Hi all
Me again with a question (boy this is a great place for advice).
A client wants me to finish her basement.
She has a small rock ledge about a foot high and 5 feet long coming
into the basement that I found when cleaning and leveling things.
She says I can frame around it and hide it, but I said I might be
able to remove it.
She doesn’t mind me spending extra time.
I hit it with my big hammer drill and can punch holes in it.
But, was thinking of renting one of the abrasive cut off saws with
the gas engine (the type that looks like a chainsaw with the wheel
on the front) like I use to cut concrete walls with.
Has any one used or tried this with rock ledge and how does it work.
Here in Vermont we have lots of ledge and it would be a great way to
solve small problems if it works.
I’m thinking of making cuts an inch or 2 apart nad breaking it with a sledge.
Any thoughts or ideas would be great.
Jeff
Replies
Go to the rental yard and get a Bosch electric jackhammer with two bits, a chisle point and the bullprick. It runs off 110 but you'll need a ten gauge cord too.
I own one and given your description of this as friable, it should break out in a days worth of work. I've done sixty yards worth of ledge in six weeks, building a whole room in under a house.
Have your self some ear, eye and hand protection. Padded palm gloves is a good thing.
Excellence is its own reward!
Around here you have to go to the stockyard, not the rental yard, to find a bullprick. Things are just different out east, I guess.... Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
i am partial to the compressed air powered rivet buster myself, lighter and stronger than the electric, although more expensive. you need a big compresser, and several gads in case you get one stuck, at least a coupla points and a spade. also you should have a dust mask or respirator even if you go electric. i have some experience cutting pre-stressed concrete piles to grade, these are harder than just about any natural material you will find, and that is what we use. also we use a gas powered cut off saw with masonry blade to score with, great for starting a line, then you can sculpt with rivet buster. if you will have to do a lot of horizontal shaping you want the lightest rivet buster, if most of it can be done vertically a bit larger. i am not a large man, but can handle the chicago in the horizontal, there is another make that is a little lighter. dont forget with the air powered rivet buster you can use partial trigger to really fine sculpt with a great deal of control and accuracy. in other words dont just hold the trigger all the way down, just like driving a car, you can give it partial gas, you dont have to put your foot all the way to the floor all the time. i dont think the electrics do that as well as air.
Hi all
Don't know about the Rivit Buster, our rental place is limited.
I do know they have an electric Jack Hammer (Maybe the Bosch).
I remember using the jack hammer years ago on a job, what a pain,
but it worked great on a concrete slab.
Oh yes, I know about the dust and will be wearing protection.
I'll also try to plastic off the area to keep the dust local, it's
worked before.
I did suggest dynamite, but the home owner wanted the house still
standing when I finished.
I'll shoot for later this week.
Jeff
Wise guy...is that anything like a cattle prod?
Jen
Out East is .. well.... different.
I learned about these tools from some friends who were miners. I have no idea what the proper name is but anybody who uses one always knows what I mean.
Apparently Google has not ever done any rock work.
Excellence is its own reward!
I once had to remove about 100 tons of red clay , pier foundations , and concrete slab.I used the saw first and then jackhammerd my cuts.It made a lot of hard work much faster and easier.
Too much dust with the cutoff saw.
Go with that Bosch 44lb demo hammer. I, too, owned one. It'll get rid of your ledge as Piffin says. Other available bits (such as a spade bit) will come in real handy at times. The compaction plate bit too!
You'll use it over and over and over and over again.
It's not the smaller demo hammer I was talking about. It's the 67# Brute.
The demo is good if you are hiolding it aloft-say if you want to demo a wall or chimney.
The advice is good too about having the multiple points because you WILL get one stuck. Then you have to change bits to chip it out.
The compressor powered unit is way too much power and cost for this little job, IMO, and light weight units are going to work you harder. The weight of the hammer does some of the worek and absorbs some of the recoil that causes arthritis when you work it too many hours..
Excellence is its own reward!
Why take it out? Haven't you seen any of Frank Loyd Wright's stuff? Just make it a feature! :-)>
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Just make it a feature!
typical freakin architect ;)Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.
You are certain it wasn't a part of or related to the structural support? I have a rock wall along two sides of my basement that is elemental, or was at the time of building. Just a thought. (I mean, why is it there?)
Maybe I misunderstood, but I think he meant that it is a natural feature of the lot.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Thanks, I think you are correct after I reread abt many "ledges" in the area. If so, then I definitely say make it a feature (ok, so I'm architecturally inclined). How abt topping it w/a fish tank, fountain, or draping w/plants? Unless it's really ugly, I wouldn't cover it, but that's just me.
use the electric.. DO NOT use the gas saw.. if you think the dust is bad , wait until you get the fumes from the exhause... now that is hellMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I would hose it off real good, let it dry and then varnish it. Make it a feature! Cover it with cushions and even Aunt Mabel can sit on it. Or make it a bookshelf. 5 feet is about right for the Encyclopedia Britanica.
On the other hand, if it really must be removed, I have found the .59 caliber machine gun to be very effective.
~Peter
Here's a picture of the brutal animal alonf with before and after shots of the job it worked on. The gym is in the basement level of the house corner nearest you
Excellence is its own reward!
Jeff, don't forget to bring your Box Fan. ... Piffin, well, that rock shelf of yours, That will be in my mind come tomarrow, all I'am gonna do, and I really am, is bust a 5" hole thru a 12" wide (hand poured footing), where they threw in some really Hard rocks, while they were filling that footing up. Something about a soil line on the other side. The concrete I can deal with, the Rocks they put-in, hard, really hard, but you aready knew that. Jim J
To all
Thank you for the help (and jokes)
I have found alot of houses here were built years ago with just dirt
floors or a little concrete to cover the dirt.
They were to lazy (cheap) to try and remove the rock.
While this one is ledge and set away from the wall, I'm sure the footing is probably on the end of it under ground.
I plan to stay away from that area of the wall to be safe and only clean up the area protruding into the room.
I'm gonna try and attack this maybe today.
Jeff
Hi all
Thought you'd loke to know.
I went at it with the Bosch 60lb electric jackhammer today.
Took me 5 hrs to level that thing, boy am I sore.
All I need to do is remove the last of the rock and level the floor.
I'm glad I don't do that all day normally.
Thanks all for the advice, worked great.
Jeff
Glad it worked for you.
After a few days, you learn to let the machine do the work, and you don't get as sore..
Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin
I was letting the machine do the work. (sort of)
What got to me was holding the hammer at the odd angles to get into
any cracks and such.
Hopefully, I won't be doing this too often.
Jeff
I must be doing something wrong. I've never ended a day of rock busting with the feeling that the machine did most of the work... :-)>
Hhhhhooopppppe yerrrrrr eeeeeeeyeeee bbbbbbaalllllllllssss hhhhhhhaaaaavvvvveeee ssssssstttttooooooppppedddd jjjjjjjiiiiiittttteeeeerrrrriiiiinnnnggg aaaaaarrrroooooouuuuuunnnndddd iiiiinnnnnn tttttttthhhhheeeeeiiiiirrrrr ssssssoooooocccckkkketsssss bbbbbyyyyyy nnnnnnoooooowwwww JJJJJJJeeeeeffffff.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
That says it all.
There are times when you can go home feeling like a real man after one of them. Must be the extra blood circulation it brings to certain spots on you body.
jeff's wife better watch out tonight!
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
Ok OK
You guys win.
I'm too tired to comment.
Jeff
I see you posted that in the AM.
too tired after a long hard night
;).
Excellence is its own reward!