Slab Demolition

KennMacMoragh

Which jackhammer would be more expedient to demo this 10' x 11' slab? An electric one cost $100/day to rent, an air one is $220/day. How long do you think it would take for each?

Warren

I have never used an air hammer. An electric one would do that in a few hours I am sure. We have rented them on several occasions. If you rent the air one, you will have to have a gasoline compressor large enough to power the hammer.

KennMacMoragh

O.k thanks, the $220/day includes the compressor, hose, and everything for it. But yeah that's what I was thinking, that the electric would take care of it quick.

mnjconstruction

I rent the electric ones all the time. Enough were I think i might buy on this summer. I can hammer out a 24x24 garage slab, 6" thick, and clean up all debree in a 8 hour day with 1 helper. so that one you got should only take 2-3 hours. good luck

CONCRETE MIKE

DBCoop

I have an electric Hitachi and it works well for a 4 inch slab. My thoughts would be go electric. ( Bosch or Hitachi ) Is there rebar in the concrete? If so your time frame will be expanded!

dayexco

armstrong it with an 8 lb. sledge and put the $200 in your pocket and get in shape...put your man pants on!!!!

__________________
someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

Shawn Prentice

I agree. Something that small you could have a good start breaking it up up in the time it takes to pick-up and drop off the electric one, unless the rental store is real close.

KennMacMoragh

DBCoop, that was one of my concerns was whether or not there's rebar in it. However, I doubt there is judging from how the slab has settled. And I just did a water damage renovation on this house, it looked like this house was built by farmer Joe, just hacked together. And it was built in the 50's, so I doubt they put any rebar in their patio.

That's why I wasn't sure on what to use or how to bid. I will just have to prey I can get it chipped out in half a day, rental costs really add up if it takes more than a day.

Dayexco, I don't know if you're serious. But yeah I've actually seen people start out with a sledge hammer trying to demolition a whole driveway, then they give up and get a jackhammer.

griz

I've got a Bosch Brute (electric) that has demo'd several slabs larger than what you have. Does the job with re-bar also. If you go electric use a big enough extension cord.

Rockmonster

If you go electric, probably 3 hours and your done....if you go air, you'll have it busted up in 8 minutes....and if it's only 2 1/2 inches, then maybe you could think about a sledgehammer....I would probably go electric, it will be quick enough, and you won't go deaf in the process...gl

Rio

We have a Makita 60lb (I think) and it works well. You could do it by hand too. We use the Makita for all sorts of stuff. I loan it to an electrician friend of mine to drive ground rods; we have a lot of adobe here and it'll cut right through it when we need to cut through that stuff...........

DBCoop

Kenn. It will be what it will be .......... go with your instincts !

scrapecc

Something that small shouldn't take more than 3 hours with a sledge. I would never spend the money on a hammer for that small of an amount of concrete. Unless its 6 inches thick. Its just a little sledge hammer party. I always love a party!

bernardoconcret

An electrical hammer would work just fine for this small area.
N. Perez

robert c1

What did you end up doing?

I'm guessing most people already know the technique but I'll say it anyway.
The trick is to lever them up and slide a fulcrum underneath (2x4 works just fine).
Then it's just a few strikes along the line of your 2x4 and the waste side will fall off.

S.R.E.

You have probably already taken care of this, but for the future they make a gas powered jackhammer that rents for about 75.00 a day that works pretty good on small jobs. You know the ones were you would like the tow-able compressor with a 90 lb. jackhammer but it's not cost effective.

KennMacMoragh

I used an electric jackhammer, it worked fine.

Hmmm, I pulled them off piece by piece with my hands. I can't really envision what you are talking about, I just make sure the chunks have somewhere to go for efficiency.

I think I would have looked like an idiot if I tried using a sledge. It was five or six inches thick, had a little bit of wire fabric reinforcement, and it was about 50 years old, that's when concrete reaches it's peak strength.

__________________

robert c1

Don't get me wrong, if I have a jackhammer handy I'm gonna use it.

Clear as mud huh. It's just a technique for breaking concrete. The limitation is you need to be able to lift the slab, if you can lift it you can break it. You lever up the slab and shove something underneath it about where you want it to break then strike the slab above the object. This weakens the bond of the concrete in that spot and gravity does the rest.

KennMacMoragh

Ahh, yeah I can see that working on something small enough.

__________________