Preston Browning | Reclamation Administration

Preston Browning, owner of Salvage Works, with some deconstructed lumber. (Salvage Works)

“You see on really the earliest barns all hand-hewn beams, very rustic, very beautiful well-aged material,” Browning said. “We sell a lot to contractors and fabricators who are building the interiors of restaurants and bars, coffee shops, offices, that sort of thing.” Anyone who’s been in a recently remodeled or newly built bar or restaurant in Portland has likely seen the kind of wood that fills Salvage Works’ 25,000 square foot complex. The deconstruction ordinance — and plenty of deteriorating barns — will keep them and Salvage Works in old wood for years to come. “It provides jobs, it keeps material out of the landfill and really provides this amazing material that you just can’t find anymore,” Browning said of the ordinance.

Source: Turning old barns and deconstructed buildings in lumber gold: Salvage works | KCBY

Woodworker Preston Browning turns cool salvage into treasures

Preston Browning’s been immersed in collectibles and architectural salvage most of his life.

Back in his Virginia days, he apprenticed for five years under a conservator who worked in conjunction with the Smithsonian on furnishings ranging from 17th-century Jacobean pieces to the works of Dutch Masters.

“Between him and my mom, who was really a junker, I got schooled,” Browning says, walking through the small retail storefront of his business, Salvage Works.

The family affair began after Preston Browning followed his sister’s lead, leaving Virginia in 1993 and settling in Portland. He worked as a cabinetmaker, junking and Dumpster diving for salvage to make his things for himself.

“Part of it was budgetary; I didn’t have any money,” he says.

via Woodworker Preston Browning turns cool salvage into treasures | OregonLive.com.

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