Uses for crumbly bricks
I've been trying to
decide on a good use for the bricks from the old chimney ever since we
winched the structure down in May 2008.
Over
the years, I've used a few bricks in the garden to weigh down the sides
of quick
hoops and emergency
row covers.
But these chimney bricks are handmade and too crumbly to be included in
anything structural.
I'd tossed around the
idea of making a brick path in front of the trailer to delete the mud
pit that develops there each winter. But laying bricks sounded
like a lot of work when I could just put on boots.
The perfect use for our
bricks presented itself when a spot in the driveway started bogging
down the golf cart. Usually, we'd go get a load of rip-rap from
the quarry, but we don't have a truck at the moment. Could a golf
cart load of bricks serve the same purpose?
Yes they can! Now
that pile of bricks looks like an opportunity, not a weed-heap.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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You might want to save those bricks. I'm not familiar with the situation in the US, but over here old handmade bricks are valuable for restauration projects.
It is true that handmade bricks are not as strong as machine pressed bricks or concrete, but that doesn't mean you cannot build things from them! I could show you scores of brick buildings dating back to even the 14th century.
And all over Europe you can still find Roman brick structures from as far back as the 1st century CE. Although those bricks looked more like tiles to us.
Roland --- Unfortunately, just sitting out in the weather for a few years has been enough to make them start eroding away. I hadn't realized until I looked at the old photos that they used to have relatively sharp corners --- now they look like rocks that have been rolled around in a stream.
That said, there were some harder bricks inside the fireplace and I've set those aside. Not sure what we'll do with them, but they seem too good to waste in the driveway.
Very resourceful Anna - a great use for the bricks . . . excellent idea for your pathways
Meanwhile . . .check this out. . .
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/herb-chicken-cooked-under-a-brick/ this is what to do with a couple of your "harder" bricks! Looks yummy!
Brian --- I was just thinking I hadn't heard from you in a while. (I'm assuming you're fruit cocktail tree Brian.
) Edging does sound like a good use, especially if you can mow right over.
Jayne --- Good idea! We'll have to try that recipe out.
Roland --- The bricks in the fireplace were a completely different color, perhaps added later or just bought special for the fireplace. Maybe fire bricks? I'll try to remember to check on the bricks in the driveway in a few weeks and see if they're still moderately cohesive.
Roland --- Firebricks are supposed to work a bit like insulation --- efficient wood stoves tend to have them in the walls. So I could see someone retrofitting their fireplace to try to get a bit more heat out of it. I've read about people doing that with inefficient wood stoves.
Marco --- Sounds like you know what you're talking about! I'll probably still save the firebricks, though --- they just look so handy....
I used old bricks to make a flower bed, with stacked-brick walls (no cement). They were easier to use on the gentle slope and still allow for drainage.
I also used some for walkways in the salsa garden -- still no cement, just arranged for walking.