Chunks of concrete would be fine so long as it is good not too crumbly. You might like to wet it thoroughly before dropping it into the hole.
I would avoid bricks. Most brick doesn't much like being wet and it breaks down after a while. Living in a hole in the ground may well cause this to happen. There is brick which resists that but mostly you install what is called a damp course to separate finish brick from the lowest layers of brick which are expected to wick water to protect them from that water. Most brick is fired clay or other forms of mud. Usually steel is another good thing to push into the cement if you have any of that laying about. It also adds strength. Oh yes, you wet the concrete debris for a couple of reasons, to get rid of dust and dirt but to keep it from withdrawing too much moisture from the surrounding cement so it cures strongly. Brick too will do this. Hope this helps. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Rossi To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 1:53 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] debris in concrete. So, in an effort to avoid having to carry a lot more 80 pound bags of QuikCrete up all the friggin stairs, I would like to dump some debris into the post holes for my deck as I pour them. What is considered valid debris to help take up some of the volume? I assume large rocks are fine. What about chunks of concrete from where I had to break up a sidewalk? How about old bricks if I clean them off? There was a large cement bench in the yard that I dismantled. Can I sledge it into chunks and use it? Thanks. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
