frequently asked questions

Deconstruction is a more sustainable approach to demolition. In a nutshell: Instead of bulldozing and trashing homes and buildings, we dismantle, remove, and donate materials for reuse and recycling.

Deconstruction gives new life to old, valuable materials that would normally end up buried in a landfill. The reclaimed items and materials are then resold, donated, repurposed, and/or recycled.

There are many benefits to choosing deconstruction over demolition services.

Economic benefits: Homeowners and building owners can claim tax-deductible write-offs for items that are disassembled and donated for reuse. This can mean more dollars available for the remodel project. The deconstruction industry also creates more jobs than the demolition industry, a boon for a local economy. If you are considering a remodel project, we would be thrilled to tell you more about the specific impact this could have for you and your home.

Environmental benefits: Deconstruction is the most environmentally sustainable option for demolishing structures. The process is cleaner and more methodical: Every item is taken apart and handled with care to preserve its value as a reusable green building resource. These resources are then recycled or resold to the public, creating reclaimed stock for materials that would typically be made with virgin natural resources. We lessen our reliance on new goods made of precious resources when we support processes like deconstruction that salvage and reuse materials.

Buildings and houses are like material banks — houses alone can contain an average of 43 trees worth of wood and tens of thousands of pounds of materials like steel and concrete that can be repurposed and recycled. They also contain embodied carbon and energy — AKA the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the building of a structure. Instead of losing those resources to bulldozing and landfilling, deconstruction gives those materials their highest and best use.

Deconstruction is essential to sustainable resources management and creating Zero Waste communities where materials are reused and recycled whenever possible. Worldwide, we’re using natural resources faster than the earth is able to replenish them. By deconstructing and donating your materials, you’re contributing to a local, circular economy where resources are kept in the production cycle rather than buried in a landfill.

Many green building codes require deconstruction services, including LEED, Tru, and various city and county green building requirements and policies related to sustainable materials management, green building, and environmentally-sound C&D practices.

Social benefits: Materials donated from deconstruction sites are often sold back to the public at reduced rates, providing a steady stream of more equitable and environmentally-sustainable building solutions to economically underprivileged communities. Learn more about our own resale endeavors on the Perks Deconstruction Warehouse page.

Deconstruction practices also help preserve historical buildings and provide eco-friendly stock for interested parties looking for antique and vintage items. Check out our Instagram page @perksdeconstruction to see some of our reclaimed building materials. We’ve discovered and sold hundreds of items in the Denver Metro area including antique tiles, vintage typewriters, and century-old lumber.

Personal benefits: We’ve heard from many customers that they feel good knowing their old, unwanted stuff is being reused locally in environmentally and socially responsible ways. And we agree: Making the most of the materials coming out of a building or house feels good — and just makes sense.

We approach every project with a “salvage-first” mentality, identifying what can be reused and donated. We then recycle, sort, and transport the items accordingly. We also assist with the building material donation appraisal process so that clients can take full advantage of potential tax deduction benefits. Finally, we provide all the donation and waste receipts so that clients can comply with local waste diversion requirements and/or claim potential tax deductions for their donations.

Learn more about our process on our Services page

Any materials recovered from your job site will be sorted and either donated, resold to the public, or recycled. Reusable materials are sold back to the public at more affordable rates than new items. Examples of materials recovered for reuse include insulation, plywood, sinks, cabinets, shower glass, dimensional lumber, and appliances. Items that can be recycled include scrap metal, old wires and concrete. We often make donations to nonprofit building groups such as the National Center for Craftsmanship, and have recently started selling reclaimed building materials through our own outlet via the Perks Deconstruction Warehouse.

Sometimes, closed loops are created with materials right on site. For example: We’ll de-nail lumber and then work with a framing crew who will use the reclaimed lumber to build a garage or shed on the same site. Another example: We deconstruct roofs and salvage the trusses and plywood, the latter of which can used for site protection or repurposed for a number of other things.

Like with any demolition service, we work as hired subcontractors to dismantle and remove a structure. We offer comprehensive services that can take care of any deconstruction job, big or small, be it a full house deconstruction, garage, building, room, or single-item deconstruction job such as kitchen cabinet or bathroom fixture removal. The difference is, we’ll make sure to reuse or recycle what we can in the process. This often results in savings for you in the form of tax deductible donation write-offs.

Scroll down to see how building materials are appraised and donated for reuse.

We work hard to make the process easy and beneficial for you. If you want to claim more than a $5K building material donation on your taxes, you’ll need an appraisal report detailing detailing the value of the items you’re donating. Perks Deconstruction can facilitate the appraisal process by providing you with a list of material appraisal groups to contract with, taking pictures and noting descriptions of items, and ensuring that you receive all donation receipts from the nonprofit recipients.

We recommend always consulting with a tax expert to better understand how you can benefit from charitable tax donation deductions.

No, we do not pick up goods for donating. We recommend contacting Resource Central in Boulder or Bud’s Warehouse in Denver for household item pick-up services.

We do not do asbestos abatement. We can refer you to a quality asbestos abatement company and sequence our work accordingly.

No, we do not do lead removal.