Construction Junction

Pittsburgh's first building material reuse retailer. Promoting conservation through the reuse of building materials.

[cjreuse]

Welp, time to make it official. As you most likely have figured out by now, @cjreuse will not be holding a Steel City Big Pour this year. We have explored the idea of holding smaller “pours”, utilizing more of CJ’s space with fewer people over multiple days, and we simply cannot make it work safely and, in any event, it has proven a significant challenge simply to operate Construction Junction on a day to day basis. We have had to recruit and train new staff while dealing with changing hours of operation and other major adjustments that have come with the new demands of operating safely in a pandemic. The next challenge for us is the loss of funds raised by the Big Pour, about a month’s worth of sales in a weekend! We are dependent on those funds to fill the part of our operating budget that is not covered by sales revenue. Anticipating that it would not be possible to hold the event this year, we have been able to procure a loan (not a grant) to help us cover lost revenue for 2020. Construction Junction is an over $2mil operation, with a 100,000 square foot building, a staff near 30 people, plus trainees in our @goodwillswpa job training and deconstruction programs. The Big Pour and grant funding generally covers about 18% of CJ’s operating budget, so it is a critical element to continue our programs and operations. Some silver lining to this bummer announcement has been the support of long time sponsors who, upon receiving the news of the cancellation, have told us to keep their sponsorship support, and for this we can’t express our sincere gratitude enough. If you are so inclined to support our mission (without the bonus of a truly great party) please consider a financial donation in whatever amount works for your budget. In lieu of a Big Pour ticket or 4 pack of your favorite craft beer, any amount helps us continue to promote reuse in our community. We hope to have some merch and swag packs to offer soon, as well as ways to thank our supporters and partners. We are incredibly grateful to: @kelly_insurance_group Berger Investment Group National Apartment Laundries Schell Games @jendoco Construction Sitko Bruno Merit Electrical (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CD4X1t4DWH2/?igshid=cjdxebq4zwmt

[cjreuse]

Our deconstruction crew and our job trainees from the South Hilltop Men’s Group have been working for the last two months on the largest salvage job in CJ history, deconstructing the United Mine Workers of America simulated coal mine erected inside a 40,000-square-foot building that is part of the Ruff Creek training center campus. The simulated mine, located on a 64 acre site in Washington County, opened in 2009 with the purpose of training miners for jobs in area coal mines. As the coal industry entered a downturn in the last few years, the center’s mission is shifting from training miners for work in the mines to retraining them for other careers. ... To repurpose the facility for training in other fields, the simulated mine structure which was constructed entirely of dimensional lumber and plywood, needed to be removed. Instead of demolishing the massive structure, the training center Executive Director, Clemmy Allen, called Construction Junction and asked if we could deconstruct the huge lumber labyrinth. Just to give you a quick idea of the size we estimated the roof structure alone contained over 1,500 2 x 10s, all between 14 and 16 feet in length! The “walls” of the mine (including the “shafts”) are plywood stapled to 2 x 4 framing. We disassembled the walls and left them intact. ... Such a sizable undertaking for our crew has been a challenging job for us that supported a higher number of trainees from SHMG than we have previously been able to utilize. The job is an hour from CJ and we had a lot of staffing challenges related to health issues and COVID 19. But bringing in high quality dimensional lumber is a rare opportunity for us, let alone on this scale. We will have successfully diverted a significant quantity of lumber from the landfill. Buying reclaimed lumber from CJ is a way of showing your support for reuse and the jobs it creates at a very critical time for our organization. The sales revenue from this material will help to make future deconstruction jobs of this scope and the partnerships to accomplish them possible. ... Check our inventory page for materials available. More will be added as it arrives (link in bio). #cjreuse (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDmOiGljwu-/?igshid=1sc4nly9iizuw

[cjreuse]

Starting off the week with some of our newest featured finds. You can contact via the inventory text line between 9-3p every day. We’ll be open for shopping and donating starting Wednesday at 9am! (Inventory and contact links in bio.) ... #cjreuse #circulareconomy #reuse #secondhand #buyused (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDcPFkrjTbm/?igshid=nskysbxadagq

[cjreuse]

50lbs of smooth tumbled landscaping glass for $30. Many colors still available. (Check out the garden section on our inventory page, link in bio.) ... CAP Glass takes materials from landfill centers, glass manufacturers, and other recycling centers. They use an advanced, eco-friendly process to sort, clean, and crush glass. These glass mixes are assured to be free of any metals or plastics. ... #cjreuse #circulareconomy #reuse #reducereuserecycle♻️ (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_XMZajbTN/?igshid=1bsvhkssxnf2c

[cjreuse]

Text line is ready and curbside pickup spots are open today through Wednesday, 9-3p. Check out the latest arrivals on our featured inventory site, including 100% recycled content office paper from the PRC paper co-op! ... Inventory link + contact button in our bio. ... #cjreuse #circulareconomy #reuse #secondhand #buyused #reducereuserecycle (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CC3RNZtDMBT/?igshid=1ng87v57e5ld4

[cjreuse]

A ton of new listings up now on our featured inventory page & a whole lot more coming as we prep items! ... Contact our customer service M-W between 9-3p for the promptest response time - if you see something on the website you’d like to buy, click to text direct from mobile (hit that link in our bio.) ... We are also now doing pre-scheduled curbside pickup only Mon-Wed. These must be arranged at the time of your phone purchase. Just to clarify, you can’t contact us at a later time and arrange to schedule a pickup on these days. All regular sold storage pickups Thu-Sun will not be scheduled and can be picked up during regular store hours. Stored items must be picked up within 7 days. There is a $5 flat fee per order. ... #cjreuse #circulareconomy #secondhand #reuse #buyused #curbsidepickup (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCoQL-9jn_E/?igshid=1vrbzfdvsv50w

[cjreuse]

While we’re closed to the public Mon - Wed, we are available for text line/email assistance w/ questions, purchases. Text Only: 412.339.9450 [email protected] Contact us w/ what you need & we’ll do our best to locate anything we have that might work for you. #cjreuse (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTQ8M7j6nG/?igshid=1x6i54duhl71s

[cjreuse]

...one step closer together - to better utilize the energy wasted on racism. #Juneteenth https://www.instagram.com/p/CBn4O8iDXSp/?igshid=1hdi5wa1og0uh

[cjreuse]

To the CJ Reuse Community,

We are encouraged by the Pittsburgh voices raised in support of addressing issues of police brutality and the attention given to the humanization of the individuals whose black lives were cut short. At our core, CJ’s mission is about finding value. We work intentionally to extend this perspective to the people we hire and the organizations with whom we partner. 

One of CJ’s managers (who is also our only African American manager) said to me that what is important to him about CJ is it is a place that gives you a chance regardless of your past mistakes, race, or sexual orientation. A chance is one of the most important opportunities you can give to a person. It goes to the root of our humanity to desire to be valued by the content of our character, to demonstrate that one has learned and be given the opportunity to be judged by the best of our actions and not a single incident. All of this, first, requires time. It can’t be done with “no knocking”, it can’t happen in 8.5 minutes and it can’t be done if we reflexively decide not to hire a person solely because of her/his race or past history. 

At CJ, we will continue to provide chances because we all need time to reveal our strengths and learn from our weaknesses. Clearly, one area that CJ needs to work on is the diversity of its management team. Giving “chances” has provided our organization the opportunity to learn from our past and work to reflect the world we want to see. The black lives who were taken no longer have that chance and that matters and that will continue to influence our operation and our work in the community. 

Mike Gable 

Executive Director 

[cjreuse]

Thank you, we made it through the first week! We did decide on another schedule change (sorry about that) as a result of our experience this past week. We will be closing the store and donation drop off at 3:00 on Saturday.

We have also set each Wednesday from 9 to 10am as a designated shopping time only for at-risk shoppers. These schedule changes are due to the need to limit contact to keep employees, donors, and customers safe. Read the full post here.

[cjreuse]

Start of another new week here at CJ. While donations have resumed, both drop off and scheduled pickups, we are working to get the store and our safety procedures ready and in place for shoppers beginning on Sunday, May 24th from 12-3p. ... You can continue to shop with us via our inventory text line and we will be more than happy to arrange a curbside pickup time for you. (Website and text links in our bio.) ... #cjreuse #circulareconomy #reuse #remodel #belgiumblock #kitchencabinets #kitchenremodel #axe #yardwork #doors (at Construction Junction) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAVmRyqDKZZ/?igshid=i5gh14by4luw

[cjreuse]

NEW HOURS OF OPERATION

Beginning Monday, 5.18:

MON - FRI: 9AM TO 3PM | SAT: 9AM TO 5PM | SUN: NOON TO 3PM

These reduced hours will give staff extra time to do quarantining and cleaning of donated materials, “high touch areas” of the store, and customer carts, as well as restocking of the sales floor. Regular cleaning procedures are required by the state.

We will begin to gradually bring staff back to work as we resume operations and business returns. We must remain fluid with this process and can't confirm an absolutely definitive timeline, but have laid out the coming weeks below. Since March, CJ managers and some staff members have kept our organization's collective head above water with phone/text sales and no contact pick up. Everyone has been remarkably supportive of CJ through this time, but we know you are all eager to reuse and recycle again. Let us assure you, we want to reopen as safely as possible.

-- IN-STORE SHOPPING RESUMES SUNDAY, MAY 24th--

(Reminder that we will be CLOSED for Memorial Day, Monday May 25th, as usual.)

Masks are REQUIRED for all CJ Staff. 

A staff member will be responsible for limiting shoppers in the store. During peak shopping times, customers will be asked to wait outside until someone completes their transaction and exits the building.

Masks are REQUIRED to shop AND donate.

Shoppers must maintain 6ft between CJ staff as well as other shoppers.

