{"id":994,"date":"2022-10-18T20:58:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T00:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/?p=994"},"modified":"2023-09-29T19:16:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T23:16:45","slug":"building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"One of the most sustainable ways to acquire materials for building a house is to collect parts from soon-to-be demolished homes. You can save money from buying new lumber, which in turn will prevent deforestation, and you can recycle other materials like doors, windows, and bricks that would otherwise continue to fill up landfills.\r\n\r\nBut perhaps you’re not sure how to go about deconstructing a house. Read ahead to find out how to safely deconstruct a home and build with reclaimed lumber, instead of destroying and ruining precious building materials.\r\n

How to Deconstruct a House<\/h3>\r\nI live at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, which is in the depopulated northeastern corner of Missouri. Nearby towns are brimming with abandoned and derelict houses and buildings, and builders at Dancing Rabbit frequently acquire lumber for their own homes from these sources.\r\n\r\nHere’s an article describing how to deconstruct old houses and recycle the lumber for building. As is explained, buildings are constantly being demolished, but oftentimes you can track down the owners and convince them to let you deconstruct the building.\r\n\r\nYou will need but a few tools, and possibly a few friends, and then you will rake in the rewards of acquiring free building materials. You too can investigate the abandoned buildings in your area and learn which are ripe for deconstructing.\r\n

Deconstruction versus Destruction<\/h3>\r\nMore frequently than not, houses and derelict buildings are destroyed — smashed to smithereens, so that none of the materials can be used again, and then everything is sent away to a landfill.\r\n\r\nIn fact, 30-40% of all landfill waste is construction and demolition debris<\/a> in the United States. Why ruin perfectly good materials and then throw them away? Unfortunately, it’s much easier to simply destroy a building rather than to take it apart.\r\n\r\nThere is much to be gained in using recycled building materials: you can save money, prevent deforestation, and reclaim materials that would otherwise end up as trash.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most sustainable ways to acquire materials for building a house is to collect parts from soon-to-be demolished homes. You can save money from buying new lumber, which in turn will prevent deforestation, and you can recycle other materials like doors, windows, and bricks that would otherwise continue to fill up landfills. But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51640],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBuilding with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most sustainable ways to acquire materials for building a house is to collect parts from soon-to-be demolished homes. You can save money from buying new lumber, which in turn will prevent deforestation, and you can recycle other materials like doors, windows, and bricks that would otherwise continue to fill up landfills. But...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Green Building Elements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenbuildingelementsfb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dara Brandt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dara Brandt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dara Brandt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6ab6ed7dca719a143cb94393326ff555\"},\"headline\":\"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Construction & Materials\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\",\"name\":\"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Image Credit: Green Building Elements\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/\",\"name\":\"Green Building Elements\",\"description\":\"The Easy Way To Research Residential & Commercial Projects\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Green Building Elements\",\"alternateName\":\"Green Building Elements LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green_Building_Elements_Logo_Gray_Metal_Web.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green_Building_Elements_Logo_Gray_Metal_Web.png\",\"width\":167,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"Green Building Elements\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenbuildingelementsfb\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gbelements\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/green-building-elements\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@greenbuildingelements722\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/greenbuildingelements\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/GreenBuildingElements\/\",\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/media-outlet\/greenbuildingelements\",\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/green-building-elements\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/\",\"ownershipFundingInfo\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/about\/\",\"actionableFeedbackPolicy\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/\",\"correctionsPolicy\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6ab6ed7dca719a143cb94393326ff555\",\"name\":\"Dara Brandt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Dara-Brandt-Headshot-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Dara-Brandt-Headshot-1.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Dara Brandt\"},\"description\":\"Dara Brant is the Managing Editor at Green Building Elements. Prior to joining us she covered alternative energy news and local developments at Your Energy Blog.\u00a0Dara has a passion for sustainable living and wants to do more than her fair share to help build a better tomorrow for future generations.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/dara-brandt\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dara-brandt-a3022a226\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/author\/daragreenbuildingelements-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials","og_description":"One of the most sustainable ways to acquire materials for building a house is to collect parts from soon-to-be demolished homes. You can save money from buying new lumber, which in turn will prevent deforestation, and you can recycle other materials like doors, windows, and bricks that would otherwise continue to fill up landfills. But...","og_url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/","og_site_name":"Green Building Elements","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenbuildingelementsfb","article_published_time":"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dara Brandt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dara Brandt","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/"},"author":{"name":"Dara Brandt","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6ab6ed7dca719a143cb94393326ff555"},"headline":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials","datePublished":"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/"},"wordCount":732,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","articleSection":["Construction & Materials"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2022","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/","name":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","datePublished":"2022-10-19T00:58:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-29T23:16:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","width":300,"height":400,"caption":"Image Credit: Green Building Elements"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/building-with-reclaimed-lumber-and-recycled-materials\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Building with Reclaimed Lumber and Recycled Materials"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/","name":"Green Building Elements","description":"The Easy Way To Research Residential & Commercial Projects","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#organization","name":"Green Building Elements","alternateName":"Green Building Elements LLC","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green_Building_Elements_Logo_Gray_Metal_Web.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Green_Building_Elements_Logo_Gray_Metal_Web.png","width":167,"height":60,"caption":"Green Building Elements"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/greenbuildingelementsfb","https:\/\/x.com\/gbelements","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/green-building-elements\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@greenbuildingelements722","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/greenbuildingelements\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/GreenBuildingElements\/","https:\/\/muckrack.com\/media-outlet\/greenbuildingelements","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/green-building-elements"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/","ownershipFundingInfo":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/about\/","actionableFeedbackPolicy":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/","correctionsPolicy":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/editorial-policy-standards\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6ab6ed7dca719a143cb94393326ff555","name":"Dara Brandt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Dara-Brandt-Headshot-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Dara-Brandt-Headshot-1.jpg","caption":"Dara Brandt"},"description":"Dara Brant is the Managing Editor at Green Building Elements. Prior to joining us she covered alternative energy news and local developments at Your Energy Blog.\u00a0Dara has a passion for sustainable living and wants to do more than her fair share to help build a better tomorrow for future generations.","sameAs":["https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/dara-brandt\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dara-brandt-a3022a226\/"],"url":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/author\/daragreenbuildingelements-com\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/2089758768_b6d3d00372.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Dara Brandt","author_link":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/author\/daragreenbuildingelements-com\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79390,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994\/revisions\/79390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}