Hi everyone, this is a “deconstruction” question. We have a set of cement steps hiding under our deck — former owners of the house built the deck without breaking out the steps. We’re building a new deck now. Is there a way for us’n old folk to get these steps out on our own? Hubby’s good at wrestling with fairly big tools, but not me. Suggestions welcome!
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
There are important considerations to keep in mind when building a slab-on-grade home with continuous insulation.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Rent a "breaking" (jack) hammer. There have been discussions about this in fairly recent past, maybe if you do and advanced search on words like "breaking concrete steps," you'll find past discussions.
Thanks, Danno, I'll check around and see how others have done.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Before renting an electric jackhammer, it's worth a go at just beating on it with a sledge hammer for a few minutes. You can't easily tell by looking how solid a piece of concrete is.
Well, we do have a big sledge hammer, so hubby can give it a try. Arthritis enters into the picture, may be tough. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I just did a similar job. I rented an electric demolition hammer (HIlti). It cost about $50 for 4 hours. It took me a couple of hours to break up 3 concrete steps. It was money well spent.
There should be a footing under those steps so once you get below grade, you may want to stop.
Thanks for the warning about the footing, Don. Hope we get that far!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another possibility is the venerable, multi-purpose .50 caliber machine gun. Use the anti-concrete bullets, wear ear muffs and watch out for richochets. [Don't ask me how I know!]
I think you can rent them at any decent tool rental place for less than $50. I haven't seen them at the Home Depot though. You have to provide the ammunition. Have fun!
~Peter
Ahhhh, now that's a solution Nick can get behind!! forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
These steps are usually made with concrete blocks and only the top may be lined with poured concrete. The owner may had the whole thing poured, who knows? Try breaking the verticle surface with hammer to see if structure under the skim coat(?) is solid concrete or blocks. If solid concrete, I would leave it alone. There is nothing wrong with leaving it alone.
Concrete breaking hammers (machine) are heavy and it is murder to hands from the vibration. If you have a concrete landing, I would get dry cut diamond blade on a saw, make 2" deep scores and break it apart with sledge hammer. If the rest is made with blocks, they are usually left hollow and easy to break.
Another thing is, the concrete landing may be poured over a metal pan so be careful how you break the whole thing. The pan may be resting on the wall. There is also a powder that, when mixed with water, will expand. First you have to drill a hole (this will require renting large hammer drill) along the line where you want the break and pour the mixture. The mixture will expand and break the concrete. This mixture, however, will push the concrete 360 degrees and may damage the foundation. Research if you consider this. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the details, I will consider all, but the expanding substance sounds pretty risky. We'll hope for skim over blocks!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
This is my preferred method.
View Image
As someone else said, they may break up with a sledge. Especially if they were filled with rubble like these steps were.
I got the backhoe because I didn't want to load all the busted up stuff into a truck by hand in order to dispose of it.
Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.
That would be fun! Unfortunately, where these steps are located, we wouldn't be able to get anything close enough to pull that off (so to speak ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
forestgirl,
Do you own a rotary drill? If so it's relatively simple to do a few test drill holes and see exactly what you are working with.. Too bad it's not winter.. you could drill some holes, fill them with water and tomorrow they will have busted things up for you. (assuming it's below freezing)
our concrete steps (northeastern Ma, ie, 48"frostline) were precast and hollow, no footing. used a sledge and a masonry chisel.as I believed someone else said, it depends on what your steps really are.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
with steps and footings , even big boulders, that are in the way and no backhoe available,
we drill a bunch of 3/4" holes and then insert our feathers & wedges,
tap, tap, tap.......
steps/concrete breaks up and we are doneMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
The wedges I get, but what are "feathers"?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
The wedges I get, but what are "feathers"?
They are metal "sleeves" of a sort, tapered, with a bend at the top to hook them over the edge of a drilled hole. They are used in pairs and are sized to the wedge/hole combination used. The wedge (which is a tapered round pin), impinges against the feathers, which then bear against the hole. This way the feather does the work instead of just hammering the wedge in like a nail to the masonry.
You usually "point" the feathers perpendicular to the cut line, to help encourage the break.
If the masonry does not crack, one can pull out the wedge and try with a next size larger one, since the "grip" is only metal to metal, and not metal to masonry.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
As Cap'n said, you drill the holes, insert the feathers, and then pound the wedges in.View ImageOnce you've done this in a line (or arc, as shown), you can proceed to split the stone or concrete.View Image
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA