This might as well be a pile of gold. That’s right I used shale to save thousands of dollars on my new house.
The cost of gravel in our area has ballooned to over 800 dollars a load, so I’m using the shale we dug out for the basement to build up the driveway in front of the garage and also here to make a pad for the sidewalk.
You’ve probably seen sidewalks that have settled and pulled away from the house.
This sidewalk is going to be supported by a 6-inch lintel.
I’ll put a thin layer of crushed stone on top of the shale to support the sidewalk.
At the house the sidewalk will sit on the lintel which is supported by two wing walls that go all the way down to the footings.
Next, I wanted to compact the shale with my vibratory roller.
Now I know what you guys are thinking- WOW, this guy must be rich- look at his awesome roller!
Actually, I was surprised it started, because we hadn’t used it since November when we mashed potatoes for our Thanksgiving meal.
I’m not sure what kind of briars these were, but they were nasty!
It had rained the night before, so this compacted really well.
So, here’s the question would you guys like to see this sidewalk poured by a professional concrete guy, or would you like to see me try and do it myself? @hausplans
#build #howto #construction #diy #contractor #heavyequipment
