Where the sidewalk ends — it has to be somewhere. And sometimes you have to end that sidewalk yourself! Whether your sidewalk is old or in the way, you might need to remove one in your life.
The size of this project can vary—depending on if you’re just removing one piece of your sidewalk or a whole stretch. The size of the project dictates the tools you might need. For instance, a large project might need a bulldozer or heavy machinery. Smaller projects can be accomplished with a sledgehammer, jackhammer, shovel, and wheelbarrow. If you’re feeling fancy, there are power wheelbarrows out there that can move things along more quickly. Another potential tool is an air hammer, which comes with a variety of bits—go for the chisel-nosed for this project.
Whichever tool you choose, the tactic isn’t too surprising. You need to take on the sidewalk with your tools and break it up into small pieces. As you make a crack, follow that crack so that it will splinter out into more cracks and ultimately break up the sidewalk.
It’s important to be careful when removing those pieces of concrete from the site. After removal, pieces are sharp, heavy, and require some tools to load them into the wheelbarrow. If it was well installed, even with demolition tools it may still be attached to the foundation in some way. For this reason, you may need to have some more tools to pry pieces loose—a mattock is a great tool for that.
You’ll get into a cycle where you need to break it up, shovel it into your wheelbarrow, and bring it to your dumpster (or another safe waste removal receptacle).
You may hit a few obstacles—for instance, there may be some reinforcement mesh wire or rebar in your sidewalk. This can make it quite a bit harder to remove the sidewalk, and can require more tools. A reciprocating saw or bolt cutters might be needed to get through those obstacles.
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