My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.

Jimmie

On May 17, 6:53=A0pm, JIMMIE  wrote:
> My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
> has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
> wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
> reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.
>
> Jimmie

I would not use them because as they corrode they will at first get
bigger (Think about the flakes that come off your drums & rotors).
Then as they corrode further you could be left with a substantial
void.

If you don't want to take the junk to the scrapyard yourself then call
the junk guy.  Look in either Craigslist or your local paper usually
in the cars for sale section.

Cinder blocks are cheap and sometimes free, again try craigslist.

On May 17, 6:53=A0pm, JIMMIE  wrote:
> My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
> has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
> wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
> reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.

One reason is that you'd be pissing away money.  Call up a scrap
dealer and ask what they pay for scrap iron, he's probably got a few
bucks on the hoof there.

Another reason is that iron has a tendency to rust.  When it rusts it
expands.  This would put the concrete in tension and concrete really
doesn't like to be put in tension.  In other words it would tend to
break up the steps.

Use rocks, brick, or other busted up concrete if you need some filler.

R

On Sun, 17 May 2009 15:53:11 -0700 (PDT), JIMMIE
<J...@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
>has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
>wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
>reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.
>
>Jimmie


	I don't think I would use what you have, someone would likely
be happy to take them off your hands for the scrap value. 

	On the other hand, I can remember my father using some old bed
springs to re-enforce the front porch of our home about 60 years ago.
It looks like that slab is still there in one piece. 

In article <9...@g20g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, Limp Arbor <l...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>On May 17, 6:53=A0pm, JIMMIE  wrote:
>> My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
>> has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
>> wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
>> reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.
>>
>> Jimmie
>
>I would not use them because as they corrode they will at first get
>bigger (Think about the flakes that come off your drums & rotors).
>Then as they corrode further you could be left with a substantial
>void.

How are they going to get bigger while they're encased in concrete?

In article <c...@e24g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>, RicodJour
<r...@worldemail.com> wrote:
>On May 17, 6:53=A0pm, JIMMIE  wrote:
>> My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
>> has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
>> wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
>> reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.
>
>One reason is that you'd be pissing away money.  Call up a scrap
>dealer and ask what they pay for scrap iron, he's probably got a few
>bucks on the hoof there.
>
>Another reason is that iron has a tendency to rust.  When it rusts it
>expands.  This would put the concrete in tension and concrete really
>doesn't like to be put in tension.  In other words it would tend to
>break up the steps.

Oh, for heaven's sake. Haven't you ever heard of rebar?

Doug Miller wrote:
> In article <9...@g20g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, Limp Arbor <l...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>> On May 17, 6:53=A0pm, JIMMIE  wrote:
>>> My friend is building some new concrete steps to his back porch. He
>>> has some old chevy blocks , brake drums and general automotive iron he
>>> wants to get rid of . If these items are clean of fluids is there any
>>> reason we couldnt use them as fill in the steps.
>>>
>>> Jimmie
>> I would not use them because as they corrode they will at first get
>> bigger (Think about the flakes that come off your drums & rotors).
>> Then as they corrode further you could be left with a substantial
>> void.
> 
> How are they going to get bigger while they're encased in concrete?

Big problem in Florida - lots of buildings with balconies have had to 
rework the concrete.  Rebar rusted, expanded and cracked the concrete. 
Some problems with the issue in our condo, but nothing structural. 
Building down the street, about 12 storey, had a great deal of work done 
for the problem.

On Sun, 17 May 2009 16:26:08 -0700 (PDT), RicodJour
<r...@worldemail.com> wrote:

>
>Another reason is that iron has a tendency to rust.  When it rusts it
>expands.  This would put the concrete in tension and concrete really
>doesn't like to be put in tension.  

Who likes tension?  I don't like tension! For gosh sakes shut up about
the tension or I'll....

>In other words it would tend to
>break up the steps.

This is MM's sister. MM has been taken to the hospital and won't be
available for posting until the court-ordered psychiatrist has
examined him and filed his report. 

On Sun, 17 May 2009 20:33:40 -0400, "n...@earthlink.net"
<n...@earthlink.net> wrote:

>Big problem in Florida - lots of buildings with balconies have had to 
>rework the concrete.  Rebar rusted, expanded and cracked the concrete. 

Haven't they been using rebar for 50 or 100 years?  Did something
change so that it rusts now?


>Some problems with the issue in our condo, but nothing structural. 
>Building down the street, about 12 storey, had a great deal of work done 
>for the problem.

On May 17, 8:43=A0pm, mm  wrote:
> On Sun, 17 May 2009 20:33:40 -0400, "n...@earthlink.net"
>
>  wrote:
> >Big problem in Florida - lots of buildings with balconies have had to
> >rework the concrete. =A0Rebar rusted, expanded and cracked the concrete.
>
> Haven't they been using rebar for 50 or 100 years? =A0Did something
> change so that it rusts now?

No, you've been sleeping or in a coma.  It's always rusted.

R