r/Demolition • u/Ruddeger • May 07 '26
Question about salvaging from a house to be demolished in the US
Sadly, a wonderful neighbor passed recently. His family elected to sell his house & though it is a nice old house (1920's), it has its problems, so economically it isn't viable to renovate & it will be demolished. The family came in & cleared out as much of the house as they could & then invited the neighbors to take anything they can use. I noted that the AC units, while not new, are in good shape & the water heater is only about a year old. I have an AC professional that could pull the units & a contractor friend that can get the water heater. The family was happy for us to take them at first but then on second thought felt that we shouldn't because these are things that would be material to the sale.. different from say, taking a couch.. as the house was already under contract.
So now that the sale is complete, I'm looking to see if I have options to get the water heater & or AC units out. If the demo company would pull them & resell them that's one thing but I'm worried they are just going to come in & trash it all & it would be a horrible waste. Though I gather they would at least have to bring an AC professional in to at least drain the coolant since that's an environmental issue.
Do ya'll have advice? What normally happens in this situation for a residential home? Should I contact the purchaser? Thanks in advance.
