Salvage

Many readers by now are aware of what big proponents we are of incorporating architectural salvage into renovations. We used salvaged flooring, marble and moldings all over our house and think it helped maintain the historic look and feel while saving a little money and doing something good for the environment. There are several great salvage dealers in the New York area but we suspect many people haven’t had a chance to go check them all out. So we decided to get them all together for a day in one place for something we’re calling Salvage Fest. On Saturday, September 8 (rain date: September 9), the folks from Moon River Chattel, Olde Good Things, Demolition Depot, Black Dog Salvage, Build It Green and Eddie’s will set up shop for the day in the playground at PS 11 in Clinton Hill (it’s the smaller lot on Washington between Gates and Greene); the publisher of the Architectural Salvage News will also have a table there. (There’s still room for a couple of more vendors if anyone’s interested.) We will also have a recycling station set up with Build It Green for people to drop off old building materials that are gathering dust in their cellars. We’d like to have some educational/demonstration components, too, so let us know your ideas. Lastly, to help the dealers decide what to bring, please use the comments section below to describe any items you’re looking for (from general things like victorian sconces to specific sizes and types of hardware.) This is a work-in-progress, so all ideas are welcome—as are any volunteers to help with set-up or recycling.

It’s ironic (dontcha think?) that too much money can be more of a threat to a house than too little. A perfect case in point is the salvage operation that Demolition Depot is about to undertake at a mansion on the Upper East Side. The gazillionaire who recently bought this place decided that the gobs of money the previous owner spent on custom bannisters, wood-paneling etc. were beneath him and it all had to go. (Alright, we’ll concede those bathrooms could use a spruce-up but come on.) So, starting today, Demolition Depot will be dismantling the entire interior. If you want to make their job easy and get a serious discount for cash-and-carry, you can visit the site next week. Just call 212-860-1138 to arrange a time.
Townhouse Salvage Highlights [Demolition Depot]

It’s been pretty quiet over in the architectural salvage section of the Brooklyn Record bulletin boards. Until yesterday, that is. A Brooklyn Heights reader is looking to find a home for her wood mantel and mirror; no date provided. The piece is roughly five feet wide by six feet high. The price is an entirely reasonable $1,000. If interested, contact ladelpuerto aaat ladplaw dddot com. Got some architectural pieces you need to get rid of? Post ‘em on the boards. Some of the sweet stuff will find its way here.
Antique Wood Mantel For Sale [BR Boards]

We stopped by Moon River Chattel over the weekend to see what was new in the salvage department. In addition to the usual assortment of tubs, doors and cabinets, we were interested to learn that they just came into possession of 5,000 square feet of turn-of-the-century maple flooring from an old warehouse in New Jersey. We believe it’ll be about $7 a foot.

Back in the early 1970′s when New York was a very different place, members of the Anonymous Art Reclamation Society would remove objects from demolition sites and donate them to museums. At around that same time, however, the salvagers realized that these items had real market value for a certain segment of the public and began turning their passions in to businesses. In addition to Gil Shapiro’s Tribeca-based Urban Archaeology, other big players in the New York market included the Scranton, PA-based Olde Good Things and Harlem mainstay Demolition Depot (both of which we used in our own renovation). The Times doesn’t mention two of our faves in Brooklyn, Williamsburg’s Moon River Chattel and Clinton Hill’s Eddie’s Salvage at 222 Greene Avenue. Any other places in or around the city that you’ve found useful? The ceramic tub at the far right in this photo looks a lot like the one we bought from United House Wrecking for our master bath. Cost us $900, if memory serves.
A Business Built on Salvage [NY Times]
Photos by Donna Alberico for The New York Times

Unbeknownst to us, an editor at This Old House has been writing a reno blog for the past six months or so on the magazine’s website. Or maybe reno blog is the wrong term — it’s more of a fix-it blog but fun nonetheless. Anyway, we’re glad a a reader brought it to our attention if for no other reason than the author is looking to unload about 10,000 bricks that date back to the 1840s. Evidently, this is too small to make it worthwhile for one of the salvage companies who specialize in bricks to come fetch them from the West Village. It sounds like a great opportunity for any Brownstoners who are gearing up to do a patio or garden wall this spring. The author is promising to give any interested parties a great deal on them. Let’s not let ‘em go to waste!
For sale: One Wall, Many Bricks [This Old House]

