Breaking up concrete base next to house

[berty3000]

Hi all,

I have this concrete base alongside the house and waht to remove it and pave over the area. It used to have a lean-to greenhouse on it.

It is just under 2 bricks below DPC, is about 4" thick, and only a few mm from the wall of the house. If I use a sledge hammer to break it up, is there any significant risk of damaging the house or its foundations?

Any advice?

 

[JohnD]

Unlikely. If you start breaking it furthest from the house, it will probably crack into pieces that you can lever up and carry away without needing to hammer next to the wall. A slab is often thicker round the edges.

Identify the position of all drains and other buried services before you start.

 

[berty3000]

Unlikely. If you start breaking it furthest from the house, it will probably crack into pieces that you can lever up and carry away without needing to hammer next to the wall. A slab is often thicker round the edges.

Identify the position of all drains and other buried services before you start.

Thanks John. I was thinking to do just that and am hoping it will be in removable pieces before I get close to the house. The only drain pipe runs very close around two sides of the pad but is below the bottom of the concrete. By a few inches I'd say to the top of the plastic pipe. As a precaution I could wield the hammer at least a foot inside the concrete area from the edges, starting at the side away from the house?

 

[JohnD]

Hit it in the middle

Once you've cracked it with a sledge, use a pick to lever it up, it will probably start cracking into pieces.