Urban Ore Building Materials
Categories: Local Flavor, Antiques, Home & Garden [Edit]
900 Murray StBerkeley, CA 94702 (510) 841-7283
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Good for Kids: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
4 reviews
Neighborhood: Fourth Street
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80 Reviews for Urban Ore Building Materials
Urban Ore is a great place. The knick-knack stuff is pretty cheap, and there are a lot of great finds but the home furnishings (unless you find the right employee) are severely over-priced. Maybe just plain old over-priced.
But still, worth checking out and a lot of fun.
Side note:
Smells like cat urine. There are most definitely extreme quantities of cat urine on the premises. I don't mind terribly because that means they feed the cats. And the cats have a good home.
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Hasn't anyone noticed that Urban Ore sucks?!!! They sell shit for $200 and the place stinks of cat piss. Why would you buy a piece of furniture that smells like pee? The dressers and book shelves are total junk and so overpriced. The veneer is peeling off, knobs missing, and legs broken and the price is $175?????????? If you like nasty clothes, shitty records and broken stereo components, Urban Ore is the place for you!
Yes, there's lots of over-priced crappy stuff at Urban Ore. But if you do go often enough you'll find some great stuff.
One very hot weekend we decided to shop there for stone for a pathway. We got a great deal. We rent, so we didn't want to spend a fortune on a walkway that isn't ours. My only complaint was no help loading the car with heavy materials in the oppressive heat.
We also have a white marble table top we like to put our bonsai on. But we needed a new stand for it. We found a really cool old Singer sewing machine base that was perfect. You know the kind, with the peddle on the bottom to make the machine work. It looks really great with the marble.
You can't always find what you want there, and some stuff is really just over-priced junk. But that's half the fun of looking.
Urban Ore, recycling mecca...Expect to get your hands dirty and to spend no less than an hour here. Replaced a wood rotten window frame with a used in good condition vctorian bought here. Hard not to salivate over all the antique fixtures. If only I owned instead of rented...
one of the staff persons spent considerable time helping me find the right dimension piece. don't forget to bring your measuring tape...
also scored some good cool books for cutting and pasting. cheaper than my local thrift store. kind of like a mixed bag thrift jungle with a bend on housing restoration and building supplies. the window cost $30. fair price.
Urban Ore had mountains of shelf brackets!!! (these are the simple metal L-brackets that are mysteriously discontinued everywhere)
Extra credit for being able to bring your dog.
Minus one star for having to weed through too many toxic substances to find useful materials.
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For all of you that claim there is only junk here, NOT SO! Got a Bower flower pot for .50. That's about $249.50 under what I'd pay anywhere else. Also, a $35 vintage Franciscan dinner plate for $1.25. Found a door for my 1891 Victorian for a lot less than having one made (my doorways are much larger than today's!). A little paint and a pane of glass and problem solved. Yes, some thing's are over priced but for everyone that is there is something under priced.
This is not retail at it's finest. This is recycling and it's not the place for small children or anyone with "dirt" issues. This is a great place to spend an afternoon.
Have you ever sat in an antique office chair and imagined that you were in front of an old Underwood typewriter taking dictation for your boss who was smoking one of those sherlock holmes pipes in a green leisure suit while practicing his putting ability on a piece of dirty brown shag carpet while the art-deco radio played Bing Crosby's "White Chrismas"?
Maybe you've secretly desired to own like 5 copies of the very Best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner album. No? Do you have a fascination with the old broken flotsam and personal effects discarded by estranged members of society?
Do you have a knack for fixing broken things?
Are you interested in using reclaimed building materials in your next remodel?
If you answered yes to anything above, then take your ass down to Urban Ore and take a gander. Peruse the mountains of old crappy records that nobody ever liked. Maybe you'll find a gem. Seriously though - this place is kinda awesome. Everything from old electronics do-it-yourself Heath kits to kitchen cabinents to claw-foot tubs or a 1 ton concrete garden "sphynx", this place can occupy your time. Even when I walk out empty handed I usually feel like the time was well spent. Sure, these guys know when something is actually worth something - they mark it up. You're probably not gonna get lucky and find anything really valuable that's not marked up. But hey - if you are handy, don't mind putting in some elbow grease - I walked out with a few pieces of furniture that would have cost me about 10 times what I paid for em if they happened to wind up in some overpriced trendy hip "vintage" furniture store in San Francisco.
