How to Donate or Recycle Home Remodeling Materials

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Valerie B

We have used materials from Habitat (MD, VA, GA), Fuller (MD), Community Forklift (MD) Second Chance (MD), Salvation Army, Goodwill, craigslist and local thrift/vintage stores (GA) to remodel and decorate our home, renovate our daughter's home, maintain regular rentals, renovate and furnish a vacation rental, and flip a house - hardwood flooring, tiles, toilets, tubs, hoses, vanities, appliances, lighting and bathroom fixtures, medicine cabinets, fans, wood and metal furniture (e.g., tables, chairs, china cabinets, chest of drawers) mantels, solid wood doors, and lamps, decorative items. Some were brand new, some slightly used, some antiques, and others required refinishing but are beautiful, unique, and period appropriate when done. Howard's suite of products does wonders with wood cabinetry. We have also donated. I highly recommend this way of doing things. Less in landfills, less money for high quality, support for those in need (e.g. Habitat, Goodwill), or small businesses, uniqueness, . . .

3 Likes December 25, 2019 at 5:27AM

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Valerie B

Sometimes Habitat, Goodwill, etc can be picky, so 1) I understand they have limited space and must use the space and volunteer time well, 2) I shop around donation stores - some take what others won't, 3) I use craigslist to give away or sell, 4) I clean things up before donating as it sometimes exposes usefulness for others to see and who wants to buy dirty stuff? It's worth some effort to minimize waste. But I understand, sometimes it is overwhelming - I cleaned out my aunt's house after her death and there was a lot of sorting, identifying useful documents, coordinating to give to relatives, donating other stuff, calming my brother the executor who wanted to just hurry up and trash things at some point, etc. - we managed to reuse most of her things from a large house, and 2 sheds acquired over 80 years, but it took a lot of work. Fortunately, I had just retired.

2 Likes December 25, 2019 at 5:54AM

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dreamdoctor

Yes, a great resource but caveat emptor. I had a client recently buy tile from a similar store - it was not good quality and caused a lot of headaches - the finish was not thick and kept chipping among other things. She bought a sink without a template to put in a used chest of drawers and bought many other things that were stored on a site of a whole house remodel. A $50 item gets expensive when it is moved several times and the find becomes very expensive when turned into the vision - yes it is cool and it looks good and keeps it out of the landfill just realize you are not saving money if someone else does the work - it will cost a lot more while likely distracting them from bigger things.

None of this is good or bad per se just realize there are profound implications at times from the decisions/good ideas. In general nothing should be on the job site that does not have to do with that phase of the project. Not only does it get in the way - it is easy to get damaged - one more thing to worry about.

Ask first - impulsiveness is not a part of good job site management

2 Likes December 25, 2019 at 7:04AM