Yes we do much more than paint and drywall…

So yesterday 6-12-17 and the day before I got the pleasure, well not really, of scraping a layer of decorative concrete off a building. The layer was maybe 1/2 inch thick.

Some of it came off easy, like going through warm butter with a hot knife. And yet probably 3/4 of it came off through sheer brute force.

Things Needed

  • Gloves (if it’s summer time, just a pair of yellow work gloves is fine)
  • Boots if you may want extra protection from flying cement for ankles and feet. I went w/shoes.
  • Long sleeve shirt, if you can stand the heat, may provide extra protection, although i went short sleeve
  • Water (you can’t bring enough with) and maybe extra bottles/glasses if you have helpers, to pour their own
  • ladder (heavy duty fiberglass or maybe aluminum)
  • heavy duty 4 inch chisel with plastic slider handle sleeve
  • 2 hammers (maybe framing/heavy duty hammer
  • asphalt shingle remover (i found this tool helpful for the part that came off easy. Gave leverage and speed
  • crow bar
  • 2 shovels: flat and spade
  • metal rake
  • pick axe (we had to remove a concrete flower/plant bed)..came in handy for dinging out the steaks
  • two pails for carrying to dumpster
  • safety glasses
  • ear buds or ear plugs
  • shade – try and work on the shady side of building
  • bandit signs – hang your shingle. H-frame stakes w/corrugated plastic signs 18×24″ work about the best

Avoid the Sun

It was kind of hot, over 90 degrees at times so I worked late and early, avoiding mid-day.

I started Friday afternoon around 3p.m and worked until 7 or 8p.m. Got my wife to help do clean up. She did pretty good but only lasted a couple hours.

Saturday we finished up. I got up about 5:30 a.m and got started about 6 a.m. Got my two helpers out there and when you get extra bodies helping, things go a lot faster. Which is nice when get done before noon and beat the heat.

Process

Chip, chisel, scrape, pry… get the old cement siding off.

Bust out the cement plant bed.

Cleaning up as you go.

Taking breaks as needed

Go back later and pick up bandit (garage sale type sign).. in my case “Pro Paint & Drywall” sign, which maybe should be a Construction sign. We are transitioning into this.

Tips

It may have worked better to use a power tool to get the stickier stuff off, but there was no access to electricity and may have been noisier for the neighbors. All this stuff would be good to have lined up ahead of time.

Next Steps

The contractor I was working for says they are going to put a new roof on and repair the soffit and fascia and then put new siding on.