Even before our house plans were complete, I started sourcing used building materials. There’s a saying that the greenest house is the one that’s already built. However, we weren’t willing to buy and renovate an older house to make it energy efficient. Even if we could find a house that met most of our needs, the renovations to green it up would undoubtedly contribute to the landfill and be costly.
So, at the very least, I could intercept some building materials on their way to the landfill (various estimates from Regional Districts and studies on waste suggest anywhere from 25 – 50% of the landfill is construction waste.)
harvesting fir flooring from White Rock cottage
Craigslist is the best source to find used building materials in our area. There is Jack’s New and Used building materials, but his prices just seem unreasonably high, if you can even get hold of a salesperson who will tell you what the prices are. For instance, recycled edge grain fir flooring, which I can find in small batches of about 300 square feet, mostly denailed, on Craigslist for $1 – $2 per square foot will cost about $4 at Jack’s, and the buyer will often have to de-nail the wood herself. Cast-iron claw-foot bathtub will be about $500 or more at Jack’s, but on CL, $100 -$500. There are Habitat for Humanity Restores all over North America, run by volunteers. They carry donated new and used items, and their prices are about ½ retail, on average. Unfortunately, for people trying to recycle materials they no longer need, the Restores are very picky about what they’ll accept, so you often have to take your building materials to the landfill anyway. Often, putting good stuff in the alley here will find a new owner. Here is an example of an ad I responded to:
“Free to a good home – one plank. It’s a big one – 2 1/4″ thick x 16″ wide x 12′ 7″ long. This was found in the basement of our circa 1920′s home when we moved in and it looks like it is just about that old. Nice straight grain, wood species unknown. Suitable for miscellaneous wordworking projects, or perfect for a pirate, if your ship is currently plank-less and you have a prisoner that you want to get rid of but are stuck due to your current lack of a plank. It’s leaning up outside the house and has to go ASAP. A smaller version is also available – 5′ long, perfect for your pirate dinghy. Pickup only, sorry – no mooring nearby.”
I’m still not sure what kind of wood it is, but it’s damned heavy. It will make a beautiful eating bar in our kitchen. And the dinghy plank might be our mantel.
There was a rumour that Home Depot, which supports the Restore, was going to open a building materials recyling yard in some of their parking lots, starting with a Coquitlam store in the spring. I noticed a fence built for the purpose, but there was absolutely no material there nor have I seen any further publicity.
I have written letters to regional districts suggesting that a very effective way to reduce landfill waste would be to have a building materials recycling centre. I’m sure that its administration would have to be well-controlled, and of course, a yard and covered area would have to be built.This would be an investment in the environment. I have seen the huge garbage dumps along the Fraser River in Vancouver/Burnaby, with piles and piles of perfectly useful building materials. No regional district staff has responded to my suggestion.
math door - $8
Some of the materials we have collected: 20 pieces of laminated glass from a condo rainscreen project (free), about 1600 sq. ft. of beautiful old edge-grain fir flooring, 6 old fir doors, some with the room numbers still on them, from a math building at a university ($8 each), 25 bundles of #2 grade sidewall shingles ($16 a bundle), 11 fir stair treads ($8 each), 3 almost new double-glazed windows ($60 ea), a 16’ wooden garage door ($90). You have to be careful about used windows and doors, because there are now energy-efficiency bylaws governing new construction in BC.
It’s a great feeling to save money and landfill space. Another plus: there is no plastic or packaging on used goods, that has to be thrown away.
But, where to store all this material? For starters, Doug built an 8×12 storage shed on the lot this summer. It’s temporary, but could be used for a writing shed or a garden shed when we have finished storing used building materials in it. His parents’ basement rec room houses all the fir and the pirate plank. Once the roof is on the house, we will be able to find space in the garage, and we have rented a container for the builders. It may become available for storage, if necessary.
Adding the last rafter to storage shed
I’ll write about new finds when we score them. But that’s the very satisfying start.
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