Plexiglass shields put in place at the register.

Social Distancing lines are in place on the sidewalk and leading to the register.

We will continue to list certain inventory items for sale on eBay. Some items will be available for shipping and some for pickup only.

We will continue to offer our shop by text option with scheduled curbside pickups and highly recommend that customers use this option whenever possible to avoid the need to enter the store. 

We are also working to provide some options for purchasing certain inventory online, but that will have to be incorporated into our other procedures, so we’re making sure that it will work smoothly before we roll anything out. 

[cjreuse]

It feels like an entire year has gone by since mitigation efforts began to slow the spread of the global coronavirus pandemic on March 16th. We hope you all were able to find the personal strength and support from important people in your lives to get to this point. As you are probably aware by now, Allegheny County has moved to the "Yellow" phase of reopening. We plan to begin transitioning to expanded on-site operations through 2 phases beginning this coming Monday, May 18th (Donations first, followed by shopping.) Simply put, uncertainty makes everything harder, and life is hard enough without a virus to worry about!

Here is how CJ is rolling out our transition to this phase, beginning on Monday, 5.18:

Our deconstruction crew has begun working.

On site donation drop off will resume. Donors will need to be able to unload their materials without CJ staff assistance.

We are inviting people to begin contacting our donations department to resume scheduling no contact donation pickups.

We will continue to maintain the inventory text line and offer phone purchases and scheduled curbside pickups.

-- DROP OFF DONATIONS AT CJ RESUME MONDAY, MAY 18th --

Masks are REQUIRED for all CJ Staff.

Masks are REQUIRED to donate.

CJ staff will NOT be able to assist donors to unload.

We will NOT be accepting:

BIKES, NON-FUNCTIONING APPLIANCES, GLOBAL LINKS MEDICAL ITEMS, LIGHT BULBS OR BATTERIES

Please make sure to read our What We Accept page for all regular material donation guidelines.

[cjreuse]

Please visit our Give Big Pittsburgh page during the month of May to make a donation to support our deconstruction work and job training programs.

Each American generates an average of 4.4 pounds of waste every day. If you multiply that by 75 years you get 120,450 pounds or about the weight of a 2000 square foot house. Deconstructing instead of demolishing that house diverts an individual’s lifetime of production of waste!

Over the last decade, CJ has done nearly 1000 salvage jobs harvesting doors, windows, cabinets and trim before the structure is demolished. Projects have included homes, hospitals, churches, school buildings, offices, and municipal buildings. Our crew works hard to eliminate waste and bring in unique materials that are not often donated through our pick up or drop off services. Salvage opportunities for our deconstruction program are getting larger and more frequent.

The share of young construction workers has been in decline for over a decade. While this has far reaching impact for the building industry overall, it can be even more challenging to find remodeling contractors who want to work with reclaimed materials, given how labor intensive secondhand materials can often be. Our deconstruction training can be an entry point into the construction and renovation trades. CJ is committed to playing a role in identifying the next generation of laborers and craftspeople who want to work in the renovation/restoration/repair fields.

Thank you for supporting.

[cjreuse]

Sorry for not posting anything that had stuff for sale today. Here’s the shadow of a tree against the back of my house. #wednesdaywalkaround #cjreuse https://www.instagram.com/p/CAJL43_DB4y/?igshid=1h3hvtfsm9vgk

[cjreuse]

In 2019, CJ’s Goodwill team processed:

- 4,843 doors - Over 3,000 bundles of flooring - 17,101 bundles of tile.

They were also responsible for restocking and merchandising our selection of Amazon Paint and painting supplies. In 2019, we sold 3,539 cans of recycled content latex paint (1 gallon and 5 gallon). These trainees and their Goodwill managers are essential to CJ’s success. We are exploring new ways to get them involved in helping us process even more materials to make shopping reuse easier for you. This is a committed bunch of people!

Help to support our deconstruction work + training partnerships:

https://www.givebigpittsburgh.com/organizations/construction-junction-inc

[cjreuse]

2019 was a great opportunity for a new partnership that flourished for CJ. Our deconstruction crew was able to work with individuals from the South Hilltop Men's Group to expand our salvage operations. Our extensive work on the former Western PA home of engineer Michael Baker would be their first project with our crew, but not the last! They focused on removal of a substantial quantity of slate patio stone and the stone veneer that covered the home. This stone was a unique Colorado red stone, reportedly quarried from ancient sedimentary beds and transported by rail to Beaver, PA.

Last year our deconstruction crew also disassembled a barn for the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. The structure was responsibly removed to make way for a new visitor’s center. We applaud the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s staff and their contractor, P.J. Dick, for working with us to create the extra time it takes to deconstruct. We were glad to once again have assistance on this big job from the South Hilltop Men’s Group as part of our job training efforts to work with organizations making a difference in their communities.

Help to support our deconstruction work and training partnerships:

https://www.givebigpittsburgh.com/organizations/construction-junction-inc