How much should it cost to have someone use a welding torch to cut off my basketball post?
Question:I tried digging out my basketball post and got a couple feet deep, but the post didn't budge.
I used a reciprocating saw to cut off the post about 3 feet off the ground. It turns out that the person who put it in poured concrete inside the pipe below where I cut.
I was told that a welding torch would be able to cut the post at or below ground level.
I don't want to play around with this anymore. I've called a welder who said that he could do this (I will have to verify the part about it being filled with concrete) for $175 cash.
Is that a reasonable price? What should I expect to be have to pay? Does a "regular" handyman with a torch seem like an cheaper alternative?
I'm in Naperville, Illinois if you have a specific reference.
Answers:
Unfortunately it is a fair price. Most companies have a minimum service call fee and whether it takes 10min or less the minimum will still apply. Most mobile rigs i know of run about $85 per hour with a minimum 2 hour labor fee.
If you have him haul away the post, yea; its fairly ballbark.
The fee should be about 10 minutes worth of time plus however long it takes them to get there and back. I wouldn't pay over $50.
If you have a circular saw you can do it yourself for free. They have something called a metal cutting blade for the circular saw and another blade for masonry. They also have COMBO blades which do both (which is what you want). They also have little handheld angle grinders that can do it for about $15. I included a link to some masonry blades in the source. If you cannot find a combo blade rim it with metal blade and then cut through the center with a masonry blade.
==============================...
One more "stupid" way to do it that a lot of people feel comfortable doing themselves is to get the right drill bit from Home Depot and then drill lots of holes into it near the ground until you can break it off. This will take you a half hour probably but that is still $350/hr for your time.
Concrete pieces will explode when heated. A guy good with a torch might be able to cut through the pipe with out the concrete getting hot enough to do damage. $175 is a fair wage to cover travel time, acetylene and oxygen for the torch. labor time, and convenience for you. You can cut through the steel post all the way around with the reciprocating saw, and use a hammer on the concrete for about $10, and two hours of your time
rent a demo saw with a diamond blade this will do the trick for both metal and concrete
More Related Questions & Answers...