NOT SO LONG AGO, THE GARAGE door was a humdrum slab that lacked any style or design options. Today there are seemingly limitless options so home buyers no longer have to settle for the ordinary.
“One of the biggest trends in the category is the broadened awareness of the value of the garage door,” says Tim Miller, sales and marketing manager for C.H.I. Overhead Doors in Arthur, Ill. “It can now be a primary item in improving the look of the home.”
Indeed, the garage door now comes with as many options as any other element in the home. River Falls, Wis.–based Designer Doors, for example, recently announced that it has added 16 decorative glass styles to its standard offering, a move that speeds up the delivery time of a custom door and makes it much easier to order. The company says customer requests for its specialty glass have been surging in recent years.
Customers are also crazy about carriage-house–style doors, a historic design that is usually found on wood units. In a press release at the International Builders' Show earlier this year, Tim Matthews of Overhead Door announced the development of an embossed steel carriage-house door that “is an easy and affordable addition to make the front of your home attractive and inviting.”
C.H.I., like many other manufacturers, has responded to consumer demand for bigger doors by adding larger units to its offering. Doors now come in 12-, 15-, and 20-foot widths and in heights up to 14 feet. In addition to the larger sizes, the company offers a line of products that has been beefed up with reinforced struts and heavier hinges to withstand high winds in coastal areas.
For more product information, visit ebuild, Hanley Wood's interactive product catalog, at www.builderonline.com or www.ebuild.com.
