Selling old fixtures and fittings from your home to a salvage yard can make you thousands

There are many ways to monetize your home – taking in a tenant, using it as a filming location, vacation rental. But most of these methods involve a significant amount of work and loss of privacy.

However, if you have a historic property, there is one way to raise money: sell it. But don’t sell everything: Sell the pieces you don’t want to a construction salvage company.

Salvage or “reclamation” yards buy everything from 1970s faucets to Elizabethan floorboards and resell the stock to others who repair or renovate their homes.

“Provide good photos and measurements of the items,” said George Amos of construction salvage company Lassco. ‘Describe any problems that may arise when we come to collect the item and make sure you are available to show us the items in person as we never buy anything without viewing it first. Nothing is too big for us.

“We even reclaimed the entire marble colonnade from the US Naval Headquarters in Grosvenor Square.”

Here are some items you might find in your home with ideas of their value.

Bathroom baby

Look at interior design magazines from that era. There’s nothing like ‘luxury’ like a huge freestanding bathtub for a long soak. Copper baths from the early 20th century cost up to £2,000.

Gold taps may be the sign of ostentatious wealth, but cheaper mass-produced units also do well in sales. A set of 1930s nickel-plated bath taps could sell for £200.

Sitting room steals

Probably the most valuable item that people can salvage from their home is a fireplace. That’s why Imperial Victorian fireplaces, Georgian marble fireplaces, or French mantelpieces are worth tens of thousands.

They don’t look like you lift the carpet, but original floorboards are worth a package. And don’t throw that carpet away either. Victorian pine planks can fetch £500 for 10m2, while a large mid-20th century Persian carpet can sell for up to £5,000.

Decorative cast iron radiators last a lifetime and large Victorian ornate designs can cost up to £40. Wood paneling may have been covered in cheap paint or wallpaper, but a paneled room could sell for £8,000.

Kitchen gems

For anyone who wants country style, there’s one item you can’t live without: a large, solid stove.

Old Agas or other kilns in good condition can cost up to £3,000. Floor or wall tiles with designs can also sell well. Small glazed plain terracotta tiles, for example, can run for £7 each.

Throughout the house

Older windows look less “perfect” than modern versions and are subtly different. Art Deco stained glass windows are in demand and can sell for up to £3,000.

Doors are the most popular item in salvage yards as modern doors can shrink and need to be replaced. So many owners are replacing 80s plywood in Edwardian homes with solid items of the era.

“Things that people often fail to save are the small fixtures and fittings,” says Sam Coster of Mongers Architectural Salvage. ‘Door furniture and the like, if carefully removed, are often highly sought after and can be more valuable than the doors or windows themselves.’

Ornate chandeliers can go for up to £1,200. But modest antique wall lights are also in demand, with Art Deco chrome wall lights selling for up to £2,000.

Shutters are also back in fashion and can be sold for £500 a pair.

Garden gold

You might find that the ugly stone statue covered in moss clears up to be something worthy of a stately home garden. Edwardian cast iron patio urns, for example, could sell for £200 each.

During World War II, wrought iron railings were melted down to aid in weapons production. Putting them back where they belong makes a house look majestic and a set of Victorian balustrades can cost £80 per meter.