Replacing a manhole cover

Hi all,

We've recently purchased our first house and there is a corroded manhole cover near the front door (not on the drive itself). Until now I've protected anyone from walking over it by strategically placing the garden waste wheelie bin over it (they'd have to go out of their way to stand on it, but you can never be too sure).

A builder came around the other day to quote a replacement and said he'd only need to remove 50mm of concrete around the old frame, cement in the new one and quoted £150.

As I want to start getting a hand in doing my own work around the house I fancy trying it myself, I'm also aware that a new frame will only be in the region of £20 to £30.

I know I have to dig out the old one, but have never done anything like it before. Would a chisel and hammer usually suffice for such a small area? (this seems to be mentioned in most online guides to this sort of job) And if so, what type? A quick google search returns a bewildering array of choices.

If it's helpful I can post pictures when I'm at home.

I'm sure this is ridiculously basic stuff, and it's a little bit intimidating to ask it out loud, but I'm sure you all appreciate that we all start somewhere!

Usually, an inspection chamber is of brick construction, and the steel cover - or at least the supporting rim - are bedded down on a thick wedge of sand and cement.
With frost and continual dampness, this cement fillet often breaks away, allowing the supporting rim to float around.
Its easy enough to chip the old cement away, and trowel on a new mix.....just make sure the supporting rim is level when you bed it down.
John

I had a broken lid on my drive so I thought I would replace it , so the next time I was at the builders merchants I picked up a new one and then proceeded to smash out the old rim with the club hammer and bolster chisel. When I had done this I realized that the new one would fit perfectly in the old rim

Thanks so far - I've located a masonry chisel and a hammer, and after some effort removed the cover (nicely bonded in there!)

Should I be attacking the blobs of cement underneath the frame, or digging out the edges of the frame? (ie at surface level)

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Was the old cover cast iron? Was it cracked? The new flimsy ones are dangerous to small children as they can lift them. If its not broken don't fix it!!

Not cast iron, and had massive holes in it where it had rotted through. That's why I'm replacing! Very much broken and in need of fixing.

Those metal flecks you can see in the picture alongside the drainage channel? That's the bit of the cover that have fallen through...

Yep, chop out the old mortar below the cast frame (it should break away quite readily) until you reach the chamber top blocks. The area should be nice and flat when the old stuff is cleared away.
John

As burnerman said, the mortar bed to the old frame comes out before fixing a new frame.

You may find it useful to have some bits of slate packing to assist setting the new frame in place, once the new frame has been set to the required level so the lid is flush with the ground just lift it all off and put down the new mortar bed and set the frame back down into it. The bits of slate would ensure you go back to the predetermined level. You only need enough slate or similar to set the level so the main part of the frame will have a gap under it until you put the bed in.

Thanks for the advice and reassurance everyone.

Did some chipping away at the bottom all the way around, got a crowbar under it and heaved... and away it came... quite satisfying actually

I'd sent my wife off to purchase the frame and cover, and as it happened whilst she was stood in the queue the chap behind her had one he'd been trying to get rid of for a while and had never used, he only wanted a tenner for it.

So after ensuring the hole was large enough to seat the frame we did a bit of husband and wife teamwork to cement it in. It's now sitting there drying and I'm waiting until tomorrow to put the cover on (it's actually suitable for load bearing so it's quite hefty).

Should add, total cost was £20 for all materials, so that's pretty satisfying even if some of the chiseling was hard work for someone not used to manual labour

I'll post up pictures tomorrow, assuming it's still there in the morning...

Nice one It must have been one of those awful non galvanised lids - seen a couple - damned dangerous - @ least your drain isn`t deep .