If you need black velvet dining chairs or a Clue game from the 70s where the marker for Mr. Green has been replaced by a rock, this is your place to go.
I know because I bought those things. 70s Clue really should have been $2 instead of $5 since you know, Mr. Green is a rock.
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Wow, I've worked within a mile of Urban Ore for over a year and always thought it was just for building supplies. I was so pleased to go there for the first time today and discover all the antique house ware junk! My life revolves around wedding planning at the moment, so I was immediately drawn to the selection of glass vases, realizing they were just what I had in mind for a vintage-y, mod podge-y centerpiece decoration. I spent $11 on six of them (this was all I could carry) and I'll be back for more! If you can get past the cat urine-ish odor when you first walk in, and are able to steer clear of the numerous accidents waiting to happen (there's plenty of stuff to trip over and fall on you) then you're in for a treat.
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Perhaps a little arrogant for people selling what really is a load of old rubbish - you're not all that - sure it's great to recycle stuff, but an attitude from some-one selling over-priced junk is a little much - lose the attitude, lower the prices by 50% and MARK YOUR PRICES and you'd have a great place.
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This warehouse containing tons of great finds! Where else can you find used records, antique rocking chairs and a stack of military chests, across the way from rows of toilets, doors, and windows. It's the Ultimate Yard Sale!
It can be a bit cramped to walk around in places. Come only if you have time to spare, since it takes a while to rummage around and find the really good deals on things you'd actually want.
Remarkable shit to substance ratio with unbelievable potential.
For the most part one could go to Urban Ore without finding anything worth buying and consider it time severely well spent.
Personally I was not on the fence about anything I saw: either I loved it or was indifferent to it. And even the things that I saw and hated, I secretly loved for that very reason.
So many ideas. So many rare finds. So many close calls and knuckle biters. So in love.
I want a piano and an old larkin desk. So many ideas and so many possibilities.
This time I walked away with a 100 year old medical journal and 200 year old bible.
Seriously!
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3 pairs of shoes and 4 books for $16. hell yes. i found three of my favorite books from childhood and a book called "14,000 things to be happy for". skimming through, i found "home brews" and "tying hand-me-down sweaters around your waist" - while i was sweater-waisting my dad's old sweatshirt! (we're bringing sweater-waisting back, don't resist it.) so of course, i had to buy it. we came in 20 minutes before close so i didn't get a real good look around but there was a big sewing machine selection and plenty of antique things that had sensible prices, not that it's-so-old-we-have-to-charge-extra bullshit. there was even an easy bake oven. i'll be back.
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Many great projects of mine were fueled with materials from Urban Ore. Perhaps the greatest of them was the adjustable tripod made from crutches.
This is one of those places where the longer you stay, the more you find.
Don't wear designer clothing when you come here, though...or your favorite sweater.
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oh my goodness...this place is out of control. in a good way.
i originally went here to drop off some "junk" that i didn't feel should go in the recycling bin. i wish i had known about this place right out of college when i was living paycheck to paycheck, had few possessions and had more time to be creative. this place has it all, in addition to all the stuff you'd expect to find at goodwill, it also has old doors, windows, sinks, toilets, gardening stuff, furniture (lots of furniture).
plan a few hours to check out this scavenger's delight. get ready to pick and peruse the piles, and i mean PILES. this is by far my most favorite place to find old photographs. if you've got tools and time, this is the place to be.
make sure to wear sturdy shoes for foraging through the maze of masonry magic; it can be quite treacherous.
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Talk about lots and lots of wonderful crap! Got some bitchin housewares, a weird Victorian-by-way-of-1970 art, a sweet little wallet and a weird rash on my hands from this place. We initially went to find a kitchen table, but no such luck. Me thinks it's the kind of place you must frequent to find the real treasures, and Saturday was my very first visit. Bottom line for me: Pretty decent prices and a great way to spend an aftenoon...just make sure you bundle up, it's cold in there! ...and just kidding about the rash...kinda.
Reducing your carbon footprint, recycling and reusing is all very nice in theory but it is businesses like Urban Ore that make it a feasible reality.
