Showerthought: My take on salvaging old drywall did a full 180

I used to think tearing out and trashing old drywall was just part of the job, no big deal. But after helping on a remodel where we reused boards from non-load bearing walls, I saw how much waste we avoided. The key was checking for mold and damage first, which wasn't as hard as I expected. Now I always look for salvage spots before demo, it saves money and feels better, lol.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jenny2mo ago

Actually that sounds like a huge hassle for minimal payoff. The extra time spent checking and cutting around bad spots eats up any savings for me. Plus you never really know what's inside those walls until they're opened up, so why risk hidden mold or damage? Feels like false economy to save a few sheets of board, right?

anthony_fox2mo ago

Wait, "few sheets"? @the_jenny that's like gambling with black mold!

the_shane2mo ago

Totally agree about the false economy thing. You're not just saving sheets, you're buying a mystery box of potential disasters. Cutting around bad spots turns a simple job into a puzzle that wastes hours. And yeah, once you open it up and find a leak or rot, those savings vanish with the first emergency repair. Just seems like a shortcut that always makes the trip longer.