Now before I start, let me apologize for not taking more pictures. Rain was threatening and I was in a rush to finish the ledge so I only took pictures after I was done. Also, I know there are some how-to's out there similar to mine (scroll to the bottom of this post for links) that have been done by Skateboarders but this one differs in that this Ledge is high enough for a bike to grind on and can take the abuse of a BMXer while some of the skate ledges out there can't. So, with that said, here is the how-to on building a cheap, tough, cinder block grind ledge.


1.) A Good Spot. The first and most important thing you need is a spot to build the ledge. The requirements are that it won't be a bust and/or get torn down after you build it. I know this seems obvious but sometimes a spot looks so good that you overlook the fact that someone might not want you building shit there. We built ours on an old basketball court that the city gave us permission to build on.


2.) The Materials. The materials will end up costing you anywhere from $20 to $120 depending on how much of the materials you can get for free. Whatever you can't get for free will be available at Home Depot. Now the ledge I built in the pictures is longer than 8 ft. (I'll explain why in a bit) but I'm going to tell you the materials you will need to build an 8 ft. long, 12 in. high, 8 in. wide ledge.

-Six 8"x8"x16" Cinder Blocks ($10)
-Six 4"x8"x16" Concrete Blocks ($10)
-Four Tubes Of Heavy Duty Adhesive ($10-$15) *see bottom of list for details*
-One Caulking Gun ($2)
-Two 8' Long Pieces Of 2"x2" 1/4" Thick (or thicker) Angle Iron ($50-$80) *see note at bottom*

*if you're unfamiliar with heavy duty adhesives, go to the paint center in home depot and tell them that you need some heave duty shit to glue cinder blocks to the ground and each other. on the angle iron, they might only have 4' pieces of angle iron available. I recommend going to a steel company and trying to buy 8' long pieces so the ledge will be smoother*

3.) Prep. Now that you've got all your stuff together, figure out where you're gonna want the ledge. Keep in mind that you'll be wanting to grind on both sides and you'll need to be able to get speed from either direction. Once you've got that down, clean the spot of any loose debris that might interfere with the adhesive.

4.) Glue. Once again, I apologize for not having more pictures but here is how I glued my cinder blocks to the ground and together. I first put the 8"x8"x16" cinder blocks down to get them exactly where I want them. Then, I put long, thick, strips of adhesive all along the bottom of the block it self and on the side of the cinder block that will be touching another cinder block. Once I had them all down and touching, I made sure they were tight and neatly aligned. After that, I applied adhesive the same way on the top of the cinder blocks and layed the concrete blocks on top of them. Just like the cinder blocks, I put adhesive on the side of the concrete block that will be touching another concrete block.


5.) Angle Iron. Once your cinder blocks and your concrete blocks are aligned correctly, we can glue on the angle iron. The only reason I don't have two 8' long pieces of angle iron in the picture is because the metal on top was given to me by a friend saving me a lot of money. I then built the ledge according to the length of the piece of metal. Okay, back to the angle iron. Put two long strips of adhesive on the part of the angle iron that will be resting on the ledge (one strip on each side). After that, repeat the process with the next piece of angle iron.


6.) Almost Done! Here is the hardest part of building the ledge. Once you are done, you will have to let the adhesive cure for about 48 hours. If you don't do this, you will fuck it all up and it will have been a big waste of time and money so just be patient. I suggest riding something else or going hang out with your dog (if you have one).


So that's it! Good luck and if this wasn't enough info for you, you can supplement it with some links to the different ways skaters have built cinder block ledges.

http://forums.skateperception.com/index.php?showtopic=129918
http://www.skateparkoftampa.com/spot/article.aspx?id=867
http://diyskate.com/ledge_04.html