This post was previously published in 2012 but we’ve updated it (or, you might say, reclaimed it!) in honor of Earth Day 2021!
By some counts, half of all the waste in landfills comes from buildings. Most of that trash could have been recycled or reused. You may not have heard about your options to buy and sell salvaged building materials in Colorado Springs yet, so LGA Studios is here to enlighten you!
9 RESOURCES FOR FINDING RECLAIMED BUILDING MATERIALS IN COLORADO SPRINGS AND BEYOND
Whether you’re trying to be more eco-friendly, aiming for an authentically antique appearance in your new house or remodel, or trying to get rid of some building materials in your garage, you've got options now.
▱ PIKES PEAK Habitat For Humanity Restore
▱ Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nationwide non-profit resource centers that both sell home improvement items and accept donations of the same. The prices at ReStores are great and the proceeds of donated items raise money towards Habitat for Humanity’s projects, so you’ll also be supporting your community and affordable housing around the world. Available for purchase are new and gently used building materials, appliances, and home accessories. You can often find items like tile, grout, paint, doors, drywall mud, and cabinets. Their donation guidelines and sale items are listed on their website, but you can also visit or volunteer at the store to see the wide range of materials available.
▱ Colorado Springs CRAIGSLIST
▱ Every day, dozens of people list building materials they want to sell on Colorado Springs’ Craigslist, under the "materials" or "appliances" subtitles of the "for sale" section. You can find some great deals and keep someone else from having to throw away perfectly good items! As always with the "Want" Ads, take precautions when buying from folks you don't know, like examining and testing the item(s) carefully before committing and bringing someone else with you when you meet up. Check the site often and set up saved searches so you can get an alert when something you’re looking for gets posted.
▱ NEXTDOOR
▱ Similar to Craigslist, Nextdoor is a community-based website and app where people can post questions and events to residents of their specific neighborhood. It may be worth it to browse posts or to post an ISO (“In Search Of”) and list the types of materials you’re looking for. It may be especially fruitful if you have new construction or remodels going on within your neighborhood. You could potentially get a bargain on materials, help your neighbor prevent waste from their building site, and make a local friend in the process!
▱ FREECYCLE ▱
▱ The Freecycle Network was founded as a grassroots, member-driven community dedicated to keeping good materials out of landfills and providing a way for people to give away what they no longer needed. The format is similar to Craigslist and Nextdoor, fueled by community posts.
▱ EDEN OAKS DESIGNER WOODWARE
▱ Eden Oaks serves the Colorado Springs area with professional woodworking expertise. They pride themselves on finding quality barn wood that can be reclaimed and recycled to create truly beautiful spaces and details in your home, and they even sell packages of reclaimed wood for you to create your own masterpieces.
▱ REUSEWOOD.ORG
▱ This website provides excellent resources for finding or supplying building materials and architectural salvage, and is a great jumping-off point to search your area for ideas and suppliers. Founded as a partnership between the American Wood Council (AWC), the Canadian Wood Council (CWC), and the Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA), the website has an extensive amount of articles and resources about sustainable building materials as well as local listings of businesses that offer solutions.
▱ Head up to Denver
▱ Compared to Colorado Springs, the Denver metropolitan area has a lot more salvage resources, spurred on by its larger population.
▱ Check out Salvage Design Center for reclaimed lumber, architectural salvage, vintage hardware, and antique doors and windows.
▱ Eron Johnson Antiques has some truly special pieces of architectural salvage, including fireplaces, columns and capitals, cornices, lintels and pediments, staircases and balustrades, doors and windows, and much more. They also have a great online catalog to browse.
▱ Queen City Salvage offers antique building parts and architectural salvage, along with quality restoration and consultation services.
▱ You may also want to expand your search to “Denver” or “Colorado” on the Reusewood.org website listed above for additional options and updated business listings.
▱ Order online
▱ This option is lower down on the list because it does require extra fuel to deliver building parts from one region of the country to another, making your re-used item's carbon footprint just a bit bigger. However, if you were going to buy something new it would probably be delivered from another part of the country or world anyway. It's not too hard to find gorgeous reclaimed lumber or brick online. Make sure to look for the FSC's certification on reclaimed lumber.
▱ TALK TO YOUR BUILDER AND DESIGNER
▱ Let your design and build team know early on in the process of your custom home project or remodel that you’d like to prioritize sustainability and/or reclaimed materials.
▱ Often they’ll have contacts or connections that can make your home truly unique. Your builder might just know a local subcontractor with a supply of beetle kill pine or lumber from trees charred in a forest fire (like this local example, where the Venetucci barn was rebuilt using lumber from the Black Forest Fire).
▱ Reclaimed timber can make for incredible and unique decorative trusses and beams, and materials such as bricks or iron can create statement spaces in your home.
▱ With a bit of ingenuity and research, you can create a home that’s both kinder to the environment and truly unique to you!
Other links and resources related to this article:
About Architectural Antiquities and Salvage, by ThoughtCo.
Recycled Beauty, by Colorado Homes & Lifestyles
How To Find Reclaimed Home Building Materials, by Elemental Green
LGA Studios-Designed Home in Colorado Springs Earns LEED Platinum Certification
23 Fresh Ideas for Decorating with Architectural Salvage, by Better Homes & Gardens