Do Used Building Materials Measure Up?
Only good for making a composter or dog house? Think again. Welcome to a quickly growing business in BC: deconstruction and sales of recovered materials. Deconstruction means removing valuable and usable fixtures and building materials before or instead of demolition. As tipping fees and environmental values rise, salvaging materials from buildings slated for demolition is becoming more popular. It’s an intelligent alternative to landfilling or burning demolition waste. One Vancouver Island business that’s capitalizing on deconstruction is Demxx, who stocks everything from mammoth timbers to, yes, the kitchen sink. Litchfield, a similar company in Port Coquitlam, constructed their antique shop with a host of used building materials including recovered flooring, plumbing fixtures, wall finishes, pipework, electrical panels and more. This industry is gaining momentum. As architects and building inspectors come on side, there will be greater demand for these valuable but usually less cost
