Salvage construction materials

where would I go about finding the used materials left over when renovations are done on buildings etc.? There is no way Taiwanese would throw a away huge pieces of sheet metal, steel beams, bamboo poles, bricks etc…where do these things end up?..same question for interior design materials such as lighting fixtures, counters, coolers, and wall tiles etc. I’m not looking for suggestions of where i could inquire…wondering if anyone actually knows a place…perhaps a warehouse loaded with this stuff…?

Anything not locked away or bolted down gets carried away by those old scavengers on their tricycles.

and where are those carts going? Probably the metal and cardboard is recycled but what about things like building blocks, lighting fixtures, beams, pillars, slate, etc.?

Scrap yards-I’ll look up the proper Chinese term when I get home and take a look at the yellow pages.

廢五金

It will be in section 24 of the yellow pages. You will see the starting page on the front cover in green near the bottom of the right side of the yellow pages phone book. If you are in Taipei, you should get the Taipei County 工商 yellow pages. I’ve found them quite useful.

Expect to find one place you can actually use for every 5-10 you visit and google map is your friend. Barring that, because you are a lazy useless git, you can go to hipage.hinet.net and input the top 3 characters in the search field and find places that way.

I have actually wondered about used construction materials before, but was ashamed to ask, lest I be labeled a “lazy useless git”. Thank you, Mr bobbyanalog, for daring to ask, and especially Mr Okami, for supplying the relevant information. :notworthy:

I have actually wondered about used construction materials before, but was ashamed to ask, lest I be labeled a “lazy useless git”. Thank you, Mr bobbyanalog, for daring to ask, and especially Mr Okami, for supplying the relevant information. :notworthy:[/quote]
Because I like you the most, I will add a word of warning for you, Jimi

When you go to a scrapyard in Taipei county, use a Taiwanese person to go in before you come. Some scrapyards will not deal with foreigners at all in Taipei. As in what you want to buy is sitting right next to the laoban, you have money out to buy it and he will refuse to either sell it to you or deny that it is in his scrapyard. I heard from a reliable source that they had been burnt by a foreigner in the past.

i still don’t quite understand the lazy useless git part…??? i’ve spent a couple sundays asking and driving around with little luck

LOL…I’m the “lazy useless git”

Whenever I see a “new business remodeling” going on I’m well-known in the neighborhood for bringing pieces of wood to their conveniently placed on the sidewalk cutting tables for them, or me, to do the sawing.

Hey…I look at it as conservation of resources.

And yeah, a couple of times they have nicely told me to fuck-off, but for the other 80% of the time its been rather cool. I always show up with a few cans of soda or bring back a bottle(small) of Poly B if thats what they’re having.

[quote=“bobbyanalog”]i still don’t quite understand the lazy useless git part…??? I’ve spent a couple Sundays asking and driving around with little luck[/quote]Because we all are lazy gits and procrastinating in some way, like I am now. :blush:

I’m just looking to buy used construction materials, I have bricks in my garden that appear decades old after a season of typhoons…just think i might as well buy used ones…and why not use second hand sheet metal on my rooftop patio since i’m renting and don’t own my apartment?..i’m not offended just didn’t understand “lazy and useless”…no worries…if anyone figures out where to get this stuff i’ll appreciate your help

Bobby -
For the bricks - I get mine for my garden from various construction sites. Usually demo sites as the new building sites need all they have…unless you’re there at the end of construction and they don’t want to pick-up left-overs…which is rare.
For me its just been a matter of pointing and pantomiming. I’ve rebuilt a section of my courtyard wall and boundaried my garden with scrounged brick over the years. Also built-up a planter outside my back gate.
For the sheet metal awnings, those are damn hard to come by. They get scrounged up real quick. Right now I could use 2 for my front awning and 2 or 3 for my back patio awning.

Just keep looking when you see a tear-down or a re-model job going on.

:2cents: