Blocks Not Only for a Bench

After flat renovation I got some remains of cement. How to use it with maximum benefit? The solving has come once at my summer cottage place. Here it is always something to construct – make a pole support for a fence or gateway, make a platform for water container, make a flowerbed or make a bench at last. Certainly, each task can be solved by unique means but I want to create universal design by a minimum materials I only have (a little of cement).

Construction need to have opposite properties – strong enough and easy to move as possible, large enough for one purpose and compact for another, solid in one situation and shell in another, single part or multi piece… As a result I have 'come' to a box-like block with a square base and cylindrical through hole. The size of base (270x270mm) is enough to put the standard bucket (for water) or plank (to seat). The hole size (D=110mm) is convenient for mounting of any pole and the height (H=340mm) is enough for bench. This block is stable enough (according its base) without any other elements (for a pole mounting you need only to put block into a soil). The whole size of the block (270x270x340mm) is so that its mass is up to 50kg, so you can move it with assistant using the rode passing through the hole as a handle.

You can make any number of blocks but here is tools and materials list for a single one.

Tools:

• basin,
• shovel,
• tape measure

Materials:

• rope (D~8mm, L~8m),
• wooden planks (500x20x50mm, 4 items),
• plywood sheets (340x270mm, 4 items),
• cylindrical buckets (used) (D=110mm, H=340mm),
• cement (6kg),
• sand (24kg),
• crushed stones (20kg),
• steel wire (D=2mm, L~2000mm) – for a framework (if necessary)

The general technology is ordinary: make a mold, prepare a cement solution, fill the mold with solution, wait for solidification and release the block from the mold. About the mold. The main elements of it are side plates – you can use plywood shields with any fastening (even a strong rope). Another way – cardboard plates mounted in a soil pit of appropriate size. To form a hole in the mold you can use empty paint buckets or cardboard cylinder with a soil fill.

If you plan to use your block as a support for a pole it can be preferably to make a simple steel frame work – three rings connected with three or four vertical rods. Then you need to place frame work inside the mold round the central cylindrical column.

The cement mortar is ordinary: cement – 1 part, sand – 3..4 parts, water. Let me remind that for a single block (270x270x340mm) we need cement 6kg, sand 24kg. Mix components with water in a basin (with a shovel or blender). Then prepare enough crushed stones (20kg) for filling and 'go' to a next step.

Prepare the mold (put the cylindrical element and framework inside). Then fill the assembled mold with solution and crushed stones uniformly. Don't forget to cover the open cement faces (on the top of the mold) with polyethylene film after full filing. Wait for solidification (14 days – for 50% strength, 28 days – for 90% strength).

Disassemble the mold after solidification and then use the block (or set of blocks) in any purpose you plan.