12/06/2009 - Gloucestershire Echo

RECLAMATION BUSINESSES DOING WELL

Construction firms may be struggling due to the housing slump and reession but one firm near Cheltenham is cashing in on pulling them down. Winchcombe Reclamation specialises in selling reclaimed building materials from period houses. And in the last year it has gone into the demolition business itself and is getting plenty of interest from building companies.

But this is demolition with a difference. Instead of knocking down a house with a wrecking ball or crane, buildings are taken apart very carefully. Company secretary Liza Hanks said: "The guys call it deconstruction. It's really a reverse building. Cotswold stone tiles are taken off one by one by hand, cleaned and stacked, and oak beams are very carefully removed. It's actually a pretty skilled business."

Such is the amount of skill and care put in by the company's six employees that two years ago one barn from Newent was taken down in it's entirety, every piece was numbered and it was shipped to Canada to be rebuilt this summer. Liza said: "It can take days or even weeks to demolish a house in this way and we only do three or four a year, which might not sound very much but it works for us."

The reclamation yard went into the demolition business as  a way of guaranteeing itself a good supply of materials. Liza said: "Reclamation yards have to be very careful about theft, Cotswold stone is very thievable, and one roof looks very much like another so it's very hard to get anything back that has been stolen. So if anything turns up here on a lorry, we don't touch it - we either work with builders who we know or we do the demolition ourselves. It's a good way of sourcing reclaimed materials for us and we know where it comes from, the quality of it and how much work needs to be done to restore it." The firm, based in Broadway Road, Winchcombe, then sells the stone, tiles and wooden eams and flooring it has reclaimed. Again, it continues to do well. Liza said: "Period houses are in limited supply, so maintaining and improving them would represent a good investment for many owners, which is good for reclamation yards."

For more information visit             www.winchcombereclamation.co.uk