Two of the neighborhoods adjacent to mine are brand new, so lots of houses in various early stages of construction. I was taking the baby on a walk a few days ago and finally saw a worker who looked like he knew English (though the actual hurdle is probably just that I'm shy) and he started talking to me about the weather but I managed to turn it around and ask him what they do with the dumpsters full of scrap 2x4, whether some other company is possessive about it, etc. He said they don't care about it, that he takes wood home all the time, that nobody would care if I came and took some. I could hardly believe it, with lumber prices right now especially being what they are I assumed they'd figure out a systematic way to repurpose as much as they could, but I guess our society's capacity for waste is not to be underestimated.
I came back with the truck that same evening and drove around the development from dumpster to dumpster, grabbing just the few pieces of 2x4 (and some 3/4 OSB!) that I could reach from each one. If I saw anyone at a site I asked them for permission, which they always gave. After maybe 30 or 45 minutes I returned home with what must be about $200 worth of lumber. It was like something out of a dream. Might do another round this weekend. Will use it to build a compost bin and my garage workbench/shelving.
Yeah I kinda feel bad for them. I talked to one elderly couple who were there taking pictures in their home that had just been framed and sheathed, and asked them if they'd mind if I took some scrap out of the huge dumpster out front. The man said he didn't mind but acted as if he didn't have the authority to say for sure. He apparently didn't realize he'd paid for all that material they were throwing away! It's his! There was easily $1000 of wood in that dumpster. Whole 12' lengths of 2x4 that wouldn't fit in my truck, 48x24 sheets of OSB with maybe just a little corner cut out, primed pine board, you name it.That's a good idea, and it's paid for by the buyers.
Even if that 4% refers to the 100k figure, that's four grand going into the trash. I think about what I could buy for $4000. Even if I was in a position to buy a 1m home, doesn't mean I like throwing away money. In fact it's likely if I got to that position it's in part because I got good at NOT throwing away money!1M when finished, so about 10M in today's money. The supervisor told me it cost them about 100K for all the materials, and probably 4% was waste
Installed my last Sharkbite fitting in the wall behind a WC. I will watch it for leaks for a few days then reinstall the 31" x 8' redwood wall panel and the WC. Today I am checking for leaks often and will prolly turn the water off tonight so I can sleep w/o concern. I hate plumbing and I have a mix of copper, CPVC and Sharkbite in that wall supplying a soak tub, a tub w/shower and the WC. The soak tub is in the master bath on the other side of the wall.
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