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Olde Good Things

Architectural and Altered Antiques

How To Buy Old Doors Online

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Doors salvaged from historic architecture will add a stunning statement piece to any home or business. Many architects and planners agree that choosing salvaged wood is the only sustainable choice for building and renovation projects when the amount of construction wood waste increases exponentially every year with the increase in the world’s population.


According to Environmental Protection Agency statistics, 2.9 million tons of waste wood was combusted in 2017. Landfills received 12.1 million tons of wood. This was 8.7 percent of all waste landfilled that year. A Guardian article reported that the demolishing and remodeling of homes results in the equivalent of 250,000 single-family homes ending up in landfills or incinerated annually. This is wood sourced from forests, as well as wood from older homes.

The wastefulness of using only new wood products and trashing the old is multiplied when you consider the value of salvaged wood. Homes built at least 50 years ago were constructed with wood sourced from first growth forests, resulting in a sturdier, denser, and altogether higher quality wood product.

Determine Door Size

You really can’t go wrong aesthetically when you go with antique salvaged wood doors. But, there are a number of factors to consider when you order salvaged wood doors online.

First, you will need to obtain the dimensions before you start searching and ordering wood doors online. Measure the width and height of the old door rounded to full inches. Next, measure the door jamb from the backside of the interior trim to the backside of the exterior trim to obtain your depth measurement. Ordering doors by the specific jamb width will ensure that your new salvaged doors fit flush with the trim. Otherwise, you will need jamb extensions.

Take a measurement of the masonry opening. You might need to remove the trim to get this measurement. Measure from one exterior casing to another, and from the bottom of the sill to the top of the trim for height. If the salvaged wood doors you choose do not fit the measurements, including the trim, adjustments in the trim will need to be made. Gaps may be filled with decorative molding or strips of wood. The process can turn into a project requiring additional time and money but, depending on your preferred doors, the finished product will be a work of art you can take pride in. Just be aware of the time and costs that will need to be invested. It is important to order your doors with all specifications firmly in hand to ensure you get a fitted, weatherproof finished product.

Condition of the Door

When you select your salvaged wood online, make sure to request condition pictures from the supplier, including any damage, color variations, or abnormalities. Salvaged doors are often salvaged in a lot, and only one photo is shown to represent what you are getting.

Another important factor when inquiring about the condition of salvaged wood doors is knowing if the doors will require stripping, painting, or restaining. Our in-house shop does not offer stripping services. Stripping services, unless you choose to do it yourself, should be included in the overall cost, as should painting, staining, or any extra rehabilitation. Olde Good Things is here to advise you in these processes, should you choose the do-it-yourself method. Here are some tips on painting and staining your salvaged doors: How To Prepare and Paint or Stain Old Doors

Descriptions of doors for sale online may include terms like “lite” or “panel.” Lite wood doors mean you can expect glass frames in the doors. Doors with glass frames can be a lovely accent, but make sure to ask the seller if the glass is included or if you will need to replace the glass panes. Glass breakage is also a consideration. Panel wood doors are doors inlaid with wood.

Antique Hardware

One more consideration when researching your salvaged doors online: make sure you get a clear idea of the hardware that is still attached and what will be needed. Will the doorknobs need to be replaced? Do you need to buy hinges separately? Olde Good Things has a wide selection of hardware for your antique and salvaged doors, including hinges, door knockers, door knob sets, and door pulls. Our gallery includes a variety of styles, such as Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, Colonial, and Victorian. After you purchase your door(s), you can ask our hardware department to offer options for replacing any missing hardware. We’ll make sure that the hardware fits your door properly before it is shipped out. If you have a specific type you are trying to match, this article is a great resource to get started: Match Your Antique Hardware at Olde Good Things

Shipping Costs

To avoid weighty shipping costs associated with buying salvaged wood doors online, research suppliers in your local area. Doors generally weigh between 50 to 200 pounds. For an average door, freight shipping typically costs around $275, but heavier doors can have higher shipping costs. Olde Good Things offers cost-efficient delivery in many areas of the US.

