Dexpan Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews
Read feedback we have received about Dexpan and our service.
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Repeat Customer
"I've used Dexpan on two different concrete demolition projects and it is very effective when used as instructed. Hole patterns are very important for achieving the desired result so that part is up to the user. Drilling holes, filling with demolition agent and letting it work overnite certainly beat using a jackhammer for hours !"
Rock in Basement
"The product worked really well and I didn't have to use a jack hammer.
Definitely made my life easier and the job was completed quickly and efficiently."
Concrete Slabs
"I used Dexpan to break up some 18" x 18" concrete slabs that were cut out of a patio. The slabs were 3" to 4" thick. On the first slab, I drilled 1" diameter holes, about 3" deep. I drilled in steps, using Bosch Blue Granite drills. I used 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", and 1".
I tried to avoid breaking through to the bottom of the slab. In the cases where I did, I simply pounded a short piece from a 1" wood dowel into the hole to make a new bottom. Then I mixed a little of the Dexpan with water, and troweled it into the holes. Cracks appeared by the next morning. After a couple days, the cracks were 1/4" wide.
The longer you wait, the more Dexpan expands. If it doesn't appear to work at first, just wait another day or two.
I found that for the slabs, the minimum hole size I could get away with was 3/4" diameter. Then it took 3-4 days for large cracks to appear. The slab was completely broken up."
Concrete Steps
"I had some steps I wanted to remove. After starting the removal I found out the steps had been poured 2 to 4 feet deep. A borrowed jack hammer did not do the job, and after a day of work I looked for a solution. I found Dexpan. I could only drill 1" holes but it did the job easily. It did take more than 24 hours. I did need to do the bottom steps a second time because I did not drill a correct pattern for the crack to form. The second try worked great. This is a lot easier than a jack hammer or a sledge."
Concrete Steps
"Exceeded expectations. The 11 lb bucket was not enough to do the entire job; I bought the small bucket just to see if it would work. I used this on front steps, which are solid concrete with reinforced steel re-bar and netting. I did not use it exactly as instructed. I drilled 1 inch diameter holes and spaced them about every 8 inches; each hole was about 8 inches deep. The 11 lb bucket filled 38 holes (spilled a little). After 24 hours, there were a few very tiny cracks between the holes; the cracks became more numerous and larger each day I waited, after 1 week, the cracks were 1/4 - 1/2 inch wide and large chucks of concrete began to fall apart. See photo. I'm buying the 44 lb bag to do the rest."
Concrete
"Drill Holes, Pour in Goop, Wait 24 hrs.
A company wanted $300 to remove this large piece of concrete. I did it for $40 with Dexpan. 100 times easier than using a jackhammer. It does what it's supposed to."
Boulder
"I had a huge boulder in the way of the footing for an addition on our house.. The construction crew worked on it for several days with a backhoe and electric/pneumatic hammers. They couldn't get their hands on a breaker attachment for the backhoe. I bought an 11# bucket of Dexpan as a last ditch effort. I only had a 16" bit, and the boulder was much deeper than that, but I went ahead and drilled 7 holes 12-14" apart (farther than recommended, but I only had enough for 7 holes 16" deep). After 24 hours, there were no signs of cracking, but the next morning, there were 1/8" - 1/4" cracks joining all the holes and going out to the edge of the rock. The crew could then remove the smaller pieces without issue."
Rock
"I had a rock, aprox 12' X 12', who knows how deep, that I needed to remove part of for drainage. It was next to a building so blasting was out of the question. I had heard about Dexpan and tried it using a 2' drill. I started with drilling and filling 4 holes and was skeptical that this could actually break up solid rock. The next day when I looked at it, I could not believe how well it had worked. It had cracked in many directions from the holes and I easily removed the first couple feet of rock with my backhoe and repeated this process until the rock was down to where I needed it. This product was very easy to use and did what it claimed. I would recommend this to anyone who needs to break up rock or concrete.."
Stairs
"This product is amazing.
The hardest part is drilling the holes (very dusty). Destruction of my concrete stairs was complete. I followed the instructions as close to the letter as possible and the product delivered.
My steps did have some 1/2 inch horizontal rebar which was no problem."
Granite Boulders
"I wanted to build a Koi pond in my backyard, but encountered giant boulders buried beneath the surface. I live on a mountain, mostly composed of solid granite rock. After days and weeks with a jackhammer and sledgehammer, I couldn't finish off some of the biggest, hardest rocks.
