Recycling houses makes a lot of sense. It saves many tons of material from going in a landfill, which helps the environment. Building materials are becoming more and more expensive, and old houses contain many rich products that cannot be obtained today-- old growth wood floors, wide planking, solid doors, tremendous molding and trim, hand-made cabinetry, plaster, and other one-of-a-kind artisan features that make each house unique. Creating a replica of an historic home would be cost prohibitive today, so saving these old houses is essential-- they are irreplaceable! And they are a gold mine of valuable materials.

Building a house comparable in size to Lois Edward's little cottage would have cost me $200,000-$300,000 just for the house alone. By comparison, I spent about half that on the whole construction project-- septic, utilities, new driveway, and everything! It was well worth the extra work to gain some sweat equity; and I got to save a piece of history at the same time. To learn more about house recycling, check out the Nickel Brothers website, they have a lot of useful information there, and even have a "shopping page" where you can choose a house if you live near enough to their business location!

In addition to recycling the house, we were able to recycle about 90% of the waste that came from the project. When removing the roof and attic area, I found several local companies that deliver dumpsters to your site to haul away construction waste. These days, you can recycle wood, metal, sheetrock, insulation, glass, asphalt roofing, plastic, vinyl siding, and concrete--pretty much everything in a house! It cost a little more than a regular waste dumpster, but was worth the extra expense to make the whole project a "green building project."

This site was last updated 12/04/08