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From Disaster to Dream Home! takes you inside the homebuilding process, from the ground up. In each episode, acclaimed interior designer Jana Rosenblatt brings you both the time-tested practices and the latest trends in homebuilding through conversations with leading architects, designers, and industry experts. Whether you’re building a custom home, rebuilding after a natural disaster, or renovating an older home, From Disaster to Dream Home! is your trusted source for the insights and connections you need to bring your home dreams into reality! www.FromDisasterToDreamHome.com
This is the EWN Podcast Network. If our eyes are the windows to our souls, it is the windows and doors that are the opening into the soul of our homes. Today, we are talking about design aesthetic and options for our windows and interior doors with Lynette McNeil of Coast Door and Hardware. Join us for the first of a two part series on from disaster to dream home.
Speaker 2:Welcome to from disaster to dream home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. When interior designer, Jana Rosenblatt, had an 80 foot tree fall in her house, she saw the opportunity to create the customized home of her dreams. From Disaster to Dream Home provides you with the information and resources Jana wished she had during her rebuilding process. Now she's sharing with you the expertise of leading architects and home builders and the newest products and materials on the market. Here's your host, Jana Rosenblatt.
Speaker 1:Welcome back home builders and remodelers to another episode of from disaster to dream home. The podcast that will take you through the process of building or rebuilding a new home from the ground up in '52 episodes. If you are rebuilding after the loss of your home or building a new home from the ground up, each episode of From Disaster to Dream Home will help you know what you and your design team will need to do to make the construction process fluid so your dream home can rise from the ashes. Our guest today, Lynette McNeil, has been working with builders and homeowners who have been rebuilding over the last several years from the Woolsey fires in Southern California. I want to ask her about the trends she is seeing in her client selections of windows and take a comprehensive dive into the selection of our interior doors.
Speaker 1:Located in Westlake Village, California and in business for twenty eight years, Coast Door and Hardware offers builders and contractors a wide range of quality doors, windows, hardware, and trim. Their goal is to set themselves above the rest by helping those dealing with rebuilding and ease some of the stress of the process. That is also one of my goals in working with the people out there in your area. Lynette, how did you get started in this field?
Speaker 3:I actually started doing the accounting here and decided that it was a little boring, and I wanted to be more involved in in in helping people, watch their visions come to life and and see their excitement when everything came together the way that they envisioned it from day one, which was their plans that they drew or items that they picked out. It's it's very satisfying.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I imagine it is. It's a it's a nice creative part of the industry. There are really good creative choices to make. Do you work with the builders primarily or are you working directly with affected homeowners?
Speaker 3:90% of the time, we are working directly with builders, architects, designers. We do have homeowners that come in on their own, but the majority of the time, the builders will make appointments, bring the homeowners in so we can all go through things together so everybody's on the same page.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's a good idea. You and and CoStar and Hardware have been at the heart of the fire rebuilding process since at least 02/2018 when the Woolsey fire went through your area. How soon after the fire did you begin to see people coming in with the the plans for new houses?
Speaker 3:It took some time. Unfortunately, there was a lot of red tape because of the extent of the damage in this area. We had people right here in my building who almost everybody in this office complex lost their home.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:And if you didn't move quick enough, you weren't getting, the first of the permits and and and and getting things moving as quickly as you wanted. Unfortunately, our building and safety areas around the affected areas were not equipped with handling such a massive amount of destruction. It was hard. I would say it probably took at least a year before we saw people actually starting to make some headway, and that was just to get the debris off their properties. It was very hard to see.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I'm sure. And then now four years later, are there still people coming in and and beginning the process, or is it tapering off? What's going on now?
Speaker 3:Actually, I'm starting to see some. It's it's it's kinda hit and miss. We we saw a a bunch in about a year ago. Things were starting to really pick up just from the fires. Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And we also saw a lot of people who just decided it was too much, and they walked away. But we still have a couple right now. Actually, I think we're in the middle of I think my full team were probably in the middle of six or eight different projects from the that were affected by the fire.
