On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:05:04 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Dec 19, 9:00*am, "Don Phillipson" wrote:
"mm" wrote in message

1. *If money is (almost) no object, you can pay a contractor
to disassemble and remove the deck and clear up afterwards.
I do not know the price where you live (Australia) but this will
not take a fit man more than an hour or two.
2. *You can do the work yourself at your own speed in either
of two styles, for maximum reuse of good pieces of timber
or for disposal with no reuse.

Money is definitely an object, and I also need at least the exercise
of carrying it from the front yard to the back yard.

Don Phillipson


I'd say 5 days or so and the grass will be fine. Much longer if it's
dormant due to cold weather. If it's possible to use some of the wood
to keep the rest of it slightly above the ground so that air can get

That's a great idea. Phisherman said the same thing. I think I'm
just going to use a couple 4-foot 2x4's and nail a couple one inch
pieces under each of them as legs.

in, that would extend the time as well. It can go without sunlight
longer than it can withstand being smothered. left wet, etc.

Plus some of the floor boards of the deck aren't even warped. The
second floor overhangs the first by about 18 inches, and the 8 foot
boards close to the house are in good condition. I can build an
outdoor fire wood rack with them. I need one of those ever since part
of a tree fell on my yard, but I didn't want to spend money because
once I burn that wood, I'll never have that much wood again. .

Maybe if the craigs or freecycle people take away some and if there is
only a little bit of wood left after all this, I'll use the little
harbor freight trailer to take it to landfill, but maybe not. Too long
a story about the reasons not to.

"mm" wrote
"Ralph Mowery"

Thanks, Ralph and cshenk. I signed up, but they said it can be 7
days until I'm approved!

Standard disclaimer. Some local person, unpaid, maintains it if it's like
my area. I think I had to list my address too (but in postings, I just list
by general area). The specific address goes only to those I want to come
pickup something.

because there are too many free-nappers out there. I guess Baltimore
used to have just one group, but not it has three outlying groups
covering some parts of Baltimore, and you have to join the one you
live in.

Grin, I live in Norfolk area. I believe we have 5 of them here? 1 for each
of the 5 big cities that make up 'Hampton Roads' area. Newport News,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach.

"mm" wrote

Plus some of the floor boards of the deck aren't even warped. The
second floor overhangs the first by about 18 inches, and the 8 foot
boards close to the house are in good condition. I can build an
outdoor fire wood rack with them. I need one of those ever since part
of a tree fell on my yard, but I didn't want to spend money because
once I burn that wood, I'll never have that much wood again. .

Thats what I would do with them. At least, platform on legs to stack on.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:19:48 -0500, "cshenk" wrote:

"mm" wrote
"Ralph Mowery"

Thanks, Ralph and cshenk. I signed up, but they said it can be 7
days until I'm approved!

Standard disclaimer. Some local person, unpaid, maintains it if it's like
my area. I think I had to list my address too (but in postings, I just list
by general area). The specific address goes only to those I want to come
pickup something.

because there are too many free-nappers out there. I guess Baltimore
used to have just one group, but not it has three outlying groups
covering some parts of Baltimore, and you have to join the one you
live in.

Grin, I live in Norfolk area. I believe we have 5 of them here? 1 for each
of the 5 big cities that make up 'Hampton Roads' area. Newport News,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach.

Well, here they don't provide a map and I don't live in any of the
n'hods they said were excluded, but last night they turned me down. I
feel like a 1st grader who is the only one not invited to his
classmate's birthday party.

They sent me to another group that has less than 1/4 the area,
members, and posts, plus is entirely suburban-like, more well-off than
the city as a whole, and probably wants my old lumber etc. less than
the rest of the city.

No one is going to come on foot to pick up this wood, and if they have
a truck and they want this stuff at all, it's surely worth going an
extra mile or two from wherever the boundrary is to my house. What
should I do? (If no one in the first area wants my wood, should I lie
about my address and join this group too. Will they catch me?)

