Habitat for Humanity ReStores
As a builder, woodworker and general do-it-yourselfer, I've been in my local ReStore every week since they opened. The concept behind Habitat for Humanity's ReStores is a building supply thrift outlet whose proceeds go to funding more Habitat projects. Everybody wins. Everything in the stores is salvaged, used, dontated or surplus, so the prices are incredibly reasonable. I just refinished a garage for well under half of what I would have paid retail by buying most of the supplies from a ReStore -- everything from the lighting to OSB board and 2x4's we used to make the temp walls. We even found some sound-deading insulation which helped sound-proof the place. So you never know what you might find.
The store in Dover has a volunteer demo crew that goes a few times a month on various demo projects and they usually produce a lot of usable material. The stock and materials do vary from week to week, but they have everything from engineered hardwood floors to tools to kitchen sinks. The quality also varies, but really only when dealing with items such as sheetrock and lumber. All the appliances are in working order and, at least at the one in Dover, there's a large selection of very nice kitchen cabinets. As a carpenter, I also go in during the day just to buy extra nails, joist hangers, and other little odds and ends that add up at the end of the year.
Currently, there are ReStores in 47 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces.
-- Dave Marcoux
Available in the United States & Canada
Favorite (15)
Moon
Great find! There isn't one near me, but I'm passing it on!
toddering
I second the suggestion. We have a ReStore in Winter Park Florida. It's great for electrical odds and ends, doors and basic tiling supplies. I try to start projects at the ReStore for fundamentals & swing by a big box hardware store for the pretty stuff.
Bobk
We have two in the KC metro area. Fantastic places. I always go there first.
Davey
Sounds like a terrific place. Too bad they don't have a store anywhere near Chicago. I would have thought they'd put some stores in the urban areas where their prices and variety are most needed.
Jay
These really are great places. I built a rolling workbench with metal under-cabinet for under $50 of materials at the local ReStore.
Z
Restores are only one of many building salvage stores. The Mid-Atlantic has the grandpappy of them all, The Loading Dock, in Baltimore. It is MASSIVE.
Community Forklift, right outside of DC, is a wonderful store, and always has good stuff. The worst part about any of these stores is that you need to make them a regular stop as the stock changes so quickly.
Take a look here for independents near you:
http://www.buildingreuse.org/directory/
Z
Ed Furlong
The original nonprofit used building materials store in the Denver Metro Area is Bud's Warehouse:
www.budswarehouse.org
In addition to being a non-profit, like habitat for humanity, i Bud's provides career development training for individuals rebuilding lives from poverty, addiction or prison. I have gotten some great stuff here, and it is a great place to shop because they often have new materials as well.
If you are in the Denver Metro area, check it out!
Ed
Tom Buckner
I live a few miles from a Habitat store in North Carolina, and got some great stuff there a couple of years ago. I gotta be honest, though: I think somebody cracked the whip and told them they weren't charging enough there. They have just as much good stuff as before, but hardly ever a really good deal. This seemed to happen overnight about a year ago. However, on my rare visits, it looks like somebody's still buying their merchandise, often at not much under retail.
elliottcable
These places are great. My mother's an architect, and very much into do-it-yourself-ing; between the two, she uses the places a lot now. We first found them when I began to volunteer there - it's a lot of fun, and it's doing a good thing.
I remember, a lady donated an absolutely *huge* window, it was like two stories tall. As I understand it, that's worth a lot of money. We had to transport the thing back to the ReStore, it was great.
Allison
I've been to the one in Orlando, FL, and it's absolutely amazing. They have as much brand new stuff as they do used. Their furniture is always very nice. They try to be selective about what they take. Their building materials are great too. I highly recommend putting this on your list of places to go in Orlando. They also order cabinets at 50% off retail. One lady just ordered her whole kitchen and had saved a bunch. She was pretty thrilled the day I was there. You do have to go frequently because they get lots of new stuff every day.