Check out the first installment of the trilogy here.

Here’s a question I get asked a lot: “Why didn’t you just rent a jackhammer?” I wonder how many folks have actually used a jackhammer. We looked into it. We went to Home Depot tool rental department. I couldn’t even pick the thing up. And, I like having toes.

We found some buried treasure and more unintentional comedy buried beneath the ‘crete.

See this pipe?

From that point in the sky it went down into the ground and underneath the whole depth of the yard. Where did it lead? Nowhere! The end was buried in concrete.

Look at this:

That’s copper pipe. Busted, covered in electrical tape, then wrapped entirely in duct tape, crisscrossing the entire Upper Yard. This was the water supply to the hose hook up at the back of the property. Logic, thou art mine enemy.

This is the ultimate in surprise twists. After busting up that entire concrete patio, what would be the last thing you’d think you’d find? Any guesses?

Another patio. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Luckily, this one is very thin and covers only about an eighth of the yard. But come on. Enough with the patios!

So we got all of that concrete busted, our initial plan for getting rid of it fell through, and we were stuck.

I googled myself silly, made about 50 phone calls, and finally found a recycling center in Sun Valley (one that actually recycles). The nice fella on the phone recommended that we rent a 16′ stake truck, and told us that a load would probably cost $140. And, the stake truck has a lift to help us load.

Watch your fingers!

Most of the other places that I called quoted me rates of $50-$77 per ton, so this was going to be the most economical option, taking into account all of that gas that would have to go into the Tacoma if we hauled around 40 or so small loads.

The only problem with the stake truck is that it’s completely open. Armand came up with a solution for that – 5 sheets of the cheapest plywood ($6.67 each).

Our friend Bruce lives 6 minutes away and came over to help us load. Here’s what the yard is looking like at this point.

30 wheel barrows full = 1 stake truck load. This is the 3rd load we’ve taken. We’ve probably got 2 more.

Physically, we can only do one load in a day. We’ve got to pick it all up to get it into the truck and toss it out once we get up to Sun Valley. We looked into renting a truck that dumps, but the only one that non-commercial drivers can rent had about half the capacity and cost twice as much. The first trip that we took up to Sun Valley left us wildly envious of those in dump trucks. That’s okay though – we’re badass.

The fella on the phone in Sun Valley told us it would probably be $140 per load in the 16′ stake truck. Upon arrival and one bikini top later, that price went down to $50! Score!

Check this place out.

Stuff gets dumped in this pile…

… goes through this apparatus …

… and comes out like this:

Armand gets the truck in posish.

A good-natured fella let us take some pics around his I-don’t-know-what-you-call-this. But it’s big.

I couldn’t help myself.

The unload.

Industrial sunset. Look at that dust.

All done. Next – burgers!

Mmmm.

So, we’ve got 2 more days of this to go. So far, including the next two haul days, this concrete demo project has cost about $890 (truck rental and insurance, dump fees, gas, a sledgehammer, a mattock, a wheel barrow, plywood, gloves, and protective eyewear). Had we hired someone it would have cost upwards of $8,000. Stay tuned for the final installment of The Concrete Trilogy: The Big Sift, Burn, & Beer. Expect some archaeology, unintentional comedy, bonfire, and celebration next!

If you want to see what we’re working toward with all of this clicketh here.