We have a sidewalk to nowhere running along the side of our back yard. Before our renovation; there was a side door that would take you from the house to this sidewalk; but we said goodbye to that porch in December, 2015! We have no need to have a sidewalk leading from the corner of the house to the alley on that side. So, I did what anyone would do & asked our contractor if he had a jackhammer I could borrow. He didn't have a jackhammer, but he did have a roto hammer; which is a jack hammer's baby cousin.
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| Before. My goal was to rid myself of the sidewalk all the way to the alley. Don't mind the improvised wooden walkway next to the sidewalk.... the backyard is a huge mud pit when it rains. |
I had a lot of fun playing with the tool; but my Dad came to the house to help me equipped with a giant pick & sledgehammer. He & I could pry the side walk pieces off of the ground together & get them out of our way in 1 piece. His way was better than mine, which should not shock anyone who knows my Dad! We were able to remove about 40% of the sidewalk, including a patch I had removed last summer/fall. Huge bonus? Beautiful (if very muddy) brick was hiding under the area we cleared!
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| After- check out that pile of bricks on the left (in the foreground). Those were our reward for pulling up the old sidewalk! |
The other 60% of the sidewalk was another matter entirely. It was significantly thicker (8-10 inches thick versus 2 inches for the other area) and more solidly constructed. I had a major roto hammer fail. It took me an hour of working the machine over this area to effectively scratch the surface. Wah, wah! The rest will need to be completed by a professional using a bobcat equipped with a jackhammer. My borrowed tool really couldn't hack it! At least I tried though, right?
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| Roto hammer fail :( Notice how the sidewalk is still there?? I gave it the good ole college try though - there has got to be something said for that! |
