Deck destruction! Raaaaaaahhhhhh!

[SkodaLabia]

The World's Ugliest Deck is scheduled for destruction over the next few weeks, I shall be armed with one of these and an extensive vocabulary of colourful language.

Is there a trick to getting the posts up, short of digging them out with a spade? Some of them will have lawn on top, others will be hidden under the shed and borders. Pick axe?

Unfortunately it looks like the deck was installed with some good quality workmanship unlike everything inside the house.

Hahahahaha! You sound appropriately enthusiastic! Hooray for the demise of the decking!

I would also buy a large mattock to go with that demolition bar. They are the accessories of the season on this forum, for a very good reason. I imagine if you dig around the posts with one of those, it will be a quicker job that with a spade. You will also feel like Buffy wielding one of them.

Why is it that the things you don't want are always utterly solid?!

My BIL discovered a rodent village under his.

Just googled what a mattock is, very Xena Warrior Princess. We bought a sledgehammer this time last year for some indoor DIY, and DP has never felt more masculine.

So the way to do it is sort of hack away (can mattock also be a verb?) at the base of the post to clear the earth and then try to lever it out with the concrete attached?

I'm hoping there won't be a rodent village, we did have two mice pop-up in our kitchen a while ago, but I think they were tourists.

to sledgehammer!

Yep, dig down with a spade (or mattock, if the earth is rock hard and dry), uncover the concrete, and then you can lever it out with the pointy end. The concrete will just be a big plug of stuff that can sometimes be lifted out in one piece with the post, just like a big rock. Sometimes, though, you may need to smash it into pieces (wear glasses!) because it's too heavy to manouevre otherwise. This is great fun, though hard work when it is hot.

If the post is too much in the way, you can just cut it down.

If you have access, tie a chain or strong rope to the post, attach to tow point of car and drive off! (Saw some pikeys tarmacadam specialists use this trick).

Sadly no vehicular access to my rear, aircooled.