A wet saw equipped with a masonry blade may also be used to cut concrete retaining wall blocks.
How to break up a concrete wall.
To break up concrete start by covering the concrete with a plastic sheet to protect nearby items from flying debris.
Ignore any rebar you come across and just break the concrete free of the metal.
Sledgehammer this classic heavy headed hammering tool is the traditional manual method of breaking up concrete.
Dig under the concrete if you re able to do so.
Flying shards of concrete can damage siding break glass or even cut you.
Use a hammer and chisel to break a retaining wall block down the center.
The cut off saw offers a solution to scoring small concrete slabs working in tight spaces or cutting vertical surfaces such as concrete walls.
Start to break the concrete starting six inches from the edge and working your way in.
When deciding whether or not to break up an existing concrete pad keep in mind that it can be a great deal of work that could easily cause burn out on before the project is begun.
For thin slabs of concrete use a sledgehammer to break it up.
Cover the concrete slab with 4 mil plastic sheeting if you re working near windows.
For slabs less than four inches thick use a sledgehammer.
Concrete shrapnel can damage siding and break windows and it s a real chore to clean up.
If the concrete is too thick to break up with a sledgehammer you can use an electric jackhammer instead.
To break off large pieces make a series of blows in a line to create a stress crack then strike in the middle of the area you want to remove to break the concrete along the line.
Rather than setting up plywood to protect windows and siding roll 6 mil polyethylene at home centers over the patio or sidewalk.
This means to position a full block directly over the space where two blocks meet.
One worker breaks up the concrete pad with the jackhammer while the other uses the sawzall to cut the wire holding the big chunks together.
Take frequent breaks and keep yourself well hydrated.