I'm a complete novice when it comes to home improvement, but I'm wondering how I can remove two concrete pads in my backyard easily. I'm considering renting a jackhammer from Home Depot, provided I use the right safety gear. Is that a feasible option for someone with little to no experience? We recently had a contractor leave us stranded after a deck demolition, and now we're stuck with these concrete pads where our old stairs used to be. I understand that a big part of the expense would be hauling away the debris. Am I crazy for wanting to tackle this myself? The concrete pads are about 22x40 inches and 2 inches thick for the smaller one, and 38x58 inches at 3 inches thick for the larger one.
3 Answers
You'll be good to go with safety gear like good shoes, gloves, and eye and ear protection! I rented a smaller jackhammer initially but ended up switching to a medium-sized one. Keep in mind, my concrete was thicker at 6-8 inches, so with yours being thinner, you should have an easier time. Best of luck with it!
Honestly, you might not even need a jackhammer for those sizes. Just set one end on some blocking and give it a good whack with a sledgehammer; it should crack right in the middle. For the smaller pad, you could split it in half, and for the bigger one, break it into four pieces. You’ll end up with manageable pieces under 100 lbs each, making removal a lot easier.
Wait, are those dimensions in feet or inches? Because that makes a huge difference! ?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're in inches. Just makes me nervous about possibly breaking a foot or something!
Definitely inches then! Just stick with a sledgehammer if that's the case.