By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Columnist

With lumber and other construction materials growing more expensive, it's amazing how much of it ends up in landfills instead of being reused.

A few Hawai'i firms and individuals are trying to do something about that.

Nanakuli Housing, which has a base yard at Sand Island, collects donations of doors, windows, cabinets, lighting and plumbing fixtures and such and offers them to families who need help repairing their homes.

The nonprofit's president, Paige Barber, said that some of the stuff is new — leftovers from construction projects or surplus that companies donate to the cause rather than send to the dump.

Barber said the agency had help getting started from LaFrance Kapaka, the former head of Habitat for Humanity on Kaua'i. Habitat operates its own construction materials thrift shop at its warehouse in Hanapepe on Kaua'i, where you might find a sink or a shower tub, some roofing tile or an old refrigerator.

Habitat gets donations of lumber, too, but is generally able to put that to use in the homes its clients build.

A handful of Hawai'i contractors who focus on renovating old homes specialize in identifying stuff worth saving. Mike Faye of Kikiaola Construction has jobs on the Big Island, Maui and Kaua'i, and has a pile of old windows taken from demolished houses just waiting for a project that needs a particular style. Faye even keeps a couple of old termite-eaten houses around, waiting for the right project or client.

There also are noncommercial building materials recyclers, like the remodeler on O'ahu who would set aside reusable material at job sites and ended up shipping them to Moloka'i, where he built himself a vacation cottage.

Or, the Kaua'i handyman who saved bits and pieces for two decades, and is going to end up building his own home substantially cheaper than if he had to buy materials.

The reuse of old lumber and other materials is popular on the Mainland, too.

There are individuals and firms who buy up old farms, take them down, and sell the old siding and adze-hewn beams to builders who want a mature look to their projects.

Some firms resaw big beams from warehouses and factories, selling them for various purposes. Often, the older beams are made from close-grained, old-growth timber that's no longer available.

A California firm, TerraMai, specializes in reclaimed wood, and has a specialty in buying up old redwood wine tanks and reselling them for modern projects.

Jan TenBruggencate is The Advertiser's Kaua'i bureau chief and its science and environment writer. Contact him at (808) 245-3074 or e-mail jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.