I’ve discovered a new place to “thrift” thanks to my husband… and it’s AMAZING.

It’s not really a THRIFT store (hence the quotation marks above) but they do sell DISCOUNT building materials.

Part of the cool factor with this particular business is that it is in part of an old factory. The name of the original company was Mechanical Mold and the nice man at the cash register said that he had been told that the company made molds for Rubbermaid. The building that houses Building 9 was quite literally BUILDING 9 of the Mechanical Mold factory.

I loved the floors immediately and on first glance thought they were brick.

But they aren’t brick at all, they are wood!

See the grain? The wood is put into the floor on end.

The whitish swirls and bits are shavings of metal embedded into the wood.

The gentleman I spoke to (and don’t you know, I didn’t get his name) said the floors were made this way to reduce the vibration on the machines. Genius.

Can you imagine how many workmen in steel toed boots it took to smooth the ends of the wood like that? Hours and hours, years and years. Blood, sweat, tears. Men working day and night to earn a living. Old factories, buildings, history… it’s the stuff that gets my imagination working over time. (Pardon the little pun)

Anyone need a cupboard door or a drawer front?

How about industrial carpet squares?

How about a fantastic door for my front porch? Why, yes. Thank you very much.

Solid wood, 12 light for $99. Who could pass THAT up?

Not us!

Building 9 is located at 945 South Main in Akron, Ohio and they have a website: Building 9