building a patio with recycled concrete
What — you thought the shed project was enough? Well, apparently I’m not happy until I’ve begun more projects than can be finished in a summer. You may recall that we’ve had some issues with playful dogs killing our grass, so we’ve decided to pave our yard with as many stepping stones as we can, plant grass between them, and hope. Because we’re on a reuse/recycle/don’t spend kick, we turned to Craigslist to source our patio stones. Searching for “free concrete,” we found several local homeowners who had just jackhammered out sidewalks and driveways and wanted someone to take the pieces away. Three trips yielded about 40 decent-sized chunks that we are slowly placing in the yard. The price was right — free! — which is a big difference from the last time we built a stone patio, when we paid $600+ for materials. And because we’re reusing, we’re keeping concrete out of a landfill and we’re not stripping rock from the side of a mountain.
Of course, if you’re using recycled concrete, you have to expect that the pieces are going to have a rather rustic look, but this suits us just fine. The only downside we’ve experienced is that depending on the source, the pieces vary quite a bit in thickness — it does take awhile to dig a hole big enough for a seven-inch-thick stepping stone! I’ll post more photos when we get it all in. –Mary T.
That’s great! My wife and I just finished making our recycled concrete patio. We opted to fill the gaps with some cuttings of woolly thyme, which should spread aggressively and be durable underfoot (and we won’t need to mow). The rustic look you mention isn’t for everyone, but if you take your time with it, it can end up looking really nice and ‘settled in’ – it feels that it has been there for a while, as opposed to that sort of sterile, new-off-the-shelf patio feeling.
One thing I would share: especially with “urbanite pavers” (old concrete), have a thick layer of gravel beneath if you can. It really helps to be able to level off your stones, which, given the irregular shape and depth of those urbanite chunks, can be very time-consuming. We skimped on a base layer and it made setting the pavers much more labor intensive. Sometimes people are giving away yards of crushed rock or gravel on craigslist, if you watch. Some gardeners will let you take cuttings of woolly thyme from their yards for planting, too. Free is good!
Paralleling what you are doing (great minds and all that, perhaps) I also just finished primary construction of our shed, made mostly out of old fence timber, including the stringers, posts, and boards from a section of our fence we pulled down last fall. It was affordable, environmentally friendly, cut down on waste, and resulted in a ‘weathered garden cottage’ look. I still have some finishing to do – screening the gaps and a ramp – but we think it looks great.
We did it all this spring and we’re not especially motivated individuals. Have faith – you can do it all in one summer!
taj, email me — mary at shelterrific dot com — I’d love to see photos of your shed!
Where do you live? We tried the thyme thing on our previous patio when we were in Ohio, but the long, very hot summers (and I suspect not enough ground under it — we went overboard with the sand on that patio) led it to all die off. Though we’re in Seattle now, our front yard (the way our house is set up the front is kind of our de facto backyard for the dogs) gets a lot of sun all summer, all day long, so I was worried that it would kill off anything not super hardy, even though this time we’re only putting dirt in between. Thoughts?
Thanks!
Our patios are made of recycled concrete too. The source of ours is Seattle city sidewalks. I don’t know why but I think that’s very cool.
I love that, FTRB. It’s always great to own a piece of “history,” like my Rainier Cold Storage bricks http://www.shelterrific.com/2008/05/07/marys-green-find-historic-bricks/ (which will finally be added to the patio this year!)