# Busting up a slab to fix a pipe



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tomorrow I am busting up a slab to get at an old 2" steel/cast line. What do you guys do to break the concrete?

I don't have to do much so I am skipping the demo saw. Instead I will score a line with a diamond blade on my angle grinder and drill some holes, then have at it with my sledge hammer.

Hopefully I don't find the water lines


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

Big concrete chipper I bought. Used it only twice for very minor breakage. Never saw concrete break up so fast and easy.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Diamond blade in a skill saw then I use a midsize jackhammer I got from Harbor Freight for about $400.00


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Debo22 said:


> Diamond blade in a skill saw then I use a midsize jackhammer I got from Harbor Freight for about $400.00
> View attachment 129542


I did grab a big hilti drill for the holes and it has a point bit and a chisel bit. I was really thinking about stopping at the hardware store and getting a diamond blade for my skilsaw but I doubt they'll have one. We might have a 6" or 7" blade for the larger angle grinders at the shop. You do it dry?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tango said:


> Big concrete chipper I bought. Used it only twice for very minor breakage. Never saw concrete break up so fast and easy.


Only jack hammers we have are air and I ain't going to tow the big compressor with me. I did grab a big hilti drill though and it has chisel and point bits.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

skoronesa said:


> I did grab a big hilti drill for the holes and it has a point bit and a chisel bit. I was really thinking about stopping at the hardware store and getting a diamond blade for my skilsaw but I doubt they'll have one. We might have a 6" or 7" blade for the larger angle grinders at the shop. You do it dry?


I use a pump sprayer and shoot water on the blade, keeps the blade cool and cuts down the concrete dust.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Here’s a couple photos of one that I was just using the jackhammer before I realized about the diamond blade in the Skil saw. I kept chasing good pipe. Replace the whole kitchen line with the bottom rotten out.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> Only jack hammers we have are air and I ain't going to tow the big compressor with me. I did grab a big hilti drill though and it has chisel and point bits.


What the hell? What kind of company doesn't have electric chippers?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tango said:


> What the hell? What kind of company doesn't have electric chippers?


We don't usually bust up concrete, we sub that out. Also, we have these things called "basements".

The customer is in a pinch, selling their condo. Getting another contractor to bust up the slab would be difficult with the shortage of tradesmen here. Even in normal times all the trades are short on skilled labour, but with all the city folk running to the country it's just nuts.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> We don't usually bust up concrete, we sub that out. Also, we have these things called "basements".
> 
> The customer is in a pinch, selling their condo. Getting another contractor to bust up the slab would be difficult with the shortage of tradesmen here. Even in normal times all the trades are short on skilled labour, but with all the city folk running to the country it's just nuts.


Basement, yeah we have those too and all drains are run under... So yeah a chipper is essential.

The boss could easily buy a 400$ harbor freight chipper for the job. I lived in a small town my first employer had some chippers and core drill, he didn't sub it out there wasn't a specialty companies for that. I did a lot of chipping and a lot of core drill. He was still a a-hole not really supplying masks, ear plugs and safety glasses.


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## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

Buy a Chinese 30lb jack hammer... I bought one for 300 and it's been more than faithful...
I've done about 10 major dig jobs with it.. and for a while I had lent it to a friend who was just starting out and he said he did about 10-15 rough ins.

Princess auto the Canadian Harbor freight


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## hewhodigsholes (Oct 28, 2020)

We had a $125 Neiko jackhammer off Amazon for years at my old job. You couldn't kill it, and it was small and lightweight enough for inside a house. Plenty of power too.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Personal is a Harbor Freight chipping hammer I've used alot for the past 10 years. It helps if the GC's kids want to try it out while they are there helping demo other stuff. Briefly had me two free helpers on this reno. The son quit after 5 minutes, the daughter chipped for about 15 minutes. Don't know why both wanted to sit on the bucket.


















Work provides a bigger Dewalt one on my truck.


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

chonkie said:


> Personal is a Harbor Freight chipping hammer I've used alot for the past 10 years. It helps if the GC's kids want to try it out while they are there helping demo other stuff. Briefly had me two free helpers on this reno. The son quit after 5 minutes, the daughter chipped for about 15 minutes. Don't know why both wanted to sit on the bucket.
> 
> 
> 
> Work provides a bigger Dewalt one on my truck.


