Building site surplus materials

[rockweasel]

Has anyone sourced materials from a building site (legally)? There must be a surplus that ends up in a skip that still of use to someone. If so, who do you approach onsite and what's the etiquette so I don't look like a total scrounger!

 

[mike os]

site manager

 

[brightspark]

Has anyone sourced materials from a building site (legally)? There must be a surplus that ends up in a skip that still of use to someone. If so, who do you approach onsite and what's the etiquette so I don't look like a total scrounger!

best bet is wait till the job is near to completion and look to see whats any good to u . or keep an eye out what goes in the skip . then go to the site office and ask the foreman or site supervisor if theres any chance of getting any surplus materials for a few quid . theres only 2 answers yes or no

 

[madkayaker]

i have on many occasions however as i work on building site i have all the relevant tickets to be on sites. (and often more than the site manager) the wastage on sites is criminal at times but materials are ordered in bulk and its costly to have men sat awaiting materials

 

[BrokenBiker]

one of the guys in the factory I machine in spent a few days over Christmas picking up unused paving slabs that were left over after his local high street was re-paved. think he had just under a ton of the big council type paving slabs for nothing. they told him if he could shift them he could have them. needless to say, he hired a van and got them shifted lol

 

[Keith 66]

A few years ago the college where i work stripped out some labs, the Iroko & teak benches were being ripped out. It was high summer & 36 degrees c,
A chat with the demolition foreman worked wonders when i mentioned a coolbox full of ice cold beer that happened to be in my truck, one borrowed hi vis & hard hat later & i was in buisness!

 

[justgeorge]

I work as a builder/contractor. Just be friendly and ask for the leading hand on the job. The materials can be owned by the builder, or by individual contractors who have taken on the job for that particular element of the building.

I would suggest going to the site frequently, letting them know who you are etc, and politely asking them if they don't mind putting leftovers aside. Be sure to tell them when you are going to come and collect, so that if the safety officer/builder/boss comes around and says "why is there trash all over the place not in the bin?!" they can say "a guy is coming on tuesday to pick it all up". If you only go to the site right at the end, most of the useful stuff was taken away weeks ago, so you'll miss out.

Don't be shy to ask for their telephone number or ask where any of their other jobs are - if you have a van/ute/trailer you can visit several different sites and grab a LOT of useful material. Quite often builders like it because they don't have to pay to clean up/dispose of trash.

I have personally done complete renovations using brand new materials others would have thrown away - complete boxes of leftover roofing screws, sheets of plasterboard/fiberboard that get snapped in half/thrown in a skip, heavy guage metal that gets cut into pieces and put in a recycling bin. The amount of stuff that gets thrown away is unbelievable - one of these days I am going to prove the point by building a complete house using only what is thrown away. Better to spend 18 months collecting trash and building a house with it than locking yourself into a 30 year mortgage I say!

 

[Pete.]

Likewise I also work on sites and though some contractors have a policy of not allowing anything to be taken from the skip most are grateful for the extra space.
Here are my tips:
Be wearing a hard hat boots and hi vis before you walk in the gate. Many site managers will dissmis you out of hand if you are not wearing ppe and if it's old stuff they might be warmer towards you if they think you are an old site hand.
Don't turn up first thing in the morning when he's trying to juggle deliveries, inductions etc, wait until after breakfast when he's in a better mood.
Have in mind what materials you want. They are not going to be happy with the thought that you are going to be pulling the skip out searching for 'something useful'.

 

[garethp]

I've got me eye on a huge pile of 100mm thick kingspan cavity wall batts and several dumpy bags of very nice looking sandstone, plan is to wait until the building is nearly complete and ask for the site manager. As the other posts mention, have an idea of what you want, be confident (not cocky - don't expect to get anything) but polite and see what happens.

I thought my luck was in over Christmas as there were several dumpy bags of stone on the skip, then I realised they were there stop the contents of the skip getting blown away in the stormy weather!

 

[rockweasel]

I popped into my local builders supplies yesterday for parts and while there asked whether they knew of any construction work going on locally. I went away with a couple of leads.

Site 1: The site manager was new on the job and not sure of the state of play regarding scrap. He was open to the idea of passing on surplus but the work isn't due for completion until June. He suggested I come back nearer that time. I'm guessing he may have felt harassed on a new job and was fobbing me off, however I'll be back.

Site 2: A stones throw from where I live. A housing estate (mainly occupied) with a few new homes going up. The site manager said they didn't set materials aside and that each contractor delt with their own waste which was picked up regularly. *If* there was material there for dumping when I turned up then maybe. . . but he couldn't have me going through skips (which I understand). He mentioned that the brickies were responsible for insulation. I'm thinking maybe I should drive through the estate regularly and keep an eye out for scrapped insulation and approach the brickies directly as they are the ones responsible for the disposal of it. Good idea?

 

[fixerupper]

My best freebie was from a town centre shop being refitted ,I think it was a Top Shop .I was walking past on a lunch break and the team were gutting the whole shop and filling the skips outside ..as I past a guy came out with a whole bunch of 12 volt swivel eye ball halogen lights and tranformers and lobbed then in a skip... turns out they had about 50 pairs all getting trashed .. I went in and found the gaffer and got him to ask the lads to leave 'em on the floor in the door way and I nipped of to get me van ... a lot of them I used in my house, and I gave some away to mates.....jeff...