Janet Perka on the steps of her thrice-moved home outside Port Townsend, WA. Photo Susan Colby
Recycling’s Full Potential
Clear glass goes in one container, colored another.
Papers in this one and plastics in yet one more.
You take your old clothes to the thrift or consignment store. Your used car oil and dead batteries go to the hazardous waste place for recycling. You consider yourself conscientious when taking care of the environment.
But what do you do when you have a whole house that needs to be recycled? It won’t fit in the bin and it is hard to put in the consignment store. And besides, how on earth would you get it there?
The first thought in the minds of most people is “demolish it.”
But on second thought, you know that’s wasteful and probably going to cost you a lot.
Recycling Haven
In the very northwestern part of Washington is the little Victorian seaport of Port Townsend. At any time, parked outside the Coop food store, you’ll see more Prius’ and electric cars than any others. Everyone takes their own bags to the grocery store. This is a place you aren’t asked if you want paper or plastic. It’s assumed you’ve brought your own!
What better place to recycle the whole shebang?
House Savers
Recently, Nickel Brothers, a company out of Victoria, B.C., just across the Straits of Juan de Fuca from Port Townsend, came up with a solution that is a “win” for everyone involved. Houses are saved, demolition materials stay out of the landfills, and both sellers and buyers of the houses save money.
A recycled house being moved onto a building-ready lot. Photo Susan Colby
Jeremy Nickel is one of the three brothers who own Nickel Brothers. On site, indistinguishable from the rest of his crew in overalls and hardhat, Nickel is completely involved in the actual business of moving the houses. He is also deeply involved in the environmental impacts and benefits of saving houses.
He sees it as a win/win/win situation. The environment wins. The original homeowner wins and the new owner wins.
The environment benefits in several ways, such as by saving trees.
“An average new house uses about 1,200 square feet of lumber, which equates to about 50 fir trees,” he said. Saving houses also keeps waste out of the landfills.
“We are running out of space in our landfills,” he continued, pointing out that Vancouver Island now ships its waste to Eastern Washington and that 50 percent of waste going into the landfills in Portland is from demolition material. “In the Cascadia region, which includes British Columbia, more than 1,000 houses are demolished every month.”
Recycling a house also can be a financial advantage to the house’s original owner. Demolishing a house is expensive. Nickel said that in British Columbia, the owner is charged 5 percent of the assessed value of the house in demolition fees. Nickel Brothers pays a minimal amount to transfer title and then moves it, saving the owner thousands of dollars.
Buyers also benefit from buying a recycled house. Rising construction and labor costs have pushed building a new home out of reach for many people. Buying and renovating or restoring a recycled house can result in significant savings.
And while not all the houses are of historical significance, and some need a bit of TLC, Nickel said, “The integrity is there.” The older houses used far superior materials and old-growth lumber. The floor joists are often full-length, 36-foot 2x8s and 2x10s tied in with shiplap to make them sturdy. “This is something you won’t find in today’s construction,” he said.
But not all houses can be saved and not all building sites are appropriate locations. Nickel insists that first a study must be done.
It Takes Vision
Perka's house snuggles in the trees on her 10-acre parcel. Photo Susan Colby
It takes vision to bring an old house back to life, but for those with the time, energy and desire, saving a house can be a very rewarding endeavor.
According to Janet Perka of Port Townsend, potential buyers must be prepared to commit to the process. She speaks from experience, as she spent many months preparing her land for delivery of her own recycled cottages.
“Potential buyers should get all the infrastructure in place first,” she said,” as finding the right house can take time, often a year or so.”
Perka recommends that once a buyer has found a location, Nickel Brothers or the local house mover should be brought in to inspect it to ensure that the location is accessible.
“Then make sure all the utilities are available,” she said, as that can be the most time- consuming part of the process. She said that getting the actual building permit took only about a month.
Perka is no newcomer to recycled homes. Growing up in Canada, she lived in a World War II home her father moved onto her grandparents’ farm near Toronto. Now she lives in a cottage outside of Port Townsend that has been moved three times, each time by Jeff Monroe, a local house mover.
Perka laughed, saying, “Jeff told me that he wouldn’t move it again, that when people move on with their lives, they don’t take their houses with them.”
Recycled houses also can be a source of low-cost housing. Nickel recounted a recent incident where they tried to find a buyer for a large Victorian-era barracks. They were unable to find anyone, and the building eventually was demolished. Ironically, the local newspaper ran the advertisement for the property opposite a story about the lack of low- cost housing in the city.
“People, and developers in particular, need to be educated about these possibilities,” he said.
Affordable Housing
Two other women in Port Townsend have heeded the “affordable housing” call and have installed their houses, one within the city limits and the other in the county.
For Renee Bush, a mixed-media artist, buying her own home seemed out of reach, until she found her house on the side of the road. “I’m a scavenger,” she laughed, “It’s how I find the things I use in my art. And I like to think it’s how I found my house. I was intrigued by the idea of buying a recycled house.”
Being very “green” minded, Bush is using Rastra blocks for the basement. Rastra is the original Composite Insulating Concrete Form (ICF), first introduced in 1972 in Austria. The blocks are made of recycled polystyrene, which act as insulation and are filled with concrete and supported by rebar.
Continuing the green theme, the house has a sunroom added to the front. “I made sure I found a south-facing lot, so I could add passive solar power. The floor acts as a thermal mass to collect heat.” She continued, “During the excavation, all the topsoil was saved and I have combined my landscaping with edible plants.” She plans to plant deciduous fruit trees in the front to shade the sunroom during the summer and let the light in during the winter.
Like Bush, Toni Gardner was taken with the idea of going green as she “loves green things,” and what better way to recycle than to recycle a whole house, she said. Although Bush said she would consider recycling another house, she has some caveats for future recyclers. “I was naïve when I started this, and did things piecemeal.” She said, “Figure out what has to be done first, and what it will cost, then multiply it by three.”
How the Houses Are Planted
The houses are barged into Port Townsend. Photo Susan Colby
When Perka’s houses were delivered, anyone looking out into Port Townsend Bay would have done a double take. They would have seen a little tug hauling a large barge – not an unusual sight in a port, but its load was highly unusual. Two small houses rested comfortably, ready for unloading. When the tide was right, which was in the middle of the night, the barge inched its way onto the beach and heavy-duty trucks anchored it while the two houses were gently maneuvered onto the waiting house-moving trucks. In the dead of night, they crawled their way out to their new homes. Several hours later, the two houses were planted on the land, jacked up, braced and leveled on the prepared foundations.
Perka, with three recycled houses on her 10-acre parcel said, “I know if I was to do this again, I would buy a more expensive house that doesn’t need as much work as my original two did. You will save in the long run.”
But all three women agree on one thing; “It’s a great thing to do.”
