Hello folks. I have a 21’X12′ reinforced concrete porch floor that needs to go before it decides to do it by itself. I’ve read lots of old posts about breaking up concrete but can’t find any that address how steel reinforcement affects the job. This slab is over a block garage that is also in bad shape, so this floor spans an area somewhat smaller than the above dimensions. Some exposed rusty rods and grid showing below where the concrete has started to crumble. Does the steel mean this demo is strictly for the pros?
Thanks!
John in Pittsburgh
Replies
no, but the fact that it's a roof, and therefore so many feet up in the air, says that discression might be the better part of valor
seems to me someone posted a link to something similar, once upon a time, where things went to hell in a handbasket really quickly
Hire a track-hoe and dump truck. Sounds like the whole shebang has to go. They can do it, you're better off watching.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
Edited 8/21/2008 1:30 pm ET by Sphere
Pro-only, I'd say. The slab could possibly be cut away and dropped working from a scaffold, but the whole thing is dangerous. It will likely fall on an angle once the first two sides are cut, and when the rest is dropped it could blow out the block wall real easy.
You're most likely gonna lose that garage in the process no matter what you try.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
If the "potch floor" is tied to a foundation wall of a house, it could be more dangerous than has been mentioned thus far. Dropping that puupy wrong could blow out or pull out the foundation wall or cause some serious structural damage to it.
In the past we would cut and jack hammer out a strip of the floor next to the foundation wall to expose as much of the reinforcing steel as possable. All of the connecting steel would be cut away by torch or saws-all, and only then would we start to demo the remainder of the slab with a trackhoe and hole ram.
OK, well I'd say that's a big ol' don't-do-it. I'm really grateful for the answers. Breaktime is filled with stories of projects that didn't turn out to be so easy after all, but the potential for disaster with my porch slab is now crystal clear. Many thanks.
John in Pittsburgh