For many years, I had no idea what a damage contractor even was. However, all that changed when a pan of hot oil caught fire in my kitchen and set fire to my house. Half of the property was completely destroyed by the fire but thankfully, my family made it out OK. Once the fire service had finished doing what they needed to do, I called in a team of damage contractors who helped to clean up the property and to demolish the parts which could not be saved. I have since rebuilt the house on the same plot of land.
If you are paying a damage contractor to tear down an old home or commercial structure, you can opt for the company to just haul everything away, or you can choose to do some demolition material recycling. Wondering if you should add recycling to your wish list? Here are four signs you should consider it.
1. You Don't Want to Send the Old Structure to the Landfill
Worldwide, waste from materials used in building accounts for half of solid waste in landfills. If you don't want to contribute to that, you may want to opt for recycling. With some demolition companies, you simply note that you want demolition material recycling to be part of the process, and the company takes care of the rest.
2. You Want to Make Some Extra Money
You don't necessarily have to let the demolition company handle the recycling. If you have the time and energy, you may want to do some of the recycling yourself, and you may just want to sell anything that is salvageable in the home or building.
Depending on your situation, you could personally take out old bricks, wood, flooring, windows or anything else that may have commercial value, and you could list it online and find private buyers.
Alternatively, you could find salvage companies who are willing to go in, extract the usable items and sell them onto other consumers. Depending on what you have, some of these companies may be willing to pay you a small fee.
3. You Want to Use the Items
In other cases, you personally may have an interest in using the old items. If you love some of the elements in that structure, you can integrate them into your new home or building. Alternatively, if the building is sentimental to you, you may want to find creative ways to reuse some of it even if you don't love the elements on their own.
For instance, you may want to turn the cement foundation into paving stones that can be used to line the walkways of your new structure.
4. The Structure Has Toxins
There are some items that you can't just send to the landfill, and in those cases, you will need professional mitigation and recycling services. This includes asbestos which may be in the flooring, insulation and other parts of your building.
If you fall into any of the above categories, contact a demolition company that also offers recycling services.
Share11 September 2017
