home reno question...

[grimey]

ok, so the wife is making me renovate the second floor, which is interesting enough given half the house is around 100 years old, and has 1 inch planking on the original walls, and between 1-4 layers of drywall on top of that.

Anyway, at one point it looks like there was a wood stove on the first floor, and the stovepipe passed up through the second floor, and was isolated from the joists by a 16" x 14" x 12" thick block of concrete. That block now sticks up a full inch from the original floorboards, and half an inch from the current flooring. How the hell do I get a 150lb rock out of my floor? A friend offered a kango jackhammer, but I'm wary of vibrating the hell out of the house taking the block out. I'm currently going at it with a hammer and chisel, hoping to chip the top inch or so off of it, so that I can have a level floor without A) having to wreck my back lifting the fucker out, or B) trashing the first floor, by accidentally dropping it though the ceiling

[pika]

http://www.demolitiontechnologies.com/e ... nical-info

Expanding grout. Pour yourself a cold one while it does the hard work for you.

[mattedfred]

rent the smallest jack hammer they have

you will be surprised that it will do the job and it won't vibrate that much if you don't put too much pressure on it

[yfly]

rent the smallest jack hammer they have

you will be surprised that it will do the job and it won't vibrate that much if you don't put too much pressure on it

Good advice. Not knowing or seeing the structure, you will want to brace it from below to prevent pieces from falling through. Old concrete is hard as you know, so be patient. Remove it all as you may weaken the support by removing pieces. You don't want surprises or injuries later.

[Jastapilot]

A good chisel will do the job and you'll know it's safe on the structure.

[2R]

Keep it damp .Spray water on it to keep the dust down ,just i case there is any asbestos in the conrete or cement

[Spokes]

... I'm currently going at it with a hammer and chisel, hoping to chip the top inch or so off of it, so that I can have a level floor ...

If you can safely chip away some of it without it "vibrating the crap out of the rest of the old house" then you can chip the entire thing away. I would say get the thing out.

Brace the area fron underneadth. A tall post proping a piece of 3/4 inch plywood (or so) under the ceiling below should do the trick, if you are worried about pieces falling and punching through below.

Leaving a big hunk of concreate in an upper floor will only lead to many headaches down the road.

[BibleMonkey]

ok, so the wife is making me renovate the second floor.........How the hell do I get a 150lb rock out of my floor? A friend offered a kango jackhammer, but ...

Hmmm. I think you're approaching the problem from the wrong angle. It's a simple physics problem. It's way easier to get a few decades old 120 pound wife out of the house than a 150 pound 100 year old rock.

Accuse her of being unfaithful and stomp out-come back home at 4 a.m piss drunk with your arm around a diseased bar skank. Make lots of noise coming in.

Slap the bar skank on the ass and slur out " Ha! I could get two of your asses into one of my wifes fat-girl pants!

No matter what happens next-your rock problem will be over.

[Siddley Hawker]

Love that lateral approach to the problem. There's nothing like thinking outside the box, I say.

[rigpiggy]

Brace from underneath, then hammer drill a grid pattern and put in every other


hole

http://www.demolitiontechnologies.com/e ... nical-info

Expanding grout. Pour yourself a cold one while it does the hard work for you.

[yfly]

I have repaired some real disasters when DIY's use expanding grout. If you don't know what you are doing, stick to a hammer drill, small jackhammer and a little elbow grease.

These products are not intended for use within a structure or even close to a structure. Your problem is a very small one. Don't make it a big one.

Again, I havent seen your house so don't know what structure you may be compromising.

PS, I have been a contractor for 25 years.

[Just another canuck]

Hire a contractor.

[yfly]

Hire a contractor.

This is an easy DIY job. Just brace it, break it and remove it.

[Just another canuck]

ok, so the wife is making me renovate the second floor, which is interesting enough given half the house is around 100 years old, and has 1 inch planking on the original walls, and between 1-4 layers of drywall on top of that.

Hire a contractor.

This is an easy DIY job. Just brace it, break it and remove it.

Sounds like this is only the beginning. Maybe grimey is quite the handyman... me, not so much when it comes to something like this. My old man is... he can build a house from top to bottom, but even he knows some things are just better left to the pros. Not that this job is necessarily too hard for grimey or anyone else, but many guys out there get in over there head and the trouble just ain't worth it. You may save money by not hiring a contractor, but you may lose quality. You definitely lose a countless amount of time of your own that could be spent doing other things. And actually, the amount of time it takes you versus the amount of time it would take a contractor, you may not see the loss of money. Maybe you could have been working more. Just something to think about. And would the wife and kids (if there are any) rather see it done in weeks or months?

