Ohmega Salvage

A lot of customers come into us saying, "I need a door!"  While we like to help our customers as much as possible, we need a bit more information than that.  If you find yourself in need of a door, in order to help both you and us, you will need the following information: Width, height, and thickness of the door needed (in inches). Are you looking for a door made of all wood, partial glass, full glass? Do you need this as an interior or exterior door? If you are looking for an exterior door, will it swing inside or out? Are you looking for a painted door or natural wood? Most of the doors we carry are no longer in the jamb, but occasionally we get a door that comes complete with the jamb.  Are looking for only a door, or do you need a complete set-up? If you are putting the door into an existing jamb, you will need to find out if the jamb is hinged on the right or the left side.  We determine this method the same as used in architectural drawings which are by standing

In the old days, ceiling medallions were permanently plastered in place by the plasterers. Back then there was usually not an electrical box present. Ideally, you would like access to the box in case there is ever anything wrong . If it is permanently attached you might end up destroying the medallion in order to get to the box since the medallion goes over and partially covers the box . What we usually suggest to avoid this is to use trim head dry wall screws . They are like a finish nail with a reduced size head. You need to locate the wood joists or some solidly attached lath behind the plaster for the screws to securely grab onto. You also need to pre-drill pilot holes in the medallion in the locations of the wood and screw them in while holding the medallion in place.  Once this is done you can take a picture or make note of the screw locations on the medallion before they are covered over by spackle or some other filler so you'll be able to find the screws later.

A week ago I was changing the outgoing messages on the answering machines for Thanksgiving here at Ohmega. It is something that I have done for as long as I can remember being here. Those of you who know us, know that we are open 7 days a week all year-round. We are only closed for 7 major holidays. The seven holidays become signposts along the way in the journey through the year. It struck me, as it usually does, when I started to leave the Thanksgiving message than this year was almost over. Except this time it was a much stronger feeling than usual. This year, particularly, has been a very challenging year for Ohmega Salvage. I wont go into details as I do not want to diminish the challenges that all of you, out there, have also been going through. It is enough to say that there are people and businesses who started the year along side us that are no longer with us. So, as I was leaving the messages it struck me that I and all of us at Ohmega were quite fortunate. If you have been

Some of our orphan clawfoot tub feet Unfortunately, finding a set of feet to fit a vintage claw-foot tub is going to be difficult. There are literally dozens of different designs for mounting feet to tubs. While we normally do have some loose feet, it is rare that we have a matching set of four. And even more rare that those would be the exact match to your footless tub. The easiest way for us to try to get you a set of feet is if you have at least one of the old feet that could be compared with what we have on hand. If you don't have any feet it will be very difficult. We can usually tell from the mounts on the bottom of the tub what type of foot you might need, however hauling the tub around is impractical. The best solution is to send us (or another salvage yard) a picture of either an existing foot or the bottom of the tub. Also cut out a cardboard template of the bracket. This will make your search much easier and you will not have to tote your tub around in your quest.

Recently, I encountered Walter Benjamin 's essay on technology and representation . Benjamin is trying to reconcile ideas of mass representation (as well as mass production) with notions about 'aura.' For Benjamin, aura is something that is present at the moment of creation within a piece of art and is intrinsically and inherently tied to it for the rest of its life. The issue that he sees in an age of mass reproduction and representation is that our mechanized and instantaneous media for remediation upon a piece of art subtracts from its value. Thus he sees that modern modes of representation play a dichotomous role within the work of art: our interaction with the newly remediated representation of art stands distinct from the aura of the original work of art. I start with this as a departure point from which I think architectural salvage is connected. As I was sorting through bins of hardware the other day, I found at the bottom of a rusted bucket of ball-tip hinges a s

I am often asked who are our most frequent customers. I almost always answer "Homeowners". It is simple and to the point. I was thinking about this as I was sitting down to write the latest blog. It occurred to me that I could even distill that answer down to a more basic, yet essential, ingredient. Our most frequent customers are "Moms". Now, those of you who are now crying foul about opportunistic blogging on the eve of Mother's Day, well, o.k. I will give you a point on that one. And those of you suspecting a desperate attempt to cure writer's block, well, a point there as well. Still, it does not diminish or change the truth. Moms are the single largest influence on our business. We live in houses to be sure, but it is all of those "Mom's" touches that makes the house the home we all look for refuge in. Mothers may not always be the ones making the choices of the items that make up the home but it is sure that their influence is always cons

