July, 2006

In Depth: Doors

The drive to personalize the home’s look is driving larger sizes, diverse species, more glass and higher quality for entry, patio and interior doors.

By Craig A. Shutt

The housing market is changing somewhat, as baby boomers age, new-home sales slow and homeowners create a more personal look for their own cocoons. Those trends are leading to changes in door styles for entry, patio and interior doors, a trend that in recent decades didn’t necessarily follow along.

"Awareness of our category, both for interior and exterior doors, has never been higher,” says Dale Mayfield, vice president of marketing for Masonite Corp. in Tampa, Fla. "Builders, remodelers and homeowners all are looking at doors as a design element. And we’ve introduced a tremendous amount of new products over the past five years to meet that new demand.”

"We’re seeing a move back to making doors important from a design standpoint,” adds Scott Schmid, president of TruStile Doors LLC in Denver. Prior to World War II, he explains, doors and stiles were designed to fit with the home’s architectural style. After that, doors became more of a commodity, with function driving decisions and design style focused on other products. "But now, there is a desire by homeowners to buy doors that match their architectural style. Our business is going gangbusters because we can provide homeowners with the opportunity to find a door that accentuates the home’s design.”

Entry Enhances Curb Appeal

Many homeowners have acknowledged that their entry door improves their home’s curb appeal, adds Jim McElroy, general manager for entry and patio doors at Therma-Tru Doors in Maumee, Ohio. Entry doors are among the top elements that homeowners check in other homes when looking for new ideas, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive with Therma-Tru. Front porches and front doors were key ingredients homeowners said they wanted to change in their homes (see sidebar below).

Front porches are returning to homes, McElroy notes, with recent studies showing that 50% of new homes now include a porch, up from 42% 10 years ago. That combination of emphasis and new design style with the porch has given entry doors a higher profile. As a result, homeowners are giving these products more dominance in the home’s appearance and in their budget. That in turn produces a desire for higher quality and unique touches that create a personal style.

One way this has manifested itself is with a change in the standard look, says Schmid. "The traditional style is a six-panel, stock door, but we sell fewer of those all the time. There’s more variety today—two-panel or three-panel doors especially. Whatever works with the architectural style is becoming the choice.”

The attention homeowners are giving to millwork and cabinetry inside their homes is affecting the front door, notes Masonite’s Mayfield. "Some styles, such as the Craftsman/Shaker style, is growing like wildfire, and homeowners are aligning their doors with the wainscoting and cabinetry designs they are using.”

One way homeowners are stamping their own brand on their entry doors is by using more unusual wood species. Marvin Windows, for instance, in 2004 purchased an entry-door company in Honduras that produces custom-made, hand-carved mahogany doors. Its production currently is limited to distribution east of the Mississippi River. "It helped us gain mahogany products while providing a unique design,” says Tom Sinning, director of dealer sales. The operation also uses Honduran cedar, which is similar to mahogany.

Mahogany is particularly popular in the Southeast, says Jeff Williams, senior brand manager for Weather Shield in Medford, Wis. Another rapidly rising species is alder, particularly a knotty version that provides a rustic look. This wood is moving beyond its popularity in the Southwest to reach the Midwest and farther east. Other popular woods are white oak, cherry, cedar, walnut and American fir, marketers say.

The desire for more exotic species has changed the way some manufacturers order inventory, notes Jim Peterson, director of product engineering for Hurd Windows, which also is based in Medford, Wis. "For many years, our most popular species was pine, but now we’re stocking eight or nine species and getting requests for others,” he says. "We order 50% more than we need to fill an order, so we can start building inventory as we see a particular species growing in demand. It can take three or four weeks to ship an exotic species, which adds lead time.” Customers understand that their unusual requests require more time, he notes. In fact, in some cases, they request the wood because it is unusual and difficult to get. "They want to personalize their doors and are willing to wait.”

The personalization extends to the hardware installed on the doors, marketers say. Weather Shield, for instance, recently announced it will be adding a stocking inventory of high-end hardware supplied through Stone River Bronze of Logan, Utah. "People are tailoring their houses as never before, and they are focusing on the products that are tangible,” says Williams. "That means hardware is getting more attention. It’s one of the first things people see and touch when they visit a home.” Marvin’s Sinning agrees. "We’re seeing more demand for high-end bronze hardware and custom touches, to help create a more personalized entry.”

