breaking down a small garden wall

Z

zag

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I have a small 'wall' (internal boundary between lawn and beds) going around parts of my garden which I want to take out. The problem is that it is only 2 or 3 courses high and partly buried, so there is nothing sufficiently large to whack with a sledge hammer. It is set on a few inches of concrete/cement/stuff and from previous experience it pretty solid - built like a brick wall you might say.

I am trying to work out the best way to take it apart.

One thought would be to get a large crowbar (or something along those lines), put it above the wall and hammer it down to break it up that way. Another possibility would be to lever it up from underneath, but again given the quite solid nature of the base I'm not entirely sure how well that would work.

The wall looks a little like this - [broken link removed] - thanks to images.google.com it is possible to come up with photos of almost anything these days. On a side note it looks - from the hand holding the pole off to the left - that the image has been stretched somewhat. Those crafty estate agents . . .

Anyways, any suggestions for removing that type of wall ?

Cheers,

z
 
Ideally you should hire a small (1 tonne or 1.5 tonne) mini digger and use the bucket to grub up the wall AND foundation. To effectively remove this by hand will take a lot of time so I think hiring a machine would be more time, energy and cost effective. You'll need to back fill with topsoil and compact with the back of the bucket on completion. Remeber you'll pay about €150 a tonne to landfill the rubble afterwards.
 
Carpenter, thanks for the reply.

Oooooh no. Unfortunately I don't think a mini-digger would fit into the back garden, but it would be cool to give it a go. Is there any kind of hand-held thingie I could use ?

z
 
zag said:
Carpenter, thanks for the reply.

Oooooh no. Unfortunately I don't think a mini-digger would fit into the back garden, but it would be cool to give it a go. Is there any kind of hand-held thingie I could use ?

z
Click to expand...

Some of the smaller (just under a tonne) machines will squeeze thro' a gap of about 4', is that an option? Failing that I'd suggest exposing the foundation in parts (should be quite shallow and small) with a spade first off. Then use a a long steel pry bar (they're about 6' long) to pry the foundation and brickwork out of the ground. Put a block of wood under the fulcrum point. It should come out in chunks. That and a pick should do the trick and will certainly help you work up a sweat! I'd forget about the hammer and bolster though....
 
I too would forget the hammer and bolster... You'd end up like Arnie.

How big/long is the wall? - have you considered a kango?
 
Not answering your question but I think you are mad to get rid of it. If the photo is anything to go by its looks lovely. :) If it were in my garden I would leave it there.
 
Thanks for the replies. I will try the long bar option first, assuming I can track one down between Woodies or Atlantic unless someone knows where else to get them.

sueellen - that's not my garden, but the wall is similar except without the capping. We put it in (with angles and cut-outs and cut-ins all over the place) before having kids and it was a good idea at the time. Now we want to have a slightly more rectangular lawn area for them to play on so moving the 'wall' back is the only real way to go.

I presume I would get a kango from a hire shop, but any ideas how much it costs to rent and what type of blade/bit/whatever it's called I would need to get ?

Cheers,

z
 
If you decide to hire a kango, I think they're about €20-€30 per day. It's a while since I hired one, so I'm not certain on the price. If it's only bricks and garden wall foundation a fairly light one should do the trick. The bits will generally come included, and I'd expect you'd probably get a couple of different ones.

Make sure you get the goggles and earmuffs as well.
 
I wouldn't see much merit in hiring a kango/ breaker- it'll only break up the wall into small rubble. Better to use a combination of a sledge hammer and a pry bar which should take the wall and founds. up in largish sections which are easier to cart away. The only way you'll know is to get cracking at a section of the wall and see how easy it comes up!
 
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