That being said, go here if you have the time and the inclination to dig, poke and rummage. Never count on finding what you need, but do count on finding something you want. It took me three return trips to find a toilet tank lid that fit (my roommate annihilated ours one drunken night) and each time I was inspired to quit my job and start building houses out of old doors and discarded furniture.
One visit there was a group of guys playing around with a soccer ball outside by the toilets and bathtubs. One was in a wheelchair and when the ball bounced over my way, I picked it up and tossed it to him, eager to help. Later saw the same guy walking around with a box of old phones, so now I know you can get wheelchairs there too.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term "flow": a state of mind where you lose sense of time: deep concentration. While engaged in act of choosing that involves your whole being, one reaches a level of engagement that is completely unconscious and alters sense of time and loss of ones ego. We've all felt this at some point in our lives: when one's on that seemingly endless bike ride along the coast, when you're lost making balloon animals, sewing an intricate quilt, when one spends 3 hours making meringues people will consume in 3 minutes, playing jazz music, chess, basketball, you name it; we've all been in "the zone".
Well, if "the zone" had an actual physical address, it would be urban ore (at least for me). I get lost in here for hours, for multiple reasons. Be it pretending I'm in a moving time machine, gathering oddities for an art project I'll never show anyone, presents for my freakier friends, playing Dr. Zhivago amongst the rambles or falling asleep in an old bathtub while reading a book. You can spend the whole day here alone with an active imagination or with a like minded friend or S.O.
And yeah, I'm a bit strange, I know
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Urban Ore: the perpetual garage sale.
I love this place. It's a huge warehouse filled with junk! Great place to browse....you're sure to find something random and if you're lucky you might find a hidden treasure. My friend found Michael Jackson's Off the Wall on vinyl for $1.00 (and it was in good condition)! Once I found someone's discarded U.C. Berkeley diploma on sale for $3.00 and another time I found a huge-ass snifter and an itty bitty snifiter. It's also a great place to buy cheap, used furniture, or if you're a handy fix-it person they have tons of old electronics and appliances. I first found this place when I was taking a drawing class and needed unique items for a still life drawing (they have tons of vases, mugs, cups, plates, etc).
Totally cool place. Go back often because items are always circulating and they constantly take in new things.
In my past life, i was someone who worked here and spend their entire paycheck each month on random shit. When I died I left all my goods to my dog.
Once my dog died it passed all the goods to the present owner. And the cycle goes on.
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I've been going to Urban Ore for yeeears. I have found some really awesome vintage clothes there and quite a few cool 45s and LPs. Once in a while, you can find a nice Tepco serving platter, and SOMETIMES it is cheap. Their prices are generally pretty good, but every once in a while they mark something as a collectible and price gouge. Their building materials range from inexpensive to completely outrageously priced. So, you really have to look deep in the piles and go back often.
One really cool thing about Urban Ore is that you can donate to them and get a credit receipt to use for purchasing other items.
Customer service reeeally lacks at Urban Ore. The cashiers are generally more interested in their personal conversations with their co-workers, than assisting you--but hey, what do you expect for minimum wage pay?
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anyones paradise.
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If you need old stuff this is the place to look for it. old lighting fixtures, windows, bathtubs, bicycles, trunks. You name it they have it.
I first went to Urban Ore when it was on 2nd by Gillman.
Then 6th and Gillman.
Now at its newest incarnation on Murray street It's still going strong.
I love the people that work there. I Really love them!
I love the stuff they have. It's a jetsom & flotsam Wonderland.
Since I weld Junk art. Some of the most timeless pieces of metal I have bought there. Some of the coolest people I have met there shopping.
If only they served coffee.............
I give them the whole 5 stars so next time I go down there they'll give me killer deals like always and won't jump me.
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I really do have a special place in my heart for Urban Ore. Sometimes you find what you're looking for and sometimes you don't. But you always leave with something that you don't necessarily need but you just have to have. They have everything! I always go here to find stuff for my sculptures. It can be very affordable too. If you've never been I definitely recommend going and exploring.
