Thoughts on a demolition drill
Discussion
Morning all, our extension is due to start in the near future and I’m pulling the garages down in readiness.
I’m about half way through the first which is a half brick thick construction and other than the masonry above the lintels it’s been smooth sailing.
I have a 4 year old Erbauer 18v SDS which has a 2j hammer rating and ignoring the fact that I think the chuck is on its way out (it rotates loosely when on hammer only, pretty sure it didn’t previously do that) it really struggled to break the stiffer mortar.
Planning to buy another to supplement it and curious as to whether you think a direct replacement of similar weight (3kg ish) with 50% more hammer strength (3J) with the same 18v batteries would make much difference or if I should just buy a corded 5/6kg sds with 5-8J hammer strength, I’m not sure if the fatigue of swinging something around at twice the weight will offset the extra power.
The second garage that needs to come down is a whole brick thick and is much older so I anticipate a much more difficult job of getting it down, hence the concern over power.
Don’t foresee much use in the future that a battery drill won’t handle so I was just going to look at Skil or Einhell type products in the £100 range as it’s only going to have a week or 2 use.
What do we think, lighter and easier to handle, or heavier and stronger but potentially more effort to use?
The floor is yours!
I’m about half way through the first which is a half brick thick construction and other than the masonry above the lintels it’s been smooth sailing.
I have a 4 year old Erbauer 18v SDS which has a 2j hammer rating and ignoring the fact that I think the chuck is on its way out (it rotates loosely when on hammer only, pretty sure it didn’t previously do that) it really struggled to break the stiffer mortar.
Planning to buy another to supplement it and curious as to whether you think a direct replacement of similar weight (3kg ish) with 50% more hammer strength (3J) with the same 18v batteries would make much difference or if I should just buy a corded 5/6kg sds with 5-8J hammer strength, I’m not sure if the fatigue of swinging something around at twice the weight will offset the extra power.
The second garage that needs to come down is a whole brick thick and is much older so I anticipate a much more difficult job of getting it down, hence the concern over power.
Don’t foresee much use in the future that a battery drill won’t handle so I was just going to look at Skil or Einhell type products in the £100 range as it’s only going to have a week or 2 use.
What do we think, lighter and easier to handle, or heavier and stronger but potentially more effort to use?
The floor is yours!
I'd be tempted to hire a decent Hilti Breaker.
https://www.hss.com/hire/p/p02234/hilti-te-700-avr...
You'll need a transformer too, but the one above for example would be around £50 for a week. You'll have it all on the floor in a morning though with a decent tool.
https://www.hss.com/hire/p/p02234/hilti-te-700-avr...
You'll need a transformer too, but the one above for example would be around £50 for a week. You'll have it all on the floor in a morning though with a decent tool.
Hadn’t really thought about hiring, and I do already have a transformer so could be a good option - will just need to make sure I’m ready to take the whole thing down, being going piecemeal on the other one but still taking less than a week overall I’d say.
On the plus side, turning my cordless SDS into reverse and back again seems to have solved the random rotation so that’s good - definitely know that direct replacement isn’t needed just now.
On the plus side, turning my cordless SDS into reverse and back again seems to have solved the random rotation so that’s good - definitely know that direct replacement isn’t needed just now.
Buy either a titan or einhell corded machine from Screwfix. Get the largest that you can comfortably handle. Will make easy work of knocking it down compared to a weedy cordless. After use stick it in your shed and it will be still good to go in 5 years when the next little job comes up
If you separate the wall from each other, have you tried giving them a decent push ?
I've just demolished an old brick garage, it had a side entry door about 2/3rds down, once I had removed the roof and lintels I started loosening bricks above a window with hammer and bolster, noticed that the whole wall moved. With a good shove the whole thing was on the floor, separating at the damp course.
For the rest, I hammer & bolstered 2 or 3 courses down at a time and pretty big lumps came off. When the other wall was split from the back, it too was loose and got pushed over, again it split at the damp course.
Granted it was an old building but even the piers went with it when toppled.
I've just demolished an old brick garage, it had a side entry door about 2/3rds down, once I had removed the roof and lintels I started loosening bricks above a window with hammer and bolster, noticed that the whole wall moved. With a good shove the whole thing was on the floor, separating at the damp course.
For the rest, I hammer & bolstered 2 or 3 courses down at a time and pretty big lumps came off. When the other wall was split from the back, it too was loose and got pushed over, again it split at the damp course.
Granted it was an old building but even the piers went with it when toppled.
Crafty_ said:
If you separate the wall from each other, have you tried giving them a decent push ?
I've just demolished an old brick garage, it had a side entry door about 2/3rds down, once I had removed the roof and lintels I started loosening bricks above a window with hammer and bolster, noticed that the whole wall moved. With a good shove the whole thing was on the floor, separating at the damp course.
