Figured I would start a thread with all the small/medium/large projects around the new place.
The first one was rather uneventful and only required two trips to Lowes. Had to replace the upstairs toilet. The first trip was get everything required and the second trip was to get the correct supply hose. Grabbed a faucet supply hose, not a toilet supply hose. Uneventful is the way I like it.
The second project grew exponentially for about 2 hours this afternoon.......
Seeing how I own all these John Deere GT's I might as well put them to work. Only one problem.... the gate to the back yard is only 38 inches wide. Uh OH!!! ehhh putting in a chain link gate should not be a hard task... right. Nope. Get my measurements and supply list and head to Lowes. Grab my new 12 foot gate and other hardware and back home.
First task, rip up the existing deck where it is even with the house. You can see where the new gate will be in this picture. The deck was put together with screw so out comes the drill and away we go.....
Well the screws have been painted over so many times there is not way to back about 50% of them up.... so back to the old crow bar and brute force. About half way done. This view rears its ugly head. Must be an old porch.
Finish taking the deck boards off..... this clearly does not look like an old porch.
hmmmmm what to do???? Off to Lowes I go armed with the checking account. I will tell you what, shopping with the checking account is a lot more fun that shopping with tractor money. I showed some restraint I did not opt for the $584 Bosch Hammer instead I opted for the Dewalt 1/2 inch hammer drill..... and a 12 inch 3/8 bit and a 10 lb sledge. Figured 4.5 amp B&D corded drill and the 18 volt Dewalt XRP the 4 lb would not cut the mustard in this case.
Armed with these tools I should be able to reduce this paltry 3.5x3 foot concrete chunk to pebbles.... RIGHT????? Nope.
An hour later....
NOTE: Wear safety goggles when doing demo like this. I should have take pictures of my sun glasses (I have prescription glasses and the lens are rated for such activity). A chunk hit the lens and left a mark, it would have gone straight in my eye otherwise.
Clearly this is not going well. Lets update those dimensions a little sure the top is 3.5x3 feet BUT it is AT LEAST 12 inches deep.... I tried digging down beside it and it appears to be a V shape so there is no telling how deep it is. So now what.... No wonder there was a deck there..
My ideas so far because my hammer drill, bit and sledge are clearly not going to cut it....
I thought I was bringing a gun to a gun fight but now I feel like I brought a plastic knife to a gun fight. I have torn up a lot of concrete before but all with a similar set up..... but this boulder is a little more substantial and extremely hard to boot.
1) Rent a jack hammer
2) Rent some type of large machine
3) Hire some one
4) Give it the old college try with the blade on the 318 and dig around it and see it I can move it........ probably not. I am figuring at minimum this thing weighs 1500 lbs
5) Some type of explosive...... might not get along with the neighbors or the cops if I did that... so scratch that idea.
So what was a simple little project of deck removal and new gate placement has turn into a rather large project that will not be cheap (me thinks).
The first one was rather uneventful and only required two trips to Lowes. Had to replace the upstairs toilet. The first trip was get everything required and the second trip was to get the correct supply hose. Grabbed a faucet supply hose, not a toilet supply hose. Uneventful is the way I like it.
The second project grew exponentially for about 2 hours this afternoon.......
Seeing how I own all these John Deere GT's I might as well put them to work. Only one problem.... the gate to the back yard is only 38 inches wide. Uh OH!!! ehhh putting in a chain link gate should not be a hard task... right. Nope. Get my measurements and supply list and head to Lowes. Grab my new 12 foot gate and other hardware and back home.
First task, rip up the existing deck where it is even with the house. You can see where the new gate will be in this picture. The deck was put together with screw so out comes the drill and away we go.....
Well the screws have been painted over so many times there is not way to back about 50% of them up.... so back to the old crow bar and brute force. About half way done. This view rears its ugly head. Must be an old porch.
Finish taking the deck boards off..... this clearly does not look like an old porch.
hmmmmm what to do???? Off to Lowes I go armed with the checking account. I will tell you what, shopping with the checking account is a lot more fun that shopping with tractor money. I showed some restraint I did not opt for the $584 Bosch Hammer instead I opted for the Dewalt 1/2 inch hammer drill..... and a 12 inch 3/8 bit and a 10 lb sledge. Figured 4.5 amp B&D corded drill and the 18 volt Dewalt XRP the 4 lb would not cut the mustard in this case.
Armed with these tools I should be able to reduce this paltry 3.5x3 foot concrete chunk to pebbles.... RIGHT????? Nope.
An hour later....
NOTE: Wear safety goggles when doing demo like this. I should have take pictures of my sun glasses (I have prescription glasses and the lens are rated for such activity). A chunk hit the lens and left a mark, it would have gone straight in my eye otherwise.
Clearly this is not going well. Lets update those dimensions a little sure the top is 3.5x3 feet BUT it is AT LEAST 12 inches deep.... I tried digging down beside it and it appears to be a V shape so there is no telling how deep it is. So now what.... No wonder there was a deck there..
My ideas so far because my hammer drill, bit and sledge are clearly not going to cut it....
I thought I was bringing a gun to a gun fight but now I feel like I brought a plastic knife to a gun fight. I have torn up a lot of concrete before but all with a similar set up..... but this boulder is a little more substantial and extremely hard to boot. 1) Rent a jack hammer
2) Rent some type of large machine
3) Hire some one
4) Give it the old college try with the blade on the 318 and dig around it and see it I can move it........ probably not. I am figuring at minimum this thing weighs 1500 lbs
5) Some type of explosive...... might not get along with the neighbors or the cops if I did that... so scratch that idea.
So what was a simple little project of deck removal and new gate placement has turn into a rather large project that will not be cheap (me thinks).
