Piled on two rolling carts: four panel doors, two cases of gray ceramic tile, two bags of grout, one white pedestal sink, still boxed, and a pail of mortar.
The doors need some work. The tiles are in perfect shape: unused. The sink is in the original box.
Grand total: $156, less than half the retail price.
The castoffs of some homeowner or builder have become the treasures of another at the Loading Dock, a nonprofit Baltimore warehouse that sells reusable building goods and builder's seconds.
"It's an excellent deal," said Gwendolyn Hudson, who -- tape measure in hand on a chilly Saturday morning -- was matching a few doors for a renovation of the World War II-era Southwest Baltimore house she bought last year. Cutting corners here will let her splurge elsewhere.
With Hudson was her daughter, for whom re-tiling her kitchen just became more affordable, and a friend, who couldn't stand the mismatched bathroom vanity and door in her recently purchased house.
Whether seeking to save money or hunting for architectural gems, more and more people are turning to places that sell house parts and materials that somebody else didn't want.
Business is growing for stores that are split into two broad categories: new but leftover building materials and used contemporary house parts, and architectural salvage, the rarities, curiosities and collectibles pulled from old structures.
Such as the reclaimed heart pine flooring picked up by Ron Arnold, a Silver Spring flooring contractor who deemed his find amazing.
"This is 100-year-old wood," he said. "You can't find the wood."
If he could obtain it from a specialty salvager, it would cost more, he said.
He paid $40 for 60 square feet, which he will refinish and substitute for damaged heart pine planks of the same vintage in a client's Georgetown house.
Experts say that 80 percent of a house -- right down to the kitchen sink -- can be reclaimed: bricks reused, metal recycled, fixtures installed in another building, not to mention the never-used materials such as builders' extras and store overstocks.
The attraction? Paying less for leftovers and "gently" used goods, getting a tax deduction if materials are donated to a nonprofit or money for items that you sell; and participating in the trendy green movement to keep materials out of landfills.
For architectural salvage: add getting the actual old items, and saving bits of history and craftsmanship. For nonprofits: add helping them raise funds.
Nationally, the number of reuse stores has more than doubled in the past decade to about 1,200 -- and that excludes the architectural high-end stores and generic thrift shops, said Brad Guy, president of the Building Materials Reuse Association.
"The growth is pretty dramatic," he said.
Builders, contractors, stores and suppliers are the chief donors to nonprofits. Castoffs include new windows, lighting, flooring, wiring, bathtubs, and from contractors, used goods too. Merchandise changes fast, leading buyers to keep returning to see what's there.
The Loading Dock, started in 1984, claims to be the oldest nonprofit of its ilk, and everything from cabinets to carpeting to cinderblock is there -- new and used, nearly all donated.
"The newer stuff tends to disappear faster. New doors, they fly out of here," said Leslie Kirkland, executive director. Moderate and low-income homeowners are the chief beneficiaries, but small-time landlords and contractors are regulars, and renovators of all income levels prowl the warehouse, she said.
Habitat for Humanity accounts for 500 ReStores across the country. The oldest dates to 1986; the average store age is only five years, Guy said.
Habitat plans to open a 15,000-square-foot ReStore soon in Baltimore, its fourth in Maryland.
At the Pasadena ReStore, new items account for two-thirds of the merchandise.
On a recent weekend, that included a wall of high-end faucets, nearly a roomful of windows and such oddities as a coin-operated washing machine and 150 lap desks. The used stock featured furniture and a wood-burning stove.
"There is a lot of demand for the product," said manager Kevin Crawley. "We are starting to see a trend where those customers are coming in and they have seen designer things or trends. We get more people who are trying to decorate, to enhance the situation, not repair it."
Interest in architectural salvage -- collectibles and antiques considered part of a building's structure -- also has ballooned.
On the Old House Web, an online resource for homeowners, the number of architectural salvage dealers has grown to nearly 120, with 13 subcategories. The 35-year-old Old House Journal is read by 300,000, said editor Gordon Bock.
Old and used doesn't mean cheap and trashy. It often translates into unique pieces with a price tag to match, with the items bought and sold as art objects, Bock said.
Figured into the higher prices of architectural salvage are factors such as: catering to niche buyers with specific needs and wants, the cost of removing the item from a building -- time, labor, insurance, equipment -- and, sometimes, bidding for the privilege.
"If you need a door latch from a door from 1875, you are not going to Home Depot," said Tony Nies, an owner of Building Character, a recently opened architectural salvage business in Lancaster, Pa.
"I'm not going home empty-handed," Catherine Waterman of Cape St. Claire declared as she and her boyfriend evaluated and measured stained-glass windows at Second Chance in Baltimore, a nonprofit architectural salvager.
Still kicking herself for not buying a five-panel door to match those in her home -- she saw it there previously, and it was gone when she returned -- she was hunting for a decorative window that would fit into the sunroom they are adding to their 1950s house and serve as a privacy screen.
They found one at $300 with the pastels and simple design that blends with the house, as well as a $60 sofa table that has hand-tooled leather sides.
Many pieces at Second Chance won't fit in just anywhere, such as the seven 18-foot-long chandeliers at $25,000 apiece from a pains- taking deconstruction of the old Philadelphia Civic Center and other distinctive parts of Baltimore's venerable bygone structures.
"We took a terra cotta facade down from a church in New Jersey. It took us three weeks and five guys," said Ben Riddleberger, an owner of Housewerks, a three-year-old Baltimore architectural salvage, fabrication and restoration business.
At 22 feet by 9 feet, and with 99 pieces making up its lions' heads, angels and more, it's tagged at $25,000.
But most of the material at these spots -- stacks of leaded-glass windows, piles of floor registers, lineups of hand-hewn mantels, wrought-iron fences -- is aimed at a broader audience of homeowners, restorers, collectors, decorators and businesses.
Specialties include antique bricks, which are prized for restorations and for blending new construction into old neighborhoods.
Don Kemper's father started a brick reclamation business in 1952 in Annapolis Junction. Since then, the Kemper Corp.'s hand-cleaned bricks have been reused for a variety of projects, from new construction in Fells Point to rehabbing a mansion near Laurel.
"We were recycling before it was a word," said Don Kemper.
andrea.siegel@baltsun.com
SALVAGE TIPS
Before you go, here are some tips from salvage-store owners and shoppers:
Measure the space at home and bring the dimensions and a tape measure. To match a color or style, have a swatch, a photo, etc. Stock in this type of store constantly changes and what's there today may be gone next week.
Many stores have a no-return rule. Check policies on returns and refunds.
If restoration or installation is to be done, will you do it or hire someone? Some stores can do the work onsite, some can suggest tradesmen.
For new and nearly new goods, price them retail. This will help you assess potential savings.
For period pieces or upscale salvage, know a bit about their value, the market for them and the craftsmanship that went into them.
If you are planning a major renovation rehab or teardown, make reuse part of the plan. Contact salvage and reuse outfits in advance; they may want to see what you've got or have their own crew remove the material in a way that avoids damage, or bid on a project.
To donate to a nonprofit and get a charitable tax-deduction receipt, or to sell to a nonprofit, check with the store.
[ ANDREA F. SIEGEL]