Knocking down brick wall safely

[Brian Kent]

We are knocking down a sign today at church. It is brick - about 4 ft wide, 1 ft thick and 8 ft high. How do we do the first knock-down without having a brick wall fall o us?

[Joe Suelter]

Is it solid brick, or cement block? Put on a hard hat, clear everyone away, grab a sledge hammer, and swing as high up as you can. An agile person should be able to move quickly out of the way after the initial hit. It wont take long to get the height down..probably only a couple swings.

All the best.

[Jerry Casler]

are you wanting to save the bricks for future use? Then I wood get a chisel or hammer chisel and do that, otherwise find a drunk and have him hit it. LOL

j/k

[Matt Meiser]

Start at the top and work your way down.

[David Epperson]

are you wanting to save the bricks for future use? Then I wood get a chisel or hammer chisel and do that, otherwise find a drunk and have him hit it. LOL

j/k
An air compressor and one of the Harbor Freight air hammers will make fairly short work of breaking it up along the grout lines. Then you and reuse the bricks if you want.

[Joe Pelonio]

Sounds like a fun project!

While it may cost a few bucks, this would go very quickly if you could rent a bobcat. Here's it's about $200/day, or $150 for 4 hours which should be plenty of time, and a lot safer than a bunch of people with sledgehammers.

[Ken Garlock]

Find a couple red-necks, a pickup truck, a long chain, and a six pack.

[Brian Kent]

I went to church today to help tear down the old sign. One part is shaped like a tall brick wall. My one fear was a bunch of kids hammering away until the top falls on them. We ended up with about 12 kids and 12 adults. Using several sledges, an electric hammer drill, and lots of brick-carriers, we got it most of the way down.

It turned out to be about an 18" thick reinforced concrete core, a layer of red brick and a layer of slate. We started at the top as recommended and just took off a layer of slate at a time, then a layer of brick at a time. When we exposed the concrete to about waist level, we hammered out the rebar and cut it off with an angle grinder. Then we pushed the top over and could bang away more freely without watching for falling bricks.

One of the most enjoyable moments was when 3 high school girls walked by. We jokingly asked if they wanted to knock down some bricks. They said "yes", put on the safety gear, and used the sledge hammers for about an hour. I never would have expected that. Everybody feels wonderfully exhausted and satisfied. The church trustees handed the youth group $500 for camp scholarships.

[Joe Chritz]

Like Hicks said in the movie Aliens.

"Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure".

Joe

[Brian Kent]

Here's how to do it - Child Labor