When you come to start your new farm, money can be tight or you may have a million, who knows? I am concentrating on the people who have very little money to build their small farms up. This is to find cheap building materials or free.

There are plenty of ways to get your hands on cheap materials, that cost very little money or even come free. You may have to be a little cheeky in your approach and certainly not be shy in asking. But this is how to find cheap building materials.

“You remember the old saying, “Shy kids get no sweets”

Well, this applies to getting cheap materials or as I say free materials. The first thing I did after purchasing my land was thought how the “Hell” am I going to get my hands on the materials. The materials that I need to get this place up and running?

How I Find Cheap Building Materials & Free Materials

Now I have been given everything from thousands of pounds of timber for a couple of hundred pounds. I have even been given a free £6000 mint condition caravan for a £400 moving fee.

I have even been given a full “Pub”. Yes, a full pub was being demolished, I needed the stone or bricks for the sub-base of my yard and they needed to get rid of it.

This is where it benefits both parties, I get free foundation stone and they get to tip for free. You may also get free timber or roof tiles in the process, if they have any, or get it for a really cheap price. I have to de-nail it, but hey it’s free right?

You have to find out where things are being demolished and ask, that’s it. What have you got to lose, they can only say yes or no.

Ways To Get Cheap Timber

When it comes to timber you can do exactly the same thing if you see a building being demolished, then ask if they would like to sell the timber out of the building.

You may have to pay £1 a length, but that’s a lot cheaper than brand-new timber from the wood yard. Also, the timber will be of better quality if the building is old. They used better timber back 100 years ago, even 50 – 60 years ago, you will be in for a shock at how good a condition it will still be in.

I have lots of timber this way, in fact, most of it really. Yes, you have to take a few nails out, as I mentioned here and there. This only takes a small amount of time. You save lots of money by trading that little time to take the nails out.

Try Your Local Builders Merchants For Seconds

Another way to get your hands on good timber is to go to the local builder’s yard and ask what they do with their damaged or bent timber. Now you might be thinking about what can I do with damaged and bent timber. Well, only a small section of a 5-meter long piece of 8 x 2 timber has to be damaged, then this cannot be sold and is normally placed to one side.

If it’s bent then it is really easy to get it back to straight timber, by soaking the timber with water and placing lots of weight on it and leaving it for a while. Again this is an excellent way how to find cheap building materials

All the timber in the image above, I have purchased from builders’ merchants, you can see the prices they sold it for, as it is written on the packs. That whole amount was around £300 for the lot. That’s a massive saving on the price of purchasing new timber for sure, I have used it for most of my buildings.

Other Materials

I also look for leftover materials from works being carried out locally. If I see big building sites, sometimes even small sites. I ask what they are going to be doing with the leftover materials. Most of the time you get something you can use.

Once I purchased 24 x 4.2-meter lengths of brand new 100mm Kingspan Insulated Roofing Sheets. They were leftover from a new roof being added to local building merchants literally less than half a mile from my land.

I stopped to ask the men working on replacing the roof if they would have any leftovers and if so would they think about selling it. After a little talk and explaining what I needed it for, he asked for my number and that was that.

Try To Stay In Their Minds

I always kept popping in as the job continued, so I was always in their minds. Not bothering them just saying, “Hi” and waiting till the job was nearing the end. Then I asked again, this time they had some idea of how much would be left over.

They sold me each length for £10 each now Insulated Kingspan Roofing sheets at 100mm thick cost around £50 per meter and they also gave me 40 Sheets at 1.2 meters in length for nothing and all the fixings. The whole lot cost me £240 and it must have been worth £8000 or so if purchased new, which it was.

Other Easy Ways How To Find Cheap Building Materials

Now I have been given hundreds of paving slabs 450 x 450 mm 245 in all to precise because one person did not want them and would have to pay to tip them. I was willing to take them for free, they even dropped them off at my piece of land for free.

The block paving I have for all my drive and stable block were given for free. I placed “Add’s” asking for local builders who need to get rid of bricks, blocks and anything I could use for sub-base for my roads. Then I picked out the block paving and reused it as the base for my mushroom cabin.

The image below shows concrete blocks that are made to look like sandstone all given for free by local people. I was given 7 tons of blue gravel that was over-ordered by someone who needed to relay their drive or a landscaping project. I had the means to collect it and he gave it to me for free.

I have had lots more things given for free, trees if they can be taken out like Japanese maples, chicken huts, large rocks for my ponds and lots more. To be truthful around 90% of the materials I use on my farm are given to me.

As I run a property maintenance business, I do a lot of fencing and the fencing boards are normally in mint condition. Fence posts are normally the thing that rots and then the fence falls. I keep all the fencing boards for use on my land.

Wanted Adds, Facebook, Builders

You can put “Wanted Adds” for free or unused materials in local Free Papers, Gumtree, Preloved, Craigslist, Facebook Groups, Freecycle, and Local Shops and also give your number to every builder you know and see what you get offered.

You never know what people throw away or want out of their gardens, or off their land. This can be another excellent way of how to find cheap building materials. If you are in the building or landscaping business then use this to your advantage. I have had full chicken runs and chicken houses given that are more or less brand new and some worth a pretty penny.

Now yes, my main business is property maintenance. But this is not where I get many of my free materials. I get most from the builders and demolition companies I stop to ask. So if you see these types of businesses around stop and ask small and large businesses alike, what they are doing with leftover materials at the end of the job

My business does take me to lots of homes and as I talk to my customers about my small farm, they are normally really supportive. They are always interested and ask me if I want to take this or that. But these are only small things like small trees, chickens huts, rabbit cages or sheds. All I can put to good use on my farm.

You Will Not Get What You Want

If you are going to be putting wanted ads up or asking local builders. You will not get exactly what you want or need on the first day of asking.

You will have to wait and see what you get offered and what comes your way, you will be pleasantly surprised I think.

So Much More Out There

The point is, do not be shy if you see a building site coming to the end or demolition sites around ask. I have mentioned builders, and merchants, especially if you purchase from them.

There is so much free material or cheap material out there. That you do not have to purchase everything brand new and you might have to wait a little time, that’s for a really good amount of materials, you could use.

I just keep renewing my “Wanted Add’s” when they are about to run out. Then I wait till I get new emails or messages, asking me if I want this or that. If I want it I will go collect it, if not then I say no thanks, but thank you for the offer.

All you need to do is ask or place simple “WANTED ADD” and don’t be shy when asking people. Be polite and make friends, you never know what they will throw your way in the future.

Remember to thank anyone who gives you something and also your number. Just in case they have more things to give away or know of any? Even if they don’t have anything then they might have something further down the line you could use.