Getting rid of huge amounts of concrete and garden waste?

[flanagaj]

So I spent 3 days with an excavator and pecker, and finally broke up ~ 250m2 of 4" non reinforced (thank goodness) concrete slab.   It was absolutely mind numbing, but glad it's done.   I did originally consider getting a concrete crusher in to crush it, so that it could be reused for hardcore, but you are looking at £700+ for the hire of a crusher and 5 tonne excavator to load it.  I did consider contacting local farmers to see whether any of them might want it.

What have others done?

I also have huge amounts of garden waste from hedge removal / tree felling, and once again I am not sure what the most cost effective method is for getting rid of it.  I suppose it could always be burnt, but once again, there is a lot of it.  

[Onoff]

https://youtu.be/9zugv1NdMj4?si=aGuohpMXU_3a48j_

[Russell griffiths]

Get some wooden pegs. 
peg out house location, peg out patios and driveway. 
peg out heights of all these finished areas, dig out the top soil and use all that concrete as a sub base below the drive way. 

the topsoil you skim off where the drive is going you can put where the concrete came from to turn back into garden. 
 

it’s all about planning. 
 

tree waste just burn it. 
or you will need a roll off skip, nobody will chip it if you moved it with a digger as it will now be dirty, if you stacked it neat and tidy then hire a chipper and chuck it through, only good for clean branches though not grass or shrub mess. 
 

my sites 20 times bigger than yours and I haven’t had to remove anything from site apart from two loads of muck that came out when we did the treatment plant as it was horrid clay stuff, and a load of concrete that was over 450mm thick that just didn’t fit in any holes. 

[twice round the block]

Contact a grab loader company that also supplies crushed concrete and get them to collect it providing it is not contaminated with soil or wood you'll get it moved for a cheap price.

 

They took mine away for £120 a load and will supply me with clean crushed at £160 a load. 

So you can't warrant hiring a crusher that you need to feed.

 

Wood / timber put it on Facebook foc, and someone will collect the wood providing its suitable to be processed into logs.

Whatever is left put a match too it when the wind is in the right direction. 

[flanagaj]

"the topsoil you skim off where the drive is going you can put where the concrete came from to turn back into garden" - great tip

 

 

[Buzz]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

Get some wooden pegs. 
peg out house location, peg out patios and driveway. 
peg out heights of all these finished areas, dig out the top soil and use all that concrete as a sub base below the drive way. 

the topsoil you skim off where the drive is going you can put where the concrete came from to turn back into garden. 
 

it’s all about planning. 
 

tree waste just burn it. 
or you will need a roll off skip, nobody will chip it if you moved it with a digger as it will now be dirty, if you stacked it neat and tidy then hire a chipper and chuck it through, only good for clean branches though not grass or shrub mess. 
 

my sites 20 times bigger than yours and I haven’t had to remove anything from site apart from two loads of muck that came out when we did the treatment plant as it was horrid clay stuff, and a load of concrete that was over 450mm thick that just didn’t fit in any holes. 

Definitely use the concrete at the front of the property, you will be amazed how quickly it will turn into a mud pit once you get started, you will need a lot of materials to be delivered and will need an area for lorry's to access the site without the risk of getting stuck .

As you have plenty I would create a roadway for them back down with a large hard standing area to unload onto close ot the house .

 

 

[LA3222]

Have a look at Drax for the trees...neighbour nearby chipped a load and made a few grand selling it to Drax through an intermediary. I had no idea they did that but it makes sense when they're spending a fortune shipping wood pellets in to burn as 'green' energy!

[Russell griffiths]

2 hours ago, LA3222 said:

Have a look at Drax for the trees...neighbour nearby chipped a load and made a few grand selling it to Drax through an intermediary. I had no idea they did that but it makes sense when they're spending a fortune shipping wood pellets in to burn as 'green' energy!

They will want 100’s of cubic meters to be worth the trouble, I used to sell mine to a couple of different power station  suppliers. 

[ToughButterCup]

On 02/11/2024 at 13:29, flanagaj said:

...
What have others done?
...

Early on in our build I would occasionally go and stand outside the HERAS of a local building site. And I would look really carefully at what everyone was doing there and see if I could apply any of the things that I learnt on our site. Occasionally I would pop in and see the s

ite foreman and ask if I could have a look to see how the site was organised. 

 

As a result of those visits I;

 

Made myself a site stillage

 

Made a site storage plan. 

 

Made a scaffolding store. 

