do you know your local building material reclaimer/recycler?

[mopinko]

i cannot tell you how much money i have saved and what good friends i have made by shopping at my local reclaim joint first.
at this point, i get the best deals available. now, i have bribed them. they are a 501, training people to do building deconstruction, as well as basic life skills to various at risk populations. they have fund raisers that are fun and not that expensive. they sell memberships, which gets you a 10% discount. and i take them xmas cookies. and eggs, which the boss gladly pays the going rate for.

i am rehabbing a cute little house as a rental. i have scored-
a 20 piece honey maple kitchen for $1200
2 toilets, 2 nice pedestal sinks and a tub for about $300
a couple of nice hand made light fixtures for $50
a fancy wrought iron screen door for $100
the exact same butlers cabinet that was missing from the house $750
2 nice wide/odd sized windows for the basement $40 ea
2 corner cabinets $150
2 medicine cabinets $50 ea

and here is the super score-
marble counter tops. ok, i had marble for the backsplash and bathroom walls that i got pretty cheap. it is the thin end of a vein, the less desirable parts, in this case less flecks/streaks of red.
the countertop is the same marble, but from the sweet part of the vein. lovely splashes of red that matches the floor tile and the siding and the backsplash tile.
one big piece- about 8', and about 1' wider than standard counter, w a bow out in front of the oval, fancy sink, inc.
4 more pieces of standard counter from 8'-12'
one of my contractors says this is $10k worth. i do think it will easily do 2 kitchens.

just guess what a favorite customer pays to rescue such beauty from the landfill.