Using Recycled Concrete

stacker

has anyone used recycled concrete for a retaining wall?the homeowner on the house i am on now is using it in a dry stacked method around his backyard.when he told me about it i was not very hip on it.even tho i wasnt doing to work.but he got started today,and i have to say it looks pretty good.
ill post some pix when he has more completed.

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lukachuki

Please do....I have been collecting concrete from driveways we rip out for a friend who wants me to help him build exactly what you described. I think we can make it look pretty allright. I was thinking of mortaring it all in though to account for different thicknesses.

Pictures would be GREAT.

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artisanstone

I built a little wall this way on my land. In herringbone! I'll have to post a picture, it looks much better than you would think.

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loneframer

One of the GCs I used to work for did about 1000 sq. ft. driveway with broken sidewalk pieces. He left about 1" margins on edges,and I have to say it looked neat. The cost must have been triple a new pour though, I would think.

lukachuki

Great!!! Can't wait to see it.

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rustyjames

I'll bet a wall done with exposed saw cut concrete units facing out would probably look pretty cool too.

gallerytungsten

I would have two concerns using recycled concrete.

You don't know how strong it is, so maybe whack a few pieces to make sure it's tough enough.

Then, with the dry stack as a retaining wall, how much pressure will be put on the side and how high is the wall? If it's a lot of weight, and the concrete surface is slick, there might be some movement. Perhaps you can hammer drill it and pin it with rebar.

Tscarborough

Gallery, two words: Batter and Pitch.

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lukachuki

Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacker we just want to let you know that we are still waiting for you to get your license to operate your digital camera.

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stacker

just so you all know,i took the oklahoma digital camera test,9.6385 hours,and passed it on the first try!!!but i havent taken the oklahoma upload digital pictures to your computer license,9.291 hours,yet.
the homeowner hasnt done much on the wall since i first posted.i will go out tommorow and take some pix of what he has done tho.
but i need to check with bwalley to make sure i wont be a hack first.

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life is short,do your masonry naked!!
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lukachuki

Bump!!! Not letting you off of the hook so easily stacker!!!!

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

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stacker

lol
he has the wall finished.he finished over the weekend,so i will take my camera tommorow and upload some pix of his wall.

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mickeyco

I have an apartment building that has one, looks like it was made from old sidewalks or something, it's over 40 years old and still standing.

I might have a picture.




.

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lukachuki

That would be great if you could find it. :-) I've been saving concrete for a good friend for 2 or 3 years as we rip out driveways and we would like to start building his wall this summer. We are just not sure if it will look like crap or not though.

Soooooooooooooo Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacker just send me your digital camera and I will post the pics.

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

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Tom Struble

bet he didnt pass the test after all

Tinstaafl

He cheated. They found the Polaroid in his backpack.

RZB

Here in town the city built alot of mortared double sided walls with recycled sidewalks. They even used "cock and hen" (thank you google!) coping stones. The walls do look pretty good to most people, same was as an old poorly repointed stone house has "character". However the walls do almost resemble some of the other limestone walls around town, I think that possibly because the concrete is really old and a bit darker grey with no steel in it, it might look more stone like. Another factor that might help the look is the ivy that covers most of it but who knows!

stacker

here you go.

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life is short,do your masonry naked!!
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stacker

couple more pix.
the second pic is what he started with.he got lucky and there was no rebar(he called an engineer,and he brought a big metal detector and made sure.)

anyway the wall is about 3 to 4 foot deep.
sorry it took so long to get the pix,but i had to borrow someones license in order to upload them.

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life is short,do your masonry naked!!
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dakzaag

Thanks stacker, it looks better than expected. I could see this getting to be popular with the green people. I will have to keep it in mind.

Good job on the pics, I started a photo bucket account, now my helper thinks I want to be a reporter. First tool out in the morning is the camera and last thing back is the camera. I'm always telling him to get the camera.

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