The Re-use Hawai'i warehouse in Kaka'ako is easily the most interesting hardware store in the state. From decades-old lumber and old cabinets to glass blocks, windows and 500 louvered doors, everything here is salvaged material.

The founders of the nonprofit, eco-friendly business like to say they've created a hardware store with heart and history. But it also has a purpose: Diverting construction materials from the landfill and into the hands of contractors, homeowners and anyone who's handy with a hammer and saw.

Ever since the warehouse officially opened in April — on Earth Day — it has attracted a steady stream of customers. It was the natural progression for Re-use Hawai'i, which deconstructs buildings so that owners do not have to demolish them.

"People were waiting for this to happen," said Selina Tarantino, one of the cofounders. "They'd say, 'How come someone didn't do this sooner?' We haven't had to do any advertising. People have sought us out."

Founded in 2007, Re-use Hawai'i has completed 63 projects and diverted more than 1,000 tons from the city's landfill. Initially, it sold the material from a dusty vacant lot near Point Panic, but the goal was always to have a larger, enclosed environment, said Quinn Vittum, the other cofounder of Re-use Hawai'i. Without the warehouse, he would just be storing waste.

"Everyone understands the principle around building deconstruction, but they don't have a channel to redistribute the material," he said.

The warehouse, on the Honolulu Harbor side of Kaka'ako Waterfront Park, sits on 25,000 square feet. Inside, there's an array of used material, even sinks, bathtubs and used appliances. Outside, workers remove nails, screws and other fasteners and trim the reclaimed wood.

The wood doesn't stay on the property very long, especially the redwood, tongue-and-groove planks, Vittum said. Despite coming from the 1950s and '60s (and even earlier), the redwood is usually of better quality and it's also cheaper — an 8-foot plank that sells for about $16 would cost nearly three times as much new.

"We should charge more, but we just want to move it," Vittum said. "It's extremely popular so we don't hang on to it very long."

Contractors with surplus material have brought their stuff to the warehouse, and Re-use Hawai'i's tile bins attract customers who flip through granite, travertine and flagstone tile like shoppers at a used record store.

The tile, which is about 80 percent cheaper at the warehouse than at retail, would typically be dumped. Builders have long wanted an alternative, Tarantino said.

Despite their success, it's sometimes challenging to convince consumers that old is as good as new.

"People are afraid of re-use," Tarantino said. "People are afraid of recycled. People don't have a concept of what you can do with reusable material.

"Here we can show it's of higher quality."

To help that cause, Tarantino, an interior designer before she got into the deconstruction business, created an office and reception area that included flooring pulled from the basketball court in Hemmeter Fieldhouse at Punahou School, corrugated sheet metal from Fort Shafter Flats, pews from a Makiki church, doors turned into tables and ceilings and subflooring turned into walls.

Repeat customers have stalked the warehouse for bargains. The right price can be a powerful motivator.

"Some people say they're addicted to Re-use Hawai'i, because it's so much fun to find treasure," Tarantino said.