Stockpiling Building Materials
Stockpiling Building Materials
How much time have you wasted driving around your city or town looking for a stupid spare part? If you are like most people, you have spent lots of time doing this. Imagine if you or the previous homeowner had just spent an extra $50 to buy extra ceramic tile or that extra interior door lockset. Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well, you won't think so when you happen to have that handy part right there when you need it!
The Tamiami Trail
About 15 years ago, an older friend of mine told me this unbelievable story. There is a desolate road that cuts east/west across lower Florida. The Everglades swamp is on each edge of the road. You can go for 50 or 60 miles and there is absolutely nothing. I believe this road is US 41. It is often referred to as the Tamiami Trail.
Years ago, a friend of my friend, let's call him Mr. Jones, was driving across this road and came across a car that was broken down. The people were distraught as there was no help around and it was getting dark. The car simply stopped running for no apparent reason. It had plenty of gas.
Mr. Jones evidently was very soft spoken. He rarely said much. He stopped to help and asked what was the trouble. The driver of the disabled car told Mr. Jones how the car mysteriously stopped running. The hood of the car was already open and without saying a word Mr. Jones reached in and disconnected all of the spark plugs from the distributor cap, removed the cap and threw it as far as he could into the swamp. The owners of the car nearly passed out.
Mr. Jones then calmly walked back to his car, popped the trunk and opened a box. Inside this box was a new distributor cap. He installed it, reconnected the wires and the broken down car came to life!
To appreciate this story you need to realize that there are many, many different styles and types of distributor caps! How did this man happen to have the right one? He had the same model car and he happened to know that this particular cap was prone to cracking when the car was driven in hot climates. Needless to say, he was prepared!
Cheap Insurance
Why waste an entire afternoon trying to find faucet parts when you can get them at the same time you buy the original faucet? Think about the most heavily used doors, drawers, etc. in your house. Sooner or later those mechanical parts are going to fail. Often it only costs a little bit of money to have that spare part hanging around.
Non-Perishable
When you stockpile parts and materials, choose things that don't spoil. For example, don't buy extra paint! It can go bad in the can. Not only that, colors can fade over time. Some materials like bags of cement and mortar also go bad even if stored in a cool dry place. You want to buy things like tile, and shingles and other objects that simply don't spoil.
If you do decide to stockpile wood, store it flat in a cool dry place so that it does not warp and twist. You need to use common sense.
Extra Toilets?
Do you have a modern low flush toilet that just doesn't seem to work? I'll bet you wish you had one of those wonderful 3.5 gallon models that were abundant just 10 years ago! Who would have thought to buy an extra toilet to have around? Not even I would have done that, but you can bet that I treat all of my 15 year old toilets with great respect and care since I can't get replacement bowls or tanks now! Who would have thought about toilets!
Avoid the Temptation
Your husband or wife will think you are nuts for stockpiling building materials. They will make fun of you, just like I made fun of my mom for saving 40 one gallon jugs of water in the basement in old Clorox bottles. It was a huge family joke. But we didn't laugh when the water main broke and were without water! Mom's water saved us and got us through the crisis.
Your spare building parts will make you look like a very wise person when the time comes....and we both know it will!
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