For the rest, I hammer & bolstered 2 or 3 courses down at a time and pretty big lumps came off. When the other wall was split from the back, it too was loose and got pushed over, again it split at the damp course.
Granted it was an old building but even the piers went with it when toppled.
I did a bit of push me pull me with some of the bits above the doors on the small garage, but the big one has a 5.5m tall gable end and I don’t fancy dropping that so will carry on with my plan for controlled demolition. I've just demolished an old brick garage, it had a side entry door about 2/3rds down, once I had removed the roof and lintels I started loosening bricks above a window with hammer and bolster, noticed that the whole wall moved. With a good shove the whole thing was on the floor, separating at the damp course.
For the rest, I hammer & bolstered 2 or 3 courses down at a time and pretty big lumps came off. When the other wall was split from the back, it too was loose and got pushed over, again it split at the damp course.
Granted it was an old building but even the piers went with it when toppled.
Having used a corded drill today I think I’ll stick with a longer period of lighter tools and will grab a new battery SDS. But also I started on the ground slab today and will be buying one of those big long Titan breakers because otherwise I’ll be here til Easter
If its just one demolition job then hire one for a day or two, i have a makita 17mm hex breaker for smaller tasks but for thicker/reinforced concrete i just get one of these, about 30-40 quid for the day ( i have a transformer). That includes the chisel shapening charge too . Have a full day at it and job done.
I broke this up in about 3 hours.
Thought about buying one myself ……then saw the price.
I broke this up in about 3 hours.
Thought about buying one myself ……then saw the price.
simon_harris said:
If it is only a single skin brick wall why are you doing anything other than swinging a big hammer?
Because I’ll be 5m up a rickety scaffold tower?Because I don’t want potential tonnes of masonry falling down next to my house?
Because I’m not a professional?
Because I don’t want to make a huge mess?
Because a 9” thick wall which is bonding a way to make it strong might not be that easy to just knock down?
Because I don’t want it to rock and then fall back into me on a scaffold tower or my house?
AlmostUseful said:
simon_harris said:
If it is only a single skin brick wall why are you doing anything other than swinging a big hammer?
Because I’ll be 5m up a rickety scaffold tower?Because I don’t want potential tonnes of masonry falling down next to my house?
Because I’m not a professional?
Because I don’t want to make a huge mess?
Because a 9” thick wall which is bonding a way to make it strong might not be that easy to just knock down?
Because I don’t want it to rock and then fall back into me on a scaffold tower or my house?
AlmostUseful said:
Because I’ll be 5m up a rickety scaffold tower?
Because I don’t want potential tonnes of masonry falling down next to my house?
Because I’m not a professional?
Because I don’t want to make a huge mess?
Because a 9” thick wall which is bonding a way to make it strong might not be that easy to just knock down?
Because I don’t want it to rock and then fall back into me on a scaffold tower or my house?
As below titan 10j from screwfix is good for £109.00 we’ve used it for similar work.Because I don’t want potential tonnes of masonry falling down next to my house?
Because I’m not a professional?
Because I don’t want to make a huge mess?
Because a 9” thick wall which is bonding a way to make it strong might not be that easy to just knock down?
Because I don’t want it to rock and then fall back into me on a scaffold tower or my house?
I bought one of these Draper demolition hammers recently for £130 (maybe it was a sale price?). It's surprisingly good. Small enough to move around easily, but powerful enough to break up small areas of proper concrete. I didn't fancy one of those larger hex breakers as they are only good on ground work. It easily got through stuff that my cheapy Titan SDS wouldn't touch.
https://www.toolstation.com/draper-1050w-sds-max-b...
For heavy work, hiring is a no brainer. Weekend rentals are quite cheap for something like a Hilti TE2000. Easily pays for itself in saved time.
https://www.toolstation.com/draper-1050w-sds-max-b...
For heavy work, hiring is a no brainer. Weekend rentals are quite cheap for something like a Hilti TE2000. Easily pays for itself in saved time.
Sanderling said:
I bought one of these Draper demolition hammers recently for £130 (maybe it was a sale price?). It's surprisingly good. Small enough to move around easily, but powerful enough to break up small areas of proper concrete. I didn't fancy one of those larger hex breakers as they are only good on ground work. It easily got through stuff that my cheapy Titan SDS wouldn't touch.
https://www.toolstation.com/draper-1050w-sds-max-b...
For heavy work, hiring is a no brainer. Weekend rentals are quite cheap for something like a Hilti TE2000. Easily pays for itself in saved time.
I have one of those, it's not bad at all. One thing that makes it even more useful is buying a couple of long chisels for it, eg,https://www.toolstation.com/draper-1050w-sds-max-b...
For heavy work, hiring is a no brainer. Weekend rentals are quite cheap for something like a Hilti TE2000. Easily pays for itself in saved time.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134256590796
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306305724108
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff