How to Make Money from Your Demolition

Just because those outdated light fixtures won’t work in your remodel doesn’t mean someone won’t want them, right? A demolition is a great opportunity to sell or donate a lot of materials. And that means you can take a smaller home equity line of credit  (HELOC) for your project--or just upgrade! So how do you know what you can save and what needs to get trashed?

Deconstruction crews

Instead of hiring a demolition crew, you can work with a deconstruction crew--a specialized team that carefully takes apart the area you’re planning on renovating. It’s amazing what they can salvage! Doors, windows, cabinets, light and plumbing fixtures, roofing, flooring, lumber, tile...you name it, they can probably salvage it. It can get pretty technical, so this is probably a job you want to hire a professional for instead of trying to DIY it.

You can go the non-profit route and have a team from Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore come and do it. In that case you’ll be able to get a pretty hefty tax deduction. Or you can hire an independent deconstruction team. Depending on what they charge and what they’re able to salvage, you might just break even on your demolition costs.

Donate

Even if you’re not using a deconstruction team, you can still donate some of your old home fixtures. Your local Goodwill or Salvation Army would probably be happy to take your lighting fixtures, faucets, cabinet hardware, door handles, even some of your kitchen appliances. If you’re not sure if they’ll take it, call ahead and verify.

Repurpose

We all have that one space in our house where we’re not as concerned about appearances. Your garage could be a fine place to repurpose some of your home’s outdated fixtures.

Sell/Consign

There’s a fine line between outdated and vintage. That brass hardware might not make the cut, but that clawfoot tub probably will (why would you want to get rid of such a beauty, though!?). Take some of your better fixtures to your local consignment shop and see if there’s any interest.

Everything else can find a place on Craigslist or a good, old-fashioned yard sale. You can always put the extra money toward your upgrades!