How To Demo And Remove An Old Concrete Slab With The Aid Of Equipment Rentals
When you have a large project to complete in your yard, you don't have to hire out the manual labor or do the labor yourself. Many of the tools and equipment you need to make the work easier are available for rent at a local equipment rental business. Here are some tips to help you use the right equipment to complete a concrete demolition project in your yard.
Concrete Demolition
To remove a concrete slab from your property, you will need to break the concrete into pieces that can be easily removed. Depending on the thickness and size of the slab, you can choose from the use of a sledgehammer or a jackhammer. A sledgehammer is a better for thin, concrete slabs but is going to require more energy and strength on your part to handle and swing the hammer into the concrete, breaking it apart.
To use a more powerful tool than the sledgehammer, you can rent a pneumatic jackhammer. This type of jackhammer is powered by air and uses the air pressure created from the connected air compressor via a hose. This power moves the tip of the jackhammer up and down while you position it on the surface of the concrete.
Usage Tips
Your rented jackhammer may come with several interchangeable points. It is recommended to use the chisel-point tip, as this tip will be the best option for use in cracking the concrete apart.
Take care to work from the outside of the concrete toward the interior, beginning on a corner of the concrete. After the tip breaks a crack within the concrete, move the tip a couple inches away and continue the demolition process. If your hammering does not form a crack within a couple seconds, move the tip to a different position to prevent the tip from becoming stuck within the concrete.
Safety
Take the proper safety precautions and wear protective clothing when you use any power tools and heavy equipment. Wear long pants and sleeves, protective steel-toed boots, eye protection, and work gloves to protect yourself from bits of flying concrete.
Because a jackhammer creates 130 decibels of noise, it is important to wear ear protection. Prolonged exposure to noises at this level can cause hearing damage. To illustrate the level of the noise created by a jackhammer's 130 decibels, someone shouting directly into your ear and the noise created by a power saw only creates 110 decibels of noise.
Clean-Up and Disposal
Once the concrete has been completely broken apart, you will need to remove it from the area and place it into a disposal container. Concrete is quite heavy, weighing 150 pounds per cubic foot, so it can be difficult to move it in large amounts. Instead of lifting small pieces yourself to place them into a wheelbarrow for transport, you can rent a track loader to do the labor.
A track loader, such as a skid steer or Bobcat is perfect to help you lift, carry, and deposit the broken up concrete into a rented disposal bin. The bucket on the front of this heavy equipment can lift several hundred pounds of concrete in one scoop, which you can then use to deposit it into the disposal bin.
Before you pay to have the concrete disposed in a local landfill, check for any concrete recycling companies in your area. A concrete recycling company can process your old, broken concrete and sell it to local construction companies for use in constructing roads and building foundations.
After all the concrete is removed from the area, you can use the rented track loader to grade and level the soil to prepare it for the new improvements you will be adding to the site. For more information, contact a company like Summit Tool Rentals Division Of Wirtz Rentals.