 

Doing your research when buying anything, including salvaged wood or salvaged doors, online will save money, time, and dissatisfaction with the product. Contact us today to see what salvaged doors and door hardware we have available.

From the Floor to the Wall: Repurposing Old Floor Joists

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Olde Good Things is known throughout the salvaging, interior design, and preservation communities for our commitment to upcycling, repurposing, and restoring old, neglected, and forgotten items.

We have removed tin ceilings and repurposed them as mirrors and new, colorful ceiling and wall decorations. We’ve salvaged marble, slate, terracotta, and metal from crumbling, demolished, abandoned, or neglected buildings. We’ve given new homes to religious relics, art, statues, mantels, and vintage and antique furniture. We’ve bought and sold at auctions, flea markets, online, and through our 9 locations. A lot is happening with Olde Good Things, but nothing gives us more joy than taking something old and giving it new life.

Rows of reclaimed wood in the aisles of our Scranton PA warehouse

 

Repurposed Old Wood

Did you ever look at the rotting, pitted, splintered hardwood floor of an abandoned building and think to yourself, “these would make an amazing table”? No? Well, we did. We’ve taken old, salvaged floor joists and repurposed them into stunning tables using vintage salvaged wood and other industrial metals or wood pieces for table legs. We’ve taken something some would consider the garbage and made it into something people sit around to enjoy their meals, share important news about their day, play board games, or just sit and contentedly sip tea.

 

Scrap Wood Skins

When we make our tables, the carpentry process requires we plane and cut the wood to piece together the tabletops. What happens to the scrap wood that doesn’t go into the tables? Well, we have another story for you. Those scraps of wood that were cut from the beams that were once floor joists were repurposed into something you have to see to believe.

 

Coffeeshop Showcase

If you’re a Gregular at Gregory’s Coffee in NYC, you’re frequenting a coffee shop that is a buzz for coffee lovers.  Here the customers gaze up at the amazing accent wall…the one covered completely in salvaged, repurposed floor joist wood scraps. Gregory’s Coffee has twelve locations in Manhattan.  Be sure and visit all of them, quite a few have this fascinating wall cover.

 

 

To learn more about our floor joist tables or the wall at Gregory’s Coffee shop, contact us. To see our growing inventory of handmade reclaimed wood tables, click here.  If you are interested in purchasing some of these amazing reclaimed wood beam skins, inquire here.  To take a look at any of our other amazing salvaged, reclaimed, repurposed, or restored items, click here.

Top Five Reclaimed Materials for Designers & Architects

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Architects and designers are always on the lookout for new trends in building materials and construction. Staying ahead of trends helps these designers create structures that will be both timeless and livable without having to do major improvements in  the future. Not only must the designers consider the space in which they are building, but also the materials and what effect they will have on the overall construction.

A hot trend that has taken hold recently in the design and construction industry is the use of sustainable, eco-friendly and repurposed building materials. Designers, architects and even home DIYers are beginning to understand the impact that “new” construction can have on our environment and what they can do to help.

In another building trend, architects and designers are looking towards ideas such as adaptive reuse, where an existing building is deconstructed, the usable materials (like flooring, wood beams and antique lighting fixtures) are saved and the space is converted for a new purpose. Factories, warehouses, and train stations are just several types of buildings that can be reused to house restaurants, apartments, or storefronts. Utilizing the reclaimed building materials from these spaces can help cut construction costs and save these materials from clogging up landfills.

Top 5 Reclaimed Materials

reclaimed vintage glass

1. Vintage Wired Glass is now used in kitchen cabinets doors, room partitions or even made into mirrors.
 Learn more

reclaimed wood skins

2. Reclaimed Wood Skins – Unique wall covering from the skins of reclaimed white pine floor joists. These planks are cut in various lengths and widths.

Learn more

reclaimed wood tables

3. Reclaimed Wood Dining Tables – Reclaimed Pine, Walnut, Industrial Flooring, Oak, Bowling Alley & Ipe wood to choose from with a wide variety of bases to choose from. All tables can be customized to fit you space.

