• strict warning: Non-static method Pagination::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 307.
  • strict warning: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 307.
  • strict warning: Non-static method Pagination::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 410.
  • strict warning: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 410.
  • strict warning: Non-static method Pagination::getInstance() should not be called statically in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 344.
  • strict warning: Only variables should be assigned by reference in /home/buildingsurplus/public_html/sites/all/modules/pagination/pagination.module on line 344.

Industry news

Bringing It All Back Home 2011/03/01

When the wood structure—nearly all of which should be reusable or recyclable—is completely dismantled, workers can reclaim any steel posts, beams, furnaces, boilers, or other large mechanical items left in the basement, usually with the help of a piece of equipment such as a skid steer loader or extension forklift.

The concrete foundation is now all that’s left. It can either be used for the new construction, removed by an excavator for recycling, or sometimes simply knocked down and backfilled.

A BETTER WAY

In a traditional demolition, nearly everything above the foundation would be destroyed and hauled to a landfill. Demolition contractors will usually recycle concrete and steel if there are local recycling facilities.

Concrete and other masonry materials usually can be recycled at little or no cost. The rubble is pulverized in huge crushers that can magnetically remove rebar and other metal reinforcement. The runways at Stapleton Airport were recycled by a company in Arvada in what was described at the time as the world’s largest recycling project. The finished product is typically used as road base or in other aggregate applications, reducing the need for gravel mining. Metal is the world’s most recycled material, and currently enjoys record prices, thanks largely to the fact that China is purchasing all that it can for use in its massive hydroelectric and other infrastructure projects.

In a typical deconstruction, most of the material above the foundation would find its way to reuse and recycling facilities, with 80 to 90 percent going somewhere other than the dump. Items that were delicately dismantled and can be reused might find their way to the ReSource sales yard on 63rd Street, or one of the local Habitat for Humanity ReStores in the area, or the new reclaimed material yard operated by The ReUse People in Lafayette. Craigslist, eBay, and other web-based marketplaces are also very popular outlets for architectural salvage.

Mark Bowen, who has been selling reclaimed materials at the ReSource sales yard in Boulder since 1996, and has arguably seen and lifted more reclaimed materials than anyone in the area, has certainly noticed a change over the years.

“I remember when we first opened, nobody used the word ‘deconstruction,’ and we weren’t very busy at the yard most of the time,” he says. “Now, it seems more people are deconstructing, and the yard is always busy. I don’t think the people who started this ever expected us to be around this long, or they would have called it ReSource 3000 instead of ReSource 2000.”

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