I purchased Dexpan and after it arrived, I rented a hammer drill and, following the directions, drilled holes into the rocks. The largest one featured here is a whopping 5 feet tall by about 4 feet wide.
After mixing and pouring the Dexpan, the rocks began cracking in just a couple hours. By morning, the rocks were fractured, some in larges pieces that had fallen apart (see the last picture).
This product does what only fire or dynamite could do in terms of demolition. However, this product, unlike the aforementioned, is safe, easy to use and quick to clean up.
I highly recommend this product."
Boulders
"This product works exactly as described. I used it to split a few boulders that were probably about 8 feet in diameter.
I drilled 1.25" holes 18" deep on 12" spacing in the shape of a "+" sign across the top of the rock. Filled the holes with 2 bags of this miracle product and went away for a little getaway.
When I returned about 48 hours later, the rock was split into quarters exactly how I had intended. It was my first time using this stuff, but I could not be happier with the results."
Concrete Wall
"Dexpan works! I had 20 feet of 75 year old "blue stone" concrete wall to remove. The walls were 26 in. high, 5 ft. long, 14 - 16 inches wide. The walls flared out at the bottom. No rebar, but blue stone is very difficult to chip away using jack hammers.
Used a Bosch hammer drill to make the holes in the concrete. Started with a 3/4 inch pilot hole, and finished with a 1.5 in. carbide tip bit. I followed the instructions for drilling the holes, mixing the solution, and pouring it into the holes.
I got the results I was hoping for. Concrete demolition with much less noise and dust then the traditional method using jack hammers.
I'm happy! Neighbors are happy!
This product saved me hours of labor! I rented a compressor and chipping gun to use as a Plan B and I returned them the next day, unused!
I have 10 feet of wall left and I bought another box of Dexpan to take it down!
I have contractor friends and serious DIYers that were very impressed when they saw the results."
“Shawn of Dexpan Canada provided exceptional service. A refreshing customer experience! The product works extremely well. I had to wait 24 hours to see the full effect of the cracked granite. The product works extremely well and is forgiving, in that the hole does not need the dust or debris to be blown out first. Just follow the mixing recipe and you’ll have success.”
“Very impressed with the customer service we received as well as the expert advice. This is a quality product which I have recommended to my clients in the marine industry.”
“Great customer service and very effective product. It helped us more than once to get rid of big boulders. Make sure to drill deep enough and to give it the time it needs to expend and it’ll do the job it’s supposed to do.”
“Was able to break up about 15 cubic metres of granite in order to clear space to build a storage unit by our rocky shore line. Dexpan worked as directed, kinda fun too.”
“This stuff works - It works great.
Follow the instructions and smile at all the demolition labor your back doesn’t have to cope with!”
“We used this product to break up deep large footings so we could install new bollards. The footings were around 20 inch in diameter by 30 inch deep. We drilled holes 20 inch deep and filled with Dexpan. The Dexpan expands and cracks the concrete allowing us to remove the chunks, it is still work but just trying to break up with our the Demolition product would have been gruesome to say the least”
“The product worked exactly as promised. I had a large (5 foot by 3 foot) granite rock sticking up in the yard next to the house. It was blocking drainage and I wanted to remove the top 10 inches of it. I followed directions and about 2 days later the top 10 inches were broken up so that I could simply pick up the pieces and haul them away. Perfect!”
“Dexpan Company was amazingly responsive when I asked a question on delivery date by email on a weekend evening and I received a response within a few hours. My order arrived on the corrected date in that email so I am quite impressed with this company doing business right and beyond my expectations. I will do business with this company again and recommend them highly.”
“This stuff really works like it is advertised. It’s super easy to use. I drilled 1.5” holes into limestone ridge about 12” deep and filled them with Dexpan slurry. Next day the rock was neatly cracked. Much less effort than if broken with jack hammer.”
“Best thing since sliced bread. In certain situations this stuff is the only solution available for removing concrete and rock. I use it mostly inside buildings when I hit rock under the slab that has to be removed for piping.”
“Great stuff, but make sure you get the right temperature rating and watch out for rain. Otherwise I’ve had great luck splitting granite rock with this product.”
