Concreted-over back yards - how difficult to restore?

[justshruggingreally]

Currently looking for our first house, off to look at a couple in the next week that both have concrete over the back yard. One is only a small back yard that would probably do well with pots and some furniture but the other is bigger and ideally we'd turn it back into a garden.

Had anyone done this? What would it involve? I'm imagining some pretty heavy machinery, a skip and paying someone... keen to know if it's feasible before seriously considering the property.

Thank you!

In fact one is paving slabs and the other concrete, advice on either would be appreciated

Paving slabs shouldn't be so difficult, concrete is a pretty big job I think because you don't know how thick it is. Paving slabs are easier because it's a known quantity in terms of depth etc and an odd job type man could probably dig it up for you. In either case you would need a skip for the rubbish, so that's a cost, but concrete is definitely more challenging in terms of getting quotes to remove. We didn't buy a house on the basis they had run a massive concrete slope down the full length of the very long garden and I could see it being a nightmare with children but couldn't face getting it removed. Hope that helps.

Is there proper access to the back garden for a mini digger? I'd probably be allocating 5k to sort it out

I got rid of slabs by offering them to someone for free. They came and took them away. Concrete needs pickaxe, effort and a skip.

ordinary concrete, a few inches thick, is easier than you think. Once you have a crack in it (sledgehammer) you whack the end of the pick under the edge, lean on it, and a piece comes up. If the pieces are too heavy to lift you whack them with the sledge. You need eye protection, leather gardening gloves, and boots with protective toecaps.

If the concrete was laid by housebuilders, like mine, it could be a foot thick if they had a lot left over to use up. That will take a breaker. You can buy a cheap one for the price of a weekend's hire, or a builder might do it if he has nothing else on. You need ear defenders.

Maybe break it up before you book the skip. Under the concrete will (should) be hardcore, rubble, crushed stone, or rubbish the builders hid. Some of the pieces might be quite big. Your pick will loosen it for carrying away.

It's surprisingly wearisome lifting and carrying a couple of tons of concrete, even using a barrow.

If you can find a builders labourer, he can do it steadily and quicker than you. You need someone strong.

If you want a garden, you need about a foot depth of soil free of builders rubble so you can dig it. Ground level should be at least 250mm below the dpc of your house.

It's tons and tons of digging potentially. Ime labourers won't even quote unless they can get their machinery in!! Hence needing proper access. If not I'd just accept the concrete or not buy if you want a lawn

We completely underestimated how much it would cost to sort out our partially concreted over garden. To remove the concrete, lay lawn and put down a bit of patio is going to cost us £10k+!!! And we have side access. I was expecting half that, tops.

Thanks for the all the advice, it's extremely helpful