I need to break up an area of concrete approx. 1m x 1m x about 150mm thick. Its the bottom of a swimming pool I’m planning on filling in, for now I just want a big hole so it will drain while I plan how I’m going to fill it.

I can hire a big jack hammer for a day for about $100 (I’m in Australia). Before I do that I was wondering if I should put the $100 towards a decent size SDS drill which I will be able to use for other stuff like removing tiles and drilling big holes around the place.

How slow will a 3.5kg-5kg SDS be at breaking up the concrete, would it be too much for it?

I can get a 800W 3.5kg Makita for $380 or a 850W 5kg Makita for $540. I would probably go for the bigger one unless anyone has a good reason not to, other than the $160 that is. Thanks,

You should be able to get a 15kg SDS for $200US or less eg

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb280drh-15-5kg-breaker-230v/67819#

I’m not sure how powerful the larger SDS drills are, but I’d probably just hire (or buy if cheap enough) a larger breaker.

I’ve got a ‘normal’ SDS drill (think it’s a 2kg Bosch) that I used to dismantle a pond that was in our garden. It despatched with the brickwork quick enough, but while it worked OK on the concrete foundation it wasn’t exactly quick.
But, I have used it loads since on other jobs around the house; general hole drilling for curtains, blinds, shelves etc. as well as taking the knackered plaster off the walls of a bedroom I was decorating in about a tenth of the time it would have taken with a lump hammer.

How good would a larger SDS drill be for general stuff around the house? If it would be a bit too bulky & overkill then I would go for the breaker option.

I had a larger (5-6kg?) SDS that was excellent and small demolition jobs and would laught at any DIY drilling needs – but did lack finesse. It was a cheap £30 job from Aldi and it lasted years with lots of abuse (25mm dia, 1m long drill bits through walls). When it died I spend £16 for a new armature and some gears posted from Germany and it lived a bit longer. Eventually it completely died and it deserved a Viking funeral for it’s service.

Then I got a smaller SDS (2kg) which was more suitable for putting things back together.

I wouldnt use the latter for the demolition stuff but you could use it to drill lots of holes in the plinth and then break it up with a large hammer.

If you can live with some more manual labour then buy a smaller one that is more useful. If you already have a drill for finer jobs (my cordless Li-ion will do most jobs provided you use a decent drill bit and not a cheap one) then the big SDS is great fun 😀

I always prefer to buy than rent. The exception was a cement mixer as the OH wouldnt let me buy one 🙁

150mm thick, 1m x 1m….. Just hit it with a sledge hammer a couple of times. That should break up pretty easily.

150mm thick, 1m x 1m….. Just hit it with a sledge hammer a couple of times. That should break up pretty easily.

Exactly this. Get swinging.

Won’t take long at all with a 15lb hammer.

And it’s great for stress relief.

If it was done properly it will be strong concrete and have mesh in it. An sds drill will not touch it. Plus do you know what the ground conditions are like underneath? Is it going to be permeable?