Good Morning –
Found a (approximately) 10″x10″x10″ end corner broken off a small concrete wall the other day. I can set the broken piece back on/in and it will stay put. What would be some options at repairing this short of constructing some form and packing in new concrete?
Thanks in Advance,
Eric S.
Edited 4/11/2004 9:05 am ET by Eric Svendson
Replies
Picture of broken piece temporarily back in place -
Double stick tape.
Ok serious, looks like the railings integrity may be in question, can I assume this is correct?
"One measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions"
Edited 4/11/2004 9:26 am ET by Woodrow
Eric,
Was the embedded part of the newel rusty?
Did it freeze last night?
Double dowel it, epoxy it and the dowels, then acid wash and parge the wall to seal the joint and disguise it.
SamT
I've had good results in situations like yours by resetting in a slathery (is that even a word?) mix of thinset. Look for ooze aroond the entire joint thus avoiding water/ ice penetration in the future. Good luck, Joe
Yes, the embedded part of the newel post was rusty but not rusted away. This was at a local church where I was helping some ladies clean out the side garden.
When you say "double dowel" - do you mean clean, fit dry, drill with bosch bulldog from outside, "slather" on some epoxy (what kind?) and then tap in steel rods?
Thanks - I trying to keep this simple but . . .
How much good is it going to do to reattach the broken piece if you don't find and fix whatever it was that made it break off?
Rust. Yep. When rust forms it creats 100's of tons of psi, snapped the corner right off. Clean up the rust first and treat it, maybe with OSPHOS or equivalent (sp).
As for the dowels, that is what I meant, put them at about right angles. I would drill the chunk first, then set the bit thru the holes to drill the wall.
SamT
I'm betting the chunk will break when you try to drill it.
Not if you drill it is while laying on the ground, and use a small 1/4 bit first. Use a regular hammer drill, not The Brute, and light pressure. The ground dampens the impact enough to keep it from breaking.
Broke a few corners before I stumbled on that trick.
Dave
THats one I won't forget.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
Remodeler/Punchout
Learned it on the third corner I repaired.
Client backing out of his own driveway, with his car door open, and foot hanging out. Broke the corner off of his foundation, his foot, and tore the door off the car. I only got one out of the three repair jobs...all covered by his insurance companies :)
Dave
How did you fix the car door?
~Peter
Glue it on with Gorilla glue.
Unless you just want a cosmetic repair--ie, glue it on with some kind of mortar/thinset/epoxy/gorilla gook/Weldbond/whatever--the easiest thing to do would be to put a form on it and pour a patch.
As mentioned, clean up any rust on the railing and Ospho it. Then make the form in a U shape out of 3/4" plywood, strap around the three open sides with pipe strapping, and clamp it to the rest of the wall tight either with big, deep-throat bar clamps or just wedge some 2x in that stairwell to hold it in place.
Looks like you'll need maybe two sacks of pre-mixed concrete mix (a standard 30 kg bag yields 1/3 cu. ft.). You can mix this in a wheelbarrow
Before you pour in the new concrete, paint the mating surfaces on the old structure with Gelcrete (concrete adhesive) or Weldbond. (Try not to get any on the form.) Let it get a little tacky--about 5-10 minutes. Pour.
Give it a couple of days at least before you pop off the form. If it's very hot and dry and sunny weather, lay some damp burlap sacking over the form so it won't dry too fast.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I ended up doing the cosmetic repair with plain mortar although I sense it won't last and I'll end up doing the forms as you suggested or better yet, letting a pro handle this.
This was simply a freebie. Much thanks to all who responded.
Eric S.
It's a little late, I know, but I was really serious about using Gorilla Glue. It's an excellent concrete adhesive.
I certainly can't disagree with you. That would have been the easiest fix and perhaps I should have gone that route. Now I almost hope it breaks off again or better yet just comes loose although I hesitate slightly on using up a full bottle of gorilla on a chunk of crete.
Thanks
Job like this is a PITA for a pro; he will charge you an arm and a leg because it will cost him that much just to get there and go away again with all his equipment.
If your mortar joint lets go (and it isn't unlikely), just go for it yourself. Small concrete pours aren't rocket science as long as you use pre-mix from a reliable company and take care that your form is well built and installed. Laying bricks or blocks is much more difficult....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?