The chipper in the pics is way too small for the task.


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## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Tango said:


> The chipper in the pics is way too small for the task.


Not if you know how to use it properly.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

I have a 55# dewalt hammer, my master had a 90# hammer, some Japanese brand or something. Far better than my dewalt! If we had a tot underground we’d call our local concrete cutting company. They are fast, cheap and do an awesome job.

I’ve used the HF hammers, granted a decade ago or more. I guess in a pinch, but it wouldn’t be my go to.

useng a sledge to break it after weakening the concrete, be on your knees when you swing it. Believe it or not, you get much better results.


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## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

I will break out with an electric jack hammer first and the cut edges if needed after to clean up for pouring concrete back . Why don't you cut first , because most times I don't know what needs broken out until I am finished. Doing a large job next week for a doggie day care . 2 large bathrooms need installed. New work I know what needs cut out . Snapped lines on the concrete for the contactor. He cut with a large wetsaw . 6 inches thick and took the concrete out in large pieces


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

Dontbitenails said:


> I will break out with an electric jack hammer first and the cut edges if needed after to clean up for pouring concrete back . Why don't you cut first , because most times I don't know what needs broken out until I am finished. Doing a large job next week for a doggie day care . 2 large bathrooms need installed. New work I know what needs cut out . Snapped lines on the concrete for the contactor. He cut with a large wetsaw . 6 inches thick and took the concrete out in large pieces
> View attachment 129550




6 inches thick is fun stuff.... 
Letting the contractor cut up the floor is the only way to go


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## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

I got one of these and it works really well for the amount of concrete removal I want to do. 









Makita USA - Product Details -HR4510C


1-3/4" AVT® Rotary Hammer, accepts SDS-MAX bits




www.makitatools.com





Recently had to chip out the sluffed concrete from the edge of a slab on a 10-year-old house to get access to the drain that had separated at the edge of the foundation under a deck. It was a pretty ridiculously large blob. I don't know why they leave that stuff there. Anyway, the anti-shock system built into this thing is pretty awesome too.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

I would lay it out and have someone else cut, remove and trench. Why would anyone want to pay a plumber to do demo?
For that matter, why would a plumber want to do demo?


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## Alan (Jun 18, 2008)

I agree with all of that, however, the problem around here is usually: Do you know someone who does that? And usually, they are too busy. 

I have enough regular plumbing work that I really need to find someone who can reliably do large amounts of digging for me. Either that or increase my rates for digging. LOL.


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Plumbus said:


> I would lay it out and have someone else cut, remove and trench. Why would anyone want to pay a plumber to do demo?
> For that matter, why would a plumber want to do demo?


Doing service and repair, most times you don’t know how much you have bust up until you get going and see what you have.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I have a big electric breaker hammer that I use almost exclusively for slab leaks.
A large breaker hammer {jack hammer} will get through the slab in around {5} minutes whereas those teeny tiny chipping toys take an hour!


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I know this is off-topic, but worth re-posting. Some of the creatures one finds in Florida.

Just the other day, I came across a 5 ft. long rattlesnake. It was run over but not dead on my street near my house. So I finished it off with my .45 then took it to a taxidermist so she can mount it for me. It'll be a few months until I get it back.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Dontbitenails said:


> I will break out with an electric jack hammer first and the cut edges if needed after to clean up for pouring concrete back . Why don't you cut first , because most times I don't know what needs broken out until I am finished. Doing a large job next week for a doggie day care . 2 large bathrooms need installed. New work I know what needs cut out . Snapped lines on the concrete for the contactor. He cut with a large wetsaw . 6 inches thick and took the concrete out in large pieces
> View attachment 129550


Oops you didn't cut back far enough for the vents,or are the gonna frame up a new wall??