Learn more

Industrial Factory Lighting

4. Industrial Factory Industrial Lighting – We salvage old factory pendants and restore them in our lighting shop. We have a wide variety of sizes available in large quantities.

Learn more

Custom Antique Tin Ceiling Mirrors and Panels

5. Custom Antique Tin Ceiling Mirrors and Panels – We salvage 100 year tin ceilings from old building and manufacturer it into mirrors and panels.

Learn more

Olde Good Things is dedicated to discovering vintage finds and materials and repurposing, rebuilding, and reusing them into unique, handcrafted items. These reclaimed items are transformed into charming statement pieces for kitchens, dining rooms, offices, living rooms, bedrooms, home exteriors, and gardens. With over a quarter of a million square feet of salvaged antiques and reclaimed building materials, Olde Good Things is here to help in the search for the perfect antique or reclaimed piece.

Farmhouse Style Dining Room Tables

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Farmhouse style rustic is one of the most popular design trends sweeping the globe. Not only is the use of wood and metal an edgy look, it can provide the ideal balance between modern and cozy in the chemistry of your home.

Designing your kitchen with Farmhouse design elements is easy, and it will give the room a unique balance between cutting edge and traditional. Distressed finishes highlight this look; sleek distressed wall wood skins and timeless distressed furniture complement each other. Pair with vintage white subway tile and antique tin mirrors, wood and metal baskets, and chicken wire glass on the cabinet doors for a finished and perfected rustic kitchen and dining room. Other design elements to consider are iron hooks on planks to hang utensils, coats, or even antique light fixtures. Farmhouse style dining tables, in particular, are one way to bring this contemporary vibe into your space while inventing a traditional place to create years of memories.

The artisans at Olde Good Things have perfected the art of the farmhouse dining table. Like our other crafted items, the dining room tables are made from reclaimed materials, often from buildings over a century old that would otherwise end up clogging up the landfill. Custom salvaged wood from classic buildings is actually of a far better quality than the pressed fabricated wood used in new furniture. When choosing pieces of reclaimed wood from historic brownstones and famous buildings, our architecturologists select only the best reclaimed wood from the beams and joists. Then we send the specially selected wood to our warehouse in Scranton, where our craftsmen begin to sculpt and shape the  dining room tables. You can learn more about our custom process here.

If you have decided to go with this stunning look, measure your space and record the dimensions. Then contact us at Olde Good Things so we can help you decide on the right design style, color, finish, and size for your custom reclaimed wood dining table. All of our dining room tables are made to custom length, width, and height. Our beautiful wood choices include pine, oak, maple, and walnut. The finish for your dining room table top can be smooth, semi-rustic, or rustic with a stain to suit your color palette.

Featured Farmhouse Style Dining Room Tables

We also offer traditional benches as an addition to each custom dining table.

Despite its age, the wood used retains its quality and longevity, and will look and feel better than anything on the market. If you are ready to begin designing your custom reclaimed wood dining table, please contact us today.

Olde Good Things Thinks “Green” is Beautiful

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Going “green” has been a popular theme chanted in Hollywood, schools, and corporate America over the last decade. Recycle, reduce, reuse – and close the loop, right? The truth of the matter is that Olde Good Things has been ahead of the “green” movement since we began back in 1995. We’ve been salvaging, restoring, refurbishing, re-purposing, and reusing architectural goods since the day we opened, and we couldn’t be more proud of the results.

Saving the trees

According to the UN FAO State of the World’s Forests 2007 report, a report written to express the level of global deforestation, “the statistics on global production and consumption of wood fuel (charcoal and other energy uses) round wood (paper and other non-lumber products) and sawn wood (lumber). It estimates global production at 1.7 billion (46%), 1.6 billion (43%) and 421 million (11%) cubic meters.” These numbers are staggering, but when you stop to consider that these numbers are 6 years old (population and industry growth have increased steadily over the last six years), you shouldn’t be surprised that the number of trees cut down every year is nearing the tens of billions.

