Home Construction Tips

When planning home improvement projects, we tend to think like consumers. We spend hours pouring over sample books, researching the various products available and balancing our desire for beautiful results against the cold reality of budgets. For most of us, the project becomes a lesson in compromise: what is the best material I can afford? If I buy the more expensive floor covering, can I still afford the Italian marble for the tub surround?

Too often, though, we become so focused on what we need to bring to the site that we forget to think about what will be leaving the site - the waste materials and demolition debris generated during the job. Professional contractors always figure disposal costs into their budgets, and you should, too, whether you're planning a large remodel or just a

simple facelift. What you'll find is that disposal will represent a significant portion of your project budget. The good news is that a little planning can save you money and also have a positive effect on the environment.
Here's an example: let's say you're planning to re-roof the garage. You'll need to remove the old shingles first, so let's think about where they'll go. You could entomb those shingles in the landfill, where they will stand for eternity as a monument to wasted resources. Look up "Recycling Services" in the Yellow Pages, though, and you'll learn that a local company will accept your asphalt roofing and recycle it into a variety of products, including a new product that provides the appearance of landscape bark but doesn't burn. It's called No-Spark BarkT, and it's made from recycled wood and asphalt roofing. Best of all for your budget, you can recycle those shingles for less than half what you'd pay at the landfill.
The same principle applies to almost any type of waste your project will generate. Wood waste? Several companies in the area provide recycling services for lumber and other wood wastes. Go to the Yellow Pages again; you'll find low cost disposal alternatives for these items, as well as yard debris and other materials. How about paint, concrete cleaner and similar hazardous leftover products that shouldn't go into the landfill? Lane County's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center has you covered there; they'll dispose of those hazardous wastes safely, and the price is right -- there's no fee to use the facility. Call 682-4120 for more information on the program. Another way to save is to take a careful look at the items you'll need to get rid of. They may seem like white elephants to you, but they could be the answer to someone else's prayers.

That funky old toilet you've been dying to replace may look like an icon of Art Deco design to someone with a different decorating perspective, so as long as it still works or can be repaired, include it in your yard sale or donate it to BRING Recycling's building materials warehouse. The same goes for those old doors, windows and other usable items. While you're there, take a look around -- maybe you can score a deal on an item you need. Call BRING at 746-3023 for hours and directions to the warehouse. If you've hired a contractor to do the job, ask where your waste materials will go. If they're going to the landfill, find out why. It may be that by making an adjustment or two, you can arrange for the waste to be recycled instead of landfilled, and that should save you money. You'll feel good about helping to conserve resources, too. See a theme here? It's almost always more expensive to landfill your waste, and reuse and recycling save resources. With a little planning, you might even save enough of your resources to pay for that Italian marble.

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