Saturday, April 7

A Contractor's Trash is Now My Treasure

I went dumpster diving yesterday afternoon.

It was Good Friday, I had the day off, I was in need of a footprint (ground cloth) for my tent, and I decided that Tyvek was the material that would best suit my needs. Tyvek is the waterproof wrap that contractors put on houses during the framing stage of construction. It is light weight, water resistant, and free (if I'm willing to dig through construction site dumpsters).

It was cold, windy, and just barely snowing, so I bundled up in my carhart work pants and an old sweatshirt and began the search. I knew the west end of town has a growing residential area, so that was my target spot. As I drove to different sites, I realized I had to find a house in the correct stage of building. If the plumbing and electricity were being installed, I was too late, no extra Tyvek. If the siding was going up, I was too late, no Tyvek. Driving slowly, my eyes searched the developments for the perfect house. Unbelievably, it only took three dumpsters, and a few conversations with contractors, before I came home with a FREE piece of Tyvek that I could cut to the exact size I needed. Project accomplished. Check "dumpster diving" off the list!

It doesn't get much better than that!

1 comment:

Kristi said...

Just how far into the three dumpsters did you dive? Oh to have been a cold fly on the wall of those trash containers!