Finding a pair of front doors for your brownstone can be a difficult process, as there’s no one-size-fits-all solution and, if you’re in an historic district, LPC will have to sign off on the change. The pair of oak doors on the left is 60″ wide by 84.75″ tall are $950 an available from Olde Good Things; the pair on the right is 57.75″ by 105″ and costs $3,000. Convincing Landmarks to let you have red doors? Priceless.
Pair of Brownstone Doors [Olde Good Things]
Brownstone Entrance Doors [Demolition Depot]

It looks to us like Demolition Depot recently bought the entire contents of an old house and is selling off the interior fixtures piecemeal. This is a nice looking bannister (though the spindles aren’t standard brownstone fare) and this old corner tub is exactly what we were looking for back when we were doing our reno. There’s also an entire kitchen for sale. No idea about prices–Evan doesn’t like to post them so you gotta call. The number is 212-860-1138.
New Arrivals [Demolition Depot]

Though not as far away as this salvage place, Portland Architectural Salvage in Maine may not be the most practical place for us New Yorkers to buy heavy bathtubs and doors from. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out their inventory or easier-to-ship items like hardware and lighting. They’ve got lots of different milk glass covers (left) and we thought this art deco chandelier with slipper shades looked interesting for $200. Anyone ever bought anything from this place?
Lighting Inventory [Portland Salvage]

If you’re in the market for a claw foot tub, you may want to take a look at this ad that popped up on Craigslist yesterday. The tub’s from 1922 and was just restored. Strangely, the poster of the ad did not include the price. We’d say it’s probably worth about $500.
Restored 5′ Antique Claw Foot Tub [Craigslist]

For bigger salvage items like bathtubs and doors, it makes a lot of sense to stick within driving distance of your home base. But for smaller items like hardware and lighting, the Internet is really your oyster. Seattle Building Salvage is a site we looked at a lot when we were doing our own reno and went back for another look this week. We were particularly attrcted to the lighting. In particular, we liked the looks of these two art deco schoolhouse lights for $145 and $185. There are several pages of other lighting options as well. Check it.
Art Deco Schoolhouse Light [Seattle Building Salvage]
Art Deco Schoolhouse Light Fixture [Seattle Building Salvage]

We’ve had a lot of readers and visitors ask us about the trough sink that we installed in the top floor kids bathroom and where they can get one for themselves. We happen to have bought ours from Demolition Depot but we noticed that the Olde Good Things website currently has a very cool one with amazing original hardware (we had to find some extra faucets for ours). Here’s the description from OGT:

Made by the ‘Standard Co.’ and was salvaged from a prominent lace factory in Scranton, PA. It is made of iron with a porcelain glaze; its two legs are made of iron; and its four faucets are nickel over bronze. On the bottom of the sink is the embossed text MADE IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The sink is intact and in good shape with no cracks or breaks. However, the porcelain is worn and the sink should be reglazed.

The price? $1,200.
Vintage Iron Pedestal Utility Sink [Olde Good Things]
Trough Sink Mounted in Kids’ Bathroom [Reno Blog]

Whenever we’ve come across these ribcage showers in the past (Demolition Depot always seems to have a couple lying around) we stop and gawk and imagine what it would be like to put one of these babies in our master bath. We’ve never come across an antique one in such excellent shape, however. This one, being sold by Architectural Salvage Warehouse in Burlington, Vermont, is from 1918 and made out of nickel. It was originally installed in a tiled shower surround, according to the website. Of course, this kind of thing don’t come cheap. In this case, it’ll run you a cool $7,500. If you’re really nice, maybe they’ll throw in the shipping. While you’re at it, how ’bout a set of 11 bronze hinges for $795?
Nickel Ribcage Shower [Great Salvage]

In addition to its bread-and-butter reclaimed flooring business, Pomfret, Connecticut-based Old Wood Workshop has a nice selection of architectural salvage and iron door hardware at extremely reasonable prices. Though this mantelpiece was salvaged out of a 1790′s house in Canterbury, Connecticut, it would probably fit right in to one of the Greek Revival houses that dot Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill. This particular mantel is $600 and other wood ones range from $225 to $750 — very reasonable, especially if you’re accustomed to New York City prices. Has anyone every bought anything here?
Architectural Antiques [Old Wood Workshop]

Speaking of salvage…We’re not sure they’re still available, but over the weekend someone posted a set of twenty cast iron balusters for sale. Originally from the stoop of a Brooklyn brownstone, the balusters at 25 inches high and are either $50 or $150, depending on the finish.
Cast Iron Balusters for Sale [Craigslist]