“Dexpan is a good company to deal with and their products work exactly as described. Their packaging in homeowner sized quantities is an additional benefit to many users. My project involved removal of a concrete step from a patio slab but I wanted to retain the edge of the slab for support of a wood deck. It took some creative drilling on my part but the project was very successful and far easier to do than jackhammering. In addition, this method saved the cost and hassle of pouring a new section of the slab as I would have had to with jackhammering. I had to rent a large hammer drill for the Dexpan holes but the smaller holes for the fracture lines were drilled with my Bosch hammer drill. Total drill time was about an hour and a half for the large holes and about the same for the smaller fracture line holes. Holes were about 14” deep, horizontally under the step, top of slab. I glued PVC pipe elbows into the openings to allow complete filling of the holes which is critical in horizontal applications. Dexpan works like a very slow motion explosive so it could be tagged as an ‘expansive’. I poured the Dexpan at about 3:00 PM and the breaks were complete when I returned the next morning.”
“This worked as advertised. I used it to break up entryway steps. The concrete was thicker than I expected, but the Dexpan broke it all the way through, 18”at the thickest spots. This in spite of the fact that the weather changed and the overnight lows dropped below the temperature range recommended.”
“We needed to remove a 10” thick, 27 foot long, 6 ft high concrete retaining wall. I could not get local contractors to even give me a bid. So, being very experienced DIY’ers, we began researching ways to do it ourselves. After finding Dexpan, we contacted the company for advice on how bet to drill the wall. Their guy Mike was really helpful giving us a recommended drilling pattern and other tips. We used a large rotary hammer with a 36” long 1-1/2” diameter bit. We drilled straight down from the top, with holes spaced about 12” apart and vacuumed them out afterwards. We mixed the product according to directions, and frankly were a little skeptical when the “slurry” didn’t seem much more thick than coffee with cream. (Tip: mix well, pour 1/2 of the product in the holes then mix again to get all the stuff that settles in the bucket.) However, the product worked spectacularly. The first cracks were noticeable after 4 hours and by 12 hours there were cracks the entire length of the wall at least 2” wide, with some big chunks already fallen off. A few smacks with a long bar (for safety) and most of the wall was down. After only 30 minutes of cleanup with a chisel in the hammer drill and it was ready for the second drilling for the bottom half of the wall.”
“I bought Dexpan to break up an old concrete bulkhead foundation and a five foot (across) rock about a foot thick that was in the way of a new concrete floor. I drilled as instructed, which was easy in the concrete but the rock was VERY hard and took a long time to drill. The concrete was cracked in many places the next day, the rock however was not. I was somewhat discouraged, but waited another day, as some other reviewers said it sometimes takes a while. Well the next day it rained on the rock and Dexpan and I thought...well that ends that. I worked more on the concrete two days later, still nothing on the rock. On the fourth day I went back to break up the cracked concrete and to my amazement the rock was cracked all the way across at the six holes I had drilled in it!! This stuff is awesome! So...the moral of this review is, be patient! (which I am not) and give it some time to work. Great product!!”
“This stuff really works. I rented a pnuematic rock drill and drilled 5 holes approximately 3 feet deep. I was only able to fill 3 1/2 holes with the qty of dexpan that I purchased. The first day, nothing happened. 2 days later I saw a small crack. Within a week a 1/4 inch crack appeared. This is a huge boulder and I don’t know how much is buried in the ground. I will need to use more holes to actually split the boulder apart and separate the pieces but this was a great start. I previously tried a jack hammer and the boulder just laughed.”
“I have a 8 in thick block of concrete which as 2 ft x 2 ft. I drilled 7 holes and filled it with Dexpan By the next day it was totally broken into many pieces. I was amazed since this was a very thick block.”
“Although the Dexpan material did not work out in our particular application which is not what it was developed for, (Trying to breakup a large frozen 15” slab of zinc that had flowed onto the floor following a molten metal run-out of a large galvanizing kettle). The people at Dexpan were very helpful in getting us the product very quickly, they actually brought it to our door within a couple of hours of the first contact. Supplying literature and making suggestions. Great support info and follow-up.”
“Just wanted to let you know that we received the Dexpan on Friday, drilled our holes Saturday and by Monday morning we had the rock cracked. So we thank you very much for the help you have given us. Needless to say I am sure the other brand from Home hardware must have been spoiled. We are very, very happy with the results.”