How to Use Glass Bottles in Concrete Construction

You don't have to take glass bottles to the recycling center to put them to good use — you can make them live on right in your concrete walls. When you use glass bottles in your concrete construction, you save on concrete, but it comes with a caveat. The wall weighs less, to be sure, but it also supports less weight — since so much concrete is replaced with glass, it isn't necessarily as strong as a pure concrete wall. It is, however, a novel way of spicing up your wall while reusing old bottles.

Bottle cutter or tile saw
Stainless steel tape
Cement mix

Instructions

- 1
  Cut your bottles in half using a bottle cutter or tile saw. If you do not have this specialized piece of equipment, try a DIY method. For example, soak a string in alcohol and tie it tightly around your bottle where you want to make the cut. Light it and let it burn, then dunk the bottle in cold water to break the glass along the burn line.
- 2
  Take two bottles that have had the necks cut off and press the rims against each other. Tape them together using stainless steel tape. Repeat this process until you have as many bottles as you wish to place in your wall.
- 3
  Mix your cement to create concrete and spread it along the floor's surface where the wall will go.
- 4
  Press a bottle — which is two bottles taped together — into the concrete so that the round bottom faces out. A few inches down, press another into the concrete, and repeat. The distance between the bottles is up to you.
- 5
  Pour more concrete over the bottles that are in place. Press more bottles into this concrete. The bottles can be staggered, uniform or placed at random — it all depends on the look you want for your wall. Repeat this process of pouring concrete and pressing bottles into the cement until your wall is complete.

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