Good job! And good idea with the RTV. We used to call it blue goo in the garages. I have a huge tackle box I keep loaded for pluming and that is my secret leak stop. I have used it on the threaded fittings on water heaters as well.
I have done the circular saw and masonry blade before. I've also rented one of those great big machines on wheels that you hook a hose to and it will cut through anything. Trouble is you have all those exhaust fumes in the house... One thing I have done to help with the dust is to use as many box fans as there are windows to put them in. Pointing them outside so there is a pull to the fan does help a lot once the air flow gets established. Well now you can take some Advil and admire your work. And think of the money you saved. ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Baldwin To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:04 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] project update Okay, thanks to some help on this list I can post an update to my basement project. I managed to get all the concrete cut and removed to redo my under slab drain lines for my bath/laundry room. To remove the concrete, I measured from adjacent walls to find the center of the drain locations. I then measured 5-6 inches to either side of that location to make a square. After the location was determined I used a 1/4 hammer drill bit and drilled holes in each corner of the square. Every foot or so, I would drill a hole to mark an outline of the area to be removed. When all the holes were drilled, it was just a matter of connecting the dots, well holes. I used a concrete blade on my circular saw, it only cut about 2 2 1/2 inches deep. The next step was for me to go back with the 1/4 hammer drill bit and drill holes every inch or so along the cut. Hammer drills are amazing when drilling concrete. Starting in one area, I used my handy 8 pound sledge hammer and beat the crap out of the concrete. The cut line and holes helped insure the concrete broke only where I wanted it to brake. in several places, where the concrete was thick 6-8 inches, I had to chisel it out one small piece at a time. the sledge helped crack it so it made the chiseling a little easier. Cutting concrete is VERY VERY VERY dusty and noisy work. Regular dust masks are not enough to keep the dust out of your nose, and dust gets every where in the house, no matter how much plastic you put up to close off the area. next time, if there is a next time I do this kind of work, I will get better dust masks, and borrow my dad's concrete saw that cuts 6 inches deep. his saw doesn't have the misting capabilities, but a second person with a spray bottle would help keep the dust down as well. The next job was to remove the dirt to uncover the drain pipes. Oh Damn, I should have dug as I cut away concrete to make sure I was following the pipe. My main drain took an unexpected turn, but not to bad, I only removed about 3-4 square feet to much of concrete, it could have been worse. removing the cast iron drain wasn't as bad as I thought. One end had a hub, unfortunately it was up against the footing, so I could not just pick the lead out of it. A few good whacks with my 8 pound sledge and the hub broke apart enough to remove that end. cutting the other end, and a pipe that connected to the main drain was just a matter of using my angle grinder. After grinding as much as I could, the head of the angle grinder got in the way, a few more whacks with the sledge and the rest of the pipe was free to come out. Cleaned up the cut ends with the grinder and was good to go. My opinion, working on the main drain is not for those with a weak stomach. The stench was over whelming. I got thinking afterwards if a grinder might be the wrong tool to use on a drain. A grinder makes lots of sparks,and sewer gas is flammable. Putting in the new drain line was pretty straight forward, just a matter of cutting, fitting, cutting some more and positioning all the pipes until they were where I wanted them, and with the proper slope. In my area I did not need a permit or an inspection. that is something to check in to if anyone decides to do plumbing work. I did ask questions, and installed according to code though. Luckily I did not need to install another vent stack. the last thing I want is drains under tile and concrete to not function properly. I only had two snags when installing the plumbing. the first was that one of my wyes was glued at the wrong slope, I cut the main pipe, installed a coupler and made sure it was at the right slope before gluing it. the other was one of my furnco couplings wanted to leak no matter what I did. For those who do not know, a furnco coupling is a rubber sleeve with a clamp at either end, it is used to connect two different types of drain pipe together. In my case it was cast iron to PVC. I eventually got out my RTV silicone and used that to help seal it up, no more leaks. I installed my drains for sinks and such higher then I needed, so I can cut them off when I get the floor to its finished height. Dropping in the dirt was just a matter of going outside, filling up a 5 gallon bucket, carrying it down stairs and dumping it in. After a few bucket loads I would smooth it out by hand, wet it down, and stomp on it, and use my sledge to pack it down. When the dirt was at the level I wanted it was time for the concrete. Oh, I don't no exactly in what locations, or when it started, but some homes will now have rock, plastic, and foam insulation under the basement slab. With the dirt tamped down well, there was nothing left but to start poring in the concrete. I do really appreciate the tips and help from the list on this part. I knew I did not have enough concrete for the whole floor, so I used a 2x4 and divided the floor in about half. I drove wood stakes in behind the 2x4 to hold it in place when screeding. I did some figuring, and thought I had enough supplies to do the part of the floor I was planning on. I used 10 60 lb bags of concrete mix, 4 50 lb bags of sand, and 1 94 lb bag of Portland cement. I had for more bags of sand I could use, but that would have put the cement to sand ratio at 4 parts sand to 1 part cement, fine for a shower pan, but not a floor. 894 pounds was way to much for a person to mix by hand, so I cut it in half. Still difficult to mix, but i got it done. I mixed everything right on my basement floor, a part that was still concrete. With the amount of sand and cement I had, I could have added about 300 lbs of gravel, but i didn't have any to add, and me not wanting to wait on other people and a week to get some, i used what I had. this is what my mix ended up being, taking in to account the premixed concrete. 194 lb of cement, 300 lb of gravel, 400 lb of sand. If it was summer, I might have taken the time to sort and clean some of the broken up concrete I had from my floor to use as aggregate. I brushed on the concrete bonding agent, mixed up half of my batch, and scooped it in. I used a few different pieces of wood to scread the concrete level with the 2x4 and the existing concrete. floated it, and troweled it smooth. The next day i mixed up the other half and did the same thing with it. I was about .3 cubic feet to damn short on concrete. I should have waited for the aggregate, oh well. Now for the next few days I will wet it down and let it do it's own thing. My first concrete job that I did on my own didn't come out the best, but it blends well with the existing concrete, and there is no major dips or peaks in it, just a little rough in a few spots. For the remaining area I do not know if I will use all premixed concrete, or mix my own again, it will depend on the prices. I have some more questions, but I will post them in different posts to keep subject lines and such all nice and neat. Michael [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
