Replies

1. 
   BossHog | Jun 12, 2003 05:46pm | #1

   The only other thought I could come up with was to find a place that grinds wood up for mulch. But they may not want the stuff if there's any concrete left on the plywood - It would dull their knives pretty quickly.

   What upsets me is not that you lied to me, but that from now on I can no longer believe you. [Nietzsche]

2. 
   joeh | Jun 12, 2003 06:25pm | #2

   Leave it at the curb? Amazing what disappears around here, but you aren't here............

   Joe H

1. 
   brownbagg | Jun 12, 2003 07:18pm | #3

   BONFIRE

1. 
   MisterT | Jun 12, 2003 07:52pm | #4

   Actually this is a good idea.

   when you burn plywood in an open fire, fire gets hot enough to break down any hazardous materials in the glue.Mr T

   Do not try this at home!

   I am an Experienced Professional!

1. 
   billyg83440 | Jun 12, 2003 08:20pm | #5

   Our local dump has you sort out any wood or brush when you dump. When the pile gets big enough they burn it. Saves tons of landfill space.

   A bonfire's the best way to get rid of this kind of stuff. Reduces a big pile of junk to a small pile of ashes.

1. 
   joeh | Jun 12, 2003 10:11pm | #7

   Billy, do they barbee the seagulls when they do the bonfire?

   Or maybe a rat roast?

   Joe H

2. 
   wop | Jun 14, 2003 11:29pm | #22

      Nah... Seaguls taste terrible.  The hindquarters on rats are fine but the meat is a bit sticky under the teeth when you eat it. Dog now there is a fine meal in Manado Indonesia you can get great spicy dog meat.

                                                                      Philip

3. 
   CDMuk | Jun 16, 2003 08:46pm | #27

   Mmmmmm rat roast Urgghhhhhhhhhh!

3. 
   JohnSprung | Jun 12, 2003 09:17pm | #6

   Give it to a friend who has a fireplace.  If you don't have a friend who has a fireplace, you will soon.....  ;-)

   -- J.S.

4. 
   Piffin | Jun 13, 2003 04:45am | #8

   I don't know about your transfer station but ours sends that kind of stuff to an incinerator to burn.

   They also burn clean wood waste on site. They define clean as having few nails and hardware, no PT or lead paint, no cardboard, They don't have a ny problem with plywood.

   The only chenical to worry over in plywood is formaldehyde in the glue. It has pretty well off gassed by now and high heat destroys the rest. The theory behing letting the State burn things in an incinerator that they don't want you or me to burn, is that they use gas jets to keep a high heat which destoys much of what can otherwise be bad for folks. Then, they also have a tall chimney so the exhaust fumes are dumpoed into the atmosphere at a higher level where it disperses more before people breathe it.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

5. 
   Mooney | Jun 13, 2003 06:51am | #9

   Makes good truss cleats if someone were to do such a thing . Hehehehe.  

   Tim Mooney

1. 
   BossHog | Jun 13, 2003 04:20pm | #11

   "Makes good truss cleats if someone were to do such a thing "

   Don't MAKE me come down there............

1. 
   Mooney | Jun 13, 2003 04:55pm | #12

   "Don't MAKE me come down there............"

   Ah , thats what I was looking for !!!

   Tim Mooney

1. 
   hasbeen | Jun 14, 2003 11:28pm | #21

   Didn't Boss and piffin get together before to recommend a couple of sheetrock screws driven real deep into the soft, previously abused, plywood to make a good homebuilt truss?  If you want overkill, add some Elmer's...Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

1. 
   Piffin | Jun 15, 2003 04:51am | #23

   My goodness! They're both back!.

   Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   CAGIV | Jun 14, 2003 02:13am | #13

   Guy at work asked me what the simplest way to frame up a small garage addition would be, I said trusses, you order, you set, you sheet, you done....  

   he said he couldn't order them because of time constraints, and while he could get the "parts" to make them it would be more time consuming than conventional framing.  Not sure what answer he was looking for?

