Rent a jack hammer that attaches to a skid steer or one that you stand behind. You'll need a dump truck to haul away old concrete.

Also, if you are not removing all the concrete you'll need to use a chop saw or concrete saw with a diamond blade in it to cut thru the concrete. This will make a nice clean edge to butt the new concrete up to.  And if the concrete don't have alot of cracks, you may want to use that saw to score it in a few spots. Just for easier removal.

Good luck and be prepared to do some really hard work.

Answer 3

If your removing a fairly small area, rent a jackhammer and use that. A concrete saw can be used to make a clean cut if you are breaking out only a portion of the concrete.

If you are removing a large area, then you would want to rent a bobcat or backhoe with a hoe ram attachment.

Answer 4

Rent a jack hammer, and take turns using it.  They will beat you to death, but they get the job done.  A hammer drill will only make small holes.  A chipping hammer will chip it out in small pieces.  But a jack hammer,  now that is a tool (LOL). It will still take a while, but it beats paying someone through the nose to do it for you.  You can rent one of the construction dumpsters to throw the concrete in as you chip it out.  It depends on how thick, how wide, and how long it is as to how long it will take.  I estimate two to three full days.  Home Depot rents the jack hammers, and it is around a hundred a day.  They also have the dumpsters for a couple a hundred a week. http://www.hddumpster.com/