Make thousands selling building scraps: Bricks, copper piping and even an old boiler can fetch hundreds… and roof tiles may be worth £20,000

Most homeowners who have building or plumbing work done blithely throw old materials in the skip or gratefully accept when tradesmen offer to take them away.

But while old bricks, boilers, tiles and floorboards may look like useless rubble, they could be an unlikely treasure trove worth hundreds or thousands of pounds.

As the cost of raw building materials soars – up 40 per cent in six years – we asked experts what you should never throw or give away, prices you should expect and how to sell to get the best deals.

Old bricks

Prices of the most sought-after bricks have doubled in value over the past six years. So, if you have a pile in the back garden or have spares after replacing a wall, flog rather than throw them out.

Homeowners who carry out projects on their homes such as extensions or renovations often prefer to match their existing bricks. However, older brick sizes, patterns and materials are sometimes no longer made, so they must buy second hand and supply is limited.

Older bricks, such Red Imperials and London Yellows, are particularly lucrative and appeal to buyers who are renovating period properties

For example, the handmade Victorian and Edwardian era London Yellow are being sold by traders for almost £700 for a pallet of 250 bricks – £2.80 a brick. But traders typically pay only up to £2 to a private seller because they have transport and professional cleaning costs to consider.

Accrington and Red Imperials costing around £2 a brick are also really sought-after. A British brick tax was introduced in 1784 during the reign of King George III – at two shillings and sixpence per thousand bricks. Naturally, this resulted in builders using larger bricks. But if you have any earlier slimmer bricks – either Tudor or Georgian – they are in high demand for feature walls and can sell for between £1.50 and £2 each.

Stan Hoare, of the Reclaimed Brick Company in Sheffield, says: ‘Modern bricks since the Second World War are simply not as strong as earlier bricks – and increasingly people are looking for quality that will last when renovating a property because they are not moving home but investing in the future of their home in bricks and mortar.

‘Earlier bricks are also aesthetically far more appealing and Imperial measurements mean that older bricks are often slightly larger than modern examples so fit with older properties.

‘Facing bricks are particularly in demand as they get to be shown on the outside of a wall and behind this might be hidden breeze blocks.’

Boiler and pipes

The price of copper has risen by nearly 40 per cent over the last year due to high demand – so old boiler pipes could easily be more valuable than you think

When a heating engineer comes round and shakes their head at your dated broken-down old boiler it may seem like they are doing you a favour pulling it out and taking it away – and might even charge you for the privilege. But all that copper piping and brass valves within it means the boiler could be worth £50. If you replace copper piping used to supply water and for the central heating, you could easily have as much as 300ft of piping, weighing 70kg and worth at least £470.

Traditional copper water tanks kept in the loft weigh as much as 20kg and may be worth £135 while a copper heating cylinder in the airing cupboard could fetch £100. This is because the price of copper has risen by almost 40 per cent over the past 12 months due to high demand.

Tom Fullager, of Ace Car Breakers in Swanscombe, Kent, is among the scrap merchant dealers delighted to take it off your hands. He says: ‘We pay £6,750 a tonne for copper – give us a call or bring old plumbing out of the house and we will happily pay the market price.’ He adds: ‘We will also pay for brass at £3,900 a tonne, and £1,000 a tonne for lead. Just bring your ID and proof of address.’

If your property needs a total rewiring there can be as much as 30kg of copper in the cables – worth a £135 to a scrap metal dealer. A couple of brass taps weighing a total of 4kg would bring in £15 while if you can have 100kg of lead flashing around a chimney it is £100.

Floorboards

Victorian and Edwardian pine floorboards typically sell for anything from £50 to £150 per square metre

Experts say it’s best to contact a reclamation yard before going to the tip during a renovation, as scrap items, including old floorboards, can have great value

Floorboards from older houses may be creaky and gappy, but they can sell for hundreds of pounds.

The most common stock is Victorian and Edwardian pine floorboards, and these typically sell for anything from £50 to £150 per square metre (equivalent to a couple of standard planks of wood) depending on quality and finish. Older wider planks – between seven and nine inches rather than a traditional Victorian and Edwardian standard six to seven inches – fetch a premium as they have fewer gaps and are rarer, coming from properties that could be at least a couple of hundred years old.

Hardwood such as oak – which is more durable and dent resistant – could be worth £100 to £250 per square metre.

Adam Lawson, of Lawsons Yard in Burscough, Lancashire, says: ‘Always contact a reclamation yard before going to the tip during a renovation as old floorboards can have great value. The boards we usually get most excited about are wide antique pine or original oak from Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Those wide planks came from huge, slow-grown trees that are much harder to source today – adding to price.’

He says value is hugely dependent on the quality of plank and finish, with rich warm tones and original marks and holes providing sought-after character and charm. But to get this result planks to be sold may have to be hand sanded and oiled by professionals. This means you could end up being paid little more than half the price the wood is sold for by merchants – though savings can be made if you have the time and expertise to pull up the old planks.

Lawson says: ‘Every board must be lifted carefully to avoid damage and de-nailed by hand. We regularly find original cut nails, screws, carpet grippers and all sorts of hidden metal built up over 100 years or more. Miss just one nail and it can seriously damage expensive machinery. Often, other floor coverings have been bonded to the timber and adhesives can be incredibly difficult to remove. The skill in restoration is to preserve as much of its original character and patina as possible.’

Roof tiles and stone slabs

French tiles, which are curved and made of clay, are the most popular at the moment and can fetch up to £5 each

Homeowners looking to replace cracked roof tiles or build a new bit of roof rarely want to mix in new tiles with the old, weathered ones. That means that all types of old roof tiles and stone slabs are in demand.

Reclamation yards are ideal places to find tiles of the correct shape and material to fit even the most unusual property – so are a natural place to sell unwanted tiles.

Among the most in-demand tiles are curved clay tiles, often known as French tiles, which are sold by reclamation yards for as much as £5 each – so might offer you half this price. With up to 4,000 roof tiles on a typical house, you may have £20,000 worth sitting on top of your home. While clay tiles are less common than slate, reclaimed Welsh slate is always in huge demand. Large slate tiles, around 12in by 24in in size, are sold in reclamation yards for £6 because so few have survived.

Even once-unloved concrete tiles are rising in price to as much as £5 each as homes built half a century or so ago now need repairs that fit in with the existing roof.

Hoare says: ‘It is not just roof tiles that are going up in value – but stone lintels for window frames and stone slabs as well. We have high demand for Yorkshire stone, but it has to be in good condition to fetch the top prices.’

Stone lintels from dealers such as the Reclaimed Brick Company can change hands for more than £200 while Yorkshire Stone slabs can cost from £100 to £200 per square metre. Unusually large undamaged slabs – measuring by 42in by 59in – go for up to £350.

You may have to haggle for a reclamation yard to hand over as much as half the price they intend to sell it for, but you will have a stronger bargaining hand the more that you have to sell – and in the case of stone slabs, they are not chipped or cracked. As with other building materials, it is worth taking clear photographs that you can email to a reclamation yard and to be totally honest on the condition and any imperfections to avoid disappointment.