Found a salvage yard in Bernalillo with cheap adobe brick

I drove up to a place called Old Town Reclamation last Saturday and they had a pile of used adobe bricks for like $2 each. Most of them were still solid, no major cracks. I bought 40 for a garden wall project and it saved me at least $100 over buying new. Anyone else ever use reclaimed adobe for outdoor stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

benb211mo ago

Honestly, I've used reclaimed adobe for a couple of projects and the trick is to soak them in water overnight before you lay them. I learned that the hard way when my first garden wall started crumbling after a heavy rain because the dry bricks just sucked all the moisture out of the mortar. If you're using them for a low wall like a raised bed or something, they hold up fine as long as you cap it with something to keep water from soaking in from the top. Just watch out for any bricks that have that white fuzzy salt stuff on them, those are usually too far gone.

willow2441mo ago

Don't you find most things in life work better with a little prep before you jump in?