My neighbor told me I was being too picky about curb finds

I used to only grab stuff that looked perfect, like a chair with no scratches. My neighbor Frank saw me pass up a solid oak dresser last month because it had a water stain on top. He said, 'Jana, that's free wood. You can sand that out in an hour.' I mean, he was right. I went back and got it, sanded the top, and now it's in my bedroom. It changed how I look at things with small flaws. Do you guys fix up damaged stuff or do you only take things that are ready to use?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.drew2mo ago

Is it really worth the time to fix free junk?

finley9392mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're getting stuff for free? Where? But seriously, if it's broken and you can fix it in an afternoon, you just got a working thing for the cost of a little time. That's a huge win. The only junk is stuff that's totally destroyed or would need a hundred bucks in parts.

nathan_foster609d ago

Frank over here passed up a solid oak dresser once because it had one leg that was an inch too short. I laughed at him for that for a YEAR. But seriously @torres.drew, it is absolutely worth the time if you count the cost of a new dresser versus half a Saturday sanding and staining. I'm the guy who brought home a broken rocking chair from a garage sale and spent three hours fixing it, only to realize I'd glued the seat on backwards. My wife still brings that up at parties. So yeah, I grab the stuff with flaws because my track record is about 70% success and 30% hilarious failure. You can't beat free materials for learning how to fix things, even if you mess up a few times.