Metals Found in a Dumpster from a House Being Torn Down

I was in an area with a house being torn down (everything except the bare walls) and rebuilt. I looked on Zillow and found that the home is approximately 4,500 sqft., so a larger home.

The dumpster at the site was wide open on a Friday afternoon. I asked permission and was told to feel free to take what I wanted.

This is what I found. NONE of the wire inside was the cheap softer wire. It was all stiff copper (80%) type and bare bright copper- lots of ROMEX where I removed the bare bright. Also, there was a bit of aluminum (very stiff and thick) wire.

Note that I just went to the scrap yard two days earlier, so I feel I've got accurate prices below.

Bare bright copper wire: 4.5# @ $3.22 = $14.49
80% copper wire: 15.4# @ $2.54 = $39.12
Aluminum (stiff) wire: 2.4# @ $0.30 = $0.72
TOTAL FOR 22.3# OF WIRE: $54.33

This is much more than I thought I'd get from a single house. And, when I was stripping the wire at home I kept busy by watching TV or listening to the radio. So it wasn't wasted time. This was FUN and reasonably profitable as well.

Uh oh.... Someone got bit by the scrapping bug.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by recyclersteve

I was in an area with a house being torn down (everything except the bare walls) and rebuilt. I looked on Zillow and found that the home is approximately 4,500 sqft., so a larger home.

The dumpster at the site was wide open on a Friday afternoon. I asked permission and was told to feel free to take what I wanted.

This is what I found. NONE of the wire inside was the cheap softer wire. It was all stiff copper (80%) type and bare bright copper- lots of ROMEX where I removed the bare bright. Also, there was a bit of aluminum (very stiff and thick) wire.

Note that I just went to the scrap yard two days earlier, so I feel I've got accurate prices below.

Bare bright copper wire: 4.5# @ $3.22 = $14.49
80% copper wire: 15.4# @ $2.54 = $39.12
Aluminum (stiff) wire: 2.4# @ $0.30 = $0.72
TOTAL FOR 22.3# OF WIRE: $54.33

This is much more than I thought I'd get from a single house. And, when I was stripping the wire at home I kept busy by watching TV or listening to the radio. So it wasn't wasted time. This was FUN and reasonably profitable as well.

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Ha ha, TV and radio was a waste of time, you should have been on your computer checking for new demolition permits, with city / municipal hall. For upcoming demo's the address would have been included.

Its all publicly available information.

Demolitions

Is a permit required?

Yes, a building permit is required.

A building permit for demolition is required to demolish any building/structure or part of a building/structure as per the Winnipeg Building By-law. A building permit for demolition is not required for detached accessory structures less than 10 m² (108 sq. ft.).
Note: After applying for a permit, the City may conduct a site inspection before permit issuance to determine if the structure can be safely demolished without engineering. Where there is less than 8’-0” from the foundation to any other structure on adjacent properties, or where there is a potential hazard, the City may require the demolition to be engineered to prevent damage to neighbouring properties.