DECATUR - Dale McKinney must add a second bathroom and fourth bedroom to his house in rural Harristown before he and his wife Ann can welcome their seventh child - a 3-year-old girl from China - in March.

So he's thankful he was able to pick up a like-new bathroom vanity with a sink and countertop earlier this month for just $75.

He made the purchase at the Decatur Area Habitat for Humanity's fledgling ReStore, operating two mornings a week out of the organization's warehouse at 250 W. Cerro Gordo St., but that's not all he got.

"They're super nice there and very knowledgeable," McKinney said. "When I went in to ask about tile, they knew exactly how much I needed, so they know what they're talking about."

They should. The men overseeing the warehouse/store are also among Habitat's most senior volunteers working alongside low-income people remodeling and building homes for the latter to buy.

Habitat had been looking for donated retail space to open a ReStore, like those in Springfield, Champaign and elsewhere, to sell excess building materials from what people donate.

"These stores are a win-win situation all the way around," said George Batson, president of the Decatur branch of Habitat for Humanity.

Then a couple of large donations forced Habitat to begin selling from the warehouse. Innovative Interiors went out of business and gave Habitat its remaining floor coverings and Norandex Inc. donated a line of siding it was dropping.

Other stock includes ceramic floor tile, electric stoves, light fixtures, dishwashers, toilets and storm windows. "We also get a lot of cabinets from people who are remodeling," said Bob Minks, who with fellow volunteer Gordon Eckols runs the Habitat ReStore.

Shopping conditions are less than ideal - the warehouse has no heat or running water, and it's hard to tell what's for sale and what's not - but the store made $5,000 for Habitat in 2007 and is expected to sell a similar amount this year.

"We make the best of what we've got," Eckols said. "We do give people good prices."

McKinney, an emergency medicine physician assistant, plans to buy more supplies from the Habitat ReStore as his project progresses.

"They're real good about pointing me in the right direction and helping fixing mistakes when I make them," he said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Decatur Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore

WHERE: 250 W. Cerro Gordo St.

HOURS: 8 a.m. to noon Thursdays and Saturdays, excluding holidays

INFORMATION: Call 425-6446 or 422-5529

tchurchill@herald-review.com|421-7978