How to Find Reclaimed Building Materials

This is me on the Zoom Boom!

There are many reasons for going green and all of them are good. Whether you want to save money, or protect the environment, it's a good thing to use Reclaimed materials and not waste what we already have.
We are building an addition onto our house. The reclaimed materials we have are saving us thousands of dollars and keeping the "vintage" wood and other materials from ending up in the land fill.

Things You'll Need

• Demolition Auctions and Sales

Instructions

1. LOOK ONLINE
   We started out our project looking for construction material on eBay. We purchased 300 sheets of OSB at a great price. We also figured in the cost of going to get the material. Compared to what it was going to cost in a store it was quite a bargain.

2. CHECK THE NEWSPAPERS FOR YARD SALES
   We found several things at yard sales. Many of our neighbors had bits and pieces of what needed and we just collected things before we actually got started. If you watch the newspaper listing, items available may be mentioned. This way, you know ahead of time if it is worth driving to that particular yard sale. We got a lot of our electrical boxes and other items from people who had finished their own projects and sold what was left over.

3. 

   CHECK NEWSPAPERS OR ONLINE FOR DEMOLITION OR TEAR DOWN SALES AND AUCTIONS
   All of that was before we discovered Demolition Sales and Auctions. At the first auction I attended, my husband (who is also our General Contractor and chief DIY!) was not with me. We didn't actually know what I was getting into and I did arrive a few minutes late. The Sale was just like any other auction. I got my number and met up with the auctioneer in the garage. I quickly realized they were selling everything there piece by piece. They had a few yard tools, some playground equipment and then they sold The Garage. I didn't know much ... but I knew we needed trusses and this garage had trusses. I won the bid at $500 and bought the garage... windows, walls, garage door everything you could see.
   I called my husband and told him he needed to get over here quickly ... because I had bought the garage.

4. 

   COME PREPARED TO TAKE THINGS APART IMMEDIATELY
   OTHER PEOPLE WILL BE TEARING UP THEIR PURCHASES TOO
   By the time he arrive I had also bid on and won, a fountain, a fireplace, sliding glass doors, landscaping bushes, interior doors, track and exterior lighting, and a ceiling fan. When my husband arrived they had sold all the windows, carpet, decking, the electrical boxes, heating system, cabinetry ... everything in the house. Then, they sold the frame of the house. We bought this vintage 1960's home for another $500. The ceiling had huge laminated beams and car siding like you find in old church buildings. The next day, I sold the trusses from the garage to a friend for $500, so we only had about $750 in all the material. 2X4's, insulation, OSB, foam insulation, electrical wiring, windows, doors, fireplace flue, bricks, fan, etc.

5. TAKE A SAWZ ALL
   Since I was a little late, I missed the part about taking the house and garage apart and moving it in Two Weeks time! But we did it. Our church family was amazing. We took down each board from the ceiling and took out the nails one at a time. We stripped all the electrical wiring and the insulation. By the time we were done the only thing left was the foundation. The only things we didn't keep was the dry wall and the shingles.

6. Our addition was redesigned from an attached garage, to 10 new rooms. Since then, we've been to five more Demolition Auctions and several Demolition Sales. The Sales are run like any other Tag Sale. You enter the house and the price they want is on the window or door or whatever else is being sold. We have purchased an entire bathroom from one and floor joist from another. We live in a resort area where people own "grandfathered in" houses. The houses have been in the families for years and now they need to be remodeled or replaced, but the owners want to build on the lake property were the house had originally been built. We actually paid them to let us take their house down. But, we get to keep all the material.
   BE PREPARED TO WORK
   It is a lot more work, but in the long run, you save money and the environment. The reclaimed, vintage ceiling in our addition had to be refinished one board at a time, but we were not expecting to add something so lovely to our home.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared for a lot of work.

• Ripping apart on old house is easier than building.

• Bring tools with you to the auction, most people start tearing things up as soon as the auction is over.

• At the lake, most of the auctions were in the Fall, after people had used their lake home over the summer and wanted to have a new one built before the next summer.

• Watch your local newspapers, surf the internet or sign up with your local auctioneers to stay informed.

• You will also need a place to store the materials. We rented a Zoom Boom or Lull. After the ceiling materials were removed, one board at a time, the walls were picked up and laid on a flat bed trailer. They were stored there until Spring when we needed them again.