Those hardware styles vary to match the architectural style and the wood species, producing a wide range of options, which also vary by regions of the country. "The parts of the door that get handled are important, as is the way it looks overall and operates,” points out Hurd’s Peterson. "So the aesthetics of the hardware have gained importance, as has the machining and the fit and function. Parts they interact with have to be done well.”

Doors also continue to grow in size, with heights of 8 to 10 ft. becoming more common. "Ceilings are taller, and homeowners want their doors to be proportionate,” says Marvin’s Sinning. Indeed, the National Association of Home Builders reports that the most significant change in new homes in recent years has been the popularity of 9-ft.-tall ceilings. More than 50% of new upscale and moderate homes being built have high ceilings.

There’s also a desire to focus more visual attention on the entry, adds Shane Meisel, marketing manager for Jeld-Wen in Klamath Falls, Ore. "Lot sizes are decreasing, so homeowners are looking to give their homes a bigger look by making the entry oversized.”

Doors are widening, too, expanding to 3 1/2 ft. for some styles. In part, this keeps the taller doors looking more proportionate, but it also prepares baby boomer homes for times when they will want more accessibility. Double doors are also growing in popularity, expanding widths further.

Glass Options Abound

Helping to draw attention to the entry are more glass options. "There’s a lot of glass being used, because it provides the illusion of a larger size,” says Meisel. Adds Therma-Tru’s McElroy, "We are seeing a proliferation of glass designs on doors, especially in remodeling applications, with sidelites, inserts and transoms.” Glass area is replacing panels in the door that used to be devoted to wood, notes Weather Shield’s Williams. This is being encouraged by glass technology, which has improved to provide more UV protection. "The key is to put the right glass into the unit, as it can make a huge difference in the comfort and feel of the light that comes through.”

Simulated divided-lite bars also are becoming more unusual in style, as architects design unique patterns, he adds. "There’s an increase in grilles in general, and people are asking for very peculiar and original designs,” he says. "We’re getting many more custom requests, and that requires more attention to detail to ensure the grilles align properly.” Masonite’s Mayfield agrees. "We’re seeing much more interest in caming materials besides brass. Silver and black options are extremely popular.” Demand for the company’s offering of wrought iron sandwiched between two panes of glass also is growing.

Preferences for species, hardware and glass options are highly regional, notes Therma-Tru’s McElroy. "Dealers have to align their product assortment to their own market’s preferences,” he says. "Things that work great in one region won’t work in another.”

Laminated glass also is increasing in popularity—especially in coastal areas, where hurricanes have gained homeowners’ attention—and is now specified in codes. "The hurricane market is driving laminated-glass sales, but other markets are seeing growth too,” Williams says. Many homeowners, now aware of the glass, are using it for homes along golf courses and in urban areas to provide more security. Outswing doors and multipoint locks also are beefing up safety in hurricane zones.

Energy efficiency remains a key ingredient in door selection, especially as glass areas expand. Manufacturers are taking that need into consideration, says Marvin’s Sinning. "Leaded-glass inserts are triple insulated, and all glass is energy efficient,” he notes. "But that area isn’t the key to energy efficiency. It’s more important to consider the weatherstripping and sill system.” The company recently introduced a new sill guard to aid with controlling moisture and ensuring problems don’t arise. Energy-efficient doors also are getting a boost from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which provides a credit of up to $500 for installing an energy-efficient door.

Even steel doors, which make up about half of the total market but tend to represent the lower end, are gaining in quality, says Therma-Tru’s McElroy. "Steel doors are continuing to evolve, and we’re seeing new designs become popular.” These doors are particularly popular for access doors between garages and houses, as they can provide a fire-rated separation, he notes. They also are popular for multifamily housing and light-commercial applications.

Fiberglass doors are gaining more visibility today, as technologies give them a more wood-like appearance and homeowners understand their benefits, McElroy notes. "Their performance characteristics are attracting market share away from the wood category, because they are weather- and water-resistant, and they offer five times the energy efficiency of wood doors,” he says. The company has greatly expanded its line of fiberglass doors, using new technologies to replicate the look and feel of wood while offering low-maintenance characteristics that homeowners want.

Indeed, market studies indicate that wood doors are losing some of their market share to fiberglass doors. Market-research companies note that even though demand should decline somewhat for doors due to the current cooling housing market, the category’s dollar volume will continue to rise. In part, this can be explained by the shifting of more dollars into the remodeling market, where customers look to upgrade their doors.

