Life update: A few weeks back, I bought a house. I’m not in Seattle anymore, and this blog may take a slight turn for the rural.
(Comments from Blogger)
2016-04-27 by Aaron
Yea, why didn’t you just build them out of lumber? You need some tools and saws and such, but a LOT lighter, and undoubtedly cheaper (less materials) and a whole bunch faster. Now, I’ll grant you, what you have will probably survive the apocalypse, but so much effort!
2016-04-27 by Russell Graves
I don’t mind effort for things. It’s a nice change from sitting in front of a desk for a while.
However, you’re right, and next week’s post will be about the last set I built, which was out of lumber, because I didn’t feel like stacking more cinderblocks.
2017-02-28 by Lewis Clark
Thanks for sharing this information…
2020-06-10 by C3champion
I want to make a patio with one layer of cinder blocks. I cannot find a post about doing this anywhere…do you know if I could follow your technique and just lay one layer of blocks? I imagine I would still need the sand bottom and frame to ensure level…please share your thoughts on this. I already have the cinder blocks. I inherited them from the previous owner. Thankfully the house already has stairs. I like yours with the spiral technique–very creative.
I’d love to know how these held up? We bought house that has a small patio and the inlaws gave us a huge grille, super nice but where do we put it?!?! Anyways, the house just happened to come with a huge stack of cinder blocks and I was thinking of building a small slab using them on their sides as you did. I’d love to hear if you tried it too, C3champion?!?
Eight years later, the temporary stairs are still holding up…
The main problem I had was that some of the ground settled along the house, so they slope towards the house a bit. Make sure the ground is firmly packed, and you should be fine with them for a long while. I’ve also had problems with animals living in there at various times.