Clients who are remodeling or adding to their home frequently ask me what to do with their old doors, windows, flooring, etc, where they can be reused rather than tossed in the recycle dumpster.
And…on the other hand sometimes clients are looking for a less expensive way to remodel and can use what someone else doesn’t need.
Its not just old, outdated junk you’ll find, sometimes people buy the wrong thing and the store won’t allow a return or they bought too many of an item or they changed their minds…keep an open mind and you might save a bundle. One’s man trash is another man’s treasure.
Here are a few I’ve discovered:
Craigslist: They have ‘wanted’ and ‘for sale’ sections. This definitely worked for us. We had a bunch of gorgeous bamboo flooring left and sold it on Craigslist. www.craigslist.com I posted pictures of the bamboo planking, the end of the box with the product data and a link to the store where we bought it.
Freecycle: Its a site where you can post stuff you want to give away. www.freecycle.org We used this site to give away oak desks and file cabinets.
ReuseMarket: I’ve never used them nor have I been to their store. www.reusemarket.com But, man, do they have a potload of stuff, and such variety! From rakes to cars, clothing to windows and nails.
If you are in Boise, ID, then this place takes donations! www.shipinc.org Doors, windows, cabinets. Be careful taking out the old stuff and they’ll take it off your hands. Saves you the cost of taking it to the dump or recycling center (where we are charged by the cubic yard).
Here’s a picture of the lumber from the garage we were thinking of having ‘deconstructed’ – it had beautiful redwood siding in great condition. Alas, they wanted about $5k for the privilege.
This one is in Australia www.salvagebazaar.com.au so it doesn’t help our clients but it has a good site.
Habitat for Humanity: www.habitat.org has something called a ‘Restore’ where they accept donated goods and where you might be able to find a fancy sink, cabinet, potty, flooring, even paint and save some bucks. They have stores all over the U.S. and Canada http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx For our clients, the closest one is in Oakland, CA.
I just searched for ‘second-hand construction material’ and found sites in different states. Entered ‘used construction material’ and got different sites. ‘Recycled construction materials’ would be another one to try.
Its worth looking into. You might be surprised at what you find 😉
House Plans - 31202
Feb 10, 2011 @ 15:48:49
G-Mo
Feb 10, 2011 @ 18:28:51
I’m forwarding all this information to the handyman who helps me. He is very interested in what you have written.
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Susan
Feb 11, 2011 @ 01:33:19
Definitely the wave of the future to recycle your own stuff and try to purchase recycled also. One of the shows I like, (which I can’t remember the name of right now. Maybe Flip This House?), has a crew which regularly tries to get rid of the old stuff in ecologically friendly ways. It’s becoming quite mainstream. I was reading recently that some of the junk haulers, will recycle as much as they can also. Good for people who cannot tackle all the work themselves.
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