Uses for rubble

Hi folks we are at the start of our permaculture adventure having moved to the south of France from Northern Ireland in August. My partner is French and we are doing our project with her sister and brother in law. We have a large house with barn attached which I am turning into two houses, one for my family the other for theirs. My experience is pretty limited but i like doing this kind of work and thanks to YouTube there really isnt much you can’t give a good go. We want to do as much natural building as we possibly can. Having limited experience I was delighted to have found this site a while ago and have been reading on it for a while. The work is getting under way, so now is the time to get involved much more with the site as I feel the experience many of you have will be invaluable in doing things correct first time rather than trial and error.

I am in the middle of uncovering the stones in two large rooms and have amassed a rather large pile of rubble. In the first room I’ve been doing it’s pretty much 50 50 plaster and concrete. In the second it’s more plaster than concrete. My question (finally he’s getting to the point) is what could I do with that rubble other than take it to the dump. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Chris

Wonderful project, good for you Chris!

That house is going to be beautiful when you finish it; I'm jealous!

As for the rubble, it probably depends - is it natural, earthen plaster, or newer, commercial stuff? Is the paint on it lead paint?

Cheers Dustin I certainly hope your right, I will give it my best that’s for sure. As for the paint I wouldn’t have a the first idea to be honest, I wouldn’t have a clue as to how I would know. Hmmmmm so if I don’t know does that mean dump it.

There are inexpensive Test kits you can find at hardware stores(at least in the US, hopefully there in France too) that will do a chemical test of the paint, if the vial of liquid turns a different color, you have lead.

If you have lead, yes, you should get rid of it; you should also cover bare skin and where a face mask to minimize inhalation.  Lead is very toxic and accumulates in you body over time, with no way of removing it.  

If you can't find a test kit, you should dump it anyway; better to be safe than sorry! Lead paint wasn't phased out of use until the 1970's in most countries, so your older house probably has it.

chris...this is so cool!!! please keep us updated :)