Scavenging Makes for an Affordable Eco-Renovation

Steve Thomas is the host of Planet Green's Renovation Nation, a program that focuses on making green renovations to homes across the country. In his regular column on PlanetGreen.com, Steve goes behind the scenes of the show and offers additional tips and insight on green renovation.

Corey and Deb Omie from the Rock, Paper, Scissors, Concrete episode, were doing really interesting stuff. While they were renovating their home, they were concerned about staying within the home's existing footprint. They used a lot of recycled and found material. All the sub-flooring in their house was made from street signs and billboards that have no other use. When you looked at the sub-floor, it was quite a sight, all those different signs.

Corey scavenged about 80% of the material, and he was able to use stuff that probably wouldn't have gotten tapped for construction. Almost everything he used was salvaged, found or rejected building materials. Corey was able to buy a huge load of cedar siding and got a great deal on it. He restyled the siding himself. So it really cut his cost down.

So the lesson there is that if you want to spend some time and do some hunting around on Craigslist and such, you can get pretty good deals on building materials. Most professional builders don't have the time.

Don't miss the Portland, OR: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Concrete Episode Steve writes about.

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