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DIY for Homeowners

How to Remove Wood Joints in Concrete Slabs

11/8/2023

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text by Vicki     Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter!
This fall, I've been doing a lot of projects on the concrete patio in my back yard. The makeover was sparked from the removal of all loose articles when there was the threat of a hurricane last August.

Before I put everything back, I realized the concrete was dirty so I decided to clean it, which led to painting it as the concrete was in poor condition, which also led me to realized the wood expansion joints were in bad shape. One end of which had entirely disappeared!

So, we ordered a new vinyl expansion joint product and set out one morning to quickly take out the old ones and replace with the new vinyl. 

BUT....It was not quick....

Tools:


  • Trim-A-Slab 3/4 in. x 25 ft. Concrete Expansion Joint Replacement (Home Depot)

  • Heavy Duty 4 Piece Pry Bar Set (Amazon)

  • Hookaroon (Home Depot)

  • Wiss 10 in. Heavy Duty Titanium Coated Tradesmen Shears (Home Depot)

  • Stanley 4 lbs. Fiberglass Engineer Hammer (Home Depot)

  • Xena Steel-toe Boots (Xena Workwear)

Trim-a-slab replaces old wood expansion joints.
This is Trim-A-Slab which we ordered online at Home Depot. It was delivered right to the house. It comes in a variety of widths. We chose the 3/4 inch width.
The trim a slab is from Home Depot online.
Once the old wood joint is out and the area clear of debris, it easily pushes into place with only a pair of heavy duty shears and a mallet to get the job done.
This is the trim-a-slab being pushed into the expansion joint.
It fits snugly into the cleaned out expansion joint and can be hand pushed into place.
Cutting the trim a slab expansion join vinyl to length with Wiss heavy duty shears.
Heavy duty shears, these are by Wiss, easily cut the vinyl to length.
How to remove the old wood expansion joint from a concrete slab.
Now that we've shared how easy the trim-a-slab goes into place, follow along was we share how we finally got the old wood expansion joint out.
How to remove the old wood expansion joint using a pry bar and baby sledge hammer.
We tried a variety of methods to remove the old wood joint. This is what finally worked. We bought a pry bar set. Only one would fit into the width of the expansion joint so that's the one we used. We angled the pry bar under the wood and slowly moved it forward by using a baby sledge hammer.
Using a pry bar and baby sledge hammer to remove the wood expansion joint.
The wood came out slowly using the method. We worked carefully when we got towards the house so we didn't accidentally break the wood as it would have been difficult to get that piece out near the base of the house.
How to removed old expansion joints.
When it was almost free, Steph grabbed hold of it and slowly lifted it out in, thankfully, one piece!
Cleaning up after the removal of the expansion joint.
This is the mess left behind after removing this expansion joint. Our Makita leaf blower cleaned it all up nicely.
After all our first attempts to removed the expansion joint, we ordered these two tools. The top is a Hook-A-Roon, and the bottom is a set of pry bars that Trim-A-Slab sells.
After all our first attempts to removed the expansion joint (which you can see in the video), we ordered these two tools. The top is a Hook-A-Roon, and the bottom is a set of pry bars that Trim-A-Slab sells.
We had high hopes for the Hook-a-Roon, but it failed in helping to remove the wood expansion joint.
We had high hopes for the Hook-a-Roon, but it failed in helping to remove the wood expansion joint.
A baby sledge hammer or engineer hammer is a must for removing wood expansion joints.
This is what worked: a long pry bar that we used underneath the expansion joint, the small pry bar that we put under the wood expansion joint, and the baby sledge hammer that we used to move the smaller bar bar under the wood to lift it out.
The old expansion joint that is to be removed.
The old expansion joint.
the cleaned out expansion joint ready for the trim a slab.
The cleaned out joint.
Trim a slab in place on the concrete patio.
Trim-a-Slab in place.
You can see in the newly cleaned out expansion joint that our efforts to remove the old joint resulted in some damage to the concrete. I easily patched and repainted it but I would recommend doing all patching and expansion joint repair BEFORE painting! Save yourself the aggravation and extra time to repair you work. 

​All in all, I've very happy with the transformation of this patio. The new joints and paint make the patio a place that I enjoying hanging out on. 



Please note: This is not a sponsored post.
​
We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP.

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