Other mans junk is another...

[George]

mans ect

Just saved a fire surround out of a local skip,its a replica of georgian style surround its made of thick fiberglass but is in very good condition.

Why do people throw out some good decent stuff?

[Andrew Mawson]

georgian

Some years ago, the fine Edwardian mansion next door was 'remodelled', and I cringed as I watched the elements of a very fine staircase being skipped, and lorry loads of el cheapo kiln dried (and soon to warp) softwood being brought in. I crept out in the dead of night and rescued the very elegant newel post from the skip as it's identical to mine, the houses being built by the same builder in the same year.

That newel post still sits in my cellar, a nice piece of workmanship, that so far I have shown to two sets of 'new owners' of next door!

AWEM

[Stephen Howard]

I recent fitted out a 'new' kitchen with almost all items sourced secondhand or from the tip. I had a choice of two sinks, both brand new and still in boxes/wrapping - one a bog-standard stainless steel affair, the other an Astrolite (?) jobby ( £5 each, so I bought both and fitted the Astrolite ). The brushed stainless steel monoblock came from the tip...found it on the floor behind the aly bin ( £2 ), the cabinets were given to me by a colleague who was ripping out two perfectly decent kitchens - and I picked up some brand new solid beech worktop offcuts from a skip outside a house where a new kitchen was being professionally fitted. I have at least enough to add a couple of 'cheeks' either side of my old Rayburn. Even the lead-free solder, flux, PTFE tape, pipework and pipecutter ( brand new ) was sourced from the tip ( £2 the lot ). The Hotpoint Aquarius dishwasher came from a friend of a relative who never really needed the thing in the first place and thus hardly used it ( so now I have four dishwashers in total, two by Bosch...at a cost of £15 ).

While I was at the tip buying the monoblock I also picked up a couple of 18v PowerPro batteries for my cordless drill ( £1 the pair ), one of which holds a decent charge - and a HP Omnibook 900 laptop ( 450Mhz PIII ) for a fiver..complete with a battery that holds about an hour's charge.

A couple of months back I bought a Cluson Clulite CL2 for 50p...a big, chunky torch with a detachable lamp, takes those Yaesu 12v batteries ( also 50p a pop out of the battery bin ). Turns out these things have a

1,000,000 candlelight bulb and cost nigh on £100 from Clusons. ...and then there was the Samsung 17" TFT monitor for a tenner...and the 3.75 hp lawnmower that still had fresh grass in the box and a busted front wheel mount ( £5, plus two pop rivets and a bolt to fix )

Thing is, I remember going to the local tip as a lad some 30 or so years ago - when my father would take a few odds and ends up there of a Sunday...and despite being able to have a good rummage round we never really found much that was any good. Either the totters are less observant these days, or people are simply chucking away stuff that people in years gone by would have sold or passed on. I'm not complaining...

Regards,

[Roger Mills]

Probably because they're not embued with the same protestant work ethic and sense of thrift that the likes of you and I are!

At very least they should Freecycle it rather than chucking it in a skip.

[Anita Palley]

*Replica* of georgian *style*? Fibreglass?? REPRODUCTION??? Dreadful tasteless tat in my view, should have been burnt, along with their executive plastic portico, their tudor-type PVC exposed beams, their leadlight-effect windows and their brass-plated georgian-style telephone sockets.

Absolute disgrace.

[George]

Typical woman always spend,spend,spend. sheeesh!

[Anita Palley]

Au contraire, save your money and don't buy the plastic tat in the first place. Stick with whatever the building was built with. (However, if it was built as a polythene pastiche then clearly the whole thing needs to be burnt to the ground ASAP).

[Mary Fisher]

Because they want the latest fashion?

It's been said on this group recently that "A dated kitchen however functional and satisfactory will not make a living for the renovator." and "Looks rule!"

See 'OT Buying property at auction?'.

Mary

[TheScullster]

"Stephen Howard" wrote

snip............

Our tip has a strict "no-removals" policy, so, even if you see something useful and are prepared to pay a nominal sum, salvaging other peoples' waste in that way is a non-starter :(. I wouldn't have a problem with using s/h goods, but SWMBO would refuse on hygiene grounds I'm sure (particularly kitchen related items). There must be obscene amounts of waste around here at the moment (Hull - Yorkshire) as people get flood damaged gear replaced and include anything and everything that they've grown tired of into the bargain.

Phil

[Mary Fisher]

...

They can be cleaned.

What would she think if somebody thought her kitchen was unhygienic? Why is other folk's muck worse than your own?

Yes, that always seems to happen with insurance and compensation claims, what's worse is that most other people think it's justified :-(

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

And the pollution from burning plastic?

>

[Stephen Howard]

A lot of tips these days are run by contractors, so there's no centrally defined policy about 'totting'. It's a complete shambles really - and it annoys me that the bureaucrats are quick to point to 'recycling targets' and suchlike, but fail to recognise that the best way to recycle something is to keep using it.

Oh yeah, I had that one too! I brought home a smart Bosch dishwasher - and the very first thing my wife asked was "Is it clean?". I told her I didn't know, but given the fact that the thing's job was to clean things there was a pretty good chance that it would be. I've found they can be run through a hot cycle with a splash of bleach. Foams like mad but really shines the innards up a treat.

When we got given the latest dishwasher I asked HER if it was clean. "Course it is - it's from someone we know"....

Flood damage is a tricky one - it's not just a case of things getting wet...it's more about what was in the flood water. Not a big problem, I suspect, for items that can be hosed down/bleached etc. - but soft goods and electricals will probably be a no-no.

Regards,

[Doki]

People seem to love waste. My sister recently moved back from Holland, and sold a load of stuff that wouldn't fit in the back of my van. Kitchen table, chairs, baby belling, bed etc. all sold easily, and her bikes that she picked up at the tip in England and I fixed (new cables, drop of oil and some adjustments) sold for ?60 after sitting outside for a year. I reckon none of the stuff would have sold in the UK. People would rather have s**te new stuff than good old stuff.

Still, it's bloody good for people like you and me. My bird's got a hifi that cost £2 - Rotel Deck from a car boot, hand down amp and CD player, and a pair of B&O speakers from the 70s that I repaired. 40WPC and bass that'll very easily upset the entire street.

[Bob Mannix]

I think you just answered the question - sort of! It's not being a newel post anymore, it's just taking up space in your cellar and you don't need it. I always try and shift stuff to people who want it but, at the end of the day, if no-one wants it, you have to chuck it out before you drown in stuff that remains unused for decades.

[Mary Fisher]

Well, most people's houses are full of things which haven't any utilitarian purpose but are there to admire or enhance. Since we have different tastes one man's beauty is another's junk.

I wouldn't mind taking the newel post off Andrew's hands :-)

Mary

[Andrew Mawson]

workmanship,

door!

utilitarian

Mary,

If you can arrange collection from Bromley (BR1) then it's yours and I'd be happy to see it go to an appreciative home.

AWEM

[manatbandq]

[tim.....]

That's my sister.

She throws everything out ASAP. Often she has to go and buy a new one some months later.

(And she wonders why her bank account is empty)

tim

[tim.....]

You end up with comments like "no one will want it" "you can't give these away"

Well so far I have managed to find a new home for everything that I have offered no matter how cheap.

tim

[Mary Fisher]

Next time I'm down that way I'll let you know.

It will be August 2008.

Mary