Last weeks blog got me to thinking about all of my recent conversations with Ohmega's old friends. They ask me, as always, what's new? I have been telling them about this blog. Now, while most all of our customers are "on-line" to some degree most are not the blogger, or twitter types. And, of course, till just lately I would have been on that list as well. So once I tell them about the blog the next question most frequently asked me is "Why?" I have been trying to put it in terms of staying current, and all the other logical reasons. The trouble is that I never felt that I captured the real value of it. Ohmega Salvage brings the items of our past back into circulation to create a new future. Most of our customer have had some direct connection to these treasures. Either it was in their house growing up or in their grandparents house growing up, etc., etc. As we have gotten older an come more into the future those direct connections get fewer and fewer. Ohme

Ohmega has been around for quite some time now. With that longevity comes the opportunity to meet some pretty interesting folks. It is one of the great pleasures of working here. On any given day, the mix of people you are likely to encounter coupled with our Berkeley, CA location might cause the uninitiated person's head to spin. Whether it is a customer, a neighbor, a scavenger, another business owner, or one of our vendors, it runs the gamut of profiles and experiences. You might even run into the occasional famous person. Who?, you might ask? Well you'll have to come down here yourself to find out. This is what America should be: a broad cross section of folks who come here to experience the history and variety that is us. Today it was one of our vendors and old friends. Dave Bertz is the one responsible for our having our popular collection of statues and Buddhas. An old time antiques hound and a full time character. He has been traveling to far away places and bringing th

Friday is the first day of my work week. As I first walk through the gates in the morning I get to experience what has come in while I was gone. Since we are open 7 days a week I can't be there for everything as it comes though the gates. Even after working all of these years here it is still a favorite time of mine. It comes closest to what, I imagine, is a lot of our customers reactions to when they come through the gates. Maybe it is the first time ever or maybe it has only been since yesterday there is almost always something new. It is when the items we have taken in start to tell you their stories. The time when an item starts to become a treasure in your mind. How is this possible you might ask? Well I believe that the time, energy, care, and even passion that were expended in making the architectural pieces and other items we take in leaves a lasting impression. It is there for all to see if we only give it a chance to be seen. That's why we are here to give you folks o

With apologies to E. M. Forster and the Merchant/Ivory film it is the only appropriate title for this week's blog. The Ohmega crew spent this last week in the rarefied air on the 52ND floor of the Bank of America building in San Francisco. Those of you in the know recognize that location as the former Carnelian Room restaurant and bar. Opened in August, 1970 and named for the Carnelian Granite that adorns the 555 California Street building. This restaurant was old school fancy. You did not show up with out a reservation and a jacket for the "Gentleman". Jeans and sneakers just would not do. Hey, "old school" is our stock and trade so you know we just had to go get this stuff. So we made our reservations with general contractor, who kindly relaxed the dress code, and off we went. This place was big. There was all of this tall carved oak paneling and doors. Then there was a couple of big wine racks and trim and miscellaneous other items and......well....only o

The sun has been out quite a bit lately. All of us at Ohmega have been adjusting to the new longer hours to match the new longer days. Then there's the sneezing and itching eyes. Is it just me?.....umm never mind. We have quite a bit to do around here when the weather starts to turn for the better. Just like the rest of you we do some spring cleaning around here. Late Spring, Summer, and early Fall are our busiest times here at Ohmega. As I was writing last week, we are always having to make room for new things. Spring increases the pace. With the Spring also comes a certain anticipation as well. We begin to get e-mails, calls and visitors asking about our services and can we help them with their projects coming up. We hope to get a feel on how the building season might shape up. We start to build our hopes as it has been a long Winter and a slow economy. All of us "Ohmegans" are optimists I think. When I say "Ohmegans" I include all of our customers and contrac

The yard is looking different this week. Truthfully, most weeks it looks different. This is not an accident. As we receive new items and send others on to their new homes we have to play what amounts to a large, 3-D version, of "Tetris". Those of you who have played the game of arranging falling blocks on their computer or cell phone know the challenge. Ohmega's version often involves gloves, heavy lifting, pallet jacks, forklifts and, well, you get the idea. This last week seems like a double overtime session of it except that the real "Tetris" doesn't leave you so sore you have a hard time moving. As you know, the game speeds up as it goes along and more blocks come down. Now that Spring has arrived, Ohmega's version also picks up and more items come our way and go on to those of you out there. Whether they know it or not, our customers come in playing their own version of the game as well. In their version, they look for just the right item to arrange