Speaker 1:Fire even now. And I'm sure that it's ongoing. I know there are people in the Malibu area that have not even begun to scratch the surface even if they have, you know, finally gotten the debris intact. But, yeah, it's a it's a daunting process. And most of the time, people aren't planning to have ever built a house in their life, so it's a really new process.
Speaker 3:We're seeing a lot of people who have decided that building from the ground up from their property is taunting. So they have gone and purchased another property that already has a house and gutted it and remodeled it. We've seen quite a bit of that as well.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Yeah. That's not something that I have experienced personally, but that's an interesting phenomenon, which makes complete sense. I mean, sometimes people just need to see what it is that they're working on. So when when the design and building process is beginning, when in that process should people begin to be looking specifically at the style and product of the windows that they're gonna need?
Speaker 3:On a normal day, pre COVID, you can once the plans are made and they're starting to look at different things, you know, you have probably anywhere from three to four months. COVID really put a fork in in our industry that has slowed everything way down. So I would say right now, I am ordering it's unfortunate for my clients, but I am ordering windows and doors. So your exterior packages only Yeah. Before the ground has even been broken.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. And the downside to this
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Is is if something happens during the, you know, the foundation being poured or or whatever, you know, whatever process that's happening before the windows show up Yeah. You can't change the order Yeah. Midway because, unfortunately, COVID has caused such a ripple effect in the industry that my vendors are really suffering. Yeah. Unbelievable things that I've never seen and I never thought would ever happen.
Speaker 3:So right now, I would say, to be honest, the second that those plans are approved, the clients need to start ordering their exterior package.
Speaker 1:Wow. Yeah. And I'll get to I I'll get to a couple of questions about that later because I believe it's really hard not to not to be able to make any changes once, you know, you start to see something three dimensionally that you've only been seeing on on paper. So what are the some of the important factors to consider when we're building in an area that is prone to disasters, not just fire, but also mudslides?
Speaker 3:You know, we haven't really dealt with or I don't really have any answers when it comes to mudslides. My windows and doors, unfortunately, they're if they're impacted by a mudslide, there's not much we can do about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:There have been some new rules put into place. They're kind of old rules, but they're being more enforced now since this massive fire. That new builds in a high fire zone, which is pretty much everywhere this fire hit Yeah. Now requires windows and doors to be fire rated in a sense. So no window is is is fire rated in a but we have to temper the glass.
Speaker 3:So normally, in a regular home that's not in a fire area, all your windows don't have to have tempered glass unless they're within a certain distance from the floor or certain distance from a a door exterior door handle to prevent somebody from breaking in. But now since the fires, the rules have been a little more strenuous to where all interior panes of glass, so just the inside. So we're talking about an insulated unit
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Has to have the inside pane of glass has to be tempered on all units now.
Speaker 1:So That's interesting. I'm I'm sure it's not it's it's probably a combination of not wanting things to spread, so containing fire as well as not shattering and causing, you know, more dangers, different kinds of dangers.
Speaker 3:Right. What they found out by obviously doing some testing is that with the tempered glass, it slows the heat down from the exterior of the home
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:From igniting Things are inside window treatments. Oh, yeah. So those window treatments catch fire, and that's it. It spreads through the house. So it's not preventing fire from coming into the house.
Speaker 3:It's slowing it down. Yeah. So that way, it gives the homeowner a little more time to be able to obviously get out of the house and get the things out they need before those window treatments or anything near those windows or the window pops.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right.
Speaker 3:Right. So, it's very interesting to see the testing that was done, but it it definitely works.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean, time is is the issue.
Speaker 3:That's Yes.
Speaker 1:Time saves lives.
Speaker 3:They do need to realize this is going to add cost to their package though. The tempering is not cheap. No. It's not super expensive, but it is not cheap. And then just so they also know doors on any door, your glass is already tempered.
Speaker 3:So they don't have to worry about that. That's an automatic.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. And so that kinda leads me into my next question, which is, what are your clients' first priorities? Is it aesthetic, safety, durability, price? What's the the top line of priority for people? And is it different when it's the builder or the client coming in?
