Townsman, 1992-03, Page 9mile radius of Brussels demolishing
buildings. Currently he is in the midst
of a huge project to take down the old
railway round -house in Hamilton, a
project that will take about four
months to complete. Large portions of
the building are being relocated in
Campellford as a museum.
When a building is coming down
everything that can be salvaged is
saved: bricks, old beams and wood,
old plumbing and electrical fixtures,
woodwork. At one time Total Demo-
lition retailed many of the items
through its large building located
When a building
is demolished,
everything useful
is salvaged
southeast of the house but the prob-
lems of running a retail outlet when
Dave was on the road so much led
them to discontinue the process. They
still retail reclaimed brick but most of
the materials they salvage are now
marketed through a St. Jacobs retail
outlet that specializes in providing
materials for people wanting to use
authentic parts in renovating homes.
Items like gingerbread and verandah
and staircase spindles are particularly
in demand.
Most of his company's work in
recent years has been in demolishing
old factories rather than houses. In
hard times factories stand empty and
people want them removed to save
maintenance and taxes, while old
houses tend to get fixed up.
The house has become a valuable
advertisement for the practicality and
beauty of reclaimed materials. It's eas-
ier for people to judge the beauty of
old brick by looking at it in a fireplace
rather than just stacked on a skid,
Sharon says.
"It's probably the best investment
we ever made," says Dave of the
house that is hard evidence of what
can be done with the materials he sal-
vages. But they weren't setting out to
do anything so farsighted. "We were
just working with the materials we
had and the resources we had to stay
on budget." They have turned those
practical intentions into a tribute to
the century -old buildings that live on
in a spacious modern house.
Moonlighting Photography
360 Main St. E. Listowel 291-2303
A great rocker like this
needs a nice
home like yours.
Ask for Murray Yungblut
HURON
WOODCRAFT
RIPLEY 395-2487
TOWNSMAN/MARCH-APRIL 1992 7