When longtime Westporters, Bill and Kate Weber, decided to move from Old Hill to Saugatuck Island, it was a bit of kismet: the home they bought, 105 Harbor Rd, was owned and relatively recently renovated by good friends of theirs. The Webers wanted to make some changes to the second floor of the home. However, when they consulted with local architecture firm, Tanner White, they were told that because the house was not FEMA-compliant, any work they did would require them to pull a permit and raise the house up to the FEMA prescribed level. The architect’s advice: because we have to make the house FEMA-compliant to do the work you want to do anyway, it makes more economic sense to start from scratch.

 The Webers did not feel good about destroying a perfectly good home, so they began researching other options. A friend fromWashington, D.C. told them about Second Chance, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Baltimore that provides “people, materials and the environment with a second chance.” They deconstruct buildings and homes, salvage usable materials, and make those and other donated items available to the public for reuse. With the revenue generated from the sale of those items, they provide job training and workforce development for people with various employment obstacles in the Baltimore area. Second Chance seemed like a great fit for what they were looking for.

As a first step, Second Chance came up to Westport and assessed the value of the building materials and appliances that could be salvaged from the home. You can choose to deconstruct only the more valuable items or everything in the home. The Webers chose everything. Next up, Second Chance sent a crew of 8 people and spent two weeks deconstructing the home, a week on the inside and a week outside. They worked rain or shine and neighbors commented on how hardworking the crew was. They took every door, window, floorboard, fixture, appliance, tile and shingle. After they finished, the Webers still had to perform demolition work on the foundation and non-salvageable materials, however, the majority of the house was gone to Baltimore.

Because Second Chance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Webers were able to make the home a charitable deduction for the appraised value of the materials salvaged. “The economic benefit is nice,” says Bill, but it was not the primary motivating factor in their decision to use Second Chance. “The first driver was avoiding all that material ending up in the landfill, and the second driver was supporting Second Chance’s mission.”

Check out Second Chance’s website for more information.

Learn more about how to build or remodel more sustainably, including information on deconstruction here.

THANK YOU, Bill & Kate Weber for being a Sustainable Westport Superstar!