Speaker 3:Well, obviously, our end goal is to help the owner of the home meet their budget requirements, and that is gonna play into whether their insurance is taking care of something and how much insurance they had. And, you know, right now, we're seeing people it's not I don't wanna say it's not so much about budget because it is.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:But, they're almost getting now whether they built their original home that unfortunately was lost in the fire or not. Now they're getting the chance to build their dream home.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And things have changed dramatically over the last probably six to eight years in look. Yeah. So a lot of people are very concerned about the way they look. And safety, you know, that that comes with the job my my job of making sure that windows meet all the current codes and and making sure that, you know, there's fire and egress in the bedrooms and and that the windows that have to be tempered are tempered by law, that's not so much a concern. I don't see that much that many people talking about safety.
Speaker 3:It's more about the aesthetics, their budget, and right now, big time is lead times.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Of course. Yeah. And and so much more now than ever. Yes.
Speaker 1:And so now specifically talking about our windows, what are the material options that your customers are gravitating toward? What do you see are the the trends in wood or vinyl or fiberglass or wood clad or what are what's around?
Speaker 3:The the most popular right now is aluminum, which is crazy because it we're kinda going backwards in a sense. But aluminum offers you the most narrow profiles. So it gives you kind of that steel look without having to pay for a steel product. The downside to aluminum is that aluminum, in most cases, are not going to meet current title 24 requirements. Title 24 requirement is an energy code that has been around for years.
Speaker 3:But because in the state of California, they're trying to get us to a zero footprint at some point
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I'm not sure what century. Uh-huh. Windows have to meet certain energy requirements. And if you do not meet those energy requirements, you're not going to get your permit signed off. So with that said Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:We also have options for wood clad and fiberglass. Mhmm. We also have all wood, but in our climate, we try to steer away from all wood. Mhmm. There's just too much upkeep.
Speaker 1:And aluminum isn't a problem in humidity because there's a lot you have you have properties near the ocean you're working with.
Speaker 3:Yes. We do. And, no, we have not had any issues. Yeah. Yep.
Speaker 3:With wood clad now because the wood clad industry has seen the trend of how everybody wants aluminum because of the narrow profiles and they want that very clean contemporary look.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So now all of all of my clad companies have decided to change their products to fit this profile to give it a aluminum or steel look even down to the grills or the the the cut ups in the glass to give somebody that steel appearance, but now you have an aluminum clad exterior with a wood interior.
Speaker 1:Oh, uh-huh. Nice.
Speaker 3:And so you have a you have an insulated unit that is gonna meet title 24 and give the aesthetic that it looks like steel from outside. We're doing a lot of that right now, especially in black.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that you just keep lending yourself right to the next question. So it's about the style of the homes that you're seeing coming in the door. I mean, it you're in an area where they're they're early on in in the creation of the Oak Park and and Thousand Oaks, a lot of Mediterranean homes. What are you seeing in the style differences that will, of course, affect our window choices that our people have on their plans?
Speaker 3:Mostly, everything is contemporary right now. Everything. Very narrow profiles, very thin grills, not like the traditional homes that we saw, you know, six, eight, ten years ago where everything was a little more chunky and and the grills were more of a old style. Traditional. Where every the cut ups were Yeah.
Speaker 3:It was more of a busy profile. Now everything's very thin and very slim.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Interesting. I mean, I have seen that even more traditional and the craftsman homes I worked with in the Oak Park area that we're rebuilding. I refer to both of them as modern craftsman and modern traditional because mainly because of the windows. It's what is opening things up and contemporizing, an older or more charming, you know, styles.
Speaker 1:It's been really interesting. How are the current trends in ten and twelve foot ceiling heights affecting the client's options and choices for their windows?
Speaker 3:You know, I don't think it affects it that much, but I will say that, unfortunately, with depending on the type of window that they choose, we do have limitations. We have vendors who can only make windows so big. We also have limitations with glass size. Most of my vendors can only go up to between, it depends on the vendor, fifty to 60 square foot of glass. So excuse me.
