Before you demolish it, someone nearby wants the materials

A seven-step play for an architectural-salvage company or reclaimed-materials supplier. It starts from City permit portals, stacks Zillow and BidNet Direct on top, and ends in a message to the owner or demolition contractor that is useful before anyone replies.

Deploy in Glider

Installs this workflow, five project tables and a draft campaign. Source access and any external outputs are checked before research.

Category: Property and construction
Sources: 3
Steps: 7

The workflow

TriggerCity permit portalsDemolition and interior renovation permits
Evidence
ZillowOld listing photos of the interior BidNet DirectNearby projects specifying reclaimed materials
Artifact
What you hand overA salvage sheet: what the old listing photos show, the nearby projects asking for it, and an inspection offer.
Contact
GliderFinds the owner or demolition contractor, with a verified work email and a phone
Message
Send itFrom your own mailboxes, evidence attached

Why it earns attention

Old interiors often contain materials that someone nearby is specifying for a new project. A demolition permit is the last chance to save them and turn a disposal cost into a sale.

The play in seven steps

01
Catch the demolition permit
City permit portals
What you pull
Demolition and interior gut permits for buildings over 70 years old: address, scope, applicant and date.
Why it matters
This is the deadline. Once the crew starts, the materials go to a dumpster.
Example
Interior demolition · 1912 brick commercial building · 88 Mill St · permit issued Oct 20
02
See what's inside
Zillow
What you pull
Past listing photos of the property: visible floors, doors, beams, fixtures and millwork.
Why it matters
You can identify salvage value before anyone lets you in the door.
Example
Listing photos from 2019 · heart pine floors · 14 original paneled doors · exposed timber beams
03
Find who wants it
BidNet Direct
What you pull
Open solicitations and project specs within 100 miles that call for reclaimed wood, doors or fixtures.
Why it matters
A buyer with a spec turns salvage from a maybe into a sale. It is also why the owner will listen.
Example
2 projects specify reclaimed heart pine flooring · library renovation 40 miles away
04
Build the salvage sheet
Your artifact
What you build
What is likely recoverable, the projects asking for it, and a proposed inspection before removal starts.
Why it works
It shows the owner money and less landfill on one page, with a single next step.
Example
About 3,000 sq ft of flooring · 14 doors · 2 interested projects · inspection this week
05
Check before you send
Photos can be years old. Inspect before promising anything, and check for lead paint or asbestos, which changes what can be reused.
06
Find the owner or demolition contractor in Glider
Glider
Search for
Property ownerDeveloperDemolition contractor project managerGeneral contractor
Why them
The owner controls the materials. The demolition contractor controls the schedule and can make room for salvage.
What you get
A work email and a direct phone, with the email verified before it goes into a sequence.
07
Send the evidence, then run the first test
To: the owner or demolition contractorEvery line comes from a step above
The interior demolition permit for 88 Mill Street was issued October 20.¹ The 2019 listing photos show heart pine floors and fourteen original paneled doors.² Two projects within 50 miles are specifying reclaimed heart pine right now.³ I put what looks recoverable and who wants it on one sheet.⁴ Can we inspect before removal starts?
- Facts from the data (the number is the step)
- What you built for them
- One small ask
Why it works
It gives the owner a reason to delay the dumpster: real buyers for materials in their own building, found from their own photos.
First test
Five demolitions of pre-1940 buildings.
Success looks like
Two inspections out of ten demolition permits.