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:53:31 -0500, KLS wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:14:24 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:.

http://www.freecycle.org/group/US/?noautodetect=1

Go to the state you live in.

You also can try Craigslist in the forsale/free section, plus I prefer
the ReUseIt network over Freecycle: http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/ .

Thanks. I just looked and Reuseit's not doing too well in the
Baltimore area. They some how have two lists, Reuseit and Resuseit
Cafe. The first has 13 members and 14 posts in the last 4 months! The
second has 4 members and afaict no posts at all. Maybe the first
group is only 4 months old.

But I'll keep my eyes open for news about it here.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:05:57 -0500, mm
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:53:31 -0500, KLS wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:14:24 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:.

http://www.freecycle.org/group/US/?noautodetect=1

Go to the state you live in.

You also can try Craigslist in the forsale/free section, plus I prefer
the ReUseIt network over Freecycle: http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/ .

Thanks. I just looked and Reuseit's not doing too well in the
Baltimore area. They some how have two lists, Reuseit and Resuseit
Cafe. The first has 13 members and 14 posts in the last 4 months! The
second has 4 members and afaict no posts at all. Maybe the first
group is only 4 months old.

The Cafe group has a different purpose: to exchange coupons,
contractor recommendation, yard sale notifications, etc. The original
group is strictly for giving away stuff and asking for stuff (no more
than 2 requests per week allowed, and there are restrictions as to
what can be requested). Ours is doing great, very active group with
more than 5,000 members.

"mm" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

Thanks, Ralph and cshenk. I signed up, but they said it can be 7
days until I'm approved!

Grin, I live in Norfolk area. I believe we have 5 of them here? 1 for
each
of the 5 big cities that make up 'Hampton Roads' area. Newport News,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach.

Well, here they don't provide a map and I don't live in any of the
n'hods they said were excluded, but last night they turned me down. I
feel like a 1st grader who is the only one not invited to his
classmate's birthday party.

Awww. Sorry (smile). I'm not allowed in the other groups but we see the
occasional crossover allowed by the moderators for the really strange items
or members of one area willing to pickup for a person in another area.

They sent me to another group that has less than 1/4 the area,
members, and posts, plus is entirely suburban-like, more well-off than
the city as a whole, and probably wants my old lumber etc. less than
the rest of the city.

Actually the suburban area is more apt to want it. Real city folks have no
yards to use it in.

No one is going to come on foot to pick up this wood, and if they have
a truck and they want this stuff at all, it's surely worth going an
extra mile or two from wherever the boundrary is to my house. What
should I do? (If no one in the first area wants my wood, should I lie
about my address and join this group too. Will they catch me?)

Hehe wouldnt try it. You have to find someone in the other group to post it
for you probably. We do that here and aso long as it's not a common thing,
allowed.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:39:19 -0500, KLS wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:05:57 -0500, mm
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:53:31 -0500, KLS wrote:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:14:24 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:.

http://www.freecycle.org/group/US/?noautodetect=1

Go to the state you live in.

You also can try Craigslist in the forsale/free section, plus I prefer
the ReUseIt network over Freecycle: http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/ .

Thanks. I just looked and Reuseit's not doing too well in the
Baltimore area. They some how have two lists, Reuseit and Resuseit
Cafe. The first has 13 members and 14 posts in the last 4 months! The
second has 4 members and afaict no posts at all. Maybe the first
group is only 4 months old.

The Cafe group has a different purpose: to exchange coupons,
contractor recommendation, yard sale notifications, etc. The original
group is strictly for giving away stuff and asking for stuff (no more
than 2 requests per week allowed, and there are restrictions as to
what can be requested). Ours is doing great, very active group with
more than 5,000 members.

Maybe I can join yours. How much does it cost to mail an 8-foot 2x4?
Do you have to wrap it?

