Having just poured the slab for a tool shed which will be built out of
100mm dense concrete blocks I find myself with a pile of ballast left
over. It occurs to me the most effect way of disposing of the agregate
is to turn it into blocks. Has anyone made blocks before?

Wet mix or dry mix? Wooden form or metal form? I know it'll be tedious
but probably better than trying to lose the ballast around the garden
!

AWEM

At the current cost of oil to act as a releasing agent,it would be cheaper
to dump the ballast.

Alex wrote:
At the current cost of oil to act as a releasing agent,it would be cheaper
to dump the ballast.

Ah, but what about the cost of the fuel needed to transport said ballast
to the dump?!

David

Andrew Mawson wrote:

Having just poured the slab for a tool shed which will be built out of
100mm dense concrete blocks I find myself with a pile of ballast left
over.

How about concrete dwarf walls for the shed? ;-)



--
Cheers,

John.

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"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Andrew Mawson wrote:

Having just poured the slab for a tool shed which will be built
out of
100mm dense concrete blocks I find myself with a pile of ballast
left
over.

How about concrete dwarf walls for the shed? ;-)



--
Cheers,

John.


John, yes that was my first thought but I rejected it as not knowing
exactly how much is there I'll end up buying more of the d*** stuff to
finish the walls, and then have another pile to get rid of !!!

AWEM

Andrew Mawson wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Andrew Mawson wrote:

Having just poured the slab for a tool shed which will be built
out of
100mm dense concrete blocks I find myself with a pile of ballast
left
over.

How about concrete dwarf walls for the shed? ;-)

John, yes that was my first thought but I rejected it as not knowing
exactly how much is there I'll end up buying more of the d*** stuff to
finish the walls, and then have another pile to get rid of !!!

Perfect excuse for a 4 storey shed. 'Well honey, I guess I'm not much
good with working out volumes, and I couldnt waste it could I'


NT

Andrew Mawson wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Andrew Mawson wrote:

Having just poured the slab for a tool shed which will be built out of
concrete blocks I find myself with a pile of ballast left over.

How about concrete dwarf walls for the shed?

That was my first thought but I rejected it as not knowing
how much is there, I'll end up buying more of the stuff to finish the walls.

Try and work out what volume you can make and if it is worth making a
large former do so with a spare 2x4 to allow you to make an insert if
there is a shortfall. Otherwise it's merely a matter of buying one or
two bocks and putting 2x4's around them with screws or clamps if you
have them.

Then you can make the blocks at your leisure. With a little more clever
planning you can make them in situ. Pour them straight onto the course
below. In which case you are able to lay a full course at a time and
get the levels spot on.

It's going to want whitewashing or rendering afterwards though, as the
colours of the various mixes and the different levels will look odd.

Weatherlawyer wrote:

Then you can make the blocks at your leisure. With a little more clever
planning you can make them in situ. Pour them straight onto the course
below. In which case you are able to lay a full course at a time and
get the levels spot on.

It's going to want whitewashing or rendering afterwards though, as the
colours of the various mixes and the different levels will look odd.

Thats the one downside of poured walls, they dont look very good. I
wonder if attaching little bits of half round moulding to the former to
break the appearance up into block shapes would work.


NT

wrote:

Weatherlawyer wrote:


Then you can make the blocks at your leisure. With a little more clever
planning you can make them in situ. Pour them straight onto the course
below. In which case you are able to lay a full course at a time and
get the levels spot on.

It's going to want whitewashing or rendering afterwards though, as the
colours of the various mixes and the different levels will look odd.


Thats the one downside of poured walls, they dont look very good. I
wonder if attaching little bits of half round moulding to the former to
break the appearance up into block shapes would work.

Just render them afterwards.... then work out what to do with all the
sand you have left over! ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

wrote:
Weatherlawyer wrote:

Then you can make the blocks at your leisure. With a little more clever
planning you can make them in situ. Pour them straight onto the course
below. In which case you are able to lay a full course at a time and
get the levels spot on.

It's going to want whitewashing or rendering afterwards though, as the
colours of the various mixes and the different levels will look odd.

Thats the one downside of poured walls, they dont look very good. I
wonder if attaching little bits of half round moulding to the former to
break the appearance up into block shapes would work.

Yes breaking up the facet is what brick work is all about
stylistically. Every brick is at a slightly different angle to the next
one. That and the gaps between them give a pleasing appearance. It's
difficult to reproduce.

Scouring with a wire brush and/or a jet of water when it is still
quite soft less than a day after the pour might perhaps get a nicer
finish than if left alone. Placing some battons on it after would also
help. And growing something on it too.