Scrapping 100 buildings

So I work for a construction company that is contracted to tear down 100 buildings and barns over the next 2 years. The homeowner has the rights to take out anything they want first. The 4 I have done so far have yielded $200 each or so, they even stripped walls and bathrooms pretty much everything. I have been getting all overhead lines.
Is it worth stripping the main electrical service boxes off? All the wires are already stripped out of them. Also I strip most stuff off of the furnace, but does it pay to spend and hour or two cutting the rest of the furnace and ducting up? Most of the furnaces are 20 years old and not worth saving for resale.
As far as the barns go I know the barn boards are worth some but is there anything else to look out for?:D

lets see if I can help you out here. 100 furnaces, x 100 lb x .10 per lb hmmm what do you think ?

Look up on the roof. Are the flashings copper, aluminum, etc.

The plumbing vents are most often covered with lead boots.

Just seems like a pain in the butt to spend 1 or 2 hours cutting up and hauling it upstairs for $10 or $15 each. But I understand that it all adds up, and I didn't have to pay for the furnaces. I think I will start cutting them up and see how a few go.

those boxes are chocked full of brass !!

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Originally Posted by johnuppy

Just seems like a pain in the butt to spend 1 or 2 hours cutting up and hauling it upstairs for $10 or $15 each. But I understand that it all adds up, and I didn't have to pay for the furnaces. I think I will start cutting them up and see how a few go.

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where in he88 does every one get the Idea scrapping is easy ?

I know it's not easy, but with 2 guys there scrapping you are at $5-$7 an hour to scrap it. I can work at McDonald's for more than that, that is why I wasn't cutting them up. I was taking motors and blowers and leaving the sheet metal.

It's easy to make more money...work faster.

I Know I might catch grief for this but I seem to want to jump on the bandwagon. If you don't like scrapping then go work at Mcdonalds.....Some days I might make less than an average fast food employee and some days I might make ten times that.....If I had 100 of them don't look at the amount of time it will take just look at the end dollar amount which should be around $1000

! how heavy are they ?

2. how many do you have access to each day ?

3. how big a trailer or truck do you have.

4. call a scrapper and offer to sell them to him for 2 days Mcdonalds pay. thats a win win.
you get paid the Mcdonalds pay and dont have to work, and the scrapper gets to make some real money. just my .02 @ 100 lbe each thats 5 ton $1000, I know a scrapper would jump at that. if they are heavier it just presents a different plan.

Just remember there are only so many of those nice McD jobs to be had.

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Originally Posted by johnuppy

I know it's not easy, but with 2 guys there scrapping you are at $5-$7 an hour to scrap it. I can work at McDonald's for more than that, that is why I wasn't cutting them up. I was taking motors and blowers and leaving the sheet metal.

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If you think working at MCd's is all that great and will make you MORE than scrapping, than sounds like to me your in the wrong industry.

All right I understand. I don't scrap full time. As I said I am in the construction business and have off 3-4 months off in the winter. That is when I do most of my scrapping. I never have done a whole house and that is why I was asking some of the questions.
I typically get 1-2 houses every few weeks. No real method to the madness. 1 have a 3/4 ton pick-up with a 20 ft dump trailer. I will take the advice and take ALL the furnaces from now on.

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Originally Posted by johnuppy

All right I understand. I don't scrap full time. As I said I am in the construction business and have off 3-4 months off in the winter. That is when I do most of my scrapping. I never have done a whole house and that is why I was asking some of the questions.
I typically get 1-2 houses every few weeks. No real method to the madness. 1 have a 3/4 ton pick-up with a 20 ft dump trailer. I will take the advice and take ALL the furnaces from now on.

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You should do scrapping whenever possible. Even if it is an hour a day. It does all add up. Just like with anything, you are not going to get rich over night.

Unfortunately, for houses, it really depends on what the houses are made out of, as they are not all made the same. It also depends on what year the house is in too.

I have been in homes where all the plumbing was straight up copper and brass, and then I have been in homes where it is all steel/metal, with brass fittings, etc.

The main things that will be in any house for you to scrap that I can think of are (and this is assuming it is in the home):

Refrigerator
Washer
Dryer
Sink
Tub (if it is metal/cast iron)
Dishwasher
Metal/Copper plumbing
Hot water heater
boiler
garbage disposal
door knobs
ceiling fans (copper, brass, wire, metal)
cast iron radiators (this is dependent on how old the house is)
aluminum side paneling (not all houses have this...I took in the paneling from just one side of a house and it totally almost $200)
all electrical wire
electrical boxes

That is all I can think of right now.

As far as what you will make...that is really based on what the going price is at the time you haul it all in. Prices change as often as you change your underwear.

^^Don't forget gutters and window frames

Might be some copper tubing/brass fittings inside those furnaces, either gas or oil, that feed the fuel into the furnace box. Should be easy to get to.

When renovating kitchens and baths I have found plenty of beer cans in walls from when the house was built.

Don't forget.... Each one of those furnaces has an electric motor in it.... worth more by itself than if you sold it to the scrap yard without taking taking the motor out....

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Originally Posted by Scrap man

^^Don't forget gutters and window frames

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I can see the gutters.....but window frames are all wood minus the locking mechanism.

Extruded aluminum in aluminum window frames.

I've seen an awful lot of aluminum windows down here in sw GA, GB.

Are these homes being torn down with heavy equipment?

Of the few homes I've seen torn down used a track hoe with a grapple. I'd be using that to pluck the furnace and drop it into your dump trailer.

if your going to be part time look at it as a savings account, or treasure stash. maybe an option, being in the business would be to simply broker the scrap. many will jump on that. you can make extra cash and never lift a finger.

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Originally Posted by johnuppy

As far as the barns go I know the barn boards are worth some but is there anything else to look out for?:D

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Yes there is. If there's a barn cleaner the chain alone is several tons and can be dismantaled fairly easily. You might get lucky and find a barn with a SS pipeline. There's usually metal stanchions, cast iron drinking cups, electrical wire, etc in most old barns around here.

Sounds like you might have to take a trailer to work. ;)

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Originally Posted by KZBell

When renovating kitchens and baths I have found plenty of beer cans in walls from when the house was built.

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Did a $500 bathroom remodel and found 5 cone top beer cans that I sold for $300. Offered discount to remodel more of the house to see what else I could find.

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

I Know I might catch grief for this but I seem to want to jump on the bandwagon. If you don't like scrapping then go work at Mcdonalds.....Some days I might make less than an average fast food employee and some days I might make ten times that.....If I had 100 of them don't look at the amount of time it will take just look at the end dollar amount which should be around $1000

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Some days it's $5 an hour or even less. Those days get pretty stressful, especially when there are several in a row. Then the $50 or $100 an hour days make up for it.

Take a look at the broad picture here what are the condition of these barns? antique barn wood or hand cut would can be worth more than the scrap metal. Contact a local saw mill custom furniture builders ect.... depending on the type of wood and size it can be worth 8-12$ sq foot. Somthing to look into with a few simple phone calls