While the House of Tomorrow was very unique, and did meet the criteria for historical significance, it was not on the Pierce County nor the National Historical Register list. Further, it was built near the floodplain along Clark’s Creek, and numerous flooding events took their toll on the property. Relocation of the house itself was considered, but deemed too costly to pursue, so the county was forced to slate it for demolition.

The County did however want to salvage as much usable material from the house before it was razed, so Second Use was selected to remove usable materials throughout the structure. Water damage did take a toll inside, but the kitchen and upper floors did have some solid cabinets, doors and more that all could be reused or repurposed for projects.

Our crew spent a day on site, carefully removing each item and transporting them back to our warehouse, and was available to the public within a day. These cabinets shared the rounded style that was typical of the Smyser’s interior design. See the remaining inventory in our Tacoma warehouse.

Jobs like these help Second Use keep more than 3,000 tons of used building materials out of landfills in the Tacoma and Seattle area every year. We’re always looking for more salvage opportunities, so if you’re planning a renovation, reach out for a free assessment of your potential construction waste.

Our Salvage Team just kicked off a large project for Washington State – the first part of a master design plan that will re-envision an historic hospital campus that opened in 1871.

Second Use was engaged to remove a maximum amount of the reclaimable materials from 11 buildings on the existing campus. The structures span many decades and represent various construction styles and building practices – so a complicated removal. This project caps a year of collaborative work to gain the access needed to save these resources, and to make these materials available to our Tacoma and Seattle communities – This is core to our mission at Second Use.

We anticipate several tons of material will be diverted from the landfill, and include: bleacher boards, maple & pine bowling lanes, fir flooring, cabinets, doors, windows, vintage lights, and plumbing fixtures along with a sundry of industrial artifacts (tools, appliances, office and shop equipment, decorations and more). 

New items added daily! See current salvaged inventory for sale >>

Many people around the U.S. and in other countries are working on building deconstruction and materials reuse. However, we don’t hear about it all that often. Every year or two, the Building Materials Reuse Association, a non-profit dedicated to growing building materials reuse around the country, holds a conference showcasing the latest ideas and practices related to policy and practice of deconstruction and reuse. People from all over the country and often internationally as well share their wisdom and experiences. The most recent conference just wrapped up on September 21.

So what kinds of things are happening in the wider realm of building materials reuse? One theme that we are paying close attention to is local policy encouraging deconstruction of older homes. We have been watching two of these in particular: Portland, Oregon and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2 years ago, Portland started a policy of requiring deconstruction when a home built before 1917 is being removed. This policy was created with a great deal of public pressure and involvement, after almost two years of regular meetings of a Deconstruction Advisory Group (DAG). Today, this policy is working well. The number of businesses doing deconstruction has increased from two before the policy to fourteen today. Dozens of green jobs have been created as a result.

Milwaukee began a deconstruction policy at the start of this year. The mechanics of this policy are quite similar to those in Portland, with deconstruction required for homes built before a particular date. However, it appears this policy was created with little community input outside the city aldermen who sponsored it. Implementation of this policy has had a rocky start.

The city itself has been the owner of most of the homes demolished in recent years (to deal with abandoned housing issues); however, since the deconstruction requirement began, the city has virtually stopped building removal because of the increased cost of deconstructing. We will continue to watch this program, to see if adjustments to the policy result in greater acceptance and smoother functioning.

We think that the time may be coming soon for Seattle to consider policies that would further increase the practice of deconstruction and building materials, and we hope to learn from the experience of Portland and Milwaukee and other local governments.

The Seattle Queer & Trans Clothing Exchange is seeking clothing, shoes, and accessories of all sizes and styles, with high need for:

• Professional clothing
• Weather durable and warm clothing
• Large feminine clothing and shoes
• Small masculine clothing and shoes
• Padded Bras
• Binders
• Unused makeup
• Costume jewelry
• New socks and underwear
• Activewear
• Toiletries

The event will be November 14 & 15 at Pipsqueak Gallery, and is open to all members of the LGBTQ community. Everything is pay what you want, with proceeds going to future events and local community groups. While there are current Trans clothing exchanges, the reach of their collection efforts can be very limited. It can be especially difficult to bring in a wide range of sizes and styles. They provide a safe space to get gender-affirming clothing at no cost, and outreach to those in our community facing barriers to access.

Donations can be dropped at the entrance of the Handmade Market. For more information and other drop off locations, visit Facebook.com/qtexchange