They’re Made With CementĪnother basic similarity here is that both cinder blocks and concrete blocks are made with Portland cement. Cinder blocks were extremely popular 50-75 years ago, but not quite so much anymore. That said, at this point, concrete is much more widely used than cinder blocks. They’re Common Building MaterialsĪ basic similarity is that both cinder and concrete blocks are common building materials. Now that we know what they are, let’s figure out what makes these blocks similar. Similarities of Cinder and Concrete Blocks Concrete blocks can be used for a wide range of purposes including load-bearing and structural building applications. These blocks are extremely strong, and they come in a variety of sizes. Concrete blocks are made out of a mixture of Portland cement, water, and aggregate, which is usually a mixture of sand, gravel, and small stones. On the other hand, we have the concrete block, which is a much more commonly used building material in today’s construction world. They were used much more commonly a few decades ago than they are today, although they are still often used for basic building purposes, especially when the construction in question doesn’t need to be overly durable or load-bearing. These cinder blocks can come in a variety of sizes. For those that don’t know, cinder is the technical term for ash that is derived from burned coal.

What Is a Cinder Block?įirst, we have the cinder block, which is a special type of building material that is made out of Portland cement, water, and cinder. Cinder Blocks and Concrete Blocks: The Basicsīefore we talk about their similarities, let’s first determine what exactly these two block types are. Let’s figure out what both of these materials are, what they’re used for, and what makes them different.

These two may seem very similar, but there are some big differences between them. Two common materials that you may use for such purposes include cinder blocks and concrete blocks. If you’re planning on building something like a wall, you have a few different materials at your disposal. It's a swing set, not an antenna array pylon.Handyman's World is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to. You aren't expecting it to support a great weight or handle huge stresses. In fact, almost any concrete, with or without stones will be more than adequate. A quick splash of creosote up to ground level will help keep the water out of the wood and since you are using a socket you can treat it every 3-4 years. Indeed, I'd set my post anchors so that there is a few inches of dirt above so I could grow some grass around the posts. A collar is just something for the little ones to get hurt on. Not because it's not a good solution but it's not good for this use case. I'd disagree about forming a collar though. At least with a socket you can replace the posts over time without having to dig up your concrete anchor. I'd support using a metal or plastic socket to seat your wooden posts as they will rot otherwise. Adding round igneous rock isn't as good as adding broken igneous rock but both are better than adding sedimentary or aggregate rock. I don't think adding rock is a bad idea in principle but it matters what sort of rock you are adding. People have bound stone in concrete since.well, since they started using concrete. I had to spoon it in with a shovel and pat it down into place around the posts. It didn't really pour and fill up all available space. I assumed it was like latex paint, but it was more like thick oatmeal or damp sand. The biggest takeaway from this experience is the consistancy of wet cement. I poured the cement in June 2015 (about a year and a half ago). Here is a drawing of posts and anchor (with rocks depicted) Is my assumption correct? or will the rocks damage the integrity of the concrete anchor? I assume the concrete will harden around the rocks and they will set together to become a solid mass. I was thinking I could buy less concrete mix, and get rid of some of these rocks, if I threw some of the rocks into the wet concrete. I have a bunch of large softball-sized rocks in my yard. The base of the swing set that is being anchored is two 4x4s with a 2x4 footer crossed perpendicularly to the 4x4s. I'm going to pour some concrete to anchor a swing set.

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