Best find of the day!!

[texastami]

FREE LUMBER!!!!


We have new construction of "McMansions" going up all around us..... they have huge piles of lumber to be trashed.... 15 ft round x 5 ft high piles!!!

DS went over to a place right across the way from us (4300 sq ft house being built) and asked if he could have some of the wood.... Foreman said "SURE.... we could have anything out of the pile - just be careful of the nails in some of it"....... Came home to get me, and we loaded up TWO van fulls of everything from plywood (1/8th in to 1 1/2 inch thick) to 2x4's, 2x6, 2x8, 2x10, and some 2x12's.... now keep in mind these aren't more than 3-5 ft long each and some are even smaller, but they will work perfectly for a bunch of things I want to build BEFORE we move to the MO place... I can't believe it!! Nothing like WOOD to make me wanna BUILD!!! ALL FOR FREE!!!

We are going to keep watching places and keep asking about the free stuff!!! I will find room in the uhaul for my little "collections" due to the cost of lumber nowadays!!! I can't wait to get my composting toliet built!!! I am going to save a bunch of it for some built in bookcases when we build the house!!!! Other uses will be for hutches, pens and etc!!!!
HOORAY!!!!

[Ravenlost]

Congrats!

When our house was built a year ago we were appalled by the amount of usable stuff they were throwing in the trash to burn. I salvaged as much as I could and a year later we still have plenty to use!

[Elizabeth]

You lucky girl- I LOVE finding piles of scrap lumber. I haven't found anyplace to scrounge here in MN, but I just brought part of my lumber collection up from Fl last week. Can't wait to go back and get the rest of it. I also brought my table saw and radial arm saw, so I am just about ready to start building....something, lol!! Yep, with the price of lumber, scraps are worth the effort to collect.
Let's see, hmmm, rabbit nest boxes, bee hive nucs, shelving, etc.

[GrannyG]

Doesn't it feel great to find something like that for free? I am always finding couch's by the dumpster to be hauled off but the cushions are still good, so I bring them home, unzip them, wash the covers in diluted clorox water,dry them, then soak the cushions in clorox water and let them dry and use them in outdoor chairs. You can also make birdhouses and sell them with some of the lumber later on when $$ gets low.Everybody loves birdhouses. Great find!!

[Quint]

Back when I was about 12 or so I noticed a contractor building a senior citizens housing development in town had a dumpster full of usable wood on site. I found the guy and asked if I could have it. He admired my industriousness and I managed to work out a deal where his guys would dump all scrap in one pile and I would take what I wanted and throw the rest in the dumpster. A great deal for me. I had to get the truck to bring it all home most of the time and had to make multiple trips several times. I had enough wood that I started building dog houses and selling them. I made some really good money and sold dozens of dog houses. I even made some custom ones to order. I not only got wood but wire, conduit and pipe, scrap metal, hardware like nails and screws, shingles and roofing paper, insulation scraps, drywall scraps, joint compound and paint and even damaged plumbing and electrical fixtures. I would bet the actual dollar amount of stuff I packed home was at least 2000 dollars or more. I was selling the doghouses I built for between 25 and 75 dollars depending on the size. A couple of custom (very large) ones I built I charged 125 for. They ended up costing pennies a piece as the only things I had to buy were nails and screws when the scrap supply dried up some weeks.

I had some big plans for the next year but unfortunately more than one kid and a few adults had caught on to what I was doing and it ended up queering the deal. It was nice being the doghouse king for a year though.

[mammabooh]

My neighbor and I walk every day in the new neighborhood that is being built behind us. There are piles just like you described...in addition to bricks and cement blocks. I keep drooling over them, but have been too shy to ask anyone about them...I WILL DO IT TODAY!!!!! Thanks for the kick in the pants.

[gccrook]

A couple of weeks ago, a friend at work moved to Washington, and sold his house here. He told me he had some scrap lumber I could have if I wanted. Turns out he had disassembled a deck around an above ground pool, and saved all the lumber. There were also 4 solar heater panels for water (4X12?). I hauled two loads on my 16' flatbed trailer. There were 2X6,2X8,2X10 in 10 and 12 feet lengths. 4"X4"X8'. Awsome haul.

[Elizabeth]

I forgot till just now- my exBF used to stop at a cabinet shop and load up his 22' truck with scraps from their dumpster. After he gave the owner a couple of jars of my honey the guy would call him just before the dumpster was to be emptied if there was particularly nice wood in it. I haven't found a cabinet shop up here yet to scavange from, but I have a feeling that they burn all their scraps anyway in the winter. But, great place to get all kinds of hardwoods for small projects- I still have a stack of it in my barn that we haven't had room for on the truck yet- maybe next trip, sigh.

[dakani]

It's amazing how much useable stuff people throw away. Of course, not everyone has a use for things, but for those of us that do...
I posted a request on the bulletin board at work for old fence palings and it just so happened that someone had recently had a new fence built and had the old palings, together with the 2x3 that held it together, just waiting to go to the dump. I made about three trips and got the best wood. True, some is warped and I have to remove the fencing nails, but I've made a henhouse and my winter projects this year include knocking together some edging around my fruit trees. All for the price of some hardware. I've found that all you need to do is be willing to ask. Isn't that lovely?