Monday, December 17, 2012

HERE A BRICK, THERE A BRICK, NOW WHAT?



I may have mentioned a couple of times that I've found bricks from some long ago abandoned project of Ma's (the previous owner).  So here are some bricks by the garden area...





...and here are more bricks that I loaded up but didn't get very far before I got a flat on the wheelbarrow.






Yet more that I dug out of the ground by the memorial circle of trees a couple of weeks ago...







...and here is the last batch next to a tree behind the house (at least I think hope this is the last of them, ha)!








I hate to have them hauled off but I don't want them piled up being unused as they are now either.  So my question to all of your is this:

Does anyone have any suggestions for their use?  I know there is the obligatory use as pavers for a patio or path, but honestly, I don't think I have that in me.  They are more likely to sit around like this before I am able to get to something like that.  There aren't quite enough to build anything that I can think of.

Are there any uses you can suggest to upcycle them?

28 comments:

  1. You could place an offer on freecycle or craig's list and give them away to anyone who wants to come get them. That way they are out from under your feet and being put to use.

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    1. Good idea, I always forget about freecycle. I'll need to remember that for other stuff too! Thank you!

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  2. Stack them up and keep them neat. You may find a project for them later: firepit, floor in the garden shed, flower garden border, level for lopsided widget:)

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    1. You know, I have to gather them all up anyway, I suppose a neat stack is better than just a pile, ha. You're right, I might need something with them later huh? And you're right about the lopsided widget!! ;-)

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  3. i would keep them! as Linda said, there are many uses for them. and you may find yourself kicking yourself in the butt a few years from now when you think of a project for them.

    i am not sure how many you have but a little fairy well on the property would be cute.

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. You know, the more everyone reminds me of that, I'm leaning more toward keeping them. Somewhere out of the way, but at least keeping them. I could totally see myself going 'remember all those bricks I had.....?" ha. Thanks!

      A fairy well? Not sure how many I have, quite a few, but now I'm off to google 'fairy well'. :-)

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  4. Replies
    1. Great idea, I didn't think about that. Thank you!!

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  5. I stack a few old bricks together to make platforms for chicken feeders and waterers. Makes a HUGE difference in keeping things cleaner, longer.

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    1. OK, wonderful suggestion...our goal is to have chickens in a couple of years and I never thought about that! I'm going to save them! Thank you!

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  6. We have bricks all over the place too, so that's a good question. I've used them to border flower beds and a pavers. My husband used them as a foundation for the goat barn. Bricks are just handy to have around.

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    1. Y'all have convinced me. I need to not think about the short term, but what I might need them for and they are something that are not so easy to come by, certainly transporting them TO the property when we already HAVE them on the property, right? Great ideas, thanks!

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  7. The odds are if you do any excavating for anything (we had to put in a new water line), you may very well find more.
    We know the driveway used to be paved with red brick, but only parts of it are visible.
    While putting in the water line, we found many more.
    So over the years, rains and minor flooding, we are pretty sure the rest of the driveway is now anywhere from 1/2" to 4-6 inches under the topsoil now.
    We have many red bricks in various states of completion. There used to be a patio of red brick outside the kitchen. It has sunk lopsidedly, haha. some of it is still level, some of it is about an inch down.
    Don't know if we'll revive it.
    Sorry for the long reply. I was thinking of small raised beds, too.
    Have anything you need to protect? Like from a weed eater or some such? Those might work.
    Have fun deciding!

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    1. I love the long reply, no worries, that's what I enjoy about this blog, the interaction I get with all of you! That's true about maybe finding more. I know she didn't have a driveway of them, or a patio, but she did have projects all around and so they may pop up in more places as I dig.

      Also great idea about protecting things. I haven't gotten all the fruit trees in the ground, and when I do, having a ring around them might be good, at least initially.

      Thank you!

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  8. I use bricks - pavers, actually, but they look like bricks - for planting bed borders. They work great. They're easy to install, easy to move if the bed needs changing, and easy to kick back in place if I hit them with the lawn mower. I particularly like the fact that the planting bed is not locked in place for perpetuity by some permanent border embedded in the ground.

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    1. You know, things can be fluid and change over time, so you're right, it might be something we need for a border now, but then as thing change, they can change too. :-)

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  9. Flower bed or fire pit. You can also use them as "ring around a tree" if you want to plant flowers around a tree, but keep them contained. Trust me, you will find many uses for them.

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    1. You sold me (and everyone else too, ha!). I'm thinking I'll need them later and kick myself for not keeping them.

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  10. I used odd pavers as a base/pad for a bird bath.

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    1. There IS a birdbath already on the property, great use suggestion, thanks!

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  11. My first thought was firepit. So the fairies (or 2nd Man) can roast potatoes. So we can eat them. Which means you have to put it somewhere near Barnabus, The Party Tree, that has a fairy door (love that idea!).

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    1. I've got a great idea for a firepit (if I can just find what i need). Yes, we'll make sure there is fire near the tree just for you! I think the door will be fun. Can't wait to do it (not till next year sometime, maybe in the dog days of summer when I'll want to be in the shade).

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  12. How about making toad houses? Two bricks parallel with others over the top. Put them in flower beds to provide a cool place for the toads. You live in the Houston area so you should have plenty of tenants.

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    1. There are lots of toads around! That's a great idea, I like that! Thank you!!! :-)

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  13. Spray paint them gold and jam a pen and pencil in one. Or a pen and a test tube with a rose for the ladies. Instant Christmas gift. HA!

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    1. Now that's thinkin outside the box, I love it, ha. At first I thought you were going to suggest a path...follow the yellow brick road, ha.

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  14. Check out the idea of building a keyhole garden bed. It's a wonderful new to me way to set up and manage a new place to plant. I'm building one for sure int he spring, just need something for the walls, and I've used all my bricks for a greenhouse floor, wall around the woodstove in the house to protect the house walls, patio floor, as well as keeping stacks in the garden to hold down floating covers, sheets of plastic or the irrigation tubing.

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  15. You could do a permaculture herb spiral, or border for a flower/herb bed.

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