The 4 R’s Deconstruction

The only similarity between demolition and deconstruction is the first two letters. Levco has teamed up with The ReUse People of America to Deconstruct homes that are slated for Demolition.

In a perfect world, The city of Boise would be proactive and have homes slated for demolition evaluated for deconstruction as the landfills are filling up fast and there are people hungry for used building materials. The good news is that it appears we are headed that way. Drafts are being passed around to get the ball rolling.

The goal is to Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle & Recirculate. The first three words came naturally the fourth hit me like a ton of bricks. Jillian Eijckelhof the founder of Zero Waste Boise (not to be confused with the new market of the same name) and I met for coffee when we discovered that our passions are aligned, to see how we could collaborate. The natural connection made thanks to an article in the North End Neighborhood News.

How We Recirculate:

To take from one and use elsewhere. I have known for years that every product has a useful life span, many of the homes that are being demolished today, have components that have not been exhausted, yet they get caught up in the jaws of the crusher. Like 9-11, we both recall where we were when JR Simplot’s home was crushed.

The last thing we want is for someone to install an old energy hog water heater or furnace in their home or single-pane windows where a double pane is supposed to go. Honestly there are a ton if resources ready to be mined from buildings that are slated to be raised.

Case Study# 1

Dr. Collister’s home was slated for demolition, I connected with the owner by chance at city hall when she was applying for a permit for demolition. By deconstructing, we were able to take the structure to the ground for a fraction of the cost for demolition and we salvaged 80% of the material that would have ended up in the landfill. These materials which were very old had lots of value in that they were unique. Some parts are in Atlanta and others have been incorporated into artwork.

Case Study #2

Clients who bought a home for the land had us deconstruct a home to dirt for a fraction of the cost of demolition and received a tax-deductible donation which offset the cost of the work, employed a handful of people for a few months in the summer and were able to help preserve wild space in their community. They were so impressed with the process they had another place of theirs deconstructed on the East Coast by an affiliate of ours.

Case Study #3

We did a soft strip of a home that was being taken down to build a new one on the same site. We took every component out of that home in 3 weeks and provided a handsome tax credit to the owner for their donation. The materials which had lots of life left in them provided about 50 people useful materials for the community.

Case Study #4

We soft stripped 6 homes in a cluster that were being crushed for a new multi-plex housing project. No money exchanged hands but the magnitude of cool stuff that was saved from the landfill was stunning. It fueled a small business that needed a shot in the arm and provided paychecks for some had workers. It also gave creative up-cyclers some great materials to work with.

The Big Revelation

Jerry Garcia said, ” it is not about being the best at what you do, it’s about being the only one that does what you do”. It tied in with the Flying Pie Motto “Nobody’s gonna “out-Flying Pie” Flying Pie. So to that end, I decided to do my best to incorporate previously owned building materials into my client’s projects. and share the materials that are harvested with the community.

It dawned on me that once a product is out of the box so to speak it is used, why not recirculate building materials with plenty of useful life left in them. Levco has always embraced the use of salvaged components whether it be an old beam or some barn wood for a door, or accent wall. We just donated materials to the Boise School District to enclose a garden. We gave retired cedar fencing to hide a water tank at another school, We also reinstalled this kitchen’s worth of cabinets at a cabin, We shared the framing material for a cabin addition too. Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game comes to mind each time I think about what we are doing.

Ta-Da Let’s Recirculate Together!

Levco in addition to remodeling homes well, we will make every effort to make remodeling more sustainable for our clients and community by:

• Encouraging the donation of used building materials back onto the market
• Incorporation of some used building materials into their projects.

Ready to learn more? Check out our deconstruction blogs: