Questions tagged [demolition]
The demolition tag has no usage guidance.
125
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Replacing 2 layers of tile, can I put plywood + Ditra mat OVER lathe and scratch?
We're redoing our 2nd-floor 7' x 10' laundry room, including new / moved cabinets and flooring. The existing tile was ~1/4" lower than the vinyl plank outside the room, so I (naively) assumed we'...
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Any issues with tearing down this closet to open up some space in our mudroom?
we are wanting to take down this closet, and put in some custom locker cabinets instead for our mudroom entry since it is pretty cramped.
First and most important, I assume this wall isn't load ...
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How do I remove this old flue pipe?
There's an old chimney for a furnace in my basement which is no longer being used, and I'd like to take it out. It's going through cinder block, with concrete sealing around both sides.
Outer ...
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how to grease and maintain a demo hammer with SDS-MAX bits
i have a basic harbor freight demo hammer that uses SDS MAX bits.
its not clear how to keep it greased.
there is a plasict cover on top (see pic) that has a huge chamber beneath. its not clear how ...
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Should I demolish this closet myself or leave it for a contractor?
I’m an amateur at this, so I’m asking for some guidance on knocking this closet down. I want to turn the corner into just a normal plain corner without all the wood paneling. I would have a ...
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How can I remove a bit from a jackhammer that got stuck in concrete?
I was trying to jack hammer a hole through my foundation. This turned out to be a herculean task. I blame the old concrete from 1950 which is filled with rocks. I keep getting my bits stuck in the ...
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How do you create a hole in a concrete foundation with a demolition hammer?
I recently purchased the XtremepowerUS 2200Watt Heavy Duty Electric Demolition Jack hammer Concrete Breaker. With it I am trying to punch a hole through the concrete to replace an iron shower drain ...
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Why do some people cut concrete before they break a hole in it?
I'm replacing a shower drain. I notice some people cut the foundation with a concrete wet saw before they jack hammer the foundation to get through it. Others, don't. Is there a benefit to cutting the ...
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How best to remove flooring and underlayment from our tile floor
We are renovating a 1961 rural house in France. The ground floor is garage/basement, but both the first and second floors (in European terms) are a 30cm hard concrete subfloor with 10cm (4 inches) of ...
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How to tear down a brick chimney
My 100 year old chimney is in bad shape, so I decided to tear it down and rebuild it. Prior to beginning, I thought it was just the bricks and a steel liner, however once I took off the crown and the ...
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Lengthening header for closet
I recently posted asking whether my closet wall was load-bearing... but I've since determined it is. Prior to wall demo, had I checked the attic and crawl space and the wall appeared to be non-load ...
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load bearing wall above closet?
EDITED after demolition, I went back into the attach to pinpoint the exact ceiling 2x4 (I can see between the drywall gaps to the bedroom below). Now I have more reason to believe it's load bearing...
...
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How to minimize ceiling/drywall damage when installing the internal home side of a deck lateral tension device
The lateral tension devices are included in the current International Builders Code:
R507.2.4 Deck lateral load connection.
The lateral load connection required by Section R507.1 shall be
permitted ...
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Removing concrete hearth from fireplace
Please note: I did find this very similar question but believe ours is different since its unclear how far beneath the hardwood flooring the hearth goes.
Here is our current fireplace with a concrete ...
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What type of fixing is this, and how do I remove it?
I've been trying to remove floating shelves fixed onto a masonry wall with no visible screws. After cutting into it with a saw, I've found it is held up with the following fixing:
The exposed part of ...
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Is it possible to remove and old concrete balcony from a brick home and replace with a standard wood/composite deck?
I have a brick home built in the 1930's with a concrete slab "cantilevered" off the back of the house with 2 support columns. I am unsure if the balcony was original or added later but I do ...
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Fiberglass Shower Drain Removal
1974 Condo on a post tension concrete slab. This was an original fiberglass shower enclosure. I can’t figure out how to remove this drain.
Any advice is appreciated.
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How to demolish metal lath wall (tiled)?
A wall is metal lath on studs, covered in a coarse heavy plaster (or light cement, I don't know what it is) and over that is a thick layer of tile cement and then ceramic tile. The whole thing is ...
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Best way to clean up nails after demolition?
I have a small wooden shed in my back yard that needs to be torn down, and for the most part, I can handle it fine. However, I have one concern about the cleanup afterwards: how can I make sure the ...
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How should I remove a swimming pool from my back yard?
Our house had a nice cedar pergola in the backyard, about 20'x16', whose posts began to rot at the base. It was covered in grape vine... Nice for shade but not for a falling down pergola. Needless to ...
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How do I properly demolish a tub and shower?
I'm planning to demolish my bathroom for a renovation, and not sure of the exact steps on demoing the tub and shower. Also worried about the shower since it's a large one piece. How I should go about ...
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Hand saws to cut OSB type panels
I want to cut OSB panel on an old shed into pieces and they will go into garbage.
I've searched for some advice regarding it and found out that a handsaw can be used for small amount of work.
Please ...
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What considerations should I make when demolishing a driveway?
I have a really long concrete driveway, and we'd like to turn the back half of it into part of the backyard. From this:
To this:
I'm hiring a demolition contractor for this task, but I'd like to ask ...
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How should I dispose of material waste during home construction?
The construction of my new home is undergoing now, but I am facing a problem - piling up of trash and unnecessary materials left over at each step of the development which I am moving to my garage. My ...
