Architectural salvage
 

Anyone here in the architectural salvage business or know how it works?

There is NONE of it going on here. 2 old three story building came down last week. They were too far gone to be saved, but had beautiful inside & outside trim, doors, mantles. They just flattened them and pulled out any copper or lead.

I've been kicking around the idea of starting a small sideline/hobby business. I have ~600sq ft heated loft above my garage and could store enough stuff to start out small.

Questions:
-Do you work with the property owners or the demolition companies?
-What do you pay the property owners/demo co. to go in and take what you want?
-Are there liability issues that have to be considered?
-How do you advertize/sell the stuff? Local? Online?

Not that I can contribute much but I can tell you there is a store in Waynesville, North Carolina that carries vintage doors and windows. They are priced in the $1000-$3000 range they were dated from the mid 1800's to early 1900's.

I don't know much about it other than anything can be put in a contract and had for a price.

On the local Detroit news they showed people stripping an abandoned (but not in distress) building. Apparently there are no state laws on the books other than trespassing the cops could charge the looters with.

Isn't looting a crime/charge?

Similar store near me, way overpriced but with no equal.

http://www.materialsunlimited.com/

A church was flattened a few weeks ago, just down the road from me. It had five 8' arched doors. They just flattened the building, and 2 doors survived. They put them out on teh sidewalk for $500 and they were sold that day.

15 minutes/door with a reciprocating saw, they could have had the doors + casings, and sold them for a lot more. I just don't get it.

They had a story a few months ago in This Old House about old buildings being stripped at night.

I don't know that there would be a huge local market for salvage, but being so close to New England + Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto makes me think it could still be viable... even if it meant selling to the "boutique" shops.

It is popular here in Brooklyn. Also, had a friend up-state who would pick over stuff at the curb at remodeling jobs. Has a barn full of divided windows, doors and furniture. Anyone who rebuilds a $1MM brownstone does not want a door from Home Depot.

I would say look into it. I would work with contractors and demo folks. If the homeowners think they can get anything they were going to trash anyway - well, there goes your profit margin.

And what is worth saving anyway? What does the broader market demand? Can you get cheap space to store stuff? Interesting.

Also I should note that there might be a twist or angle to consider. Just doing this all part-time as a tax write-off.

The local Habitat for Humanity here in Ann Arbor/ Huron Valley has a "RESTORE" warehouse location.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1184084126.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1184084143.jpg

HfH just opened a ReStore here too, but it is mostly washing machines and ugly light fixtures.

I have ~600 sq ft above the garage that I could start out with. I'm thinking small items that can ship easily could be a good start. Sell them online and ship quickly. Larger items that are popular would be worth grabbing too... mantles & doors if they are really nice.

Things like door casings & baseboard trim could be worth saving if you knew of someone looking for them. I recently put down baseboard trim through my whole house, and would have loved to buy some nice old stuff.

I also have garage & basement space, if there was a stupendous deal on large stuff that could be sold quickly, A good recent example is 2200 board ft of rock maple in 7/8" 10"x14' planks @ $2/brd ft. I bought enough for my kitchen floors but really should have bought all of it. I was offered $5/ft by the mill where I had it planed & jointered.

I was just recently offered 20 12' 6"x10" douglas fir beams for $500. I could've had them milled into plank flooring for about $400.

A church was flattened a few weeks ago, just down the road from me. It had five 8' arched doors. They just flattened the building, and 2 doors survived. They put them out on teh sidewalk for $500 and they were sold that day.

15 minutes/door with a reciprocating saw, they could have had the doors + casings, and sold them for a lot more. I just don't get it.

Jake, three of the easiest things to harvest and resell for decent money are doorknobs, door hinges and electric fixtures.

One word when it comes to maple and other nice woods: guitars.
if cut properly, and on good shape, luthiers will pay through the nose for nice wood. I known of guitars with $1k or more maple tops.
Guitar players will die for good wood, almost.

Funny you mention that. I know a luthier, and he cursed me up and down for not passing along the lead on the rock maple.

Added bonus is that they can be shipped easily. It would seem sensible to ebay a lot of the smaller stuff, and hook them into an online store that lists larger items.

I've also heard that hardwood floors are surprisingly easy to pull up with only ~10% waste. That's something that could be stored easily too, on pallets.

I use to have a 2,400 sq ft building in Huntington Beach, Ca. to store and work on my cars and I had a neighbor across the road that had a company like your asking about. He was making daily trips to LA near USC and the Colosseum to the older homes that were being torn down. Many of these homes were beautiful from the previous turn of the century but were in disrepair and in bad neighborhoods. He worked with the home owner and the companies that were tearing these homes down. He did not elaborate on what process he used to buy the furnishings but I am sure he paid very little to nothing.

I have though about doing the same thing here but most homes are already on a historic list.

I Charlotte, NC the shabby sheek (sp?) is huge. 3'x4' wooden white painted window go for $500. Vintage stained glass sells for a small fortune.

Boy, I'll bet he did!
Who's the luthier? I might know him as well. :D

It might be tough approaching demo / construction companies and going in and "cherry picking" with little or no compensation to them. Maybe a nominal "finders fee" and some additional personal demo labor thrown in to sweeten the deal could make you their "#1 go to guy" when new projects came up?

It's a shame to see tight grained wood go to waste, not to mention beautiful old fixtures and hardware. I'm sure you've read it, but "Old House Journal" is filled w/ arch salvage ads and maybe you could pick their brain or ask on their forum. Good luck

edited to post link:

http://www.oldhousejournal.com/

Ever hear of George Rizsanyi? He's made guitars for Keith Richards, Sting, Noel Redding, James Taylor. My brother in law took a course from him, and made two guitars and a violin in his shop. I've met him twice, really great guy. I don't play, but it is really amazing to be see a craftsman like that at work.


I assume I'd have to pay something to pick away the good stuff. Having said that, a lot of people are funny about stuff like this. They were about to tear down a 140yr old manor just down the road from me. I called several times PLEADING to be allowed in to take off some trim & doors before it was demolished; I was willing to pay pretty good money for it too. They weren't interested at all... their attitude was that even though they didn't value it, they didn't want someoen else to enjoy it.
I've never seen it before... Great link! Thanks!

I haven't, sorry (at least that I can remember). Ask him if he's heard of me...chances are...:)

Sounds like he's got some nice clientele!

you might get some good tips from a place in stamford conn. it is called united house wreckers.