The only improvement we’ve done to the back of the house or backyard was the swimming pool remodel a few years ago. The improvement to the late ’80s was a huge improvement, to the area even though I haven’t done anything else to improve (or maintain) the back. That loan is paid off now so the budget opens up for the patio remodel,

The fence bolted to the patio has got to go. I need the working room, plus the column it’s mounted on is being eliminated.

The fence was bolted to bolts embedded in the concrete patio. The nuts were unbelievably rusted, fused to the bolts in a crusty mass. I gave ‘em a toot of WD-40 and brought in the beast. You don’t normally use an impact wrench with home improvement projects, but they sure do the trick in cases like this.

The impact wrench is different from an impact driver. It has a 1/2 inch socket wrench connection. I’ve used a reducer down to 3/8 inch to fit my impact-rated sockets. Plus it slowly ramps up speed as the nut or bolt loosens up.

I wasn’t looking for a neat and tidy job, I just wanted the fence down. I kept the trigger down on the impact to the point it sheared a couple of the rusted bolts right off.

The first piece of fence slipped out nice and easy.

The next piece was the gate, bolted to one of the weathered columns with big old lag bolts. It zipped out nice and easy.

I pulled the bolts out for the next section and unscrewed it from the rest of the fence. It snapped off at the the ground. Rusted clean through.

After looking it over, I realized the inside of the tubing was filled with rusty sludge. It was rusting from the inside, bubbling though in some of the lower sections. I’d not be able to reuse the pieces anyway, since the shape is going to change, so I decided to scrap it.

I lopped it up with the reciprocating saw into bite size pieces and put it on the bulk trash pile. It lasted about 29 seconds before the roving bands of pickers carted it off.

Without the pool fence, it really opens the place up. We are in a bit of a sweet spot between young children and future grandchildren, so we do plan to do some upgrades to keep up with pool safety and security as the project continues. There is an absolutely heartbreaking amount of child deaths in the Phoenix area each year, so there are some good laws in place to prevent them: Phoenix Pool Laws

Next up, I’m going to start working on the footings for the new, steel columns. The new engineering is going to allow for the reduction of 4 of the six columns! We’re not going to have that center one, right where the table wants to go.

Stay tuned. Big time stuff coming!