Crushing old roof slates

[d50cyx]

I've got all the old slates from my roof lying around the back garden, and I thought it might be nice to break them up and use them on the garden instead of lawn (low/zero maintenance is very attractive). Combined with the old paving slabs, this has the potential to make a nice outdoor chess board! Trouble is they're tougher than they look, so looking for bright ideas on how to break them into fairly uniform sizes without having to do each one individually. I've got about 2 cubic yards of the stuff...

Any thoughts?

[Simpo Two]

Wouldn't they have considerable value as 'reclaim' for a restoration project?

[f13ldy]

Simpo Two said:

Wouldn't they have considerable value as 'reclaim' for a restoration project?

Yes they'll be worth at least £100 for an average sized roof I should imagine. Dependant on condition and type obviously.

[geordieelvis]

My brother recently did his borders in the exact same way, he took all his slates and basically just went crazy with a sledgehammer to get them broken up before rumbling them in a cement mixer to take off the sharp edges, a quick wash with the the power hose and that was that!

Very effective and cost him next to nothing.

[Tuna]

We had a similar pile which we were planning to use. Our builder ran over them (repeatedly) with his low loader ("Didn't see them there mate"). Now we have chippings.

[d50cyx]

f13ldy said:

Simpo Two said:

Wouldn't they have considerable value as 'reclaim' for a restoration project?

Yes they'll be worth at least £100 for an average sized roof I should imagine. Dependant on condition and type obviously.

Great in theory, but I haven't got the energy to sort it all out for the relatively small return.

[HiRich]

From the experiences of my neighbours, who have the front yard this way:

• Looks quite nice
• Needs to be deeper than you expect, so coverage will be smaller
• Moves if yu walk on it
• Not too good if you get a lot of Autumn leaves
• Not at all good for driving a cherry picker across...

[d50cyx]

geordieelvis said:

My brother recently did his borders in the exact same way, he took all his slates and basically just went crazy with a sledgehammer to get them broken up before rumbling them in a cement mixer to take off the sharp edges, a quick wash with the the power hose and that was that!

Very effective and cost him next to nothing.

Ah, a cement mixer. Wonder what HSS would say?!? Bit of a pain to get one through the flat though (1st floor flat, so needs to come up the stairs, through and then down again). Are sharp edges likely to be an issue? Rinsing is definitely a good idea.

[geordieelvis]

d50cyx said:

geordieelvis said:

My brother recently did his borders in the exact same way, he took all his slates and basically just went crazy with a sledgehammer to get them broken up before rumbling them in a cement mixer to take off the sharp edges, a quick wash with the the power hose and that was that!

Very effective and cost him next to nothing.

Ah, a cement mixer. Wonder what HSS would say?!? Bit of a pain to get one through the flat though (1st floor flat, so needs to come up the stairs, through and then down again). Are sharp edges likely to be an issue? Rinsing is definitely a good idea.

Depends mate, they can be fairly sharp mind if people are going to be walking on it regularly the you may want to consider it?

[mybrainhurts]

Ask Emsman to fall on them...