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Need to remove concrete floor in bathroom john.moshell 08-16-2006
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Posted by on August 16, 2006, 9:50 am

I recently bought a 1968 bungalow that needs some renovations and
updating. One of the bathrooms has a crack in the concrete floor where
the tub meets the wall. I chisled out the 3" thick piece of concrete
that was cracked and noticed that there is severe water damage to a
joist that sits below the slab. I believe the previous owners kept
using the shower (only one in the house, so it got plenty of use) and
let water seap down in the crack.

So....I would like to pull up the concrete slab to find out what I am
up against. My question is, what is the easiest way to get this
concrete up causing the least damage to what's underneath? I have
noticed a lot people just banging on it with a hammer, but I am scared
I might be adding weight to the weak joists below. Cutting the concrete
is also an option I guess, but do you just set the saw to not cut more
than 3" (slab thickness)?

Any suggestions would be helpful. I jumped head first into this
project. This is my first house and it was a foreclosure, so I have
lots of work ahead of me.

......Thanks in advance for the responses.


PexSupply Full Banner
Posted by on August 16, 2006, 11:19 am
john.moshell@usan.com wrote:
<snip>
> So....I would like to pull up the concrete slab to find out what I am
> up against. My question is, what is the easiest way to get this
> concrete up causing the least damage to what's underneath?

In short: unless you really _really_ have to, you don't. Inspect
underneath for plumbing and elctirical lines and turn them off or reloacte
them as you are able and then poynd away. If somthing underneath is
rotten and breaks, well, it was going to need replacing anyway, so you've
just started on that demo a bit earlier than you were otherwise going to.

Now obviously, if the beams involved are doing major load carrying and are
in danger of causing some sort imminent collapse, then you don't want to
just start banging about, but then you really oughtn'y be doing _any_ work
in the area untill you get things shored up or otherwisee braced.

But for some possibly rotten wood under a bathroom? Just hammer away.




John
--
Remove the dead poet to e-mail, tho CC'd posts are unwelcome.
Mean People Suck - It takes two deviations to get cool.
Ask me about joining the NRA.

Posted by kevin on August 16, 2006, 1:02 pm


> > So....I would like to pull up the concrete slab to find out what I am
> > up against. My question is, what is the easiest way to get this
> > concrete up causing the least damage to what's underneath?

I don't get it at all. Normally, "what's underneath" a concrete slab in
a home is just dirt and gravel. Is there a basement underneath this
concrete floor? If so, you would just go down and look at the joists
from below, so I'm assuming there is NOT a basement or crawl space.

The wood you are finding down there could be bits of the wood they used
to make the frame into which the concrete was poured. It serves no
purpose now at all, and is fine just rotting away under there, since it
is buried in dirt anyway.

Now, cracks in concrete are inevitable and unavoidable. How bad was the
crack? Just a hairline, or could you slip a pencil down it/ Or more?

Certainly make sure your tub is not leaking, but before you go ripping
out your slab, maybe you can fix this problem by (a) ignoring it
because it isn't really a problem, or (b), just patching the one spot
from above, sealing the area, and making sure the tub isn't leaking
anywhere.

-Kevin


Posted by johnnymo on August 16, 2006, 1:33 pm

kevin wrote:
> > > So....I would like to pull up the concrete slab to find out what I am
> > > up against. My question is, what is the easiest way to get this
> > > concrete up causing the least damage to what's underneath?
>
> I don't get it at all. Normally, "what's underneath" a concrete slab in
> a home is just dirt and gravel. Is there a basement underneath this
> concrete floor? If so, you would just go down and look at the joists
> from below, so I'm assuming there is NOT a basement or crawl space.
>
> The wood you are finding down there could be bits of the wood they used
> to make the frame into which the concrete was poured. It serves no
> purpose now at all, and is fine just rotting away under there, since it
> is buried in dirt anyway.
>
> Now, cracks in concrete are inevitable and unavoidable. How bad was the
> crack? Just a hairline, or could you slip a pencil down it/ Or more?
>
> Certainly make sure your tub is not leaking, but before you go ripping
> out your slab, maybe you can fix this problem by (a) ignoring it
> because it isn't really a problem, or (b), just patching the one spot
> from above, sealing the area, and making sure the tub isn't leaking
> anywhere.
>
> -Kevin

Good suggestions. I guess I can provide some more info that I forgot. I
do have a crawl space and I can't see concrete from the crawlspace, so
it was poured in the house and not just inserted as a whole there.

The "crack" basically separated a corner (which I removed to find the
rotten board underneath). The joists look ok from the bottom, but that
one area that wasn't properly sealed definitely needs replacing. I
figured since the slab is missing a corner and the area needs
repairing, I could be pro-active and remove the slab.

Thanks for the suggestions....I can already tell this is going to be a
fun task.


Posted by Speedy Jim on August 16, 2006, 2:54 pm
johnnymo wrote:

> kevin wrote:
>
>>>>So....I would like to pull up the concrete slab to find out what I am
>>>>up against. My question is, what is the easiest way to get this
>>>>concrete up causing the least damage to what's underneath?
>>
>>I don't get it at all. Normally, "what's underneath" a concrete slab in
>>a home is just dirt and gravel. Is there a basement underneath this
>>concrete floor? If so, you would just go down and look at the joists
>>from below, so I'm assuming there is NOT a basement or crawl space.
>>
>>The wood you are finding down there could be bits of the wood they used
>>to make the frame into which the concrete was poured. It serves no
>>purpose now at all, and is fine just rotting away under there, since it
>>is buried in dirt anyway.
>>
>>Now, cracks in concrete are inevitable and unavoidable. How bad was the
>>crack? Just a hairline, or could you slip a pencil down it/ Or more?
>>
>>Certainly make sure your tub is not leaking, but before you go ripping
>>out your slab, maybe you can fix this problem by (a) ignoring it
>>because it isn't really a problem, or (b), just patching the one spot
>>from above, sealing the area, and making sure the tub isn't leaking
>>anywhere.
>>
>>-Kevin
>
>
> Good suggestions. I guess I can provide some more info that I forgot. I
> do have a crawl space and I can't see concrete from the crawlspace, so
> it was poured in the house and not just inserted as a whole there.
>
> The "crack" basically separated a corner (which I removed to find the
> rotten board underneath). The joists look ok from the bottom, but that
> one area that wasn't properly sealed definitely needs replacing. I
> figured since the slab is missing a corner and the area needs
> repairing, I could be pro-active and remove the slab.
>
> Thanks for the suggestions....I can already tell this is going to be a
> fun task.
>

Sounds to me like you have a cement subfloor.
Wooden "slats" are laid between the joists to create a base for
the concrete mix, which may only be 2 to 4" deep. The mix may have
steel mesh in it for strength. The whole system forms a very
rigid base for ceramic tile while not overloading the joists.

Jim

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