 

Stoned the walkways around the outside of the build 

 

Bought track-mats to put in front and behind the stillage so that access to the contents was quick , easy and cleanable 

 

Kept the road outside our site spotlessly clean no mud, no dust, no stones.

 

Put some flood lights up, battery ones with a Bluetooth connection so that over the winter they came on and switched off randomly. (Bosch) We could also switch them on from inside our house. 

 

Made a concrete overspill 'pond' for the when the concrete wagon mixer needed to flush its pipes. Later I turned that concrete 'pond' into a flat area for storage and for a temporary work surface. Stupidly I put a whole load of waste rebar in it without thinking through the consequences of what would happen when I came to break it up. Live and learn eh....

 

I put some wheels on the bottom of for HERAS panels so that moving it was quick and easy at the beginning and end of each day. 

 

I also made a safe place for van drivers to pull off the road and make their delivery in safety.

[saveasteading]

3 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

when I came to break it up. Live and learn eh....

It won't be very strong, being washout. Mostly cement slurry, and very wet.

 

That was a well organised site. Most aren't. Good thinking on your part.

 

Any ideas on the trades tidying up after themselves?

 

[ToughButterCup]

55 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

....

Any ideas on the trades tidying up after themselves?

 

Got a part time job as a standup comedian then have you?

 

Earlier in the build, I walked round the site and quietly cleaned up after every single tradesman  Until the money ran out. 

 

When all is said and done I pay for their skill. 

 

That said we currently have the sparkles in. Two smashing lads who work for a local company;  they hoover up after themselves! Christ on a Bike!

All those thousands of little bits of copper wire. They get everywhere. Found some in my knicker drawer. Ouch.

 

They illustrate the rule. 

 

Owners clean up because customers pay for the skill - trades untidiness is an honourable tradition to be held in great esteem. Because it reminds us that we should bother about them. And know sod all ourselves.

[LSB]

we got a man with a crusher, we dug out 1/2 m x 250 sqm of very hard concrete.

he crushed it and we had for hardcore, topping the drive when it got muddy.

 

we will have the same again, but will use under the base for the stables and cart lodge and hubbys multiple sheds

 

so we paid crusher about 1k, but don't have to buy any hardcore in.

 

garden waste we separated for our log burner or just set fire to it

 

 

[saveasteading]

I heard that I was called the skip inspector* by a site manager.

That showed it was working.

I would set a maximum number of skips for a project.  Typically 3 for a £1M project. Once everyone thinks of it, the waste drops dramatically. Once had them empty a skip and fill it again as it was mostly air.

That, and the principles above, of muck balance ( none off site) and crushing all hardcore. And no cardboard boxes in the skip.

I told another contractor MD this and he tried it. He found the site agent hiring in grab lorries instead.

* why are there bricks and timber, and empty boxes in this skip..etc.

 

[LA3222]

On 02/11/2024 at 22:56, Russell griffiths said:

They will want 100’s of cubic meters to be worth the trouble, I used to sell mine to a couple of different power station  suppliers. 

Not sure that's the case nowadays, neighbour sold one lorry load so around 20T. He went through a broker who took a cut, then had to cover transport costs and made a couple of grand at the end. 

 

That's the story I was told, I have no reason to believe he is lying🤷‍♂️

[Russell griffiths]

3 hours ago, LA3222 said:

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Russell griffiths

[Onoff]

On 02/11/2024 at 17:51, Russell griffiths said:

my sites 20 times bigger than yours and I haven’t had to remove anything from site

 

What you really want is to live next to a lake...

 

😉 

[Russell griffiths]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

 

What you really want is to live next to a lake...

 

😉

Perfect for hiding bodies 😉

[SteamyTea]

18 hours ago, saveasteading said:

I heard that I was called the skip inspector* by a site manager

They may call me that at work, behind my back.

18 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Once had them empty a skip and fill it again as it was mostly air.

I do that with the recycling waste. 

Did get charged for some overweight bins.

[saveasteading]

Just now, SteamyTea said:

charged for some overweight bins.

Success! How do they expect us to know the weight of mixed waste? Appeal.

Our electician md bought into this, and he collected all his carboard boxes, bundled them and took them home. In another time they would have fillled a skip.

One our our site managers got a digger to squash the ckntents down. It saved the cost but missed the reduced waste point.

 

Back 10 years ago we were saying that the real cost of a skip was £2,500, including  the materials that had been bought and wasted. Probably £3,500 now.

Self builders think differently to commercial  builders.