Type1 crushed stone or recycled concrete - Which is better?

[seanmcinnes]

I am doing some block paving and started off by buying some type1 crushed stone from the local merchant. When the grab truck collected the muck he said I can get a lot more value from crushed concrete which he can deliver in the grab truck. Does anyone have comments on this - is it as good as using the standard type1 aggregate which would normally come from a merchant? Pros or cons or comments appreciated?

[Carberry]

Can get reasonable recycled stuff but you want it close to type 1 ie: having a reasonable amount of fines, nothing bigger than 40mm etc

Need to make sure it isn't full of crap like glass, soil, wood, metal etc too

[Tony McC]

The problem is that Type 1 is a regulated material, which means it has to be certain types of rock crushed to give certain proportions of finer material and lump material, with a specific shape that maximises interlock when compacted, and crushed concrete ....well, isn't. It's just crushed concrete.

Some of the better suppliers provide a crushed concrete which is alomost indistinguishable from a Type 1 and would be more than adequate for a driveway, but then other suppliers just crush up any old crap that has come onto the yard and knock it out to those looking for summat cheap or those who just don't care as long as it's cheap.

If you feel confident that you would be able to identify crushed crap and then confident enough to tell some hairy-arsed driver to take it back as unsuitable, then crushed concrete can save you a few quid, but bear in mind that if anything goes wrong with that sunb-base in years to come, you have zero redress against the supplier. They gave you exactly what you paid for: crushed concrete as a non-regulated mix.

[lutonlagerlout]

we wont touch crushed concrete unless we see it in advance or crush it ourselves
last 3 loads we have had have been crap put through a crusher
battens,wall tiles cement bags you name it
10 tonnes of type 1 is around £200 the same of crusher run is around £100
do you really want to have a subbase failure for the sake of £100?
the guy i use now grabs the type 1 to where we want it FOC so its a no brainer
cheers LLL

[seanmcinnes]

Many thanks for the advice and my gut instinct tells me I should stick with type 1 as I know it! Related question then - we are in Bushey (I note not far from luton!), any suggestions were I can get a 10ton load of type 1 for the £200 suggested rate, at the moment I am paying about £40 per ton bag from the merchant which is why I need to reconsider!

[lutonlagerlout]

PM sent sean
good luck
LLL

[local patios and driveway]

Mot is better but not twice the price better, i like crushed concrete, had good lasting results. Not keen on tarmac planings though.

[Thehandmadegarden]

Sean
I've used crush from Harrow Grab Hire. I think they are based in Bushy. I've had no complaints, clean stone with no crap, just a little on the finer side than MOT. As Tony says though MOT is graded to a to specific set of standards, so when properly compacted will give you no problems. You pay your money and takes your choice.

Clive
www.thehandmadegarden.com

[Mikey_C]

i used type 1 crushed concrete (full of sh1te) on my driveway, saved £6 per ton, regretted it ever since, drives fine and held up 5 yrs on, but I know what is under there and can't help thinking..... shop around, get the best price you can for a loose delivery.

[lutonlagerlout]

i sent sean 2 decent lads numbers and neither has heard from him
LLL

[seanmcinnes]

Thanks for all the replies. In the end I regular type1 from a local haulage company. As noted above it was more expensive but a lot cheaper than the local merchant (less than half the cost on a 20 ton delivery). At least now I know what I have and did not have to worry about what would arrive one the truck and its really only a small premium on the overall cost of the job! Thanks again for all replies I hope others find the information useful.