www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi,

I installed a ground anchor in a rented garage and now I'm moving I need to reinstate the garage to its original condition.

The anchor consists of 4 x 6" (12cm) bolts in a concrete floor with stainless stell ball bearings hammered into each bolt head to prevenent unscrewing. The bolts form four corneres of a square approximately 4" x 4".

I'm very wary of digging around the concrete as I expect this will probably cause much more damage and cracking away from the anchor itself.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can remove and make good?

Thanks, Paul.

Cut the bolt heads off with an angle grinder.

mikew1972 wrote:Cut the bolt heads off with an angle grinder.

Ditto

Or cut the concrete out. Who made the anchor? Give them a ring and see if they want to give you £50 for the video of doing it to go on their website.

TBH I'd just leave it, particularly if it's a 'rollover' type one, chances are they won't even notice.

Cut the heads off, the only thing is you will damage the anchor doing it this way.
Punch the stud/shield slightly into the ground, sceep the floor and the dust will fill the hole. Sorted.

Bit harder if you want to keep the anchor though. What size are the bolts, M10, M12...?

If you angle grind a slot just to the side of the ball bearing you could probably prise them out with a screwdriver and undo the bolts. Is it an oxford ground anchor by any chance ?

Hang on, i assumed they are countersunk bolts, soo the heads are flush with the plate, youd have a job to cut into the bolt head without cutting into the plate.

Once I've got the 4 bolts out how should I fill the holes that are left?

Thanks

moisten the holes & pour in grout, (cement & water) mixed to a paste consistancy will do

The bolts are countersunk.

If I used a grinder with the intention of cutting a cube out of the floor how would I cut the concrete beneath the anchor to remove my cube of garage floor?

I am considering cutting the plate into sections to remove it using an angle grinder then trying to turn the bolts with mole grips. I have to buy a grinder and I'm not sure if a £15 500W B&Q unit will be powerful enough cut the plate or whether there are discs which will cut it, presumably it was designed to prevent this sort of attack?

The ground anchor looks like this:
http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLa ... 318271618f

would it be possible to just drill the heads of the countersunk bolt? same way you'd remove a countersunk blind rivet? or are they silly hard steel?

A picture for info.

thats me shot down then..

however....

if you can get a broach to stay down somehow, maybe get someone fat to sit on it.... maybe a 10mm bit would have the heads off...

by broach i mean rotabroach...
http://www.rotabroach.co.uk/

Ever tried starting a rotabroach without a centre pilot cwp? Not easy, especially hard with someone fat sat onto of it i imagine

Do you want to reuse it? I guess not.

Just use a grinder to cut into the plate at a shallow angle, from the corner, taking the heads off in the process. Then just cut the bolts as flush as you can and punch delow the concrete.

Shouldnt take long. ;)

If you were near me, id come and sort it for you

yeh, gonna be tricky with a broach..
maybe a heavy steel plate m2 or so next to it, let the mag on the broach stick itself down and get the wife and kids to stand on the plate? or park the van on it?

just an idea... silly one but still...

reminds me of a bloke once tried to get some mullions out of a woolworths shop front...
tied a rope round the back of the van and... well, ended up going down the hire shop for a disc cutter with no back bumper...