Cutting drain trench into concrete base
Carlos
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
To expand my half bath into a full bath in my basement floor I need to establish a new drain for the toilet and bathtub. The floor is the concrete base of the house. The trench need to the main drain is about 2 feet for the toilet and 4 feet for the tub. I’m looking for alternatives to renting a large compressor and jackhammer to do the job. Perhaps a masonry blade in my saw to cut the outline of the trench and then chisel out? I’m sure I’m not the first DIY’er to take on this type of job and would appreciate any suggestions.
Replies
You can rent an electric "demo hammer", which is a small scale jackhammer or large rotary hamer.
Not nessecary, but you can use a saw to score it to get neater lines. Unless you rent a specialty saw a circular saw won't go through the slab.
If you go score I would get a cheap diamond blade. And EXCEPT DUST, LOTS AND LOTS OF DUST.
Rent a partners saw (conrete saw) from the rental center -- 12" blade (which you'll have to buy) will make short work of it. Have someone stand nearby and trickle a hose right into the blade, otherwise the dust will become blinding/chocking. Also get some ear plugs -- its basically a chainsaw type contraption that runs a big blade. A mask will help too bc of the smoke/exhaust inside can get bad. No need for a jack hammer -- this is more like surgery. Then back fill with concrete and tile over. If the saw it running well it'll take less than an hr to cut. Get a saw with at least a 12" blade to be sure you get all the way thru the concrete. Thump the pieces with a sledge and pry out with a spud bar or large pry bar
Good luck
Thanks for the suggestion. I found similar information in the archives especially the health warnings. Thanks again for the help.
Carlos
for something as small as this we always use a circular (worm drive) saw with a diamond blade. No it doesn't go all the way through but you blow the rest through with a big sledge. You don't care what the other side looks like anyway. We run a shop vac hose attached to the saw to cut down on dust. Only problem with a gas powered saw is the fumes in the house. If you can seal off the room and open a window and put a fan in it ,then yes a gas saw with diamond blade would be better.