Spent Easter Sunday/Monday knocking down the walls of the old garage/shed in our back yard in order to turn it into a garden / playspace.
Managed to get the whole thing down armed only with a lump hammer and a bolster chisel. Quite enjoyable smashing out brick after brick.
Of course I got carried away and created a huge mess of brickwork which I then had to clear out of the way and pile up neatly brick by brick at the back of the garden - in order to leave a safe space for the hobbits to play in. "Aaaargh! - Me backs knacking!".
Worst part was the huge, heavy concrete lintel that sat above what was once a set of double garage doors, but had been bricked up. Had a tricky time removing the brick work one row at a time beneath this monolith, without it crashing onto my head. I tried using my 1100W drill at this point, but it barely dented the concrete, so I used it to drill out the cement beneath the lintel instead. It came down with a thump, taking a small upper part of the garden wall with it - but nothing that can't be repaired.
Now all the bricks and rubble need to be removed - and somehow I've got to break up that lintel. Novelist Supermum has suggested an ancient method which involves vinegar. Hannibal did this when crossing the Alps - I reckon he probably heated and rapidly cooled the rocks as well.
2 comments:
I have an image in my head of a couple of Alexander's soldiers standing with confused expressions looking at a bottle of vinegar Alexander has just handed them with instructions to use it to bring down a besieged city's wall.
"What are we supposed to do with this?"
"I don't know lure them out by putting it on fish and chips?"
LOL!
We were wondering how long it would take Google Maps to catch up with the demolished garage.
The answer is not long at all - you can now clearly see the lintel (as a long white oblong shape) lying on the ground in the back garden
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