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:43:43 -0500, mm
wrote:

The Cafe group has a different purpose: to exchange coupons,
contractor recommendation, yard sale notifications, etc. The original
group is strictly for giving away stuff and asking for stuff (no more
than 2 requests per week allowed, and there are restrictions as to
what can be requested). Ours is doing great, very active group with
more than 5,000 members.

Maybe I can join yours. How much does it cost to mail an 8-foot 2x4?
Do you have to wrap it?

If you're in western New York, people might actually be willing to
come get it: we have members living 45 mins away from our city who
participate. But if you're in a place like metro DC with the horrible
traffic, unlikely not. What about Habitat for Humanity: can they use
the materials?

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:43:35 -0500, KLS wrote:



Maybe I can join yours. How much does it cost to mail an 8-foot 2x4?
Do you have to wrap it?

If you're in western New York, people might actually be willing to
come get it: we have members living 45 mins away from our city who
participate. But if you're in a place like metro DC with the horrible
traffic, unlikely not. What about Habitat for Humanity: can they use
the materials?

I doubt it.

I signed up for my crummy little freecycle n'hood 48 hours ago and
their email with my ad went out 36 hours ago. No replies yet.

So I put an ad on Craig's list. We'll see if I get any replies.

If not I may use a friend's address and another email address and sign
up for the other freecycle (although even if I change the ad some, if
someone reads both lists, they may figure it out. But why are they
reading both lists if I'm not allowed to belong to both. Are they
allowed? That's outrageous. Or are they just looking for cheaters?
That's petty.)

If no one replies, I'm just going to throw it all away. If I don't
get that done before the surgery in the second half of January, I may
have to go out of town and when I get back it will be spring, so maybe
I'll try again to get rid of some of it. My neighbor is impatient or
I wouldn't be rushing two ads in two days, and I'd just wait for
spring and do it all then, although people are right, The grass is
dormant in winter.

I'm in the UK, where freecycle seems to work very well, certainly for "offers" which appear to be snapped up very rapidly. Here there is no quizzing about postal address when you register - you only give that to the person that wants to acquire whatever you've offered, and only after they've contacted you by phone.

wrote:



I'd say 5 days or so and the grass will be fine. Much longer if it's
dormant due to cold weather. If it's possible to use some of the wood
to keep the rest of it slightly above the ground so that air can get
in, that would extend the time as well. It can go without sunlight
longer than it can withstand being smothered. left wet, etc.

You are correct. It should recover.
Good point. Get a piece of plywood and put it on some of the timbers so
as to minimize the ground contact so the grass can breath.

Where are you? Is the grass dormant? It's covered by around 15" of snow
here. It always come back in the spring.

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:20:53 -0500, "cshenk" wrote:


I did say that about half is pressure treated and half is not. I'd be
glad to give the wood away. I don't like to waste anything, and I
rarely do. It's 30 y.o. (covered in latex stain, but just two thin
coats) and I didn't think anyone would want it. Where do I find people
who would?

Freecycle may work and they will pickup. Thats a local list to hopefully
your area where folks give away stuff vice make more landfill. The person
who wants the stuff picks up. Be honest about the state of the wood and
offer to let them pick out just any pieces they find usable, and you'd
probably get 1/2 or more picked up.

Do mention most seems PT (not burnable, toxic fumes) and you are not sure on
the rest.

Wow, I did get one answer from Craig's list, and I asked him what he
planned to do with it, and he said, firewood, and I told him that
treated wood was poisonous, and he said, I'll have to look into that.

He spoke perfect English, no graammar errors, and that seemed to me
like the kind of person who would already know that it was poisonous,
but I guess there is too much to know, and plenty that each person
doesn't know.

If he never shows up, I'll be even more careful with any other caller.
If I ever advertise again, I'll say more in the ad itself. I thought
I was clear enogh when I said that the untreated wood was good for
mulch and firewood, and didn't list that for the treated wood.