This may be a tough one, but here goes.

**NewbyScrapper** · 12-08-2012, 08:26 PM

A small, approx 450 sq ft single story house, 2 bed, one bath, is being demolished across the street from me. The place was completely re-wired to meet city code, with Romex 12/3, 2 years ago. There are multiple wall sockets in all rooms.
I am trying to negotiate a price for all the copper wiring in the place.
Thats the history, now the tough, (impossible ?) question:

Roughly how much, either in weight, or possibly in length of wire, can I expect to get?

btw, the place is literally being cut up, using sawsalls and circular saws (Only in California, right? lol) There is no room, either in front, or on the sides of the abode, to use a backhoe or any other mechanical device.

Some might ask "why not wait till all the wiring has been removed". Far too difficult to explain.

Thanks for reading.

**taterjuice** · 12-08-2012, 08:30 PM

Last house I pulled wire out of had round 200 # of wire in it but this is one of those things that can have a huge variance in so you pretty much gona much to estimate and hope for the best. Balls to the wind kind of deal.

**Ecycle Atlanta** · 12-08-2012, 09:00 PM

Dont know how its done in Cali, but if they did a good job of fireblocking then it may be a pain to pull wires. Cutting wires at top and bottom plate and through studs could be very time consuming. If you could simply cut behing the switches/outlets, then pull from the panel it may be alright. Or if you could cut in the middle (in attic or basement/crawl space) might make it easier. 450 sq ft is not very big and I hope the return pays off for the work involved. Personally I wouldnt pay for it AND do the work unless it was a ton of wire. As a contractor I wouldnt want someone on my jobsite that might either slow me down or not have proper insurance coverage.

edit: Wanted to add one more thought. If you had the time, I would lowball the guy and take the work. Pay close attention to what you get into and work involved so that you can know what to bid on other similar jobs. If it doesnt pay, then at least you find out with a small job and not take a big loss. The education you receive might make it worth it.

**steelhead** · 12-08-2012, 09:52 PM

450 Sf is pretty small to make pay off. I would be prepared to find as little as 100 lbs due to short runs to the service panel. Probably not many circuits.

**oldtoothlessbassmaster** · 12-08-2012, 10:21 PM

anything else inside........copper pipe, brass faucets, furnace, baseboard heat

**scrapperben** · 12-08-2012, 11:34 PM

lead paint, asbestos sheeting, body parts, gold teeth

**BRASSCATCHER** · 12-08-2012, 11:46 PM

If you know the owner see if you could work out a split with him/ her. That way you dont have to pay up front. See if you could get a 60/40 split in your favor if you do all the work.

**NewbyScrapper** · 12-09-2012, 02:25 AM

Originally Posted by scrapperben

lead paint, asbestos sheeting, body parts, gold teeth

Ha ha, typical OZ humour, I love it but, none of the above

**NewbyScrapper** · 12-09-2012, 02:30 AM

Thanks for the reply shendog.

**NewbyScrapper** · 12-09-2012, 03:15 AM

To those who have replied, many thanks.

I managed to persuade one of the 'demo' guys to break the sheetrock from one wall socket, near the skirting board up to the ceiling, approx 8 feet. The Romex was stapled to the vertical stud in 2 places.(not in conduit). I got the length of cable out, striped the insulation off and got 7.5 ozs of shiny bright 12 gauge. (3x8ft)

Using the above as a guide line and knowing exactly how many wall sockets there are in each room, I did some maths and concluded that at best, there would be about 5>6 lbs of stripped wire, from within the walls.

Initial asking price was $200, which dropped to $150 in a heartbeat, when I said I didn't have that kind of money.
Since writing my initial post, I have since found out that all the wiring in the attic, running through couduit, has already been removed and taken away by the "demo" guy.
So, I passed on the whole "deal".

Thanks again to all who responded and happy scrapping to one and all.

This may be a tough one, but here goes.

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