We have our demolition permit from the city and so now it's time to deconstruct the existing cottage that is on the site.

With deconstruction our plan is to take the house apart (instead of demolishing it) and donate the reclaimed materials to The ReUse People who will then sell and distribute them to the public. For this purpose, we retained an expert deconstruction dppraiser, Floyd Sparks from Property Pros. Floyd took an hour to inspect the little cottage and make notes on the types of construction and any fixtures and fittings that were going to be donated. For example, we donated the kitchen appliances since we would not be using these in the new home.

The final value of the donated materials is calculated after the items are delivered to The ReUse People. This determines the tax deduction we will receive for the donation. However, Floyd was able to give us a general idea of the donation cost per square foot up front. Once the final appraisal is completed we will receive the important IRS form 8283 (non-cash charitable contributions) which will have signatures from both the The ReUse People non -profit and the appraiser.

For the physical deconstruction we’ve hired Duncan Elliott from RER, Inc. Duncan does both traditional “wrecking ball” demolition and also deconstruction, so he can look after the parts of our site that cannot be salvaged, such as digging up a concrete driveway and also the gentle removal of hardwood floors so they can be reused.

Our biggest frustration with this phase of our project was with the gas company who took over two weeks to disconnect the gas service at the street. All of our other utilities were disconnected and removed within 48 hours of our request. The gas company shut off service promptly but would not come out and disconnect and cap the service at the street. Until this was done we could not start the deconstruction process.

Appears In

Dwell Home Venice: Part 5