   So he believes he can site build his own,  should I give him your number lol?

   Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.

   Edited 6/13/2003 7:16:38 PM ET by CAG

6. 
   4Lorn2 | Jun 13, 2003 06:53am | #10

   Most of the usual answers are present so might I offer an alternative?

   Call around to any local boys/girls clubs, local animal shelter, orphan wildlife group or community center. Perhaps a junior high shop class would like it. It might take a few calls and maybe a drive to deliver but this sort of material is a valuable resource to many people.There are many variations on this theme. This scrap can become bird, bat, dog houses, projects for the kids or other community oriented project. Any of which would serve to keep the scrap out of landfill or byproducts out of the atmosphere.

   On a less community oriented bent I try to keep some plywood around to provide simple roofs over temporary power poles, saves wear and tear on the panel and meter socket. It also makes dandy mounting boards for telecom equipment in businesses, power equipment mounted on difficult surfaces or, if all else fails to materialize before the ply starts to disintegrate, a place to put spoils when I dig across a lawn.

   Additionally a few pieces, if it is a type and thickness suitable, in the back of a truck can help get you unstuck or keep you out of the mud when changing a tire or replacing a water pump on the side of a road. I often have a piece in the back so I don't have to kneel or lay down in the mud during service calls. As a last resort any left over can be put to use making walkways over the mud at a job site. If the mud around your location is anything like the clay around here during the rainy season all the workers on a site will sing your praises.

   Cut into strips, with the grain for straight runs and cross for curves, scrap ply makes handy forms for concrete walkways or driveways, high end AC pads and boards to keep mud and run off under control. A two or three foot square piece put in an area frequented by dogs, sometimes cats, often becomes a favorite spot for them. Ply stacked end ways makes a nice, heavy duty, scratch post for the cats or chew for the dogs. Saves wear and tear on the furniture.

   You could also donate by neglect a portion to any teen age kids in your neighborhood for tree houses, free form carts, forts or just messing around. You could also build play a play house for yours or your neighbors kids.

   Scrap materials need not go to waste if you are imaginative enough. 

1. 
   Piffin | Jun 14, 2003 06:18am | #14

   I thought about a few of those but I had the im,pression from the original Q that he had used these for concrete forms and then abused them further so that would eliminate a lot of project use.

   Around my place, I make dog houses, use then as "shingles" to cover the firewood piles, and build "bridges" across some gullies and ditches for the neighbor kid with his bicycle and now - his four wheeler. There was once a time that my daughter used all the ply scraps and then some to build her "camp" out in the woods.

   Kids is a good way to go with a lot of it..

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   CAGIV | Jun 14, 2003 07:09am | #15

   Kids is a good way to go with a lot of it.

   Not that I have much personal experience with this, but a kid is going to get lumber for that fort or ramp some where, if you give it to them, they may just think about not stealing it from your stack next time, or it might even encourage them to ask you first...

   maybe/maybe notNever be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.

1. 
   4Lorn2 | Jun 14, 2003 08:12am | #16

   In my experience letting kids have lumber is best done by leaving it near where they want to use it. Benign neglect. The kids get off thinking they are getting away with something and, should the worse happen and one of them gets hurt, you are free to look shocked and are largely free of any liability. Sure you could still be sued but their case is a bit harder if they were playing with lifted materials. Of course the local lawyers might not see it that way.

2. 
   kostello | Jun 14, 2003 01:46pm | #17

   a bunch of kids down the road from me made a fort/camp thing out of a load of stuff i saved( i don't know why) ( oh yes it would come in handy one day)

   aleks

3. 
   Piffin | Jun 14, 2003 03:25pm | #19

   Right you are.

   ( You probably understand kids pretty good since you are so close in age to them, you young whippersnapper)

   Kids are pretty much like other human beings. Treat them with respect and they will you too.

   This one neighbor kid has a real bad SOB father who recently left them. Family situation makes him a prime candidate for a juvenile delinquent. Several of us in the neighborhood chip in on guidance and help.

