Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 5, May 2003
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RE Store recycles bits and pieces from demolished homes
By MATTHEW PREUSCH
Jim Jensen sees a lot of potential in the neglected fixtures, toilets, door and windows crammed in the warehouse at The RE Store in Ballard.
Walking the store's aisles, he pauses at a nearly new double-pane window, framed in pine and aluminum. He props it up for a better view.
"This," he says, "is a beautiful window."
The window, one of hundreds, sits across from nearly 500 doors and countless cabinets, bathtubs and desks of every description. The RE Store's goal, said Jensen, is to keep items like these out of landfills, giving them a second life in the homes of bargain hungry customers.
The RE Store opened in Ballard four years ago, and in that time it has found a growing customer based among those interested in "green," or environmentally sensitive, building. It's also a destination for the thrift-minded.
Jensen said many of the store's regulars are owners of Craftsman homes in North Seattle who are seeking building supplies or replacement features to match the style of their home.
"The value of RE Store, aside from keeping things out of the landfill, is that people can come and match things with their house and restore the neighborhood character of their house," he said.
Indeed, several trusses and lead windows in the warehouse look like they would fit will in many older Wallingford or Green Lake homes.
Not everything at the RE Store is heavy with charm. Many items lean more towards the utilitarian. But customers don't seem to mind, said Jensen.
"I've seen some really, really ugly things come in, and I'm wondering, 'Why would they bring that in?' And the next day it's gone," he said.
Jensen, a Ballard resident of 16 years, was hired last year to help build ties between the store, which is part of a Bellingham-based nonprofit group called RE Sources, and the surrounding community.
His first step was to initiate a series of workshops, free to the public, where home improvement professionals share the secrets of their craft.
The series, now in its second year, includes three workshops this month: doors on Monday, May 5; tree houses on Saturday, May 17; and Feng Shui on Saturday, May 31.
The store's inventory comes from several sources.
The first is homeowners who don't want to throw away an old sink or radiator that might be of use to someone else. Several times a day, Seattleites pull up with a pick-up truck full of old doors or a toilet crammed in a car trunk.
Increasingly, demolition companies will also set aside items for salvage instead of sacrificing them to the wrecking ball.
The RE Store itself is going into the demolition business. Instead of tearing a building down and saving the fixtures, the RE Store crew "deconstructs" their customers home or business, said Jensen. That means taking apart a structure piece by piece with small tools.
The up side is the RE Store then can sell all the materials beams, drywall, hinges to its customers.
The store is getting some recognition for its work, recently receiving the 2002 Sustainable Communities Leadership in Business Award from Sustainable Seattle.
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The RE Store in Ballard is located at 1440 NW 52nd St. For more information, call the store at 297-9119 or visit the Web site for RE Sources at www.re-sources.org.