How to Use Up, Repurpose, or Sell Leftover Renovation Materials

Renovating your home is exciting, expensive and stressful. You’d think the difficulty would be over once the last coat of paint had dried, but there’s almost always one final step: clearing away the leftover building materials.

Renovating is anything but an exact science, and you have little choice but to buy more stuff than you need. Tiles break, wood warps and you will At some point during your renovation journey, you’ll run out of paint, thin putty, or nails, leading to a frantic trip to the hardware store for a whole bucket of screws when you only need four more.

It’s a good idea to keep some of these leftovers as a backup against future repairs. But sometimes we end with a a lot of leftovers from renovation materials or leftovers that are not suitable for storage (no one wants to store a one-ton pallet of bricks in their garage forever). So what can you do with all that leftover stuff besides throwing it away? A lot.

Donate the surplus

The easiest way to get rid of excess usable renovation material is to donate it. Habitat for Humanity operates a chain of restores accepting donations of building materials that keep them out of landfill while helping those in need repair and maintain their homes. You can drive your belongings to a ReStore location yourself or you can contact the nearest location and arrange a pickup. (You will receive a donation receipt so that you can also claim this for tax purposes.)

For minor renovation materials, see freewheel or your neighborhood Buy the Nothing group to donate to people near you. It’s often less work (and stress) than trying to sell everything, and it’s also helping someone else.

Sell ​​your leftovers

In many cases, you can sell your leftover stuff on Craigslist or Facebook — you might even be able to Make someone pay for the materials you are remove from home if treated with care – other people might find your “dated” flooring, furniture or other materials more “classic”.

Ask your contractor if you used one. Many contractors keep a supply of building materials to use in their work if necessary, or acquire interesting architectural details, such as fixtures or old doors, to use in renovation designs. Another option for things like doors, cabinets, and old drawer handles is too look at a hardware store in your area and see if they will buy them. People are always looking for vintage pieces to spice up their new renovations, so chances are someone will want to buy the stuff you just (carefully) ripped from your home.

Do something new with them

Another option for leftover materials is to make something cool out of them. Depending on how skilled, creative and energetic you are, you can make something great out of an abundance of building materials:

• Tile. Leftover tiles can be transformed in such a way So many things. One of the easiest projects from leftover tiles is a Cheese platter or serving tray. Another super easy way to use extra tiles is to buy some cork and create coasters. Seriously, there is a a lot of Ways to turn your extra tile into beautiful things.
• Wood. Wood is incredibly flexible. If you have a little skill with wood, you can do this Build a cool barn door to complete your newly renovated room, or a bookshelf for additional storage. Additional wooden floor can be installed Benches, tables, desks or shelves.
• doors. Got some old doors left over from a Reno? They make great tables, headboards, or even desks versatile wall art.

extend renovation

Do you have leftovers after a renovation? Consider the possibility that the universe is telling you to move on. If you have enough of some materials, just keep renovating:

• Brick. Who doesn’t look at a pile of bricks and imagine Real Life Legos? When you get tired of them, leftover stones can be used to border your gardens, create fire pits or planters, or create a patio or side walk in your yard.
• Colour. Accent wall anyone? While it’s wise to save some leftover paint for future touch-ups, paint doesn’t store forever, so having gallons of it in the basement won’t serve you well. Color is difficult to removetherefore, it might be better to liven up another room (or rooms) with an accent wall and a splash of color.
• Wood. You can use leftover pressure-treated lumber to build a trellis over your patio and additional studs to build a divider to turn one of your other rooms into two rooms.