concrete blocks

[switchman62]

Any suggestions on a good use for 2000 extra concrete blocks??

I needed about 400 to do some repairs and found some at an auction that they sold in one lot very cheaply. Someone had bought them to build a 24 x 30 garage but never got around to it. These are new with no morter or anything on them.

I don't need any other structures right now.
I've thought about some type of raised beds for vegetables?

Please give me some ideas;
and yes, I'm expecting some interesting responses.
My neighbor from down the road already stopped by to ask if I was building the new prison for Illinois.

Thanks,
Dave

[Shawn]

You may need a few more, but how about a "Stairway to Heaven"?

[Just Cliff]

Root Cellar!!!

[al]

The raised bed idea sounds good.

[Danaus29]

Raised bed. I could use some more to finish the one dd has.

Too many to set your car on.

[MO_cows]

The world's coolest outdoor kitchen with grill, smoking chamber and wood-fired oven. Or dig a cellar. Or make a sale, advertise the ones you don't need.

[calliemoonbeam]

I've thought of using them to make raised garden beds. My land has a pretty good slope and has really bad soil. I don't want to bring in good soil just to have it run off in the many torrential rain storms we get out here. The good part is, if you have them set hole-up, you can plant vegetables inside and then plant flowers or herbs in the holes around the outside edge.

I figured it out on paper once, and they'd be two blocks high on the high end and four blocks high on the low end. I planned on making them four feet wide and figured on leaving a few spots open on each long side so I could sit on the ledge if necessary (have health problems with good days and bad days). Just haven't had the money, time or oomph to get it done, lol.

I found out the cheapest way to get them was to buy them in a big lot from a manufacturer here, so I was thinking of other things to use them for, like a root celler, well house, spring house, smoke house, a big outdoor grill/oven, a summer kitchen, even a hot tub or swimming pool, lol. I've seen all of these and many more on the internet, all made from concrete blocks! Good luck!

[Country Lady]

By all means, raised beds.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

Too many to set your car on.

If you had 400 cars it will be the right amount.

[Troy]

Root Cellar , Garage , Raised Beds , Grills , Outdoor Ovens or you could just send them to me and I would do you the favor of getting them out of your way. LOL

Shoot for the right price I might even come and get them out of your way with a smile.

[Windy in Kansas]

Footings, stacked blocks with troweled on http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines...dingCement.asp

Some roof rafters and a tin roof and without a great deal more you have a shed.

[Rusty'sDog]

They are excellent for raised beds; solid, rot-proof, sturdy, and can be easily added to, or even removed. The hollow cells make it a snap for adding hoop frames, etc.

Another great use, is to construct 3 sided compost bins. Lay them on their sides, so the cells are horizontal and allow proper air circulation.

I plan on doing both...now all I have to do is find a deal like you did. I am also considering building a cistern to hold rain catchment for the dry summer months. If it was a "pool", the tax man would probably want to assess me for it, but since it will be a cistern (for ag purposes), I should be exempt...even if I take an occasional dip in it on one of those 98 degree summer days.

I wish I had 2000 concrete blocks.

[Rusty'sDog]

Or, stack them alongside your hen house as an insulating wall. Your hens will reward you summer and winter with more eggs. You can do this now as a storage solution until you determine their final use. If you do not use mortar, you can change your mind a dozen times.

[pheasantplucker]

Root cellar, raised beds, smoke house, "tables" with boards running across for a green house (like you see in nurseries) structure for fish if you have a deep pond, paper weight.

[pheasantplucker]

I wish I had 24 blocks

[mammabooh]

I'd use some of them for base walls for a greenhouse.

[Fae]

I would use them for raised beds since I am in the process of building a garden full of them. Just bought 25 yesterday to have enough to finish the one I'm working on. I only have maybe 5 or 6 left to build. Wow, what I could do with 2000 blocks.

[jwal10]

I poured a concrete footing and then used the block for 1 end wall of my shop up 6 courses and around the base of my greenhouse up 2 courses. Painted a dark brown they radiate a lot of heat. The heat rises in the open cells and this warm air heats my shop. When the greenhouse gets too warm a heat coil opens a collestory window on top of the wall, this air also heats the shop. The wall between the air lock entry to my cabin and the living room, is built from block, then tiled in a dark slate, The wood stove is on the inside of this wall. When the sun or stove heats the wall, the warm air rises in the open cells and is collected in a tray ceiling in the attic above the entry, this air and what is collected from the solar window heater outside the entry windows is moved by a 12 volt fan and ducted to an outlet near the floor of the living area. The ducting is run through the attic and down a closet wall to a heat register near the floor. Concrete block cells are a good heat sink and will store and move a lot of heat. 60 percent of my winter heating is passive solar, even in rainy Western Oregon....James

[makete]

No, these are not mine. Wish they were. But here are some great ideas for all that extra cinder blocks you have.

[makete]