COMMENT OF THE DAY: USED HOUSE PARTS SCOUTING REPORT “Hopefully, some of those features will end up at Habitat ReStore. The marble counters, doors, clawfoot tub, cabinet doors, and all that flagstone. The casement windows are great for a greenhouse or playhouse. And that angle-top door in the attic room would be a great door for a garden shed or chicken house. I saw parts of some of the other teardowns there about 2 months ago. I remember seeing the stainless steel countertop, marble, and custom bathroom cabinets from one teardown. I may have to check back to see if that angle-top door makes it to the ReStore. I’ll design a shed just around that door.” [Lynn, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Half Timber]
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Thank God! I have been looking all over for a door to my chicken house.
What a shame. But then the nouveau riche don’t know the meaning of shame.
The shame is the litigious society we live in. Whenever I ask why more stuff isn’t taken from a demo before the demo, the answer is always “Liability! What happens if someone steps on a nail”.
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For f*#$’s sake. How about “Feel free to take what you want, but if you slip and scrape your knee it’s on you” ?
Chef, your creativity may be in a kitchen, but some of us are very creative with our yards and homes, and are very interested in repurposing items, instead of throwing them away. That angled door would be great on a small shed. And having your own chickens for eggs is quite popular right now. I would expect that you would appreciate the difference in quality and flavor of home-grown eggs versus the bland, pale, store-bought ones.
It’s a shame a classic home is being destroyed. But if there is a chance to save and repurpose items, both structural and decorative, I wish the contractor would allow removal with a signed waiver of liability. You can’t buy the quality of wood in that structure – old growth pine and possibly gum. Austin has a wonderful program for this. But that cuts into his project deadlines. And time is money.
Serious question here.
I live in what is basically a future tear-down. It was my first house purchase 20 years ago, and I’m still in it. It’s a remuddled 30s-40s bungalow that looks like someone hired their brother-in-law to do the work, and it was previously a rental before I bought it. I’ve been resisting doing anything major to it because I have been actively looking for a “real house” for quite a while now.
It has the original 3″ oak floors that probably still have quite a bit of wear left in them, seeing as they haven’t been sanded and refinished very many times (only once in the last 20 years, and probably not more than once before that). It has an awesome counterweighted attic door that rolls down instead of unfolding. The bathroom sinks are older than I am (they’re dated on the bottom). The vintage 6-gallon-flush toilets might be desired by someone. Certainly the scrap metal inside the walls could fetch some bucks.
So there might be some parts worth saving. But how do I find someone to deconstruct it, when that time comes?
Lynn: I just did a major remodle to an old 1930’s house. There was a ton of old shiplap board. In removing a closet and taking out the old roof (to raise it to the rafters) we had PILES and PILES of old wood.
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I took photos and tried to give the stuff away on the craigslist free section and got nothing. Not even to be used as firewood. I had (still have) a bunch of old hardwood floors I took out on the bottom floor of a building (they were under carpet and too damaged to be saved) in a big pile. I’ve tried to get rid of them for free and nothing.
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So my guys have been taking loads of them each week and just tossing them in one of our dumpsters :(
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I’d rather see them reused (from an eco standpoint and the fact it’s $ to dispose), and I keep hearing about how people want them, but without some mechanism to get people that would want them and people that would have them together, they’ll end up in the landfill.
@Cody,
Next time try Clouse Floors in the Heights, http://www.clousefloors.com . They have a warehouse full of wood, including spare pieces that they must get from somewhere. Maybe they would take it off your hands.
Cody, did a quick Google and also found M&M Lumber, on Riley Road. They reuse and recycle lumber.
I remember an article in the Chronicle about Dan Phillips up in Huntsville that makes homes that are completely of recycled materials. Not sure where he gets all of his materials, but maybe some of his volunteer workers could pick up materials for him. The homes go to artists and single mothers.
Did Historic Houston open their Salvage Warehouse again? I remember this summer, they were planning on re-opening.
Wish I was in a position to gather and store materials to build a home out of recycled materials, but I’m not, so I’ll settle for small scale things like garden sheds, a greenhouse, and a chicken house of old wood, windows, and cabinets.
@Cody
I may be able to take those floorboards off your hands. Please email me: vicki [dot] scarpato [at] gmail