   Showing him do this and not that and helping him do the right way and giving him this but hands off on that draws linews for guidance. He's got trails through my eight acres that I approved ( "Anyplace but over here....")

   As a result, he sees this as part of his domain, to be protected by him instead of seeing it as foreign, to be invaded by him.

   plywood scraps are just scraps to us, but they are coveted materials to BUILD something to these kids. We all know what BUILDING does for character. Any kid who has built anything and then seen it torn down by someone else knows what side he is on in this morality play..

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   CAGIV | Jun 15, 2003 05:25am | #24

   I'm only about 15 years removed from my days of pirating lumber for everything from forts and tree houses to a ramps and half pipes...

   I'll admit to a bit of thievery in my younger years to get choice ply, you can't build a good ramp out of scrap........   got caught once, got my #### nailed to the wall by my dad and grandfathers, and uncle and mother, and ......   that was the last time.

   the builder was cool about it, said we could have scrap, IF we asked him first all worked out well.Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.

2. 
   MisterT | Jun 17, 2003 12:38am | #28

   Neil,

      Your post reminded me of a section of woods I walk my dawgs thru.

   kids have built a MASSIVE BMX track.

   some of the jumps are taller than me.

   They digg holes and use the dirt for ramps on either side.

   they cut up logs for coarse fill to reduse the amount of dirt they need.

   There are thousands of "teen/hours" involved here!!!

   All I can think of is that these kids parents probably can't get them to do squat around the house!!!Mr T

   Do not try this at home!

   I am an Experienced Professional!

3. 
   CAGIV | Jun 17, 2003 01:48am | #29

   reminds me of something we had in the woods in back of our subdivision.  We made a pretty cool little bike track, the best was a ramp that dropped down into the ground about 4 feet or so and came back up the other side. 

   everyones parents were a little upset when they found out I brought a chain saw down there to clear out some of the smaller trees, they were worried we were going to cut an arm off or something :)Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.

4. 
   kostello | Jun 15, 2003 11:38am | #25

   "plywood scraps are just scraps to us, but they are coveted materials to BUILD something to these kids. We all know what BUILDING does for character. "

   goes back to the thread on concious building. although i donn't think these things are likely to last 100 years, but they give the builder the same sense of pride

   i feel the same way whether i've finished making a little jig to make my life easier of an addtion.

   aleks

5. 
   Barncat5 | Jun 16, 2003 05:26pm | #26

   Wow! Thanks for all the feed back- both informative and humorous. As it kills me to throw out any piece of lumber with any potential for future use, most of the "scraps" are very small, irregular in shape, and battered by concrete. I can't imagine anyone getting too excited by a "donation" of such stuff. So the verdict? Bonfire. A couple of the replys have convinced me that burning the stuff poses no significant health hazard.

2. 
   andybuildz | Jun 14, 2003 02:07pm | #18

   Piff

        Didnt wanna add to yer ego but once again I do agree with you.

   Seems a shame to me to burn or toss, There are so many things you can build with that stuff. The minute I toss sumpin' I end up needin' it. Yer so very right!

   Wish I could figure out my eight million dollar digital camera so I can show you all the stacks of forms I built that I used to tie together the rubble rock foundation.

   Seems like I been going out there and unscrewing the 2x4's offa them when I need 2x shims or whatever.

   Don't toss em'...

   Be conscious of using the stuff every here and there....that shi!'ll be gone in a NY minute

                 NAmaste

                                andy.....PS...my  gigantic pile of forms is down to half.......

   Be thankful for screws 

    

   In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

7. 
   anthonydante | Jun 14, 2003 05:29pm | #20

   You might want to call your local fire department.

   As a FF who cuts holes in roofs, we're always looking for plywood to help us build roof simulators on different pitches. Most depts. would also love to do tha also, but funding is usually the problem.

   The more proficient we get on practice roofs makes it that much safer when it's time to really do it on a snowy night trying to cut a 4 x 4 hole on a 12/12 roof!

   Just another thought to throw in!