Salvage Lumber Success in Petaluma: $700,000 in three years

Salvage Lumber Success in Petaluma: $700,000 in three years

12/17/2009 There's big money in salvage lumber. This fellows success reminds me of how well I did in the deconstruction business. I often found that when I tore down an old building or structure - that I usually got for free or was paid to tear down - I would have all or most of the material sold before it ever hit the ground. I'll be including more about my experience in deconstruction and building material salvage in upcoming realeases of my Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap: Experiences from the Field. Please check my Deconstruction, Recycling and Reusing Lumber and Building Materials pages for more articles and inspiration.

Read about making $700,000 in three years in the salvage lumber business

How to Calculate the Value of Scrap Gold

How to Calculate the Value of Scrap Gold

If you have any scrap gold, you can sell it, but for how much? Gold prices tend to rise along with worries of war or inflation but before you bring gold jewelry, dental fillings, teeth, nuggets, and bars to a scrap gold dealer's counter (or send it off by mail) you should know exactly what it's worth. Most scrap gold dealers keep the calculation a secret. Here is their formula.

Steps

1. Separate your scrap gold into their various karat fineness (i.e. 10k, 14k or 18k). You may need a magnifying glass to see the number inscribed on the piece. If not, you may need to have the gold tested by a reputable dealer. There's also the possibility that some of the gold is actually just gold-plated, which a dealer would determine with certainty by using a chemical test. If you're uncertain, read up on How to Tell if Gold Is Real.

* If you have any gold coins, they may have a numismatic (coin) value above their metal value, based on age, rarity, and condition. Take it to a coin dealer; you may be able to get more money that way.
* Other sources for small amounts of scrap gold include: old cell phones, computer motherboards and other scrap electronic circuit boards.

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Deconstructing for dollars: Recycling building materials can mean more than simply salvaging light fixtures

Deconstructing for dollars: Recycling building materials can mean more than simply salvaging light fixtures

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Brad Broberg Contributing Writer

To Thomas Nielsen, an old 2-by-4 is a terrible thing to waste -- or even recycle.

So when workers begin removing hundreds of timeworn public housing units to prepare for redeveloping the High Point community in West Seattle, Nielsen hopes to dismantle -- not destroy -- as many buildings as possible.

"No one's really tried it at this scale before," says Nielsen a project manager with the Seattle Housing Authority.

The process is called deconstruction. And while selective salvaging and/or recycling have long been part of the demolition process, total deconstruction is the latest -- and greenest -- way to go.

"The essence of deconstruction is to extract the embodied energy of all of the materials you encounter through the course of a demolition project," says Jim Primdahl, a deconstruction consultant from Portland.

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$1.2 Billion Reasons to Recycle Old Computers

This is a very nice inspirational article - $1.2 Billion Reasons to Recycle Old Computers. Enjoy.

BTW, part 4 of Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap should be ready in a day or two. Thanks.