Speaker 3:Some of these homes that have these really tall ceiling heights, they really they they want that vision of of glass all the way down the walls to kinda give that inside outside feeling. Well, we can have some limitations with that because if the glass starts to get too big, what happens is the IG units or the insulated pieces of glass, when they get too large, can touch in the middle. And if they touch in the middle, you can have glass failure. And, obviously, none of us want to sell something to someone and put it in their home for them to have a problem down the line. So we try to avoid that from day one.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. So if we're looking at wanting to get expanses of glass, it's the way they're they're cut up and and the, you know, the panel sizes and things like that have to all be considered before you even consider the function of them, whether they're gonna be, you know, crank open or sliders or or any of those things. Absolutely. So the windows on a new house are a major investment. They're a major part of the initial investment.
Speaker 1:And, usually, the builder is applying a budget for that to the homeowner. Are they consulting with you first? Like, do you there are are they are you know, are there systems that they're arbitrarily plugging numbers in from, and do they turn out to be not realistic?
Speaker 3:Yes. What happens is is my builders will come to me with a set of plans and say, okay, Lynette. I have to get a budget for my client on the window and door package and then the interior package, and we do each package kind of individually. Once we set a budget so most of my builders will not put their own numbers in, especially now because of COVID, unfortunately. And I'm sure everybody is made aware that, prices are astronomical right now, and that includes our industry where we would get one price increase a year for the last twenty five years.
Speaker 3:In this ten months, this last ten months, we've had probably five from almost every vendor. So what's happening now is the builder will come in. They'll give us either the door or window schedule or the set of plans. We take off the the, we do all the work on the plans and get a list put together. We key it into our systems based on what the homeowner originally picked out and then give them a budget.
Speaker 3:Okay. And it's a pretty solid budget because we're taking it right from the plans that the architect drew. But, obviously, that's that's number one. That's that's just price sheet number one. Normally, it changes, I would say, any anywhere between three and five times before anything's ordered.
Speaker 3:But it it depending on if the architect really were was listening to what the homeowner wanted Mhmm. We do have problems sometimes where something's not relayed properly and everything changes.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But, yes, the builder comes to us first, gets a budget number based on the original plan, take it back to their owners, and then they go, okay. That's that's the product I want. Now let's actually tear it all down to each room, each function, you know, and all the bells and whistles that they'd like to have in each of those openings.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's interesting because very often, even though it's best to have me, the interior designer aboard, as the architect is kind of finishing their work, I pick up that creative through line and take it into framing. And therefore, I'm at the heart of the window choosing process. But very often, I am called about at this point where people have, there is a plan, the builders have done a budget, and now they're looking to make the selection of the windows and doors. And and the conversation with the architect started, like, two years ago or eighteen months ago, and no one remembers, you know, what their design goals were.
Speaker 1:So, you know, I'm the one that takes them through those next beginning steps with you guys. Mhmm. And it's a challenging time because, you know, there are budget set, but all of a sudden someone's actually looking at their styles and wants and goals. So I know that meant yeah. That you work with many manufacturers and price points can vary a lot.
Speaker 1:How do you determine a quality in a window product?
Speaker 3:I would say we don't, I guess the best way to answer this is I don't sell anything in my shop Mhmm. That I cannot stand behind.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:So it is. I'm not gonna sell somebody the top of the line quality just because it's top of the line.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I we work very hard here to listen to our clients
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And and really ask a lot of questions before we even start the process of bidding for them to hear what they want, to listen to you know, I want it to look like this. I want it to feel like this. I want my outside of my house to give this type of appearance. So we will go to the vendors that we feel will best fit their project.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And I also we have relationships with these vendors that I know that if there's a problem with the product down the line, I know those vendors are gonna stand behind me with my client.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah. So that's really customer services. The most important and someone that can actually, you know, take want to connect the dots. They want the vendor to succeed and they want the client to succeed.
Speaker 1:That's key. Yeah. And so then what are we gaining in the investment in a higher priced, higher end product versus a less expensive, more budget conscious version? What are the differences?
Speaker 3:You know, to be honest with you, if you're if you're looking at the same product or the same material with each of the vendors, Let's just say cloud window. That's the easiest to talk about. A cloud window, I sell multiple vendors. The majority of these vendors are all making the product the same way. The only difference I would say is, some use, let's just say pine.
Speaker 3:So most of our cloud windows start off in a pine material. Some use a clear pine. Some don't. Some tape their windows, or their materials prior to cutting them up and and making windows out of them, and they get dipped in special vats of sealant. And then they get cut up, and then they start to manufacture the window.
Speaker 3:Those to me are the differences that set apart the vendors. But the majority of our vendors are all doing pretty close to the same amount of thing. They're all high quality in my opinion. I do have a a cloud company here and there that skip some of those steps.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:So I don't feel that they're at the top of the the, you know, the top of the list. But I also feel it's very important to be able to offer a nice quality, decent quality product Mhmm. To somebody who maybe can't afford to, pay for the highest priced cloud window, but they still want that look. Mhmm. But as long as I know that that company is gonna stand behind their product no matter what the cost is, even if it's less expensive, then to me, that's a good quality window because it's a good quality company that's willing to stand there with their client.
Speaker 1:So then as the framing develops you touched on this a moment ago, which is why I I paused to ask this question, but it's I'm gonna do it. I often feel the need to adjust the size and shape and function of windows while it's still possible to make adjustments. Now if you're placing those orders before framing begins, we're locked in, which is very challenging because a lot of truth becomes visible when the framing is sketched in. So under normal circumstances, maybe pre COVID and hopefully we'll get there again, And then we'll talk about how COVID has affected it. Do you or someone from your team go to the job site and help confirm the function, the size, and the placement of the windows that, you know, are best for the placement and and position and function that you see?
Speaker 3:No. The only time that we go and walk jobs is if we're the ones actually doing the install.
Speaker 1:Okay. Uh-huh. We do
Speaker 3:have an install crew, but because we deal mainly with builders, we do not, go to job sites and do their job. We feel very, fortunate to have the the the amount of builders that come in here that are very loyal to us that have been coming here every single day for years.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:We would never wanna step on anybody's toes. So we have seen, recently, that some of our builders are so busy. Uh-huh. They even though they're running those jobs, they want us to do the install no matter what.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:So they'll hire us to go and do it. And in that case, yes, we will be the one that walks the job with the builder
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:And goes through each opening to confirm that the rough openings are are made properly so that way the windows that are ordered are gonna fit properly. And if we find that there's an issue while we're walking through, we can make those changes and head that problem off before there's an issue later when the windows arrive.
Speaker 1:So, I know because I always am the person who reads the document before the signature finally goes on because the client is overwhelmed, that the client is gonna have to sign off on the window order unless it's a spec home and then it may be the builder or developer. But when you're building a new home, at some point, the client is gonna have to understand the entire document. It's many, many, many pages, and I, have read many, many, many, many of those. And those are, you know, to catch those details. So is the client sometimes, involved when you do the walk around so that they truly understand what it is that the final decision is being made?
Speaker 3:Yes. When we if we are walking the job and even if we're not, if the builders are walking the job, they usually walk them with their client or their client representative. We're doing a lot of high profile homes right now. And, unfortunately, those clients cannot be there at the time of the job walks because they're off doing what they do best. And so they have representatives that walk the job, like designers walk the job in their place because they trust those designers to make you know, to be and stand in for them because they've already discussed everything with them that they want.
Speaker 3:But, yes, we try to keep the homeowners involved as much as possible because you're right. They don't understand the paperwork. Yeah. And we have lingo, as you know.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:We have lingo in this industry that a homeowner's not gonna understand until they go through this process once. Yeah. Yes. Exactly. So we try to help them understand it.
Speaker 3:And we also are very clear about letting them know, if you do not understand something, please ask. Don't wait until the windows are ready to come in to go, oh, I didn't know it wasn't gonna be this because then it's too late. So we try to go through each little detail prior to signing off and whether that be the builder, the homeowner, the designer, whoever 's involved and whoever's gonna be the person taking the responsibility of signing the documents
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:We make sure that they untruly understand what they're getting.
Speaker 1:Very good. That and that is exactly why interior designers are so useful in in today's world because yeah. I mean, I sometimes I feel like my job is to be an interpreter. And and and I don't mind asking, what do those three initials stand for? Right.
