Unique Ways to Recycle Broken Concrete
If you are a homeowner who just completed a big project, and you are left with piles of broken concrete, you are probably wondering the best way to get rid of those piles. If you've looked at all the most common ways people recycle and dispose of concrete and you haven't found a method that is right for you, look no further. This article will provide you with a few different and unique ways you can recycle broken concrete around your home:
1. Use As a Form of Garden Drainage
Stack several pieces of concrete on top of each other and break the concrete up into very small chucks by hitting the pile with a sledge hammer. You want the pieces to be the size of small and medium rocks. Then place these concrete pieces into the bottom of flower pots or garden pots. Concrete is the perfect medium for water drainage.
2. Update Your Landscaping
Using the same technique as above to break up the concrete into small pieces, you can then use the rocks around your yard. Broken concrete rocks are perfect to use as an edging around a patio or as a second driveway. You can place the rocks around the perimeter of your house and plant bushes in them. Not only does this look great, but again, it is a perfect medium for water drainage and will keep the wood on your patio or on the outside of your home from rotting.
3. Create an Abstract Path or Walkway
Take irregular flat pieces of broken concrete and place them on the ground to create a path. Space the pieces apart to allow grass and other low-growing plants like creeping thyme to grow in between them. This type of path looks beautiful in or near a large garden. It's also perfect for creating a path from the front to the back of your home or to a garden or utility shed. You can even buy concrete stain to really make each step look amazing.
4. Build a Wall
Artist Andy Goldworthy's spectacular walls are a wonderful inspiration for creating an amazing wall in your yard. You can take broken concrete and build a wall around the perimeter of your property, around your garden, or anywhere else you desire. Your options are only limited by your imagination. When building a wall, stack the concrete slabs on a slight slant, just like you would if you were working with slate stones. This will help make the wall last longer because moisture will roll right off.
5. Save Water in the Bathroom
While you won't be able to use up all the broken concrete from your home-improvement project with this idea, it will save you money. Simply put a large block on concrete into the cistern of your toilet to take up space usually filled with water. This won't affect how your toilet runs, but you'll use less water. In turn, this will lower your water bills.
6. Re-use Materials in Your Driveway Project
If you tore up a concrete driveway and are building a new one, simply throw the chunks of old concrete down before pouring the new concrete.
7. Build a Backyard Fire Pit
If you have a significant amount of concrete to work with, and most of it is all the same size, then consider building a fire pit in the backyard for your family to enjoy.
8. Use As Clay Pigeons
If you have pieces of concrete that are the size of a small plate or a little smaller, then use them as clay pigeons. You know—those things that you throw into the air and then shoot. This is great target practice as long as it's done in a safe manner.
This list of unique things to do with broken concrete should help you recycle the piles of concrete you have after you've completed a home-improvement project. It may also spark more ideas in your mind for additional things you can do with the concrete. But if none of these methods work, and you simply want to get the concrete out of your yard, then call your local concrete company. They will be happy to come to your home, collect the piles of concrete, and haul it away for a fee.