Not that this is one of those cases, I just think sometimes a contractor is the best solution. Just make sure you get the right one.

[yfly]

I won't argue your convenience points JAC. It is always easier to hire a contractor and watch them hammer drill or jackhammer it out. If you place a dollar value on your free time, then you could argue the cost vs a contractor. Most people don't and just consider free time as that.

As a contractor, I would already have charged out the time spent on emails.

This is a simple task, but one that will require time and effort. The end product will be worth it.

My old man could build a house as well, but that didn't make him a knowledgable, licenced contractor.

[BoostedNihilist]

Anyway, at one point it looks like there was a wood stove on the first floor, and the stovepipe passed up through the second floor, and was isolated from the joists by a 16" x 14" x 12" thick block of concrete. That block now sticks up a full inch from the original floorboards

If this is a case of the floor sagging I would consider leaving the block and jacking the floor up level, then scab some 2x8s onto the old joists to keep them in place. Of course, based on the premise that this block, which now sticks up a full inch was at one point level with the floor.

If it is just as simple as the 'slab' being poured an inch higher than the otherwise level floor then a skilsaw with a diamond blade works well. Set the depth of the cut to whatever is going to give you a 'level' floor then use the skilsaw (or disc grinder) to cut 'trenches' about an inch apart, you only need to go one direction, then use a sledge and a bar to chip away the rows of cement you have created. To keep the dust down put a shopvac behind whichever device you are cutting with and make sure the disc is rotating in such a manner as to 'shoot' the dust into the shopvac.

Unfortunately, this is going to be a dusty shitty job no matter which route you go. Good luck!

[rightseatwonder]

is the block attached to the structure in any way? am i missing something? get some lift straps under it and just pick it up. its 150 lbs.

[flyinggreasemonkey]

Drill a bunch of 5\16" holes in a line across it, stick in a 3\16" taper punch and pound it in. Splits like dry firewood. I put a length of copper pipe over whats showing of the punch minus 2" to act as a shield in case the punch gives out. (which has never happened even after taking up a 10'x10'x6" concrete floor) Did it for under $30.

[JakeYYZ]

grimey, do think you can post a pic ?

[Just another canuck]

MIght help if you can get your hands on one of these.

t10click.jpg (157.23 KiB) Viewed 1087 times

You'll still DIY, but all the pain will be avoided.

[grimey]

many guys out there get in over there head and the trouble just ain't worth it.

Like the clowns who owned this place before my wife bought it? Removed a stairwell to the second floor. Didn't properly reinforce the floor they put down, and put a bathtub where the stairs were. Second floor sagged several inches, cracking the drywall and causing the toilet become unlevel and leak. Solution? They re-drywalled the second floor (over the old drywall), and propped the toilet up with a piece of plywood. The plywood rotted, because the leak was never fixed, and the drywall just cracked again when my wife had the second floor jacked back up with a new beam. Or putting laminate flooring down, and not remembering to cut out holes for the heating, or being too lazy to trim it, and covering half a vent, and leaving 5 inches of subfloor visible. Stud walls made out of 2x6s cut in half lengthwise, or 2x2s. Because spending $20 for 10 2x4s would be too expensive. Made it easy to figure out if it was structural, at least, since it wasn't within an inch of the ceiling.





I'll get a couple photos of the block on the weekend when I have time.

[Craziator]

I see your going for that middle eastern motif in the bathrooms with the hole in the floor.

[Just another canuck]

I see your going for that middle eastern motif in the bathrooms with the hole in the floor.

I like the squatters... it's a more natural position.

[freakonature]

grimey, you will become one with that big hunk of concrete. Forget the chisel. Just spend an hour a day beating on it with a hammer and it will all be good. Just remember with every swing, breathe in the good,breathe out the bad. Good Luck! Freak

[grimey]

Ok, so 10 minutes with the kango made short work of the top couple inches (which was apparently a separate pour), leaving a smooth concrete surface level with the joists. Is it worth taking the rest out? It's 16"x16"x10" deep now (I measured wrong earlier, I didn't realize it extended 2" under the floorboards at the top of the picture. It's braced on all 4 sides by joists & 2"x10"s, and from below:


More home reno adventures:
Thickest residential wall ever: 1 layer of 1/8th inch wall board, 2 layers of 3/8ths drywall, 2 layers of 3/8ths particle board (WTF!?), 1 layer of 1 inch planking. Then the studs.


I don't think this meets code. I think it violates every part of it possible. The only think that kept the wire from being visible where it looped around the board was wallpaper, a slot was cut in the drywall to make room: