MAKING THE MOST OF THE DOMESTIC BOOM WITH STELLAR ALUMINIUM

The UK domestic market for aluminium door products has seen a boom in demand from consumers seeking aspirational products for their home improvements. Mark Austin, Sales Director (aluminium) at Epwin Window Systems talks to Glass News on how fabricators and installers can gain a competitive advantage by offering Stellar products to capitalise on the market opportunities.

It’s fair to say that 2020 was a turbulent year for most businesses however for our industry, the resurgence in home improvement investment has never been stronger. As a result of being forced to stay at home with time on their hands and money in their pockets, consumers discovered a new found enthusiasm to improve their homes. As a result, trends for aspirational home improvement products that had been building over the previous few years accelerated rapidly.

Prior to the pandemic, the appetite for the oversized glazed door trend had already established a strong foothold in the market, but demand has grown exponentially since the end of lockdown one. Open any interior decorating magazine and you’ll see these doors in the background of nearly every shot and are the default products of choice in most home renovations or extensions.

It’s hardly surprising the look is so popular. Removing an exterior wall and replacing it with oversized glazed doors, be it a sliding patio or a set of bifolding doors, creates a very modern space that is filled with natural light and feels open and airy.

Stellar – Lift and Slide Video from Epwin Group on Vimeo.

The popularity of the trend means every fabricator and installer will have solutions in their portfolio. This being the case, how do you make sure your offering stands out?

As we know, aluminium is the perfect material for this aspirational expression. Its slim sightlines and sleek aesthetics deliver the look that’s required. Having said that, there are aluminium door solutions and there are Stellar aluminium door solutions! When you offer the Stellar Bifold Door and the Stellar Lift & Slide Door you can help your customers take the look to the next level and improve your margins too.

The doors are available in a choice of 2, 3 or 4-pane layouts offering design flexibility to support a wide range of aperture sizes. When the door is open, there’s a near 50% clear opening, which gives homeowners the indoor-outdoor living feels that’s so important. And thanks to the intelligent design of the Stellar Lift & Slide patio, the door lifts onto the rollers and reduces friction, so even the widest, heaviest sashes move effortlessly.

The Stellar Bifold Door has larger panes than you typically associate with bifold doors, so there are fewer panels to restrict the view. And because the doors can accommodate up to seven sashes, it is the popular choice for wide door apertures.

The Stellar Bifold Door not only packs a punch in bifold door design and flexibility, but because it utilises thermal break technology throughout the system, the door improves both insulation and minimises heat loss.

Because they’re Stellar solutions, quality is evident at every level on both doors. For example, all cills are integrated to provide reliable drainage. There’s a marine grade finish as standard on the powder coating to ensure outstanding resilience in even the most challenging environments. The frames do not need to be structurally bonded during manufacture but there’s no compromise on the slim sightlines or security credentials – both doors meet Document Q and PAS24:2016 requirements as standard, which means they can also meet Secured by Design standards.

But Stellar doesn’t just deliver benefits to consumers. Stellar was designed to be straightforward to fabricate and install too. The Stellar Bifold Door and the Stellar Lift & Slide Door can be installed quickly and leave a superior finish.

Pre-inserted gaskets and patented knock-in beads make the doors fast and easy to glaze. It’s a solution that leaves a much neater finish on the gasket line. The feature also means there is no risk of gasket shrinkage or overstretching which can often cause problems further down the line. The finished floor level trims are fast to fit and also enhance the end result for a premium finish.

2021 is not without its unique challenges but for the domestic sector, it’s possible that we will look at 2020 as the catalyst for growth in the home improvement market. And with the Stellar Bifold Door and the Stellar Lift & Slide Door in your portfolio, you’re perfectly equipped to capitalise on these domestic opportunities.

For more information on the range of Stellar aluminium products visit: www.stellaraluminium.co.uk