Mice dive into piles of trash. Kids dive into plastic ball pits. Rock stars dive into the waiting hands of the crowd and I would just as eagerly dive into the glorious collection of goodies that is Urban Ore, with all the glee in the world, except for the fact that this warehouse DOES contain glass, sharp edges, some rust and more glass.
If you do dive into it, it would be like diving into a sea of pain.
But if you just casually walk around it, all nonchalant and cool-like, you're bound to find something you can take home while leaving your body in the same shape as when you entered.
I got a file cabinet here that I brought home and, with a few modifications, turned into a bar.
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I bought a desk that weighed more than 10 goats and smelled just as fresh. There is a sense of history touching broken Loverboy records, unloved Nagels and all things rattan. It can be pricey but remember IKEA means "must make yearly trip to the dump" in swedish- when things are built to last, you can get over smells.
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I went to Urban Ore for the very first time last month, and it's probably for the best that it's taken me so long to go there.
I have gotten-
-2 chairs
-3 lamps
-several picture frames (which I have subsequently cleaned, painted, and hung up thankyouverymuch)
-some sort of hammer with a spiked ball hanging from it (?)
-a binder full of hunting/fishing knives- yes- a binder
-several books
-a small black and white photo of a dog that looks like lassie, which I will be framing because it looks like someone loved him very much
-a birthday card of animals at a picnic, which someone else took the time to laminate
The different music playing in different departments is very schizophrenic-feeling. & I love that they have test stations for you to plug in electronics before you buy.
Shopping here gives me a good feeling. Dusty dirty and cat pee smelling, but a good feeling.
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Back when we moved into our vintage 1962 Ranch-style home, I practically lived at this place. Seriously, I think I was here a few times a week for at least a couple of months (but this was at the Gilman Street location). This place saved my butt on several memorable occasions, to wit:
-- Found the exact kitchen cabinet handles (at 25 cents each) that I needed, which matched the existing ones but were silver instead of gold. Bought a can of spray paint and made them all the same color. Problem solved.
-- Found the light fixture that matched the three other lights in the family room, enabling me to replace a lovely piece of warped plastic with the real fixture.
-- Found some funky odds and ends (baskets, shelves) that saved me a bunch more money.
You need to come prepared to cope with a lot of dirt and grime and dust, but if you are game and if you are patient, there are some great deals to be had.
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wooohooo! sky high prices on moldy, broken particle board cabinets and such!
Let's just get this out of the way right now. What is up with the cat pee smell??? I didn't see a single cat on my visit to Urban Ore and yet I could smell them everywhere. It didn't totally turn me off - I have cats at home so I'm fairly used to the smell - it was just odd.
This place is pretty awesome, otherwise. I could have walked around forever looking through all the old treasures. They have an AMAZING selection of old windows at pretty good prices. I got two from the clearance section super cheap. At first I was a little frustrated when none of the windows I was looking at had prices on them but it worked out in the end when the guy just looked at my selections and said, "Ehhh . . . five bucks each?" Yes please.
A valuable lesson I learned the day I went to Urban Ore : it's probably one of the worst places in the world to bring a 3 yr old. I'm not sure why my sister-in-law and I didn't realize that a salvage yard wasn't the safest place to bring my niece but we soon found that out.
Olivia: "Oh look! A little mug for me to drink from!"
Too bad it was an old rusty battery. Luckily she didn't have time to touch it before we told her how "yucky" it was. She did, however, have time to knock her head on the bars of an old baggage cart she was using as a jungle gym. She was also able to come very close to bringing down a pile of old bathroom cabinets that were stacked in a corner. And good thing she was wearing her light up tennis shoes and not her favorite ballet slippers because her little feet trampled over a fair amount of broken glass. So lesson learned. Not the next location for your kids birthday parties. Note to self.
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A big ole warehouse full of pretty much everything for basically nothing.
Mostly "building materials," like the sign says (doors, plumbing fixtures, toilets) but also cheap power tools, antique pianos, etc etc.
For students: there is also a lot of useful stuff for non-homeowners- lamps, mismatched eating utensils, chairs. Coffee mugs, drinking glasses. Cheap paperbacks for a dollar. Bicycles. Espresso machines.
I've seen cymbal stands here for five dollars. A playstation for another five. 8mm projectors.
