Concrete using Type 1 MOT

[VDubDan]

Hi All,

I've gotta make good an area at the back of my garage. It's only going to have storage type units on it, no cars or anything. And if I ever get around to knocking down the thing, it'll have to come up anyway. But it's about 1/3 of a cube, so a good few mixer loads and a good few bags of stone if I have to go and buy it.

I have an abundance of Type 1 MOT, so I was thinking of knocking up the concrete with it. I guess reduce the sharp sand content a bit, due to the fines. But honestly, I'm probably just going to mainly eye the mix.

Any particular reasons I shouldn't? I know it's going to make good concrete, but I only need to be good enough.

 

[slawit]

can't see a problem myself. Think of it this way, if you could get a nice smooth finish with your just your mot 1 then you’d be happy (I presume). So look at the sand and cement your adding as not only a bit of added strength, but a means to float it level and it smooth.

 

[VDubDan]

can't see a problem myself. Think of it this way, if you could get a nice smooth finish with your just your mot 1 then you’d be happy (I presume). So look at the sand and cement your adding as not only a bit of added strength, but a means to float it level and it smooth.

Yeah, that's basically it. I did consider just leaving it as MOT, but I think it would irritate me and my storage racks wouldn't sit very well

 

[noseall]

Hi All,

I've gotta make good an area at the back of my garage. It's only going to have storage type units on it, no cars or anything. And if I ever get around to knocking down the thing, it'll have to come up anyway. But it's about 1/3 of a cube, so a good few mixer loads and a good few bags of stone if I have to go and buy it.

I have an abundance of Type 1 MOT, so I was thinking of knocking up the concrete with it. I guess reduce the sharp sand content a bit, due to the fines. But honestly, I'm probably just going to mainly eye the mix.

Any particular reasons I shouldn't? I know it's going to make good concrete, but I only need to be good enough.

Its sets like bell iron. We will sometimes chuck some cement in along with a shovel of screed sand, when we want a bit of oomph to our hard core layer.

 

[cdbe]

I did my part of my garage base with type 1 MOT concrete - lovely, best concrete I've ever seen, but it was really nice MOT with lots of fines from Wickes, far better than their ballast.

I do wonder what sort of concrete you could make with recycled MOT (crushed concrete) - but I think it's a bit like when animals eat their babies.

 

[robinbanks]

Go for it. Chuck in any old bags of cement you have lying around too.

Concrete is a great way to use up scabby bits of cementitious stuff; my garden walls are sat on a right old mix of out of date plaster, grout, board adhesive, concrete cobble off cuts, general hardcore, brick/tile, /glass frags.. all ends up like gravel after it's smashed round the mixer long enough

Maybe don't do it for any application that requires a known strength but a reasonably deep garage floor slab is ripe for throwing in anything you can find to bulk up to the volume you need

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I did my part of my garage base with type 1 MOT concrete - lovely, best concrete I've ever seen, but it was really nice MOT with lots of fines from Wickes, far better than their ballast.

I do wonder what sort of concrete you could make with recycled MOT (crushed concrete) - but I think it's a bit like when animals eat their babies.

I've hired a mini crusher a couple of times. Stack up old rubble until there's a stack about the size of a transit van, crush it all in a day then mix it to make new concrete. Set the crusher as fine as it goes and you'll get something like MOT 1. It works great as concrete, just add a bit of sharp sand if there's not much dust in it. I've mixed it dry with cement (ear defenders definitely needed) and compacted it in. Have also wet-mixed it and used it as concrete in the usual way.

If there's any brick content then it won't be frost-proof. I've just used it as a sub-base where I'll be later putting stone slabs over. I've also used it as the foundation and cavity fill of a garden wall.

It's every bit as awful to shovel up as MOT Type 1. Definitely much harder work than gravel or ballast, which pretty much jumps onto your shovel in comparison. My shovel had a chewed up edge after I'd used it all.

The reason everyone doesn't use it is it's of unknown strength. So it's a C-nothing mix. So only really suitable for your own use, with no warranty and common sense applied. But I've had absolutely no issues with it and saved lots of money and time on lugging rubble away and buying aggregates.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Recycled rubble concrete after 5 years of weather...

The clean bits are from dragging scaffold around on it recently. A bit soft on the surface but definitely not falling apart.

 

[stevie888]

You will get potentially a stronger mix as type 1 tends to be more angular than ballast so there is more interlock, but as others have said it'll be harder to work.