[titan7]

We are going to demo our pool deck and have pavers installed I thought I would try to eliminate collateral damage by renting a gas powered 18" wheeled concrete saw and at least make a lot of passes all over my 2400 SF deck. As there is rebar in the concrete I thought that cutting it in to pieces before the tractor with the breaker bar rolls in would minimize vibration against the pool and masonry walls. Good idea, waste of time? I figure I could cut the deck into 2'x2' sections.

Thx

 

[Windows on Wash]

Not sure you need to break up the whole thing. If the deck butts right up to the home, cutting that free and clean wouldn't be a bad idea to help eliminate the collateral damage.

If you do rent it, cutting it up into quadrants would probably make it a good bit easier to handle and get moved.

Post up some videos or pictures regardless of which way you go.

 

[titan7]

Yes the deck butts up the the house, the pool, and slump stone walls. I figure if I don't cut the rebar the tractor will be lifting up a tangled mess of concrete and rebar. There are cold joints against the walls and house but severing the rebar and making cuts through the slab would be the best way to get it out. I am also going to purchase 4-5 sheets of plywood to lean against the walls as sections are being removed. Are there any tricks to using the wet concrete saws? Home Depot rents them for $150 per day.

Currently the concrete slab is in 8x8 foot square sections between control joints. The deck is 2 months old, we have cracks in about 550 SF of the deck due to too wet of a mix and bad joint placement.

 

[Windows on Wash]

Pretty cool looking. Why are you ripping it up?

 

[titan7]

If you look closely at the top photo you will see a crack come off the edge of the skimmer and run 10 ft to the planter area. It's about 1/16" wide and one side is just started to lift higher than the other. I have 6 -7 more just like this. I found out this was poured at a 6-7" slump, way too wet so we are getting tons of cracks. Also no expansion joints placed everywhere, it's a recipe for disaster. So we are tearing it out and placing interlocking concrete pavers. What a pain. I called home depo, they rent an 18" walk behind edco wet saw, I think I will cut all the control joints around the pool all the way through to eliminate vibration during demo.

 

[jlhaslip]

Having the pool full of water while hammering the concrete might mitigate damages.

 

[titan7]

We would have to plaster first before putting water in. The plaster is more brittle. The shotcrete is 3500 psi and was placed 5 months ago. No other way around it, gotta come out.

 

[titan7]

We would have to plaster first before putting water in. The plaster is more brittle. The shotcrete is 3500 psi and was placed 5 months ago. No other way around it, gotta come out. There is a foam expansion joint between the pool and the deck already but I plan to cut a few more in

 

[Msradell]

Did you put the deck in yourself or did somebody do it for you? If somebody did it for you and screwed it up it's the responsibility to replace it for you. Let them worry about how to do it and any consequences.

 

[stadry]

wonder why rebar ? its only 4" conc, right ? your hardest decision will be finding the right diamond blade,,, using their rental saw, cut no deeper than 1 1/2" on the 1st cut,,, the 2nd cut can be 3" which SHOULD get you past the rebar IF rebar were properly installed,,, IF it were mine & i wanted to saw, 4.0' x 4.0' OR 3.0' x 3.0' would be fine if using forks on a bobcat,,, 2.0' x 2.0' weighs approx 160#,,, its cheaper sawing IF you take out larger sections of conc

eliminating damage can be be done by sawing out a slot next to your very fine home,,, the deck should NOT be attached to either pool OR house

bladeguard may be 18" but you don't have power for 18" - rent a 14" instead but NOT a demo saw blade - they operate at a much higher rpm than walk-behind saws,,, check the blade's arrow for proper rotation direction

Good Luck !

 

[danpik]

wonder why rebar ? its only 4" conc, right ?

Rebar in a pool deck is not so much for strength. It is usually used as part of the Equi-potential bonding grid that is required around pools

 

[jomama45]

Was that supposed to be grey concrete, or was it colored? Either way, it looks terrible.

"Stadry's" approach of cutting large squares and pulling them out with a skidsteer is how I would go at it.

 

[stadry]

' Equi-potential bonding grid ' ??? wtfizzat ? iirc, you only need'd steel in the bond beam, NOT apron/patio decking,,, has that changed ? & when ? no pool bldr down here does that

 

[titan7]

Was that supposed to be grey concrete, or was it colored? Either way, it looks terrible.

"Stadry's" approach of cutting large squares and pulling them out with a skidsteer is how I would go at it.

Lol, yes it was to be grey. It has had 20 gallons of vinegar sprayed on it and lightened it up a lot but still looks bad. That's not even considering the cracks or finish work. There are trowel marks all over, sections that did not get smoothed down because it set up. Just a mess, can't see those from 50 feet away.

Rebar is also used in the bonding grid around the pool, #8 bare copper is attached to the rebar in the pool shell to the rebar grid. With pavers you attach the copper wire leads from the pool shell rebar to a loop of #8 copper that circles the pool and is buried 4-6" in the dirt 18-24" from the water.