removing concrete around perimeter house?

paddylonglegs

Hi,

Looking at a house at the moment, about 100 years old. It looks like there was a concrete path added around the preimeter of the house about 4ft wide in the 60s or so. This looks pretty ugly and ideally I would like to remove it and replace with stone or landscaping..

My question is, is this part of the structure that supports foundation and cannot be removed? Or was it laid originally out of convenience?

thanks all

TopTec

Unlikely that it is part of the original footings, unless the house is on some sort of raft with raised sides - would be very strange though, especially on an older property. If it was added 50 years after the house was built it can't be structural. A picture would help.

The easiest way is to kango out a piece, a test pit if you like, close to the house and see what is below. If it is only a few inches thick then it will be safe to remove. If it goes under the blocks/stone/brick whatever the house is built with then I would get a builder to do a proper check.

TT

paddylonglegs

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thanks for the reply. pic uploaded

TopTec

Nah. Cant be foundations due to expansion gaps between the slabs, and it is very high. Also the slab leading away from the house, bottom right, seems the same as the surrounding slabs so was more than likely preventing the area around the property turning into a quagmire in this sunny climate we have!

Before you remove I would dig down at the edge of that corner slab where it adjoins the lawn. This will indicate how thick it is and on what substrate it was poured. If it goes all the way around the property, that is a lot of concrete to remove. I would get something heavier duty than a kango, and a couple of big skips.

Good luck.

TT

Max Moment

Would you not consider leaving the path in place and placing decorative gravel or paving over it? Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to go break it all out.

Also, the Concrete path would provide a good base to whatever you put over it.

If you were going down the decorative Gravel route, you could just place down a membrane on the existing path and then place roughly 50mm of Gravel. Job Done :cool:

Just be careful that you don't raise the external ground level over the DPC level (if any considering the age of the property) or you could get damp problems inside.

paddy147

Dial before you dig (underground utilities).

Find the loaction of mains water,power and gas,if theres any gas,

Then get a large concrete breaker from a hire shop for 40 euro a day and break up the concrete path.

Thats what my missus did a while ago.:)

paddylonglegs

TopTec wrote: »

I would get something heavier duty than a kango, and a couple of big skips.

is heavier duty a jcb kango? wouldn't be able to stretch to that, whats the next step up from a kango?

Max Moment wrote: »

Would you not consider leaving the path in place and placing decorative gravel or paving over it? Seems like a lot of unnecessary work to go break it all out.

Also, the Concrete path would provide a good base to whatever you put over it.

If you were going down the decorative Gravel route, you could just place down a membrane on the existing path and then place roughly 50mm of Gravel. Job Done :cool:

Just be careful that you don't raise the external ground level over the DPC level (if any considering the age of the property) or you could get damp problems inside.

Max moment, yes this would probably be an option. but would the gravel not scatter easily if its above the concrete? Would I ned to put down clay or something to stop the gravel from scattering?

Thanks for the replies

paddy147

paddylonglegs wrote: »

is heavier duty a jcb kango? wouldn't be able to stretch to that, whats the next step up from a kango?

See my pics above oif what to get...40 euro a day will get you this concrete breaker from any decent hire shop.

My missus went through 12-14 inch concrete and grannite pathways with no that concrete breaker,and with absolutely no problems at all either.

She flew through the path in fact..:)

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Max moment, yes this would probably be an option. but would the gravel not scatter easily if its above the concrete? Would I ned to put down clay or something to stop the gravel from scattering?

Thanks for the replies

Base layer of 804 hardcore,(compacted down with whacker plate to give stable base),then some Mypex weed membrane,some sharp sand on that and then your slate/stone chippings as a nice finish.

It wont move once its compacted down propperly.

TopTec

Some confusiion here I think. Paddy147's suggestion, and the correct way to do it, is if you take the concrete up. There would still need to be some form of edging laid with mortar to stop the gravel moving.

Max Moment's suggestion is obviously gravel directly on top of the concrete. You have identified one drawback - you would need some form of retaining kerb on the outside of the slabs to stop the gravel disappearing off into your lawn, the second drawback is that the gravelled area would be very wide,

The second option is cheaper but aesthetically worse than the first.

TT

paddy147

TopTec wrote: »

Some confusiion here I think. Paddy147's suggestion, and the correct way to do it, is if you take the concrete up. There would still need to be some form of edging laid with mortar to stop the gravel moving.

Max Moment's suggestion is obviously gravel directly on top of the concrete. You have identified one drawback - you would need some form of retaining kerb on the outside of the slabs to stop the gravel disappearing off into your lawn, the second drawback is that the gravelled area would be very wide,

The second option is cheaper but aesthetically worse than the first.

TT

Some reclaimed railway sleepers or new PT railway sleepers,some 3 x 2 PT wooden stakes,some 100-110mm stainless steel screws and it wont move.;)

paddy147

Also a roll of Mypex heavy duty weed membrane will also stop any weeds comming back up from below ground or putting down roots into the ground.

Around 55 euro for a 50 meter roll of it.

Max Moment

[QUOTE=Max moment, yes this would probably be an option. but would the gravel not scatter easily if its above the concrete? Would I ned to put down clay or something to stop the gravel from scattering?[/QUOTE]

If you don't want the gravel edge too wide you could bed a 100mm x 50mm Concrete Edging Kerb directly onto the existing footpath in Leanmix Concrete. Or you could place a 50x100mm treated timber edging as the edging. All you would have to do is drill in small pins (rebar or equiavlent) at relevant centres into the footpath and then wrap nails around the pins to hold the edging in place or use proprietary clips. Cheap and cheerful!

Or alternatively, use something like this.

You could then rake in decorative stone one side and rake in your other finish (Grass I'm guessing the other side). This way you can control the width of the new gravel path as you want.

Oh and as suggested below, use a root barrier. You will be thankful of it in a year or so where otherwise you will be plauged with weeds!