Things You'll Need:
- 2 lb. sledge hammer
- chisel
- small chipping hammer
- small hand-held broom
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Step 1
Coping comes in a variety of choices. Yours could be pre cast or brick or even stone. The first step with any of them is to check your coping to see what is loose or broken. Once you have decided which ones you will need to repair or replace go to step 2 of the process.
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Step 2
You will be removing the piece of coping that might be cracked or broken. First you will need to loosen and remove any mortar that is in the joints surrounding the piece. This can be done by using a hammer and chisel to basically scrape out the mortar from the joints or you can use a skilsaw with a masonry blade to saw cut the mortar joint out.
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Step 3
Brush away the dust and joint material. Now get your hammer and chisel and try to release the coping from its base. To do this you will need to put your chisel point in the now open side joint and try to pry the stone up from its foundation by hitting the chisel with your hammer. If the coping piece does not release, you might need to break the one piece you are working on and chisel it out in pieces. That's o.k... if you have to.
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Step 4
If the foundation mortar did not come up with the stone, you will need to chisel out the mortar bed. This is usually a half inch thick.
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Step 5
Clean the area with your brush so there is no broken debris in the coping spot. Then you can take water and rinse it out. It needs to be a clean surface so that the new coping piece will adhere completely. Now you are ready to install a new piece of coping.