At Olde Good Things we know that trees are literally the life’s breath of the planet, which is why we go out of our way to include lumber and wood reclamation in our architectural salvage efforts. We salvage wood from old barns, churches, farm houses, and other structures dating back to the late 1800s. This reclaimed wood isn’t used as fuel or ground down into saw dust, it is lovingly and skillfully restored and used to handcraft our more beautiful farm tables. Not only that, much of the wood pieces we salvage from churches and other period structures are restored and reused as architectural touches in many home remodels throughout the US.

When our customers choose to use reclaimed or salvaged wood in their home remodels or interior design projects, they are choosing to bring history, beauty, and an element of “green” into their lives.

Reducing waste

Between the Civil War and WWI, the US became a booming industrial society. Factories, warehouses, and mills popped up all over the face of the nation – much like a rash that had been left unchecked. After WWI many of the factories that were used to build household goods, automobiles, farming equipment, and textiles were put to use building war machines and service goods for the men fighting overseas. While this may sound like a business boom for the industrial complex, it was a shot in the gut. Much of the goods made were manufactured at a fraction of the usual costs, and with so many men fighting in the war, factories were forced to employ women (women were thought to be weaker, slower workers). When the war ended, despite the influx of male workers seeking their old jobs, many of the factories that had employed them had fallen on hard times.

Fast forward to 2013; those factories from the historical Industrial era are still standing – hollow skeletons where an American Dream’s heart and soul used to be. These hulking structures are condemned, dangerous, and marked for demolition. Rather than allow much of the interior industrial goods to fill a landfill, Olde Good Things brings along a squad of skilled salvage experts and we remove the lighting fixtures, the work benches, the doors, the glass, the machine bases, and anything else we can haul away in our trucks.

Industrial chic is a growing trend in interior decorating circles, and Olde Good Things loves providing home owners, designer/decorators, and architectural firms with authentic, industrial items for their design and build projects.

We at Olde Good Things believe that if it can add value, beauty, and history to someone’s home, it shouldn’t go to waste. We believe that “green” is beautiful, useful, and worthy of our time and efforts.

If you’d like to turn your next home remodel or redesign project into a “green” design and build, visit one of our locations to take a tour through our growing inventory.

 

Over a Century of History with Industrial Holophane Light Fixtures

All Industrial Inventory Online

Out With the New, In with the Olde

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With 2014 in the books, it’s time to create your New Year’s resolution for your home and start planning and designing your living space for 2015.

Reclaimed butcher block table with pipe legs

Reclaimed butcher block table with pipe legs designed and made by Olde Good Things

If your kitchen looks more like a brown bag than a gourmet diner, you might want to consider remodeling; re-tiling with salvage subway tiles, or custom ordering your own farm table is a step in a fabulous direction. Does your bathroom make you cringe rather than chill? Why not give it a new look using reclaimed bath fixtures and vintage lighting? With something as simple as replacing your cupboard knobs, you can change the ambiance from stressed to spa quickly and easily.

Looking for a bigger, more spectacular change? Why not install a salvaged or reclaimed wood mantle over your existing fireplace? Not spectacular enough? Change all the lighting fixtures in your home with vintage chandeliers, sconces, or industrial lamps.

A crystal chandelier purchased at our Chelsea location

A crystal chandelier purchased at our Chelsea location

 

It wouldn’t hurt to add a bit of drama using salvaged corrugated chicken wire glass as statement pieces in your living room or kitchen.

Olde Good Things is the one stop location for designers and end-users alike to come up with great ideas for all your future design plans both for your living or business spaces.  This year is only just beginning, but it holds much promise, especially for those who really want to keep their New Year’s Resolutions of creating a home that is all about them, their tastes, and their budget.

Add to your 2015 calendar plans to visit any or all of our four New York City showrooms, our LA store and our huge National Warehouse locations in Scranton, PA.

Olde Good Things