Welcome to Ancestral Building Materials

The Antique Building Materials Guide Ancestral Building Materials is your premier source for locating hard to find Centuries Old Building Materials & Furniture’s across the Philippines. Our website & directory contains lots of antiquities and is growing daily.

Vintage Clay Roof & Floor Tiles

From the ochre hue of Northern Philippines, terra cotta has been at the heart of the country’s flooring & roofing for centuries. These floor & roof tiles, hand-molded hundreds of years ago (16th to 19th century), bring warmth and character to any surroundings. no two tiles are identical. In fact, it is the variation of hue and color which makes antique terra cotta such a unique and impressive surface.

Most commonly known as “terra cotta”, we actively collect roof & floor tiles all over the Philippines. Anxiously we reclaimed such tiles from historical unsound building who no longer can be saved prior to demolition, restore them and make them available for future generations. The bulk of tiles also were removed due to cost restraints of complete restoration. In both cases it is always worth the time and effort to save them from further destruction. We have one of the largest stocks of vintage clay roof & floor tiles. Some of the items in our inventory date back to the late 1560's.

The extensive inventory of the roof and floor tiles provides any collector with the immediate availability on the widest variety of historical building materials. Additionally we also carry a complete line of French Provencial and Vigan tiles

Our richly antique clay tiles provide an authenticating touch to your home. The heavily textured variegation found in the antique clay tiles echoes the rough hewn stone of the exterior walls in a manner that the authentic feeling of homes in Northern Philippines countryside.
The century old handmade clay tiles will complement the feeling of an aged handmade building materials found in your residence. The final product is one of gracious exquisiteness rarely seen in recently built homes

Also we can supply a variety of old floor & roof tiles for your use in varies of sizes

We are proud to offer you the highest quality. The old hand-made clay tiles manufactured centuries ago is high temperature fired and has a high strength and resistance to wear far beyond that of newly made clay tiles, clay tiles whose beauty lies in the natural color variations not found elsewhere.

Ages Old Hand-Hewn Beams & Posts

Right now we have a very good supply of hardwood lumber, usually we sell this lumber in a random width and length which works well for most restoration & building projects. If you need specific lengths or widths etc. we can process this for you. Hand hewn beams & posts are derived from timbers retrieved from buildings built at the turn of few centuries ago and is a reflection of Filipino - Spanish history. Time and weather have taken nature's roll on these timbers creating the distressed look of aged wood. Old lumber is noted for its dry stable and dense nature. This lumber generally has varying degrees of character marks such as nail holes, bolt holes color and texture variations, worm and insect tracks, mortises and slight twisting and bending are all potential features and notches from previous applications. Malatumbaga, Narra, Molave, Ipil Balayong, Saplungan & Nariq are a few of the hardwoods we carry. This old aged wood is available in various widths and lengths and custom milled to achieved the look you desire. Each timber is hand scraped giving a unique natural antique appearance. We work with architects, designers, contractors and owners closely tailoring each order to detailed specifications.

16th Century Ancestral Clay Bricks

We have access to large volume of old clay bricks, estimated to be more than 300 years old. They are very solid and in excellent condition. They might distinguish the character of your home if used in walls. The late 16th century brought about the need for a quality material for the construction of various city buildings and the building of city water and sewer systems. Brick was born. The brick making process was a long tedious one. The clay and shale would arrive at the plants in rock-like chunks. Mechanical wheels would crush the chunks into smaller pieces to be ground into a powdery form. The clay was then shaped into bricks by molds. The bricks gained their strength and durability through bee hive kiln firing. The firing caused the bricks content to react chemically to create an impenetrable, especially by moisture, brick. Bricks were burned in kilns at anywhere from 1,800 to 2,000 degrees. The firing process involved hand-placing bricks into bee hive kilns sometimes taking two full days to load one kiln. It took 6 days to burn the bricks and another 3 days to cool them off. During the firing process, the bricks also took on beautiful coloring schemes that can't be duplicated today. Favored by architects, designers and homeowners, whether it be a quaint home or a commercial building, the applications and charming design possibilities are limitless when using our distinctive range of centuries old reclaimed traditional kiln fired clay bricks.

Gray Adobe ∞ Piedra China ∞ Cobble Stone

Century aged gray adobe is a great accent for your exterior & interior walling for those who want a beauty and uniqueness that will express individuality and combined with the use of granite stones, on the ground for driveways, walkways, patios, pool surrounds, etc Piedra China & Cobble Stone Pavers without dimensional limits Old adobe blocks are available from different locations in the northern part of the Philippines which are aged over million years , reclaimed from quarries centuries ago used during the Spanish era into there buildings. These beautiful adobe blocks have amazing character that you will not find in today's cut. More than 400-years Old Chinese Granite Cobblestones known as “PIEDRA CHINA” constituted the very structure of some streets of the nation's most historic cities like "Vigan” in “Ilocos Sur”. Large quantities of historical granite cobbles were retrieved from the “Ancestral Houses” and “Streets” throughout the “Philippines”. These beautiful cobble stones were used as ship ballast on galleons traveling from China to the Philippines more than 400 years ago. Their color ranges from gray to purple. The cobblestones have random lengths and widths, sized perfect for a rustic driveway or walkway. These beautiful cobble stones are available in inadequate quantities. In addition, we have a comprehensive unusual collection of “Batong Buhay”, “Bronero” “Granite” & “Volcanic Pavers” that lays beautiful walls and floors for your ancestral inspired project as well as any other hard to find pavers stones or rocks

Antique Hardwood Flooring & Planks

We have wide plank flooring available in quite a few different species wood, also we have stairs & moldings to match this flooring

All of our hardwood planks are recycles from buildings about 100 to 400 years old, which we collected all over the Philippines. They are the highest quality available today, full of character and rich patina. No two hardwood planks are exactly alike and the character of the planks includes worm holes, nail holes, weather cracks and a range of colors.

Every piece is a solid wooden plank which ranges from 0 ¾” up to 1 ¼” thickness, in random lengths from 2 feet to 24 feet and widths up to 14” depending on species.

Malatumbaga, Narra, Molave, Ipil Balayong, Saplungan & Nariq are a few of the hardwood planks we carry in our handsome collection.

Ancestral Building Materials in the News

Over the last decade some prominent magazines and newspapers, “BluPrint" & “The Manila Times” including some broadcasting networks like “ABS-CBN” “CH 21” “IBC” “ETC.” have featured about our special effort and labor of love for restoration and preservation of antiques and heritage in the Philippines.

Specializing in Wide Plank Antique Wood Flooring, Lumber, Beams & Millwork, Clay Bricks, Wide Range of Stones & other Assorted Ancestral Building Materials.