Salvaged building materials

in partnership with Quicksales

We are very big advocates of sourcing and using salvaged building materials in our renovations. It is the ultimate in recycling in an industry which is notorious for its high level of waste.

Most of our casement windows and other joinery were salvaged from old Queenslander houses to replace windows which were not sympathetic to the era of our 1928 home – the Sow’s Ear. It is a little bit more fiddly work to use salvaged materials but the results, from our experience, have been well worth it.

Using second-hand joinery is easy on the renovating budget too. Having timber doors and casement windows made from scratch is gut-wrenchingly expensive when you are renovating an entire house. Salvaged VJs, weatherboards and joinery can cut down the costs of renovating substantially, particularly if you are a DIYer.

Salvaged French doors which we replaced in the sunroom/kitchen

When we plan the next stage of our renovation, which is to fit out the underneath of the Sow’s Ear, we will try to source internal high-waisted timber doors and more hopscotch French doors to be consistent with what we have upstairs.

Anyway, I was pleased to hear about a ‘new to me’ website called Quicksales classifieds which is an online auctions and classifieds website – it is the Australian version of other well-known auction sites but without all the fees.  A big hooray for more buying and selling options!

It sells everything you can imagine both new and second-hand, so it is another good resource for renovators looking for elusive heritage building materials to suit old homes.

Have you used salvaged building materials in your home?