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I'm about halfway done finishing out an existing smallish block building on my daughter and son in law's property that was once used as a smokehouse using mostly donated and recycled materials. My brother has his own small painting company and I was in construction for a long time in various capacities so we have contacts to get surplus and demoed (demolished) construction supplies like sheetrock, metal studs, wood of various sizes, plywood, toilets, doors, insulation, cabinets and the like. These items are often removed from commercial spaces that are being renovated for new tenants and the materials are usually just thrown away and new purchased. Also a lot of times if there is extra new material beyond what's needed for a job it's possible to pick up those items from jobsites if you have a contact.
I have taken pictures of all the stages, from raw building full of junk to having the ceiling framed up with metal studs and insulation installed, raised bathroom floor is close to ready for the decking (we raised it so the plumbing pipes can be run out through the walls rather than having to break concrete floor and dig out the dirt underneath for piping).
If anyone is interested I can post the pictures here on this thread and also give ideas for cheap construction methods and hints on where you can get construction materials for free or at a fraction of retail cost as well as workarounds for some common problems you might run into on such a project.
If you have a place to put a building and don't have to deal with codes/inspection and so forth you can get away with cutting a lot of corners and still have a decent shelter.. A lot of these techniques and ideas can also be used renovating an existing structure for livability..
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