What's in doors & windows

New Construction

Exterior Doors

Window Frames

ESPITE the growing popularity of wood windows

I\ltl and doors, other materials continue to dominate sales in both new construction and repair and remodeling markets.

Aluminum with almost half the market (47%) is the leading window frame material, outranking wood (240/n), clad wood (16Vo), vinyl (part ofan ll% "other" segment) and steel (20lo). In repair and remodeling use, vinyl frames (31%) are second only to aluminum (32%) which holds about a third of the market.

Story at a Glance

A preview of what your customers will be wanting in doors & windows. . your guide to present and future best sellers. top ranked styles and materials.

Aluminum dominates the sliding glass door frame market for both new construction (70%) and repair and remodeling (690/0). Hinged patio door frames are predominately wood (610/o) although nearly a quarter of the market goes to steel (220/o). Sliding glass doors have a greater market share than hinged doors. However, the use of hinged patio doors is projected to increase.

Steel is the ranking exterior door material in both new construction (630/o) and repair and remodeling @3Vo). Wood flush and wood panel doors are second and third with a fraction of the market going to other materials including fiberglass.

Hardboard molded panel doors and hardboard flush doors have increased in popularity for passage doors in new construction, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the market last year. In repair and remodeling, passage doors are predominately wood flush (43%). Wood has dominated the market for over five years.

For new construction closet doors, wood and hardboard each account for two-fifths of the market. Bifold doors have 620/o of the demand, bypass doors, 36%, and accordion fold and other styles, 2%. These trends are expected to continue.

Repair & Remodeling

Wqtch for these Exciting Coming Monfhs

August: Mouldirrg Er Millwork Special lssue

September: Computer Special lssue

October: Hardwood Special lssue

November: Western Woods Special lssue

Fiberglass Door Lore

Fiberglass doors look so much like wood that another wood industry magazine ran a picture of one to illustrate an article about wood doors according to Therma-Tru Doors.

Other interesting bits of trivia about the door which claims to withstand arctic temperatures and tropical hurricanes equally well: o President Bush's house at Kennebunkport, Me., has a fiberglass door. o Blows from the tails of 2,336 alligators at Foster Farms, Ft. Drum, Fl., have failed to destroy fiberglass doors used on their pens. (They spintered wood doors and dented steel doors. Not only that, certain liquids produced by alligators tend to be a bit acidic and were eating away at both kinds of doors.) o Rooms facing the Gulf (and hurricanes winds) at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Naples, Fl., have fiberglass exterior doors. o Texas police raiding a drug dealer's hideout couldn't penetrate the fiberglass entry door.

December: Business Forecast Special lssue