Building up ground with rubble

[cwr]

Hi folks,

Builders are leaving quite a mess of broken blocks out the back of the house. As it happens we need to build most of this area up anyway for a patio anyway. Question is, is it wise to just leave the blocks there and throw some stone over them and compact down? I'll not be laying the patio itself for a year so there's a bit if time for it to settle.

(Photo to follow)

Thanks

[MikeSharp01]

You can probably bury them reliably with type 1 provided that they are somewhat spread out so the stone can get around them, if they are left piled up the voids will take a long time to fill and you will get holes appearing for a long time. If you cannot spread them out you need to do a good amount of crushing to prevent voids.

[Roundtuit]

I did that.  Dumped all of the bricks, blocks, concrete, broken tiles etc in a heap where the patio was going to be, and spent 2 years looking at a pile of crap wishing I had a patio.  When I did get round to building the patio, I decided it was a bad idea, got a skip in to get rid of most of it and put about 10 tonnes of Type 1 down. I'd say either skip it, or loose it bit by bit down the local recycling centre.

[Mr Punter]

I have used blocks to make up levels.  It is quite time consuming as you need to lay them flat and butt them up as tight as you can.  You will need some MOT to finish it.  If you just scatter the rubble you will end up twisting your ankle or falling over on it.

[ToughButterCup]

16 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

...  If you just scatter the rubble you will end up twisting your ankle or falling over on it.

?, again.

[cwr]

Thanks for the replies.

And finally, here's a photo.

Yes, it is a rather ankle twisting mess....

But not that deep as the ground was already built up a bit.

[ProDave]

If that is the "waste" from building work, then sack the brickies.  3/4 blocks should be used for the cuts not just slung on the ground and what's the betting the next cut they needed was taken from a full bock.

 

[Moonshine]

16 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If that is the "waste" from building work, then sack the brickies.  3/4 blocks should be used for the cuts not just slung on the ground and what's the betting the next cut they needed was taken from a full bock.

 

 

I have been amazed how little wastage my brickies have created so far.

[Dave Jones]

surprised they would work of that pile of rusting scrap. H & S would have a field day.

[cwr]

They're getting paid fixed price so I'm not paying by the block, thankfully. 

And, there was quite a bit of rework that produced a lot of waste (builder's mistake) as a couple of walls were redone. So a lot of what you see has mortar on it.

 

[Faz]

On 20/07/2021 at 07:51, Dave Jones said:

surprised they would work of that pile of rusting scrap. H & S would have a field day.

That is some of the worst scaffolding I have seen for a long while!  Didn't go large on the crossbracing either.

 

No puddies - that pile of crap appears to be freestanding.....

[saveasteading]

Glad you are not paying for the blocks, but somebody has done. It has all the signs of being built for the ease of the bricky with no regard to waste.

 

Every block costs what? £1.50, then half a skip to get rid of it all.

Unless I wanted them there I would tell the bricky to take it away or pay for the skip.

 

Had a site manager once who called me the skip inspector. They had to learn that whole bricks and blocks, or even half ones do not go in the skip, ever., and any waste has to be taken to a pile, not the skip.

 

An MD of like mind used to only put small hippo bags on site, as batten offcuts would not fit, so it was easier to keep them on the roof and use them.

 

Re hardcore. The suggestion above is ok, that you lay them all flat and infill with stone. but you should also then break them up more, as they lie. Good exercise with a sledge hammer.

 

Skips.   I went on talks, and then conveyed it to all staff (admin as well as site) that the real cost of a skip is not £250 but £1,500, because of the stuff in it that you should not have bought.

Then each job had a target number of skips, about 1/4 of the nationally accepted rate. Most of the time it worked, even if partly due to pressing down with a digger.

The estimator and buyer had to get it right first, then the workers be told they had to use offcuts. esp plasterboarders who like a new sheet every time.

[Roundtuit]

3 hours ago, cwr said:

And, there was quite a bit of rework that produced a lot of waste (builder's mistake) as a couple of walls were redone. So a lot of what you see has mortar on it.

I'd politely ask the builder to get a skip in to shift his mistake then ?