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## breplum (Mar 21, 2009)

In my 46 years in plumbing business, I've done tons of slab breakup projects.
A friend of the family in Texas has a belly + break on a 3" PVC drain underslab (from foundation "settling").
Multiple sewer and plumbing companies are suggesting and bidding tunneling under the slab to redo and probably reroute while they are at it. 
The house is wall to wall mid/large format tile on the slab and the tile is no longer made.
There would be "slab leveling done first" by pros, before any plumbing is undertaken.
I am just asking if anyone here has any experience with such a situation.
It is a real mess and tell her she should sue the sellers for failure to disclose, but lawyers tell her that w/o evidence, there isn't a case.


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## Michael Young (May 12, 2021)

breplum said:


> In my 46 years in plumbing business, I've done tons of slab breakup projects.
> A friend of the family in Texas has a belly + break on a 3" PVC drain underslab (from foundation "settling").
> Multiple sewer and plumbing companies are suggesting and bidding tunneling under the slab to redo and probably reroute while they are at it.
> The house is wall to wall mid/large format tile on the slab and the tile is no longer made.
> ...


Goes without saying - slab work sucks. I've gotten to where I won't touch a slab leak for less than $6000. I'm too old for that ****. I hire a concrete company to cut and remove the concrete; to do the digging and etc. down to the pipes. Then I'll slide in there and make the repair. the concrete company can fill and finish. That jackhammer really beats the hell out of my joints these days.


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## GAN (Jul 10, 2012)

Some companies are small enough they have a hard time contracting a laborer, or demo, or flatwork company to get the job done. Some we were in didn't start until 10pm when a kitchen shut down. Try to get someone out of your company to come in at 10pm to start a job.

If the cash is right we would do the job and pour the floor back. Not to proud or above doing the work. If the scope is bigger that's another story.

Always a much cleaner job soring the floor first with diamond tipped saw or cutting through most of the slab, then a 60lb electric unless it was a bigger job then an air hammer. tons faster.



Plumbus said:


> I would lay it out and have someone else cut, remove and trench. Why would anyone want to pay a plumber to do demo?
> For that matter, why would a plumber want to do demo?


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Tommy plumber said:


> I have a big electric breaker hammer that I use almost exclusively for slab leaks.
> A large breaker hammer {jack hammer} will get through the slab in around {5} minutes whereas those teeny tiny chipping toys take an hour!
> View attachment 129559



My Bosch jackhammer is 20 years old, it goes to Bosch for service every 5-8 years but it is a great tool.


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## JimmyMac (Nov 4, 2015)

We have a couple the same as Tommy we bought used from United, only had 1 fail not a bad deal for as much use as we get out of it, pretty much 1/2 to 1/3 of the original cost. We do a bunch of demo all commercial everything is in a concrete floor and always has to be done asap, no time to sub out, we just do it. Changing a couple of grease traps this week, next week bringing a 3 bowl sink up to code with an indirect waste drain. We also have a stihl electric chop saw for indoors that we use when have to sawcut a large portion of floor, depends on the guy on what they prefer.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

JimmyMac said:


> We have a couple the same as Tommy we bought used from United, only had 1 fail not a bad deal for as much use as we get out of it, pretty much 1/2 to 1/3 of the original cost. We do a bunch of demo all commercial everything is in a concrete floor and always has to be done asap, no time to sub out, we just do it. Changing a couple of grease traps this week, next week bringing a 3 bowl sink up to code with an indirect waste drain. We also have a stihl electric chop saw for indoors that we use when have to sawcut a large portion of floor, depends on the guy on what they prefer.


I had to use an electric saw on a large loves truck stop remodel we did couple yrs ago,it worked ok,I have a gas powered chop saw but could not use it due to fumes in the blding


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## JimmyMac (Nov 4, 2015)

sparky said:


> I had to use an electric saw on a large loves truck stop remodel we did couple yrs ago,it worked ok,I have a gas powered chop saw but could not use it due to fumes in the blding


100% agree on that! MUCH rather use the gas one but can't inside...funny was literally just talking to one of my guys about a job at a Loves truck stop!


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## Dontbitenails (Oct 16, 2020)

sparky said:


> Oops you didn't cut back far enough for the vents,or are the gonna frame up a new wall??


They are building new walls inside existing outside walls. Plenty of room to insulate and protect pipes from freezing and run vents up through .


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Dontbitenails said:


> They are building new walls inside existing outside walls. Plenty of room to insulate and protect pipes from freezing and run vents up through .


10-4


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