Break up concrete or deck over ?

Dan-Dan

Morning

I have a 5m x 2.5m `slab` of concrete , covered with what looks like bitumen on top , enclosed in a 2 brick high `wall` , the concrete comes up to the height of the first brick

There was a lean to wooden structure on top , which has now gone

I can either deck over the top of this and hide it , or i can do it properly and slab the area but i need to remove the concrete first along with the crazy pacing i suspect is underneath and surrounds the area

What is the best tool to hire , to break this concete up , its not a job i really fancy as it looks like it might be a bit back breaking but i dont want to go for decking and 3 years down the line wish i had done it properly

Any and all advice welcome , as i am aware now to around april/may is the best time to get this done if i want it done in time for the summer months

Cheers

wallbash

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Morning



I can either deck over the top of this and hide it , or i can do it properly and slab the area but i need to remove the concrete first along with the crazy pacing i suspect is underneath and surrounds the area

What is the best tool to hire , to break this concete up , its not a job i really fancy as it looks like it might be a bit back breaking but i dont want to go for decking and 3 years down the line wish i had done it properly

Any and all advice welcome , as i am aware now to around april/may is the best time to get this done if i want it done in time for the summer months

Cheers

To put it very simply, you ARE putting down a deck.
Which will hide from view anything below it?

Why bother removing an old very hidden slab?

Will sitting on your new deck , knocking back a few G&t's , make you feel better that you haven't got a hidden slab beneath you??

My advice ( if you haven't worked it out ) just deck over. :beer:

Mark_Mark

wallbash wrote: »

To put it very simply, you ARE putting down a deck.
Which will hide from view anything below it?

Why bother removing an old very hidden slab?

Will sitting on your new deck , knocking back a few G&t's , make you feel better that you haven't got a hidden slab beneath you??

My advice ( if you haven't worked it out ) just deck over. :beer:

That would be all down to levels and the finished height of the deck.

What is the height of the concrete in relation to your damp course?

Dan-Dan

Hi Fellas

The only way i can know if the concrete is solid is by removing some of the bricks surrounding it to see its layers , it is approx 4 inches tall so if it is pure concrete.......!?

The area will have a garden canopy spanning it L and W in a couple of weeks

At the moment the 3 air bricks are half covered with this slab and more than that before i removed flooring and lean to , so decking , unless is come away from the wall a few inches , would also cover them

I will post a couple of pics in a bit , to show what i mean

Dan-Dan

sorry , i should make clear , the issue i have is wether to break upn the concrete and make the ground flat to take a patio , or to leave the slab there and deck over the top of it

Dan-Dan

You can see in these pictures what i am faced with..

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2ebeexj&s=8


then this is a view of the back , which will have a 4.2m x 3.0 garden lean to canopy attached shortly

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ilcfg8&s=8

so i need to be very careful what route i take as it could turn out messy!

Mark_Mark

Well the patio or deck decisions isn't ours.

If you slip on a wet deck when tending to your dogs you may wish you'd gone the patio route.

Dan-Dan

I understand that Mark , my original question is how best to approach breaking up that amount of concrete (along with opinions on decking whioch seem to vary massivley!)

Mark_Mark

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I understand that Mark , my original question is how best to approach breaking up that amount of concrete (along with opinions on decking whioch seem to vary massivley!)

Hire a breaker. If you can get a big bar under on side and lift it, hit it with a sledge hammer and it should break. Hard work is the only way, no short cuts.

Dan-Dan

I agree , perhaps under that concrete there could be some sort of brick/rubble base and it isnt solid all the way through , i`m just wary once i start pulling one side of brick down to see then the mess starts , so want to be sure i`m doing the right thing

Even under cover i think decking will still be slippy at times so am more tempted by slabbing it

phoebe1989seb

Dan - we decked over a roughly 18' x 9' concrete slab last year (a former carport base put in by the PO) rather than go to the bother of removing it as we've more than enough work here already

It houses our HT and is covered by a pergola (designed and built by DH) that has a sail awning attached in the nicer weather. It can be a bit slippery, I grant you - especially when our Spanish Water Dog puppy is on her lead at night and pulling me all over the show - but not as bad as the decking laid by the PO of our last house that had no grooves

If I had young kids about the place though I'd probably be inclined to go for paving.......