It should be clear by now that we here at BobVila.com are big fans of reuse. And that’s why we loved this story about deconstructing and reusing the old buildings of Buffalo. Many of the estimated 10,000 abandoned buildings in this once thriving manufacturing city are packed with quality building materials. It’s criminal to see it thrown into a landfill to rot. By setting up a system for reused building materials, Buffalo is creating local jobs and capturing a market that already exists. Area nonprofits like Buffalo ReUse, are stepping up to do the deconstruction work cheaply and offer building owners a tax deduction to boot. Salvaged building materials are then resold to builders. This can result in big savings on high-quality materials like wood, banisters, flooring, or fixtures. Old flooring material from Buffalo ReUse sells for $1.50 a square foot compared with $6.50 for comparable materials through retailers. I’ll take fourfold savings any day —especially if I’m trying to build new and turn a profit.
Credit: Buffalo News article