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Safety Razor Disposal in Medicine Cabinet
A question for the old timers(or any timers), have any of you demolished an older house that had a safety razor disposal slot built into a bathroom medicine cabinet? Was dealing with the dispised ...
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Efficiently remove backer board screws
I am replacing kitchen tile with vinyl planks or engineered hardwood. After ripping out the backer board with tile, I am left with hundreds of screws, set every two inches in a rectangular grid. Is ...
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Can I remove these walls?
I'm doing kitchen renovation and want to remove a few walls. Those are on the first floor of a 2 story house(no basement).
I've opened a few of them and did my best to provide all the pictures.
I ...
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Removing deck frame attached to siding
I'm in the process of removing an old deck attached to my house in an effort to replace it with stairs and a paver patio.
I've gotten most of it torn down and removed, but I'm wondering what the best ...
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How to demolish old stone walls safely?
We are renovating an old property in France where three walls of an old stone schoolhouse (10ish meters high I'm guessing, maybe more in some places) sit adjacent to the more recent house (1950s). We ...
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How should I replace this rotten window header?
Here I have a corner bathroom. Left wall is exterior. My “header/top plate” is rotten. I am able to put my finger through it.
I have never come across a window header that doubles as a wall top plate, ...
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Is this asbestos pipe insulation
I have been doing work around a house I purchased. Never even thought pipe insulation would have or could have asbestos. My home was built in 1976 and is on Long Island NY (not sure if this helps.) I ...
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What kind of material is this (for a shower pan) and how to remove it
I have a house built in 1962. I want to demo the bathroom and I'm seeing this patterned sort of cement looking material (perhaps it's granite?) that is the shower pan. Is this cement? And what is the ...
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How to get up deck boards with rusted screws, want to plane and reuse the boards so the screws have to come out
a slight spin on other questions. I have a deck that is coming out with painted wood and rusted screws. 1 out of 10 comes out OK, the others break off. Since I am going to be re-using the wood, and ...
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Crushed cinder block a substitute for crushed stone?
I have two projects and I'm hoping there's a synergy between them. The first project is the demolition of a small cinder block wall that has just been completed. The second project is building a ...
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Is this brick knee wall tied in to the main wall?
We would like to remove the L-shaped brick "knee wall" in the picture on the left. The picture on the right shows the seam between the knee wall and the main wall of the house. Is the knee ...
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What underlayment material is this? Is it safe?
This underlayerment was found in a bathroom. It was under a cement layer with tiles on top. The house was constructed in the late 1980s.
What material is this underlayerment made of? Is it safe to ...
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Mold growth in home
My home is a mold catastrophe. My fiancé was sick for a year and we got an air quality test and it tested the highest level. I started ripping the house apart and found that there was mold in three ...
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Can this stack air duct be removed to tear down small wall?
I have an appointment with the HVAC supply business that installed the furnace 2 years ago but it is months away. My question is can I remove this wall to make my shower bigger? Through research I ...
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Can I remove this post on the lower floor of a two-storey home?
In the living area of my house is this decorative rail and post.
I want to remove them. While I suspect such a narrow, solitary post would not be made to bear a load, I am not a builder so I still ...
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Proper demolition hammer selection for stone wall and concrete steps
I’m looking to replace a wall under my deck, and to remove an old set of concrete stairs under same. I’m currently researching the project, and hoping to do it this fall in cooler weather.
The stone ...
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Pool demolition
Approximately 15,000 gallon pool that I want to demolish and fill to have a regular backyard.
My concern is the established plumbing that is associated with the pool. What happens to it? I dont ...
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Process of removing mold from behind shower tile
Background
Thanks to a shifting foundation, the tile in one of our showers cracked along a corner and water got in behind it. We know that at the least the wall behind the tile has fails as it caved ...
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How to check whether demolition brick is safe to use?
I would like to reuse demolition brick from building that was part of chemical factory. Factory was closed about 10 years ago, I know that sulphides and acids were heavily used there. I wonder if it's ...
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Best tool to cut out back of kitchen sink cabinet?
There are 100% mice under my kitchen sink. I need to rip out the cabinet part to see whether and how I can patch it up to keep them out. I'm digging in from outside beyond the foundation, too, but ...
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1920s stove pipe walled off behind kitchen
I have a giant metal pipe filled with concrete or something, it doesn't go anywhere, it's just taking up space in my closet.
I assume there used to be a big wood burning stove in the kitchen, and ...
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How would I remove a concrete shelf with possible reinforcements
I've had a brick-walled cupboard removed from my kitchen, but the concrete shelf that was in it had to be left because of the gas piping around it.
The piping will be removed for 2 days soon while a ...
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How to demo a partially structural chimney?
Just bought a new home and would like to remove its chimney. It was originally built on the outside of the home and they built a carport up around it. It looks like it may have sprung a leak, so the ...
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How can I remove studs and screws from the inside of drywall when installing a pocket door without needing to do paint and patch work on both sides?
I'm planning on taking a few weeks off to do some DIY in the fall, and one of those things is replacing the standard-hinged door in my walk-in closet with a pocket door. This is a non-load bearing ...
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Tools and feasibility of tearing down a wooden shed held together by nails
Is it possible to DIY tear down a wooden shed held together by nails?
I have a hammer and crowbar.
What other tools do I need?
It looks like this shed except I already tore down the door and I've ...
user103805
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Would a sledgehammer be okay to break up limestone?
I would be working in an enclosed environment so I don’t want anything too bulky and preferably handheld that’s why I wanted to go with a sledgehammer as you can probably tell I’m new to all this ...
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