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Wait! Don’t think you have to always pay full price for home construction products, nor is the big box store the only answer for getting cheaper building materials. Many local communities now have the ReStore. ReStore is a retail outlet franchised by Habitat for Humanity. You can find where such stores are located by going to the Habitat ReStore site. There is also an online ReStore Home Improvement Center.
Here’s how it works. Contractors will donate materials they have not used up for projects, local retailers will donate surplus goods, and individuals will donate what they have on hand or what didn’t go in the yard sale. Re-Store only resells the products that are undamaged, and products can range from furniture to home accessories to appliances to building materials, depending on the individual store. All of these items are sold at a fraction of the original retail price. In additional, all proceeds go to building Habitat houses. Now you are saving money, saving the environment by encouraging re-cycling, and saving tax dollars for homeless sheltering.
ReStore and the Habitat website offer other construction hints. They have an Environment Initiative which gives practical advice for building durable housing for less and Energy Bulletins that cover insulation tips for insulating attics, walls, floors, and foundations. Finally, there is the Safety and Healthy Homes booklet, which is a free down load about keeping air quality of homes healthy. There is also free advice about lead safety issues.
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