ReUse 2008 First Place
Congratulations go to Ken & Nancy Rankin for submitting the winning ReUse Contest 2008 article. Here is their story:
Cottage In The Woods
While preparing to construct our cottage on five acres in Nevada City, we built the treehouse that you can see in the background of one of the photos. For the treehouse we used recycled 2x4, 2x6, and 2x8 redwood and Douglas Fir. We planed the ship lap to use for the treehouse siding. All materials were from The Reuse People.
We began construction of our 12’ x 16’ cottage in 2006, and after laying a concrete footing foundation, we framed the walls using 10’ 2x4s. The floor was constructed of 2x6 tongue and groove planks over 2x8 floor joists. We then framed the roof with 2x6 rafters. For windows, we used vinyl clad sliders and one casement window. The exterior siding was clapboard two-lap, blending with the “old fashioned” architectural style of the cottage. For the interior paneling, we used tongue and groove straight-grain Douglas Fir 1x4s that came out of an old blacksmith shop. Our exterior double doors with original brass hardware added to the charm of the entry.
We constructed a loft that was approximately 12’ x 12,’ with pull down stairs to economize our space. Our loft serves as a bedroom, within which we have standing headroom due to the height of our walls. We framed in a small bathroom which is also paneled in the lumber from the blacksmith shop, and have created a kitchenette with recycled cabinetry. We installed a recycled bar sink in the base cabinet. We currently use Coleman lanterns for lighting, a Coleman stove for cooking, and we purchased and installed a small direct-vent propane wall heater.
All materials were recycled except for new roof sheathing and shingles, and approximately 95+% of the materials were purchased from the Reuse People. Miscellaneous hardware items, as well as the heater, were purchased at retail. The cottage is still a work in progress.
Ken and Nancy Rankin
Project and location: Cottage, Nevada City, Ca
ReUse 2008 Contest Second Place
Fine Touches To Home
Dear Mr. Reiff,
Here is my contest entry. I have been buying items from your Oakland store since it moved there and the inside and outside of my home is covered with Reuse People items. Here are some of them. I'm sorry I don't have any before pictures but they would just be blank walls.
FRONT WINDOW: The header over the bay window is part of about 20 feet of old walnut headers that I bought at The Reuse People. The front window portion was mitered intact at 15 degrees to fit and a return was extended to the side wall to fit. The same header was cut to fit a single double hung window to the left of the bay. They were cleaned and refinished.
STAIRWAY: The arch was from a home in Atherton. It was narrowed slightly, shortened to fit the wall and feet made to finish it. It was painted whie and gold and trim other pieces from Clars and eBay applied. The valence on the right was made from a piece bought at The Reuse People as were the newel posts which were cut and used as feet.
The chandelier is from The Reuse People. The wall behind (not pictured) has a door casing for the Atherton house applied to frame a picture.
FRONT DOOR: Casing from the Atherton house was used again to frame the front door. It was painted white and gold and just needed to be shortened slightly for a perfect fit. Incidently, the casings were signed and dated-1933-by the craftsman who built them. The trim on the right wall is leftover from the walnut used in the front room, painted white and gold with the pieces rearranged slightly. They were originally applied with hide glue-the walnut pieces were pre Civil War-and came right off with a little hot water. The gold trim at the ceiling is part of a pair of 3'x4' picture frames bought at The Reuse People and cut up for moulding. The same trim scheme is used on the longer opposite wall of the stairway.
OVER FIREPLACE: Again, this is more of the door casing from the Atherton house cut to fit above the fireplace and painted white and gold.
There are a lot more Reuse People items all over my home, both inside and out.
Thank you,
Sandra Browda
ReUse 2008 Third Place
Exterior Hinged Window Shutters
The project is the reconstruction from scratch of 4 exterior hinged window shutters that are approximately 2' x 7' tall.
The original plantation shutters were sagging and falling apart from dry rot, and my customer wanted them replaced. Originally these shutters were made from white wood, not the best material for exterior use. So my client wanted to have them replaced with a wood that can handle exterior weather conditions. Originally were were going to order some custom made shutters using exotic imported hardwood, however I decided against this practice.
On a recent trip to TRP I noticed there was some beautiful old redwood wainscot, that had been salvaged from a house. Very minimal nail holes and very straight tight grain. I decided to take the project on myself, I own an old planner and used it to clean the wood up and get it into working condition. The project was very rewarding and in the end my customer is very happy to have custom made reclaimed old growth redwood plantation shutters, using wood from TRP.
Jason MacDougall
Oakland, CA 94607
ReUse 2008 Honorable Mention
Hey Ted,
We've been reading your newsletter for a while now and in that way, you are part of the people that got us curious about building waste.
We're a small design and material studio in Brussels, that specialises in reusable industrial waste-materials. We help routing materials, but also make furniture or home decorations.
I'd like to propose two projects for your contest. We probably will not spend the 25$ coupon in your shop (it's a bit too far!).
But if you like the project, we would like to candidate for a spot on your website anyway.
Our first proposition is a mezzanine we made from salvaged steel beams:
rotordb.org/projects/2008_Laeken101/
Our second proposition is a table we made for an audio-artist
rotordb.org/projects/2008_Table_Manon/
ps: you might like the website superuse.org that is dedicated to displaying reuse designs.
greets,
Maarten Gielen
Rotor vzw
Brussel, Belgium
maarten.rotor@gmail.com
www.rotordb.org
