We’ve got to decrease the outside ground level by about 100mm, so i set about taking up the slabs thinkig there wouldn’t be too much unerneath that would cause any trouble, and i would just be able to dig it out. Alas, no such luck.
The top layer of slabs has come up easily and have been ‘freecycled’ on www.freecycle.co.uk , in two separate lots to people who wanted to page in between their veg beds. Rather apt i thought.
Underneath the part of the patio near the veg beds was..wait for it…another patio! This was also subsequently removed with just as much ease as the first - nothing more than a hammer and a spade. I then dug out the concrete underneath the second patio and piled it up as seen in the photo.
The problem is, under the first patio nearest the house, is 4 inches of solid concrete, with a load of hardcore set in concrete underneath it. Looks like it was once the foundations for a lean-to of some description which was taken out. Lovely. A hammer and chisel have had little impact, and the sds drill did little too…looks like it may have to be a hydraulic breaker. Never used one before but if it does the job! After finding some metal at one end, i hope the whole thing isn’t metal reinforced.
July 12th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Ever wish you hadn’t started at times?
July 12th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Argghh! All the work will be worth it in the end. I/we had to dig up a sidewalk in front of our yard that was placed only 2 foot from the front of the house. It was miserable work…but I am so glad we did. When I increased the size of that bed this year, I had an additional surprise of finding piles of old linolium flooring buried in the ground. Ain’t gardening grand?
Good luck!
July 12th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Yeah, i know it will be a lot of hard work, not least lugging the rubble out the front and getting rid of it, but i ge six weeks off every summer so it isn’t bad to keep myself busy!
It amazes me what people will bury just to be lazy.
I took a sledgehammer to the concrete tonight, and took it back about a foot, using a trowel to lever it out. Might not need to use a breaker after all! I’ll post again when it get’s a bit further on!