Multiple Uses for Cinderblocks
Question: What would be a good item to have around that you would not want to carry in a backpack or bug-out bag?
Answer: Cinderblocks.
Of course, there are plenty of other heavy and bulky items you wouldn’t carry around with you following a disaster.
But if you end up hunkering down during a crisis rather than bugging out, having plenty of cinderblocks on hand is not a bad idea.
In fact, there are many uses for cinderblocks that will benefit you regardless of whether or not you have to deal with an emergency. Think of these cinderblocks as an adult version of Legos.
A building block with built-in storage
First of all, let’s make sure exactly what we’re talking about. Cinderblocks are not concrete blocks.
Concrete blocks are solid and weigh more than cinderblocks, which are hollow and rectangular-shaped.
Cinderblocks are not lightweight by any means. But because they are hollowed out, they don’t weigh as much as concrete blocks.
And the spaces within them make for some great storage possibilities.
Multiple uses
Here are a variety of ways you can use cinderblocks in and around your home:
- Starting on the inside, cinderblocks are great for building shelves in your basement for food storage. Your mason jars and other containers will fit well on boards anchored by the blocks.
- A backyard fire pit will enable you to cook outdoors, either for enjoyment or when the power goes out. With a couple dozen blocks and a couple large bags of lava rocks, you should be good to go.
- A good option for backyard cooking is a cinderblock fireplace. You can either keep it in one place or move it to different spots in your yard. Or even relocate it with a pickup truck.
- If you have a sloping yard, you can us cinderblocks to build stairs. Fill in the hollow areas with small stones so you can step on them easier. Of course, you’ll need a shovel for the dirt to make the stairs even.
- To form a raised bed in your garden or on your lawn, use the blocks in a square or rectangular shape and fill the area between them (as well as the hollowed out areas) with rich soil.
- Here’s one of my favorites. Probably because it’s so simple. You can use two cinder blocks to build a kindling stacker. Lay the blocks side by side and place four 2 by 4’s in the hollowed out areas leaning in opposite directions. Place your kindling wood in the middle and stack it as high as the tops of the 2 by 4’s will allow.
- If you really want to get your back into it and go all out, among the other things you can build with cinderblocks are an outdoor fireplace, meat-smoking device, barbecue rotisserie pit, ground fire pit, fence, furniture and even a swimming pool.
there are real “cinder blocks” made from the cinder rocks that were thrown about from a volcano..we used the cinders from “cinder butte” in central Oregon for all kinds of things., great for dirt driveways, blocks with concrete to hold them together, they were lighter than concrete blocks, that’s why I liked them as a Kid back in the mid 1950’s. so yes there are real cinders…
Jeff Ohmes, thank you. I smile every time I hear someone call a concrete a cinder block. From what I remember they also used cinders in the foundries for casts for cast iron and recycled it into blocks.
I used cinder blocks for a trash burning fire pit and using only household trash the blocks would crack apart from the heat.
I appreciate the suggested uses of cinder blocks, but had trouble visualizing from the descriptions. Some diagrams, drawings, or photos would be helpful for me.
I bought a lot north of my house that had a concrete block (what you would call a cinder blocs) foundation laid about 50 years prior, but never had a house built. Were I ever to build on the lot I wouldn’t use that shape for a house. I bought a camping trailer and wanted a good place to park it, so I paid a teenager from church who wanted to earn money for summer camp to move the concrete blocks and line them up to make a solid foundation for the camper to park on.
Also center blocks will crack and disintegrate under extreme heat like oak firewood or charcoal
Watch out for styrofoam cinder blocks
There is no such thing as a Cinder Block. These were manufactured in the 1950’s and did use cinders (by-products from Coal Fired Electric Power Plants). Today concrete block are made with local aggregates mainly crushed limestone and sand. Some areas of the country makes a lightweight block using an expanded shale aggregate in lieu of the crushed limestone. 90% of the concrete masonry units today are hollow or semi-hollow to meet local fire code ratings. Concrete blocks can be made solid but most likely these will be special order production items for block manufacturers. The most common concrete block is the 8x8x16 regular hollow unit. These can be purchased from a local block manufacturer or a Big Box store like Lowe’s or Home Depot nationally. For more information regarding concrete block and its structural capacities, please refer to http://www.ncma-br.org/pdfs/5/TEK%2014-01B.pdf . The National Concrete Masonry Association is our national trade association and a great resource for future articles regarding Concrete Block.
Older folks in the Mid-West use the term “cinder blocks” to refer to what most other people call “concrete blocks”.
In the living room there is a piece of furniture that some call a “couch” and some call a “sofa”, but curiously, when it unfolds into a bed they all call it a “sofa bed”! I tell my wife that is the reason “sofa” is correct, but she still calls it a couch.