"some of those old fixtures might have lead or other nasties lurking inside."
Yeah, that's a fair point. I remember helping out on a renovation job last summer, and we pulled out some ancient cast iron pipes. At first glance, they looked solid enough to recycle, but once we started cutting into them, the corrosion and buildup inside was pretty alarming—definitely not something you'd want to handle without proper gear. We ended up scrapping most of it, but honestly, the hassle of sorting through what was safe and what wasn't made me question if recycling was even worth it in that case. Still, if you're careful and know what you're looking at, recycling can be doable. Just don't underestimate how nasty some of that old plumbing can get...
Yeah, ran into similar issues myself—thought we'd recycle some brass fittings but realized later they had lead solder joints. Ended up tossing most of it.
makes me wonder if anyone's found a simpler way around this?"the hassle of sorting through what was safe and what wasn't"
Ran into this a few times myself—honestly, it's tricky. Couple thoughts:
- Local scrapyards sometimes have guidelines or even quick tests for lead solder.
- Heard of folks using a magnet trick, but that's more for steel vs brass, won't help with lead.
- Maybe just keep a separate bin for questionable stuff and deal with it all at once?
Wish there was an easier shortcut...
Yeah, dealing with old pipes can be a headache...been there. Honestly, scrapyards vary a lot—some places barely glance at your stuff, others test every little thing. Keeping questionable stuff separate is probably your best bet. At least you're thinking about recycling instead of just trashing it—good on you for that. Wish more folks did the same.
"Honestly, scrapyards vary a lot—some places barely glance at your stuff, others test every little thing."
Yeah, that's been my experience too. Had a bunch of old copper pipes from a reno job last summer, and one yard barely looked at them, while another practically interrogated me about where they came from. I get it though—there's a lot of sketchy stuff out there, so they're just covering themselves.
But speaking of recycling fixtures, anyone had luck recycling old faucets or showerheads? Seems like they're always mixed materials—brass, plastic, chrome plating—and scrapyards usually aren't thrilled about sorting that stuff. I've tried breaking them down myself, but honestly, it's a pain and sometimes not even worth the effort. Curious if anyone's found a practical way to handle those mixed-material fixtures without just tossing them in the trash...