 Before •In the Beginning ... Deconstruction •Teardown Construction •Week 6 - The Footings On My Own •The List Odd Bits •Unusual Aspects •My Process •Salvage •Environmental Materials •The Doors •Wood Floors •Bathroom Floor •Concrete •The Carport •Making Gravel •Making Soil •Rain Barrels •Bathroom Cabinet •The Sink HOME |
Salvage NOTE #1: If you are going to be salvaging materials for your construction, know clearly what you want and be ready to jump on it. A garage sale only a block from my house had an unused toilet available which was exactly what I wanted, but I wasn't planning on dealing with the toilet for a few weeks yet and decided to finish my errands first. By the time I went back, someone else had already bought it. Drat! They also had light fixtures, which were NOT what I wanted, and I almost bought them anyway out of disappointment over the toilet, which would have been another mistake.
I eventually managed to acquire a toilet from The Rebuilding Center According to the writing on her side my toilet's name was Sarah. She will need new hardware and a little clean up, but not much. Being out of storage space, I decided she can sit in the back yard until it's time to install her. That is the biggest problem with using salvaged materials for me. You must acquire it when the opportunity presents itself and then you must store it until it is needed. NOTE #2: Just as important as having your list of things to be looking for, is knowing the flaws that would disqualify those potentially "great finds" for your project. Many things can seem like a bargain until you get down to the nuts and bolts of making it work. A door too big for the space available or too heavy for the hardware is just a waste of money, and a window that isn't weather tight may cost more to fix than a new one. NOTE #3: Finally, salvage is a two way street. As much as possible, I like and try to use salvaged materials, or to salvage materials from my own projects to be used elsewhere. It sort of has to be a philosophy of life, I think, because it just doesn't seem to work on an occasional basis.  Everything that came down was considered for it's salvage and/or recycling potential before being discarded. If it could be salvaged for use on this or another project here, it was stored. If it might be of use to someone else, it was given away, or was donated to The Rebuilding Center. If the components could be recycled, they were, and only as a last resort were materials discarded. Some of the sub-contractors were less fanatical than I am myself, so periodically I would paw through the dumpster pulling out scrap paper, cardboard, and metal to put in my recycling bins, or wood to use myself. I even spread the sawdust I could gather around the yard and forked it into the soil.
Things salvaged from the project included: very old cedar shingles that became kindling; pillars from my porch that became pillars on my neighbor's porch; 4'x4's and 6'x4's that will be used in a trellis; vinyl siding to be used later behind the garage; windows, railings, a door and a storm door that went to the rebuilding center; pier pads that will be used later; concrete from my carport became gravel for my path; large pieces were reserved to use in building a retaining wall; scrap drywall went up in the garage; leftover plywood will be used for a fence; Plants, bulbs and shrubs from the front were potted up and saved to be replanted after the project was finished (plants that could not be saved went into my bi-weekly yard debris); pavers from my front yard will be reused in side and front yard pathways; dirt from the excavation was saved for later use in the yard; etc.  At the other end, a variety of materials were found for the project through a variety of means. Some of the acquired salvaged materials going into the new addition include:
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