Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette A donation of 121 aluminum-clad windows to Construction Junction includes 67 with Roman arches in several sizes.

By Patricia Lowry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Construction Junction, the East End purveyor of used and surplus building materials, has been in the recycling business for seven years and never seen the likes of this: more than 200 brand-spanking-new windows and doors nesting in several sections of the shop, near aisles thick with discarded doors, windows, shutters, kitchen cabinets and pastel toilets ripe for a new life.

The cache comes from two unrelated sources and construction projects for which the windows and doors, once produced, were deemed unsuitable.

One group -- 121 windows and 11 doors made for a single-family home -- is an outright donation by the wealthy owner who decided they weren't quite what he was expecting. All of the profits go to Construction Junction, which will sell them for about 25 percent of their retail value.

The other group -- 93 windows that were mis-ordered for an institutional project -- is part of a "cost recovery pilot project." Construction Junction will sell the windows for 63 percent of their retail value, returning 48 percent to the dealer and 15 percent to nonprofit Construction Junction.

"We generally do not receive material of this quality and quantity. It's highly unusual," said Mike Gable, Construction Junction's director. "We're thinking of the cost recovery pilot as a whole new marketing strategy. We hope it will bring more material into the store and attract new donors."

The windows also may attract a different kind of buyer -- those interested in a new, high-end product at a bargain price.

The 93 windows in the cost recovery pilot project were manufactured in Canada by Loewen for McMurray-based distributor Blyth & Shearn, which will honor the warranties. Made of Douglas fir and clad on the exterior in clay-colored (off-white) aluminum, the windows are side-hinged casement or top-hinged awning windows, and sometimes combinations of both. They range in size from a 35-inch-wide by 39-inch-high awning window (four available at $463.80 each) to a 106-inch-wide by 78-inch-high window with three awnings over three casements (two available at $2,442.60 each).

"The sizes and types will be somewhat challenging to translate into a residential building or complex," Mr. Gable said.

There are 22 windows measuring 63 inches wide by 78 inches high, each with two awning windows above two casements. The largest number of windows of a uniform size, they are priced at $1,515 each. Fourteen casement windows, selling for $661.20 each, are 35 inches wide by 70 inches high.

All of the Loewen windows have screens and grilles and are energy-efficient, with argon gas between the double panes, each treated with low-emission coatings.

The same is true for the other group of 121 windows and 11 doors, manufactured by Eagle Window and Door in Dubuque, Iowa. Valued at $390,000, the aluminum-clad wood windows come in a variety of sizes and shapes, ranging from three small ovals to a group of six conjoined windows measuring 5 feet 4 inches wide and 8 feet 3 inches high.

The standouts are 67 Roman-arched windows of different sizes, any one of which could serve as the center panel of a three-part Palladian window. They also could be part of a greenhouse or conservatory addition, said Mindy Schwartz, Construction Junction's development and systems manager. A group of 20, measuring 3 feet 6 inches wide by 5 feet 6 inches high, is selling for $675 each.

Other recent, remarkable donations include about $90,000 worth of cabinet hardware, now selling for half price and a gift of Woodcrafters Supply, which has closed its store on Perry Highway in the North Hills.

Construction Junction also has about 70 sections of iron fence, circa 1905, donated by Homewood Cemetery, which installed a new perimeter fence. Each section measures 8 feet long and 6 feet high and is priced between $10.50 and $12 per linear foot, depending on condition. The store will cut it to size.

"Our workshop is expanding," said architect Deborah Elliott, Construction Junction's associate director. "We'll be adding welding for repairs and enhancement."

The shop also has the ability to cut down boards and metalwork and to remove paint from hardware.

Stacks of boards -- once bleachers at Aliquippa High School -- are dwindling as people buy them to cut down for shelving and stair treads, Mr. Gable said. The price is right: $10 per 12-foot board.

In recent weeks, Construction Junction has salvaged tin ceilings, woodwork, bead-board paneling, light fixtures and doors from buildings being demolished in the 200 block of Fifth Avenue, Downtown, for the construction of Three PNC Plaza. A few pieces of carved stone from the facade of the circa 1875 Floyd Building sold quickly.

One item of note, priced at $150, is a wooden door about 8 feet tall, perhaps from a Chinese restaurant, with "231-233" and a pagoda roof painted in gold leaf and mother-of-pearl on its glass panel. A 1916 map shows a lunchroom at 233 Fifth Ave.

"We got a great volume of material," Mr. Gable said, but "we didn't get any sort of big, valuable pieces that are spectacular. Those buildings were pretty picked over over the years."

Information: 412-243-5025 or www.constructionjunction.org.