reusing materials

[ianfish]

What do forum members think of recycling and reuse of materials?

 

We are in the throws of taking down and removing a conservatory and a bit of previous extension. we have the luxury of a large-ish garden which like the house is ok but nothing that needs attention. the house appealed to us in the summer of 2019 for the very fact that is was almost a blank canvas.

 

So we sold on the extension 200 GBP for a 4.5 x 4m double glazed extension , buyer to dismantle (that sadly did not happen as we thought!) 

 

Today is breaking up the concrete floor, How do others feels about retaining the broken concrete to use as aggregate? I guess I will need more but what do others think? do I get it off site or look to keep it to  put back under the new slab?

 

I can see pros and cons for both ideas, just interested to hear what others think!

[markc]

Re using materials is never a bad thing unless its more trouble and work than its worth.

Broken concrete can make good hardcore if broken down into small enough pieces (compacting hardcore is basically getting the pieces to lodge together tightly, large pieces do not fit together well and leave large air pockets) couls always be used as sub base under a drive etc.

[Russell griffiths]

Grab lorry get it gone, unless you smash it into 50mm pieces it is no good under a slab. Ok for a shed base. Or a path, but not the house. 

[Onoff]

You could hire a concrete crusher. Noisy things but do a good job. I don't think @Gone West really had any neighbours to worry about! ?

 

 

 

 

[ianfish]

I am letting our local recycling boys look after our redundant slab - parts in skip all ready

 

its just too much of a poor mix...in 4.5m  there has to be about four mixes...from good slab 4" thick to 1" and sandy mush 

Edited April 9, 2021 by ianfish

[SuperPav]

Having done two refurbs, the unpopular answer is: chuck it in a skip/grab lorry, pretty much regardless of what it is. Sadly it is usually cheaper and quicker to throw away and buy new, if you're paying someone to do the demolition/dismantling.

 

Unfortunately this doesn't always sit well with me, which is why I'm currently in the process of manually removing a load of worthless 60's concrete buff tiles off the roof, and these will be reused to clad the side (not visible) wall of the new extended garage. It would be much quicker to chuck them all in a skip from the roof, breaking all the tiles in the process, and then spend £900 or so on getting nice shiny new ones. But other than the marginal cost saving, I'd like to think it's a bit more environmentally friendly to avoid new tiles, and the disposal impact of getting rid of broken old ones.