On the other end of the spectrum, you could buy an entire ATM machine. A set of antique lamp posts that used to line a suburban street. An entire cashier's kiosk for a gas station!
I bought a bunch of antique random fixtures here and brought them home; my wife was esctatic. And by "esctatic" I mean "homocidal." I get those mixed up sometimes. Don't be like me! It's easy to buy stuff you don't need here!
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It's awesome -- go there! Bring your camera! But... don't expect to find something specific at a good price.
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Urban Ore makes me very, very happy. My heart is filled with a profound love for junk... few things bring me more pride or joy than finding new uses for old things.
At UO, I like that most items have prices on them, already marked... so you don't have to be bothered finding someone to question "how much is this?"
So why only four stars? The staff can't seem to add correctly (or are swindlers... either way), and over-charged me. Took a load of stuff up to the counter (prices clearly marked) and they ended up asking for more than to what the stickers added. It's part my fault because I didn't do the proper math upfront... but I will be keen not to make that mistake again.
Many things are over-priced to begin with, but there are certainly gems to be uncovered and given new life!
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I feel like I should give this place a bad review just to keep more of the yuppies at bay.
I really enjoy going to urban ore for the same reason I love trolling in thrift stores: the thrill of the hunt.
So yeah, its a giant warehouse, its filled with total and utter random CRAP.... but a lot of it is really cool crap, and a lot of it is really REALLY cool old crap like vintage/antique door handles that will match the ones in your old victorian etc.
SO over the last four trips we've managed to return with:
*One large old steamer trunk, with upholstered shelves still intact and tags from a 1937 train trip
* One (50s?) piece of white luggage in good condition with all the satin pockets intact
*One giant box fan (seriously, like 4 feet by 4 feet)
*One bell that looked like an old "school" bell
*One weird control panel looking thingee
*A couple of beautifully detailed door handles that match the 1892 victorian of my friend.
I've considered buying old wig heads, creepy chairs and tons more stuff here too.
I love that the cool kids behind the counter always discount us when we're ready to check out... that's pretty sweet.
They're a little on the pricey side, but I've never felt ripped off.
A fun place to go shopping if you've got the patience.
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Like treasure hunting - this is the place
Like finding odd things to make art out of - this is the place
Like wandering around aimlessly looking at stuff - this is the place
Like getting your imagination stirred by the ordinary - this is the place
Like finding a bargain on something you NEED - this is the place
Like rummage / garage sales or junk yards - this is the place
Have a profound love for junk - this is the place
* keep your wits about you - the prices and the staff can be a little on the shady side *
this place is great, i have spent many a'hungover sundays pillaging through hidden treasures.. i never really have an agenda when i go here but there is always, always something that catches your eye... usually at a good discounted price.
some of the stuff is pricey, but its probably way cheaper than you would find it elsewhere...
definately worth spending an hour or two at. . .
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Ok, people seem to more or less love the place. I'm kinda ambivalent. On the one hand, it is like nowhere I've ever seen. It is 2/3 home despot, 1/3 thrift store, blend and set 10 years after the Apocalypse. For creating mash-up artsy things, for your burningman [fill in the blank] it is a good source or whatever it is you need.
That said, the prices are probably 2X what they should be. Quality of things varies... a lot. Need a probably broken calculator? They have 20. Maybe they just need new batteries. You figure it out.
If you want to build a cabin in the woods on the (semi) cheap, and have it instantly look 50 years old, this is the place for you.
All in all worth a visit if only for the uniqueness. But it isn't going to give ikea or home despot a run for their money. If getting things used is a big deal to you, definitely check it out.
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The signs in Urban Ore say:
"Please treat Urban Ore as you would your own house--
keep it clean"
Urban Ore is about a zillion times cleaner than our house.
As mentioned in the other reviews the
GARGANTUAN warehouse
of junk/treasures/recycled goods reminds me
of the last scene in the movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
with an endless collection of stuff that goes on forever.
Need a front door, closet door, kitchen door, huge door, tiny door?
They have hundreds!
Need a stove, stove part, doorknob, light fixture,
dresser knob, tiles, books, records, 8mm film projector, vases, furniture, or a million or more doodads, doohickeys, whatchamacallits?
Urban Ore has them all in neat, organized arrays.
And a friendly, helpful staff too.
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