The Freedonia Group in Cleveland, in fact, expects fiberglass entry doors to nearly catch up to the sales of wood doors by 2009 and to surpass them sometime in the five years after that.

The expansion of door sizes extends to patio doors as well, marketers agree. "Patio doors are becoming wider to allow outdoor spaces to blend with interior rooms,” says Marvin’s Sinning. "We’re creating very big openings with large pieces of movable glass, and we’ve even added a bifold accordion door.” Adds Jeld-Wen’s Meisel, "People want to interact with the outdoors. It creates a resort-like atmosphere.” The company has introduced a folding door system that can extend 48 ft.

One reason patio doors are gaining in size, notes Weather Shield’s Williams, "is because they can. Laminated and engineered-beam systems allow builders to open up rooms as never before. Fenestration manufacturers are reacting to that by providing larger expanses of glass. The window side has responded for several years, but it’s just now beginning to impact the door market.” His company, too, has introduced a larger door, which rides on three tracks and can extend up to 24 ft. wide and 8 ft. high.

The patio-door market also is expanding due to homeowners’ desire to upgrade existing doors, the Freedonia Group says. "Patio doors derive a larger share of use from replacement applications, since these doors are often installed as part of home-renovation projects,” its study says. "As a result, patio doors will offer the only growth opportunities for different residential-door types through 2009.”

More attention is being paid to the quality of these entries, in addition to their size. "We’re touting the ability to match the patio door’s style to that of the entry-door system,” says Therma-Tru’s McElroy. This approach allows homeowners to create an integrated look that extends their home’s architectural style around the house. This becomes more popular as more guests use outdoor living spaces and interact with patio doors as much as entry doors.

Weather Shield is promoting its ability to provide a custom wood interior combined with any of 55 colors for exterior aluminum cladding. "Color is a huge issue for patio doors,” says Williams. "We’re receiving many more requests for custom color matching, too.” The company also introduced a new extruded-aluminum round-top patio door, which provides additional style while retaining the low maintenance provided by aluminum doors.

Interior doors also are being upgraded, although their number is diminishing, according to the Freedonia survey. Architects and homeowners are leaning toward wide-open interiors, limiting passage doors’ opportunities. It also pointed out that, because the doors are not exposed to weathering and don’t degrade as exterior doors do, there is less demand for replacement. "The interior door market has been reduced, but the molded-door category has grown,” says Masonite’s Mayfield. "It definitely is leading the pack. Wood options have found their place and are maintaining their share.”

The customization of doors extends inside the home, with more options for glass, carvings and other personal touches. Jeld-Wen, for instance, offers custom-carved doors made of MDF materials, which can be painted with stencils supplied by the company. "These doors are just now picking up as consumers become aware of the options,” says Meisel. Cherry and maple are popular species for interior doors, notes Mayfield.

Glass also is being incorporated into interior doors, says TruStile’s Schmid. "We’re seeing more mix-and-match panel and glass styles, along with more decorative glass in a wide variety of designs.” Its web site helps homeowners match glass styles to their doors, encouraging this approach.

Aging baby boomers also are expanding the potential for interior doors, notes Meisel. "As they become less mobile, they want to move high-traffic areas closer together, which means shifting the laundry room closer to the bedroom,” he explains. That requires more sound-attenuation capabilities, which means a higher-quality door, often a solid-core design.

Quality and custom touches are the watchwords for all types of doors today. Dealers must have the appropriate mix for their region and educate customers about the range of design options available to ensure they provide the materials, accessories and appearances that will create a sales success.

CRAIG A. SHUTT is a contributing editor with more than 27 years experience covering the LBM industry.

SIDEBAR

Homeowners sample door designs

When homeowners want to improve their homes, they tend to hop in their cars and drive around to get ideas, according to a new study commissioned by Therma-Tru Doors and conducted by Harris Interactive. One of the key elements they check out is entry systems.

Driving around is favored most by those with household incomes between $50,000 and $99,999 (77%), those aged 35-54 (75%) and those living in the South (75%). Nearly 25% take photos of homes’ exteriors for later reference.

The top five elements examined were, in order, landscaping, architectural style, front door, front porch and windows. Many indicated they would copy a design they liked. If they can change only one element of their home, the respondents said, they would change, in order, their landscaping, front door or porch, siding or exterior surface, architectural style and windows.