We recover rough sawn industrial timbers, barnwood siding, and hand hewn beams from old structures around the country. The texture and character of this old growth lumber cannot be duplicated with commercial lumberyard materials. We store the lumber at our headquarters in Gunnison, Colorado and our dry climate is perfect for the long term preservation of these antique materials.
I founded AM Salvage in 2006 when I saw homes on the Western Slope being built from reclaimed lumber. I saw a business opportunity because I knew where I could find the raw materials and saw that they had value to the right homeowners and contractors. It also appealed to my environmental ethos because I take pride in upcycling beautiful, historic materials that would otherwise be destined for the landfill.
With no family or friends in the business, I took the initiative to tour all the major reclaimed lumber yards on the West Coast and find the leaders in the industry who were willing to mentor me as I got started. I continue to learn from the best in the field.
The first structure I reclaimed was an old barn near my hometown in Michigan; I sold the lumber to a client building a horse stable. That proved to me the idea worked, and I quickly found more barns to deconstruct.
I spent the first decade of the business doing all my own deconstruction, though now I have enough connections throughout the country to source materials without doing the deconstruction myself.
I started my yard with just couple semi-loads worth of lumber, kept my head down and put in a lot of miles to find and haul in materials, and am now the largest reclaimed lumberyard in Colorado with the greatest variety and selection of materials.
It is important to me to supply quality product, have a well run and ethical business, and provide everything a contractor needs for a project in one convenient location at competitive prices. I have a small team to help me manage inventory and ensure that orders are filled as efficiently as possible.
I have lived in the Gunnison Valley since 1993 and graduated from Western Colorado University in 2001 with a degree in Business and Marketing.
Erik Myers/Owner.
