Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my
in-laws' basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even
be there when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel
doesn't disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for,
it'll probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that
happen.
Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

My guess is cement that is no longer good.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

On Sat, 12 May 2007 12:50:02 -0400, "Joseph Meehan"
graced this newsgroup with:

A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my
in-laws' basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even
be there when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel
doesn't disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for,
it'll probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that
happen.
Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

My guess is cement that is no longer good.


or mortar

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

On May 12, 12:33 pm, "A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

or kitty litter

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my
in-laws' basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even
be there when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel
doesn't disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for,
it'll probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that
happen.
Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

My guess is cement that is no longer good.

Sounds about right- are there any fenceposts, bird feeders, mailboxes,
clotheslines, etc., set in cement, on the property? Not uncommon for frugal
people to use half a sack of sackcrete or similar, and try to store the
rest. It seldom works, since it sucks moisture from the air. I'd just dig a
hole in the backyard and bury it. Not likely to hurt anything.

aem sends...

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

That's toilet cleaner. Just place it in the toilet, let stand for 15
minutes, then flush.

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

On May 12, 11:33 am, "A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

Oilsorb - akin to kitty litter.

Funny story -

We bought an investment property with a large cardboard drum marked as
some nasty cyanide compound. I was stressing out about how to dispose
of it properly, when someone else working there recognized that it was
Oilsorb. The former owner of the property worked at a chemical supply
house, and had brought home drums for storing things in the garage.

:-)

JK

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

"Big_Jake" wrote in message
ups.com...
On May 12, 11:33 am, "A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

Oilsorb - akin to kitty litter.

Funny story -

We bought an investment property with a large cardboard drum marked as
some nasty cyanide compound. I was stressing out about how to dispose
of it properly, when someone else working there recognized that it was
Oilsorb. The former owner of the property worked at a chemical supply
house, and had brought home drums for storing things in the garage.

Chuckle. DoD used to sell empty 'triple rinsed' 55 gallon drums, with
'property of DoD' markings, serial numbers, contract numbers, etc.,
stenciled on them. They started turning up full of HazMat at Superfund
sites, and guess who EPA came after to pay for the cleanup? DoD does NOT
sell empty drums any more. They crush, them, and sell for scrap metal.
Crushing costs more than the metal value.They consider it cheap insurance.
Your tax dollars at play, etc. I blame Congress, for allowing EPA to
disregard legal transfer of ownership, and go after the deep pockets. Yeah,
the taxpayers end up paying for the cleanup either way, but all those
lawyers and all that paperwork suck up a lot of cash that could be better
spent on the guys in the moon suits.

aem sends....

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

On May 12, 9:51 pm, Big_Jake wrote:
On May 12, 11:33 am, "A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:



I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

Oilsorb - akin to kitty litter.

Funny story -

We bought an investment property with a large cardboard drum marked as
some nasty cyanide compound. I was stressing out about how to dispose
of it properly, when someone else working there recognized that it was
Oilsorb. The former owner of the property worked at a chemical supply
house, and had brought home drums for storing things in the garage.

:-)

JK

FYI, industrial cyanide is normally a white crystaline form (granuals
or briquettes).

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

In article l%l1i.131$Gm.99@trnddc04, a.learner@earth (A. Learner)
says...

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

Fertilizer?

--
For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
with my first name and last initial.

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

Sounds like stone dust (also called decomposed granite)... it's a type
of sand used for underlaying brick sidewalks, patios, and the like.
Were any put in there in recent memory?
When you dump wanter on stone dust, it semi-dissolves, semi-
hardens.....

On May 12, 12:33 pm, "A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

At first, I thought it was some kind of fine gravel, but gravel doesn't
disintegrate in water. (Does it?)

If we can't figure out what it is, and what it can be reused for, it'll
probably end up in a landfill somewhere. Hate to see that happen.

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

TIA

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

On May 14, 8:34 am, Larry Caldwell
wrote:
In article l%l1i.131$Gm.99@trnddc04, a.learner@earth (A. Learner)
says...

Does anyone have a guess what the material might be based on the
description?

Fertilizer?

We have a wiener... :)

--

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help. It seems that the best theories
a cement, mortar, and stone dust. (Judging from how dense the
material is, cat litter and fertilizer don't seem to be it). Is there a
simple way to tell apart, say, cement and stone dust?

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

In article dB92i.9164$yy6.3066@trnddc05,
"A. Learner" a.learner@earth wrote:

A. Learner wrote:
I found a large unlabeled bucket of (leftover?) material in my in-laws'
basement. Nobody seems to remember what it is. It might even be there
when they moved into the place.

The stuff is light grey, granular, gravel-like, with a grain size of
about 0.5 mm to 3 mm. When I soaked a sample in hot water for several
minutes, the grains disintegrated and the sample turned into a dark
grey, muddy mixture.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help. It seems that the best theories
a cement, mortar, and stone dust. (Judging from how dense the
material is, cat litter and fertilizer don't seem to be it). Is there a
simple way to tell apart, say, cement and stone dust?

Decomposed granite ("stone dust", which looks more or less like coarse
sand, when mixed with water and tamped down firmly, will dry to form a
fairly hard surface. But it will soften again once it gets wet. Cement
(or concrete, which contains cement) should harden and stay hard,
although as mentioned in another thread, old cement may not harden.
Decomposed granite won't dissolve in water, though, so when you say it
"disintegrates" in water, if you mean dissolve, then it isn't DG.

Maybe it's ground bones. (aka human "ashes")

Mystery Leftover Material - Please Help Identify
 

Smitty Two wrote:

Decomposed granite ("stone dust", which looks more or less like coarse
sand, when mixed with water and tamped down firmly, will dry to form a
fairly hard surface. But it will soften again once it gets wet. Cement
(or concrete, which contains cement) should harden and stay hard,
although as mentioned in another thread, old cement may not harden.
Decomposed granite won't dissolve in water, though, so when you say it
"disintegrates" in water, if you mean dissolve, then it isn't DG.

When I said "disintegrated", I meant that the grains broke down (in hot
water) into fine particles to form a darker, muddy paste. I don't think
they dissolved.