Has anyone here used the Habitat for Humanity ReStore?
Just discovered one is in our area now. It is a 40 mile drive round trip, so I thought I would ask before I drive. I see they take donations and I have some gently used things from around the house I could donate.
Experience at the store? Prices, variety, etc...
Thanks.
-- Oren
"I didn?t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."
I have gotten a lot of good things from the two stores that are about the same distance from us in Ohio. Sometime you get real good prices, and sometimes not. Depends on how bad you want it and how much you know about the retail etc. After all it is for a good cause and if you can use what they got, then it is a good deal. Our stores will accept donations of about everything except paint because people were just bringing in junk to get rid of it instead of good paint. Give it a try, I like them
Larry
Oren wrote on 20 Sep 2007 in group alt.home.repair:
I work with Habitat regularly. It's my pet project.
During the last week we took a house from a slab to weathered in (walls, roof, windows, doors, house wrap). I recommend it for everyone. If nothing else, you'll get free valuable training on how to build a house. If you have no skills when you show up, you'll have them when you leave.
The ReStore takes gently used materials as donations and resells them to raise money for the build projects. The prices at the one in Fort Worth are very reasonable -- comparable to what I see at places like Lumber Liquidators (except that most of the stuff is used). They tell me that their best customers are landlords looking for stuff to fix their rental properties.
There are three Habitat Stores within driving distance of my house. I've donated useful stuff and seen useful stuff in each. It is a good cause. The folks who buy have to put in several hundred hours work and pay a mortgage. Volunteering is fun too. Work can be more or less efficient depending on the Construction Manager. T
I am a landlord in Milwaukee, and I love the one we have here. It is one of those things I like to keep to myself. :-)
JK
There is one in Gurnee Il. You used to be able to get cabs for $10 each no matter what the condition. Now it's extremly close to full price. Same goes for light fixtures, ceiling fans, and a few other items. It has lately turned out to be a big disapointment. Hope the other are better. Lou
Eh. Depends on site, depends on current donations- like any thrift store, only good way to tell is go and look. I hit the one here (Battle Creek, MI) every month or so, but usually walk out empty-handed. Some of the stuff they have had on display should have gone directly to landfill, like nasty furniture, delaminated cabinets, etc. But they occasionally have some great things, like unused solid core door slabs suitable for work tables for 20 bucks. The best stuff is usually from when some other store or industrial/governmental 'greenshirt' shop cleans out back room, and hauls it off to the ReStore instead of the dump. Most of the individually-donated ripout material seems to be pretty well trashed out, either because it was de-installed less than carefully, or because it was simply shot, which is why most people replace things.
But I'm not dissing them- good organization, hearts in the right place, etc. I just think that if they were a little choosier at what they put IN the store, and sorted it out better, they might get a lot more repeat customers, and make more money. go mainly for recreation, when there are no good auctions. Somebody doing repairs for a living, well, time is money. If he has to spend an hour going through window rack to find that one matching orphan storm window panel, just to save 20 bucks, replacing the entire storm window with a cheapie from the borg starts to look pretty good. In and out in five minutes, and he KNOWS the borg will have it in stock.
aem sends...
Our store here (up in Edmonton, Canada) is pretty weak, generally a lot of junky stuff, plenty of overstock items that haven't been selling in the hardware store, usually for obvious reasons. There is one private store that has the same concept, but they are more selective (although, in fairness, I think they actually pay for at least some of their inventory).
Good luck, though, hopefully your experience is better.
Just like a thrift shop, the good stuff will go out the door in a moment. The bad stays until they dump it to make space. So that's what you see.
Bob
ask them how long does one have to own the house before selling, and who gets the appreciated cost above the original selling price.
hint: not the owner.
You are wrong. I bought a doz new door weather strips (plastic $1, aluminum $1.50, HD sell them for more than $6.00ea). I also bought two new cast iron vanity sink for $25ea. These are left over from project or remodeling by contractors or home owners. I bought only what I need and I can use on my house rather than paying many time more at Home Centers or hardware stores.
Read what I wrote again- I said RIPOUT material donated by individuals, not project leftovers. Unused half-boxes and roll ends of stuff are fine, if it is a style you need, and there is enough for your project. Ripout material refers to USED stuff, not leftover NEW stuff. Used cabinets and doors and plumbing fixtures or light fixtures and such can be fine, if they are in good condition and removed and transported carefully. Most DIYs do not seem to be able to do that. And as I noted, most people do not replace stuff unless it is worn out- if they replace stuff on a whim just to change the style, they are probably rich enough to HAVE it done, and it never gets near a ReStore in the first place. (Most contractors won't take the time to haul it down there, unless the owner tells them to and pays for the extra time and labor.) Good to hear the DIYs and contractors in your area seem to be better than the ones here, on that score.
aem sends...
So, if he is wrong and you are right I can expect to get that same material and prices at every HH ReStore? I'm going this morning to get two of the cast iron sinks.
I am sure you are not that stupid, not every store sells the same items. If you live in the SF Bay Areas, you might wanna go to the store in Oakland at San Leando and buy the same vanity sink marked up price is $65 and I bargain to $25. Beside, they have boxes and shelves of woodworking hardware's, hinges, knobs. cocking, electrical switches, etc.... and they are new! In a Midwest store, they thousand of new various water hammer arrester for $1. This store has stacks of new floor tiles, cabinets' doors, vanity tops and used kitchen sinks blah, blah, blah...
Habitats' stores are not for the lazy rich homeowner. It's for DIY, who wanna buy items (new or used) found in Home Centers at a fraction of the price. It's for people who believe in recycling someone new trash.
Correction:
Habitats' stores are not for the lazy rich homeowner. It's for DIY, who wanna recycling new or used rich's homeowners trash at a fraction of the prices.
Exactly. But that is the implication of your last post when you told another poster he was wrong. You cannot make blanket statements when local stores have different items from local sources on a daily basis.
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