Concrete Block Prices

The price for New block is only sixty cents per 6" block in the area.

I would put an ad on freecycle or the local AM radio tag sale show or craigslist and see what happens. 10 blocks here, 10 blocks there, and pretty soon you have a big stack.

$1.18 at Lowes in Mtn Home. Gosh, remember when they were .25?

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Rudeness is a small man's imitation of power.

We couldn't afford concrete block in our area either. The light blub came on when we looked at the river rock pile that we are going to have to move for the garden. Yep, we're going to use the river rock for our garden beds.

Yep. Our first raised bed cost us about $600 including the non-soil peat based growing medium, fertilizer, etc. We picked 300 cucumbers from three plants that year and canned about 30 quarts of tomatoes from four tomato plants. No weeds, no tilling, no bending over.

Worth every penny. We're putting in four more when we get out to the homestead full time.

donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)

check on treated lumber. They now do not use any harmful chemicals like they used to. to my understanding all they can use now is salt to treat with. Good luck Sam

I wrote about concrete blocks here:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2006/11...-delivery.html

on my blog with pricing and weights here:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2006/11/front-arch-up.html

Here's the paragraph on standard stretcher blocks:

These are Standard 8"x8"x16" concrete Block Units at $1.22 each from ST Griswold in Williston, Vermont. A pallet contains 98 blocks and is called a cube. Delivery ($135) and pallet deposits ($18 each = $162) add 28.34¢ to the cost of each block over the order of 1,048 blocks. Including the cost of delivery and sales tax (6%) each of these standard blocks costs $1.59. The average block cost for the order was $1.59 including all costs. Interesting that a standard block costs the average amount - a coincidence, not a conspiracy I suspect... I include this as it may be an interesting reference both for planning and future comparisons. The blocks actually measure 7.625"x7.625"x15.625" and not 8"x8"x16". This is not much like 2x4's really being 1.5"x3.5" - The reason 2x4's are small is the planing to smooth the board. The reason CMU's are smaller is to leave room for the standard 3/8" (0.375") of mortar between blocks. Once mortared the block effectively becomes 8"x8"x16". If you're dry stacking you'll need to take this into account.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

We saw some concrete blocks at our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. If you have one in your area, you might want to give 'em a look. They have LOTS of great stuff for GREAT prices.

Pony!

Our Menards has them this week for $.79.

Also, whenever dh and I are out and we see a concrete block which has been obviously thrown away we pick it up. Last year we were out on a rural road that had big gobs of concrete dumped along with broken windows, etc., on the side of the road and there were four useable blocks there that we picked up. You would be amazed how, once you start looking for them, they seem to be everywhere!

donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)