# What do you take from other people's trash?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 14, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309 "2004-06-14T17:10:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309/21 "2004-06-15T22:03:17Z")

</div>

> [@Larry Mudd](#):
>
> Last month I fished some discarded drywall out of a neighbor’s rubbish pile, and used it to patch some small holes in my place. I didn’t factor in the free material when I deducted the repair costs from my rent cheque, either. Score!

Drywall repair in an apartment?!? Screw the wallboard - save money on compound - That’s what Colgate toothpaste is for!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309/22 "2004-06-15T22:30:25Z")

</div>

I must admit the amount of good stuff that appears every trash day allong the roadsides in Santa Clara realy depresses me, I hope goodwill goes around and picks up the resellable stuff for their shops. I guess it is illegal to take stuff from these trash piles?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309/23 "2004-06-15T22:43:01Z")

</div>

> [@JohnBckWLD](#):
>
> Drywall repair in an apartment?!?

Nah-- a big ol’ house. Very shabby construction- two of the holes I repaired were approximately 5" square bits sawed out (in the downstairs _livingroom_) at some point to gain access to the main shutoff valve for the plumbing the first time they needed to turn it off. :smack: The first hole was about four feet higher than it needed to be. I covered the bottom one with an access panel.

I also patched two places where the lack of a stopguard resulted in doorknob-shaped holes.

The toothpaste goes in the joins around the patch and over the screws for the brace. 😃

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-take-from-other-peoples-trash/250309.md?page=1)