Free Building Materials

27col

There is no way that an ordinary DIYer is going to get the freebies that they do on the Tommy Walsh program. His mate strikes me as a professional blagger, and I am surprised that the companies concerned let him get away with it. As someone has said, it is amazing what people will do for a bit of free publicity. No DIYer is going to be able to offer the same inducement.

dori2o

I don't believe that you can blag as much as is shown on the TV shows, but, as somebody who has little spare money and is a keen DIY'er, I have blagged stuff for rediculus amounts of money, even free stuff, and have saved myself a fortune.

Buy you do need to know where to go, and don't always hit the same place time after time.

I am lucky in the fact that all my family are in the building trade, except me who initially went into engineering, and I have a pretty big resource to build from with family contacts etc.

I do rumage around in skips whenever there is one on the street, even if it is just a few lengths of 3x2, or 2x1, they all come in handy eventually, and stored in the roof space of the garage they don't get in the way.

Best advice is,find out where the salvage yards are in your area. Not just yards that deal in baths, radiators, etc, but those that deal in timber and stone as well.

Get to know the lads that work down the local tip. It is actually illegal to take from a municipal tip, but who cares, it's only going to landfil. Get to know them and just pass them a list, or hint at something you need, and see if they'll put aside anything that copmes in that may be useful.

At salvage yards don't always look for the most pristine object, this is how you can get the best deals. Especially the timber and stome yards. Look for stuff that seems to have been there for some time, see if they are desperate to get rid of it. If you do all the work, romoving the stuff, even offering to clean up the area it is in, you will be amazed at what you get.

It can be done, but not to the extend shown by Tommy Walsh.

v.rajput

is there nobody out there who has been successfull?

Pete*G_4

about 6 months after buying a newbuild property from Taylor Wimpey, my BIL "blagged" 50 lengths of featheredge fence board and 3 sqm of the tiles that they did his bathroom with.

Got them completely free of charge.

Basically the tile supplier was changing and thus the tiles were completley left over and about to be dumpbed in a skip, and the featheredge board was what was an 8ft fence they had carefully taken down between the materials compound and one of the newly finished properties to enable to new owner to have side access to their garden.

I guess right place/right time/right questions applies.

v.rajput

Hi,

I might have had a stroke of luck, an agency temp at work, just hinted he had a trade card for bandq, which he would let me use or come with me.....get in.

Have not seen it yet, also wondering why would someone with a "trade" card be temp'ing, doing office moves.

Well ill let you know, soon i have started totting up the cost of stuff and am hoping it will be under £500.

but as yet not had the Balls to go and blag..

Pete*G_4

he may have a trade card but be doing temping as his trade is slow at the minute? we are in a recession you realise lol

v.rajput

Hi,

Pete, yes i know: but its more fun when i start dreaming up my own scenarios about ppl.

Even though he has just offered to help my sorry !!!.

lol..