Customer Project Gallery

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Union Physical Therapy Office

In October of 2011, my wife and I secured a lease for our brand new physical therapy practice, Union Physical Therapy, in the not-so-brand-new Good Shepherd Center. It was built in 1906 and maintained by Historic Seattle in Wallingford. The place already had some really nice clear grain fir floors that were distressed by the years, 12-foot ceilings, and 8-foot windows.

We were lucky enough to get some suggestions from friends who were architects about where we might want to go with the space, given our HVAC set up (or lack there of) and the space itself. We were on an very tight budget, and we needed to save money wherever it was possible. We also wanted to find items that would complement the space, so off to Second Use we went.

We scored. We found six oversized glass panel doors that were brand new, five brand new cherry stained cabinets, one large wicker basket (for balls and mats), two really cool old stools for our stand-up work station, and an awesome light fixture. Everything we got was a deal, and I would estimate that we saved about $2,500. A couple coats of paint, some carpentry, builder magic from DMC Tenant Improvement Services, and we were off and running.

We've been open for about a year and a half now, and new patients are always commenting on how much they love our space. Most importantly, we love coming to work here every day as well. The materials we found at Second Use allowed us to match the old with the new in a way that kept our clinic looking clean and professional. We couldn't have done it in the same style without you guys. Thanks.

Mitch Owens MsPT, CMPT
Union Physical Therapy LLC

Coffee Table with Stair Treads and Pipes

I used two maple stair treads purchased from Second Use. I attached them together, cut them to size, and stained them. The stain helped bring out the imperfections in the wood that make for a beautiful coffee table top. For the base, I used metal pipes, screwed together.

-Carol Roll, Burien, WA

1908 Farmhouse Kitchen Renovation

I'm renovating a 1908 farmhouse, and Second Use is my favorite place to shop. I would rather shop at Second Use than the mall any day. I just finished the kitchen. I found the little pantry door, the beadboard I used for the ceiling (stained), wainscoting (painted white), and the crown molding at Second Use. Other recycled materials came from the other area used building material stores.

Table from Salvaged Fir

We started with steel hairpin legs, custom made for us. Then we fabricated a steel frame and attached the legs. After adding some extra support to the legs, we applied a light patina and clear-coated the steel. Then we took our 2" x 12" planks of reclaimed Douglas Fir and planed and sanded them down to expose the beautiful grain patterns. The wood is finished with Boiled Linseed Oil, a top coat of polyurethane and paste wax. We love how it turned out and can't wait to build another one! The table is actually for sale, if anyone is interested.

Dan Elam
Elam Family Design

Salvaged Wine Cellar Doors

There was a weird corner in this basement that had no natural light and was too far removed from the rest of the living space. We decided to frame in a wall and turn the dead space into a wine cellar. We wanted French doors so you could see into it and found these amazing solid fir French exterior doors the perfect size. They were painted, so we had so strip and refinish them to bring them back to life. Once a dead space is now a fantastic wine cellar with the doors being a perfect visual transition.

Harmony Weihs
Design Harmony

Collins Building Fir Beam Mantel

We cleaned up a beam from the Collins Building with a belt sander and some elbow grease for use as a mantel. It's mounted on six pieces of 1/2" rebar with set epoxy buried about 12" into the beam and brick fireplace. Stained it to match the existing trim in the room. You just can't get character like this wood has unless it is salvaged. Thanks to the crew at Second Use for helping me select the beam and get it into my truck.

Rustic Mantel from the Old Collins Building

I purchased a 7" x 7" fir beam from the 1926 Collins Building, cleaned it up, and turned it into a nice rustic mantel. Great focal point to the room and the history of it a good conversation piece, too!

Doors, Kitchen, Bathroom of Salvage

Frustrated with the cookie cutter options most local builders offered, my husband and I built our own home in order to reach our goal of building an economically feasible home, while staying true to our values of sustainability.

We finished our 3,000-square-foot craftsman-style house in 2004, at a cost of about $72/square foot. We used salvaged doors for the entire downstairs (some salvaged from a 1920s schoolhouse). Upstairs, we used hemlock doors purchased at a seconds store. We used reclaimed and rewired light fixtures, sustainably harvested fir floors and trim, a kitchen with not a single traditional cabinet, a salvaged 1950s metal kitchen sink cabinet, salvaged clawfoot tub, salvaged bathroom sinks, low-e windows, energy star appliances, etc. Even the towel bars in the bathroom are salvaged commercial door pulls.

Stephanie Madison

Chinese, Moorish Design with Salvage

With his skill and creativity, Second Use regular James Augustine turns salvaged items into beautiful, internationally influenced designs.

Chinese sitting room - The ceiling panels and medallion came from Second Use. The light fixture came from Earthwise.

Chinese window surround - The pink marble and white travertine marble came from Second Use. Note the rounded plinths.

Door surround - The thick travertine marble came from Second Use. The marble on the jamb was cut to exploit the existing fluting.

Moorish bathroom - All the white and yellow field tile came from Second Use, along with the thicker white tile on the window surround. All the grey marble on the door and window surrounds and the baseboards also came from Second Use. Augustine routed and constructed a truckload of ancient oak for the ceiling from an 1868 Pennsylvania barn for the ceiling. He bought it from Craigslist. The Moorish tile came from Ebay.

Recycled Mantel and Electric Heater

I just finished the install of the mantel and heater I purchased from Second Use. The customer was really excited to get such a great deal on these pieces.

I had to rebuild the mantel a bit, since it fell apart completely after I got it to the shop. It was really bad, it dropped a few feet off the saw and collapsed into five separate pieces. I was able to get it back together and make it quite sturdy. The top and bottom have been edged in solid oak that I also obtained in your store, and then I refinished it with some oil stain and poly.

Jon Hurst