# Favorite Cheap/Free building Materials



## The Haunter (Apr 7, 2007)

I am a huge fan of pool noodles and carpet tubes just curious what bargin materials others use.


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## dave the dead (Jan 31, 2007)

Anything, and I mean ANYTHING that I can possibly convert, twist, or contort into a prop. I'm not picky....its all good in the world of props.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I totally agree with Dave. When you shop at Krubbies or dumpster dive, you have to think out of the box. I spend as much time wondering what I can make out of my new junk find as I do looking for a given part to do a given job. I don't know how many times I have picked something up with no idea what I was going to do with it, but it was just to good to just throw away.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

I have to fight a serious packrat urge when I see things that might be useful for making something.

At work I change a lot of rolls of paper in the darkroom, and go through about 80-100 empty cores per night. They're 10 inches long, about 4 inches wide, real thick cardboard and uber strong like mini sonno tubes... I keep thinking "damn, I know these'd be good for _something_, just can't think of what!"


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## crossblades400 (Oct 30, 2007)

wood and Styrofoams wig heads


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## The Haunter (Apr 7, 2007)

for masks i use milk jugs instead of wig heads they are free i love free


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## uncle (Sep 26, 2007)

But sometimes, free is still costly. 

I got a free pump organ this summer, I only had to drive 80 miles round trip, and then spend a week cleaning out the old packrat/raccoon/squirrel/whatever nests out of it. It was packed bottom to top and the nests were still damp and REALLY smelled. The innards were chewed and rotten, but I was still I was able to salvage the carcass and keys. One wouldn't think that rusty screws would be so hard to get out of rotten wood!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Large slabs of thick foam...can be found for free from most furniture stores. Queen size wood pallets ...free at most mattress stores.


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## Adam I (Jun 16, 2007)

Some citys/countys are setting up recycling centers.
You never know what you'll find.
I've been getting 1/4 inch plywood from crates and pallets.
Also a nice burnt orange counter.


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## cqedens137 (Sep 27, 2007)

i picked up pallets for grave markers and caskets form my girlfriends job at a furniture store. 

computer power supplies from my brother. (he repairs computers.) 

and of course a windshield wiper motor i took out of my own jeep. (it hasn't rained in awhile here anyway.) 

and i tend to borrow contactors, relays, transformers, and electrical connectors off my service truck. just have to figure out how to charge them to customers now.


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## Northern Touch (Nov 8, 2006)

yup pretty much all the above and one of my favorite stores that we have here in Canada is the Re-Store which is an all proceeds store that goes to Habitat for humanity...I don't know if u guyz have Re-store but they rock that sell every thing and I mean everything...


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## halloweenguy (Dec 27, 2006)

Gotta love old fence boards...You can call fence construction contactors and pickup entire fence sections for free!!! These are already aged and can be used for facades, coffins, crates...etc.


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

The Haunter said:


> I am a huge fan of pool noodles and carpet tubes just curious what bargin materials others use.


Yeah, the pool noodles are really versatile. I cleaned out the Family Dollar store here at the end-of-season sale. I got 23 noodles for 15 cents each. it's tough not to find a use for the things.

I also got a beach ball for a dime that will be the basis for my first Pumpkinrot.


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks for the mattress store and fence company suggestion.

My favorite free stuff comes from Lowe's. They're always good for a truckload of free pallets. This week I also got faux plywood, like from some kind of packing crate and 3 4' x 8' plastic sheets that looks like it should go in a bathroom; I think it must have been in a display. 

It's easier to pick the pallets up year round, break them down, and have the wood ready when Fall gets here.


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## bb88 (Sep 21, 2007)

I work on appliances so I have access to all kinds of motors,valves,switches etc.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

If you have use for carpet and vinyl tubes (I used them back in '99 for building the maze) you can stop by you local floor covering stores. If you do not wish to store them, they can be recycled.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

55 gallon drums are free to me on my job. I can get about 1 every 2 months or so. The wash bay uses the soap out of them and then throws them out. Look at your local car-wash. They may have the same thing!


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## tcarter (Aug 18, 2006)

I've done quite a many things with pieces of driftwood or old weathered branches and vines.


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## Phil (Sep 2, 2007)

Great Topic! I like to beat the garbage truck to the scrap truck camper shells (many feet of light aluminum), bed frames (strong L-channel) and lawn furniture.
Add salvaged wiper & power window motors, mobile security systems (motion sensors, timer relays, LEDs) and mobile audio amps & speakers. 
Then a power supply from a dead PC can bring life to it all.


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

may & june is the best time around here for shopping kurbbies it junk day-thats the only time that certain areas can throw out big and bulky junk, plus what ever they dont want, so almost everyday i hook up the trailer to the van and its off to the shopping, but where do i store all the graet finds?


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## The Haunter (Apr 7, 2007)

has anyone used the x unit from a lazy boy for a prop?


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## Darkside (Aug 6, 2007)

I saw a how-to using recliner guts somewhere, but I forgot where. Sorry.


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## Phil (Sep 2, 2007)

davethedead has some great posts on his recliner hack. http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=5672


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## kungfubonanza (Jul 17, 2007)

beelce said:


> Large slabs of thick foam...can be found for free from most furniture stores. Queen size wood pallets ...free at most mattress stores.


You can also pick up big sheets of plastic at furniture stores....thick foam + thick plastic + tape + corn syrup blood = really cool and cheap bodybags...


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

I just got moved to a different department at work (Equipment Service and Repair), and I see a whole lotta packing foam of different sorts being thrown out. Don't have any build ideas for it yet but I think I may have scored a major source of free material!


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

I bow to your job, sir!


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

For my first haunt last halloween,my neighbor & I sent out a request via our nieghborhood association. We got newspaper, wire hangers, clothes, chicken wire, and a roll of black plastic. I also troll for pallets at furniture stores and we got some stuff from craig's list for free or very cheap.


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