New use for old concrete

New use for old concrete (post #15387)

bcavan on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 16:39

Inspired Design

Am having the driveway repaired and the old conrete will have to be dug out and disposed of...anyone have any ideas of how I could recycle it in the back yard? It won't be pretty and will be in chunks. I was thinking of a small retaining area with dirt and trailing herbs filling in the cracks..

Thanks!

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by the country gardener in reply to bcavan [original] on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 17:02

I have seen some pretty impressiver retaining walls built out of chunks of old sidewalk and driveway. I wouldn't try for anything over three feet tall however. Plan on putting some drainage in behind it; rain-soaked soil can push hard against the wall. I have seen some rustic walkways done with chunks of old concrete too. Set the pieces out like flagstone and set them in sand or rock dust, then fill in between the pieces with a low-growing groundcover like Blue Star Creeper or Creeping Thyme

Marty

"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins

Edited 4/21/2008 1:05 pm by the country gardener

Marty

"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins

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by bcavan in reply to Anonymous [original] on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 18:48

Thanks...I may have an area that just needs defining out backa and could use them there

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by SarahC in reply to bcavan [original] on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 03:09

I know this is not what you are asking, but when we broke up a huge old patio, I found a place in the yellow pages that took the concrete for recycling for free -- we just had to deliver. It was about 1,000 truck-loads in the old blue truck, but wow, what a work-out program! Too bad it didn't last.

zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer

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by annieqst in reply to bcavan [original] on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 14:25

I saw this in Sunset Magazine and wondered if I could do it with our old concrete patio. http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,1731852,00.html The patio has heaved over the years and I'd love to put something else down. When I saw this article, it occurred to me that perhaps I could do something similar in just recycling the concrete. Don't know if it's possible and would love to hear from others if they've tried this. Perhaps it would work for you?

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by whyyyyyyyy in reply to Anonymous [original] on Fri, 01/16/2009 - 20:19

I have seen retaining walls like Marty was describing made from broken concrete and because you only see the thin ends they can look like limestone so they can look quite natural. However, cracked and broken concrete looks like cracked and broken concrete even when it is relaid like flagstone. Ughhh! The photo from Sunset shows natural stone flagstone which is beautiful. Anybody living in a cold and wet climate must put in a properly laid base as well as drainage behind a wall. This makes a hugeeeeee difference down the road. Even a lot of professionals don't do this properly and things will be guaranteed to move and shift in a year or two.

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by drystone in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 18:17

I have seen a few attractive sections of wall built out of broken concrete, Concrete with a lot of aggregate can almost be as attractive as sandstone conglomerates after it weathers. Use a fairly clean broken edge to the outside, a cut edge looks tacky.

For advice on building retaining walls go to www.dswa.org.uk, click on '' books, leaflets and tools''. I'm sure the one on retaining walls can be downloaded. A good retaining wall will last forever, if built properly.

Nick

New use for old concrete