Best way to demolish the wall?

[eroz]

Hey,

To facilitate drainage and tidy up a bit, a wall running along the long side will be demolished.
What’s the best way to do it?
Some sort of "casting" has been done to hold it all together, and it was hard to get a good grip with a crowbar...

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[Anders243]

Are you going to put it up again?
Otherwise, I would have taken a rotary hammer with a flat chisel and chipped at the joints between the layers of slabs. That way, you should be able to peel off the wall layer by layer.

 

[MagHam]

A demolition hammer is the first choice. Otherwise, just go at it with a sledgehammer. That one should be quite easy to knock down. /M

 

[pelpet]

I agree with Anders234. An alternative solution is an excavator, then you can quickly and easily load the debris into a truck and drive it away. That is quite heavy anyway.

Are you going to dig with an excavator during the drainage work? If so, it might be easiest to take down the wall with the excavator then.

 

[eroz]

The wall is not going up! Drainage is done partly by hand, partly by machine due to access. (The demolition is supposed to increase the parts accessible by machine...)
All right, I have a hammer drill, how much "easier" is it to chisel away? How much harder to remove with a sledgehammer, maybe it varies too much between individual walls to be able to answer?

 

[Music Man]

I think it will be difficult with a rotary hammer. I tried myself when I was doing demolition. Had to use a proper demolition hammer.

 

[Anders243]

The wall should not be erected! Drainage is done partly by hand, partly with a machine due to access. (The demolition will increase the parts that can be accessed with a machine...)
All right, I have a hammer drill, how much "easier" is it to chisel away? How much harder is it to remove with a sledgehammer, it might vary too much between individual walls to be able to answer?

I think there is an advantage in trying to "cleave" the wall between courses, and then lift off the stones.
I own both a hammer drill and a chisel machine, and at least my chisel machine is too heavy to chisel horizontally to any large extent, so that's why I suggested a hammer drill.

However, the wall might be "reinforced" vertically, and then you will probably have to use a sledgehammer or similar and see if you can crack the concrete so the reinforcement is released.

I agree with your last point as well, it varies per wall. We had a stone staircase where one side was very easy to knock apart, but we've also had parts of a wall that were of bunker standard

 

[Haba_tsutt]

Big sledgehammer if it's not something you need to be careful with. Moreover, it's manly!

 

[eroz]

All right, I haven't seen it and I don't think there's any reinforcement in it. I'll test the rotary hammer this afternoon to see what damage I can cause. The sledgehammer will be a complement.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Thomas_Blekinge]

I would try to topple it with a car. If you attach a rope to the top row, you get quite a substantial bending moment at the base of the wall and can pull the wall down.
Then it lies there and can be transported away in larger pieces.

 

[pelpet]

I would try to topple it with a car. If you attach a rope to the top layer, you get quite a large bending moment at the base of the wall and can pull the wall down.
Then it lies there and can be transported away in larger pieces.

Set up the mobile camera. I've never seen anyone rip off the tow hook and drag the entire car sideways, but it would be fun to have on film .

 

[MagHam]

Rig up the mobile camera. I've never seen anyone rip off the tow hook and pull the whole car sideways, but it would be fun to have it on film .

You're so naughty

No, I don't believe in pulling it down either. At least not with a normal vehicle.

 

[Thomas_Blekinge]

I would test it anyway. I have seen some retaining walls that just stand on the ground by their own weight. Then it's just like a pile of bricks. That could be easy. With the camera is a good idea anyway.