How to demolish concrete staircase on brick veneer home?

[reecel]

Hi everyone, I have a concrete staircase that was part of the original construction of our mid 1960's brick veneer home in Sydney. It is sturdy but suffering from concrete cancer.

I would like to demolish it but unsure what the best approach is. I assume the concrete is anchored into the wall somehow (perhaps with reo bar), no clear evidence of that. 

I have a 16kg jack hammer and a smaller Ozito demolition hammer drill.

How do I approach the demo safely, minimising the risk of damage to the house and myself? 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @reecel. It's fantastic to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing a staircase.

Given that the concrete staircase is part of the original construction and likely tied into the brick veneer wall with reinforcing steel, I’d strongly recommend erring on the side of caution here. If you’re unsure about how it’s connected to the structure, it’s best not to attempt demolition yourself. Concrete stairs on older homes are often integrated with the footing or brickwork, and breaking into them without understanding how they’re supported can easily cause structural damage or loosen parts of the wall.

A 16kg jackhammer is powerful enough to cause vibration damage to nearby brickwork, especially if the concrete is reinforced and you’re striking close to the house. There’s also the risk of injuring yourself if a large section gives way unexpectedly. The safest approach is to have a structural engineer or experienced demolition contractor inspect it first. They can tell you how the stairs are attached and the safest method for removal. They might also recommend cutting it away in controlled sections rather than hammering it out, which greatly reduces the risk to the house.

It’s great that you’re keen to tackle things yourself, but in this case, bringing in a professional for the assessment and initial demolition work would be the wisest move.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[reecel]

Hi Mitchell,

Very reasonable advice. I may have been a been frivolous in the tone of my question, but I absolutely want to ensure the job is done safely.

I'm seeing a demo guy tomorrow and have also contacted a structural engineer.

But I'm curious to gather the thoughts of others with experience in demolishing this type of structure as to how its best/most efficiently handled. If it means getting it done by a pro, so be it.

Keen for any further thoughts from the group.

Reece

[MitchellMc]

Thanks for the follow-up, Reece (@reecel), and it’s great to hear you’re already lining up both a demo contractor and a structural engineer; that’s exactly the right mindset for something like this.

Hopefully, a few of our experienced members will be able to chime in with their thoughts, but I do think you’ll find this is a fairly unique situation. Demolishing original structural concrete staircases that are potentially tied into footings or brick veneer walls isn’t something most DIYers ever encounter, let alone attempt themselves. Even very capable DIYers generally steer clear of this type of work simply because the risks outweigh the benefits once structural connections are involved.

I’ll tag @Nailbag to see if he has any insights to add, as he’s seen a lot over the years and may be able to shed some light on how these are typically constructed and removed. In the meantime, you’re absolutely on the right track getting expert eyes on it before anything starts coming apart.

Mitchell

[Nailbag]

Hi @reecel 

@MitchellMc is spot on with all of his comments and awesome advice in calling in some pro's here. This staircase looks like my parent's old 60's home. A very long time ago we renovated it to sell and one of my jobs was to drop the staircase.

Like yours the bottom section is straight forward, but the suspended wasn't. @MitchellMc is correct in that it's tied into the house with steel rods. I wasn't concerned about damaging the house bricks, more of where to start and how. In the end we got a house demolition company in. Easy said as I wasn't paying! Remember, it's not just the demo, it's getting all that concrete removed. And that was just as expensive as the demo. It comes down to the contacts the demo company has to dump concrete fill. If they don't it's very costly. I have experienced this myself when pulling up old driveways.

What I did do, is clean the wall back using an angle grinder for the exposed reo-rods and then a 125mm honing cup disc for the concrete.

Keep us in the loop

Nailbag