Lessons from a garage

The gift of thoughtful deconstruction

By STEPHEN STUART
Posted 1/15/25

One key to managing the end of the life of buildings is to reimagine that building as feedstock for other uses. That allows us to proceed in such a way as to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Lessons from a garage

The gift of thoughtful deconstruction

Posted

One key to managing the end of the life of buildings is to reimagine that building as feedstock for other uses. That allows us to proceed in such a way as to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from removing buildings that have been condemned for demolition (through no fault of their own—someone just doesn’t want them anymore). When I was a kid (1959), my dad took down a garage that our church wanted to get rid of. After thoughtfully deconstructing it, it became a one-car garage at our home. I learned to install clapboard siding salvaged in the deconstruction process.

In 1980, I had the opportunity to transform a two-story garage on a chicken farm into a two-bedroom home. Salvaged brick from the Port Jervis Brewery became an accent wall in the lower living room, and the hearth for the wood burning stove. Cliff, our neighbor down the road, had salvaged building materials for decades. Thanks to his diligence, I secured three sections of a bowling alley lane, which made perfect countertops for the kitchen. Another neighbor helped me deconstruct a 200-foot-long, two-story chicken coop. He was able to repurpose the roof rafters and board sheathing for a two-car garage.

In 2008, the original garage at my present home was feeling the weight of decay, as happens when the framing is placed on grade with no separation from the soil. By thoughtfully deconstructing that garage, I saved enough clapboard siding for three of the four walls of the new garage. The new garage was framed with lumber secured from the deconstruction of a failed roofing system on a new home. I was able to rip the tongue-and-groove edges of the two-by-six roofing material and produce enough two-by-fours to frame the one-car garage. 

In all of this, I was not cognizant of the greenhouse gas emissions that I was avoiding through reuse of these materials. I was not aware of the landfill emissions that were avoided through reuse of the materials. I was going for inexpensive materials. What a happy conclusion that both results materialized!

thoughtful, deconstruction

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here