Crushed aggregates - Can i use instead of limestone?

[TracyR]

Hi,

I am laying a patio area (well my husband will be, with lots of cups of tea from me!) and we need to lay a subbase. We have already dug out etc and are now ready to order our 10 ton of limestone grade 1 etc.

My question is, can we use crushed aggregate instead as sold by skiphire companies? The companies all say that it is equivalent to limestone grade 1, but I am not too sure.

Has anyone had any experience in this?

Thanks for reading

Tracy

[surreyhillslandscapes.com]

Type 1 crushed concrete can be used instead of limestone and is cheaper, I pay around £17 + vat per tonne for it, and providing it's compacted properly at a depth of 100 -150 mm is a suitable sub base for a patio.

[TracyR]

Hi

Thank you, the skip company are quoting £5 a ton plus delivery cost on top so I guess that is good.

Cheers

Tracy

[Dave_L]

That's a cracking price Tracy! Aslong as the delivery charges aren't stupid!

[surreyhillslandscapes.com]

blimey, £5 a tonne! guessing they crush any rubble they get in returned skips and sell it back, you might want to check it's not to lumpy first, I got some crushed from a company once for cheap and it was filled with steel, plastic and wood.

[Rich H]

That is the problem with 'type 1' crushed. Most of it will be lovely, but you normally have to spend time picking out the half-bricks, rags and bits of old wood.

[Mikey_C]

£5 a Tonne is cheap, you might be wise to try and get some further information about exactly what it is. Skip companies have been know to deliver scalping's (tarmac planings) as a type 1 substitute. This, as discussed in this forum is not suitable for a sub base. Also are they planing on delivering it in the skip as I could imagine it being fairly hard work getting it out.

[Rich H]

'Scalpings' can mean different things to different people. Round here scalpings = type 1.

[surreyhillslandscapes.com]

Surrey.. scalpings = type 1, planings = pikey

[Tony McC]

That is the problem with 'type 1' crushed. Most of it will be lovely, but you normally have to spend time picking out the half-bricks, rags and bits of old wood.

If there are half-bricks, rags and wood mixed in, then it is NOT Type 1. Type 1 is a very specific crushed aggregate, with detailed definitions of what is allowed, in what sizes and what proportions. None of the "materials" mentioned above are allowed, and anyone selling an aggregate containing any of these materials as a "Type 1" should be reported to Trading Standards and the Quarry Products Association.

Similarly with "scalpings". These are, by definition, crushed or cropped rock detritus of indeterminate nature and size. It is would be a nonsense for a supplier to sell Type 1 as scalpings, because Type 1 is the best quality crushed agg for pavement construction, and therefore worth more than the sweepings-up that are known as scalpings.

This tendency to confusion is why this site adheres to the correct terminology. When a Type 1 is recommended, Type 1 should be used, and not scalpings, crusher run, planings or quarry waste. If crusher run or scalpings are suitable, the text will say so.