Speaker 1:So that we can make sure that we are truly understanding the same information. And so what are you currently seeing as the most popular trends in window functions, between, you know, sliding side to side casement with hand cranks, single hung, double hung, up and down movement? I mean, how are what are people drawn to now?
Speaker 3:The most popular right now is gonna be casements because those have the narrowest profile of any other window in the industry. Uh-huh. The only downside to a casement, depending on each room that you're putting them in, we just have to be very careful because when you crank out a casement Yeah. You have to keep in mind that it has to meet certain fire codes in a bedroom. So Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:That means that that window has to be wider and taller to be able to meet these codes. Right. Sometimes that can't happen, and then sliders have to be introduced. Uh-huh. So, again, this is all a process of going through the plans and catching those details with the architect that maybe they may have missed.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. Oh, that happened.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. And so then we're the ones Yeah. Kind of doing that job of of catching things that maybe they should have caught before, but that's okay. That's why we work hand in hand with them.
Speaker 1:That's the value of the of the team. You're part of the design team,
Speaker 3:for sure. We are part of the team, and we help each other make sure that when the windows show up to that job, that none of us are caught with a problem of especially now because the windows are taking a very long time to get here.
Speaker 1:Right. Right.
Speaker 3:We don't want windows to be delivered and notice that one or two of them now does not work for the opening, and we have to wait six more months for another window. And that's not a good thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. No. That would add incredibly to the challenge of the timeline for sure,
Speaker 3:which is
Speaker 1:time and money. And so then in terms of how you approach the beginning of the design, the plans come in. You're looking at the plans. You see the style of the house. And then are you the first to be suggesting the products that would go best with that style of home?
Speaker 3:It, you know, it depends on if they have a designer involved or not. We are not designers, although we pretend to be ones Uh-huh. Which is fine because I've been doing this a long time. So You've seen a lot. Do trust my, judgment because I've been doing this a long time, and I've seen a lot of homes.
Speaker 3:And so I I've gotten a feel for, you know, what things look good in certain homes and what don't. But I am not a designer by any means. That's a designer's job. But we do have clients that come in that maybe they can't afford to have a designer on the job. So they're playing designer, but they still want our input.
Speaker 3:So, yes, that is when I'll step in and say, okay. I think this would look better with this home or this would look best with this home. But, ultimately, the final decision is the homeowner of what they'd like to see in their house, their vision. And they'll bring in sometimes I've had clients, they do a lot of work. It's awesome to see.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:They'll come in with binders of photos and Pinterest and all kind I mean, that's so amazing that our technology helps people so much now with this that they come prepared and they say, okay. This is what I want it to look like and this I saw this and I want it to look like this. Yeah. And it works. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's really
Speaker 1:that's really interesting. Certainly, when I'm working with a client, I'm I'm I'm always asking them to look at images, bring in images, and things like that. So the more that people are able to do that, the more, you know, educated the consumer is, the best it is for everyone. Over the years, with 28 of them, how have you seen the trends in in in architectural styles and the design of and and decision making process for our windows change?
Speaker 3:You know, the the process of the decision making really hasn't changed. So I've been doing the same thing for years. I like consistency, so it makes my job easier when I I'm consistently doing the same thing as far as our process. As far as design changes, I mean, in the last twenty years, everything went from double hungs and and single hungs and sliders, and now everything is casements and awnings and very large big fixed windows. Very much bringing the inside or excuse me, bringing the outside in.
Speaker 3:Uh-huh. Especially with, like, bifolds now and multislides. Those are huge. Right? I'm selling a ton of bifolds Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Because people want that dramatic opening to feel like their outside patio is part of their living space. And I think that's amazing, and and it it's it's really fun to watch. Yeah. It's big. Everything's bigger.
Speaker 1:Yep. That goes with, you know, the ceiling heights and the Yep. Everything. It's it's gotten to be a a really grand scale and clean lines and very contemporary.
Speaker 3:Very simple. So are
Speaker 1:you seeing less and less sort of of charm and multi you know, mullions and multi panes and things like that?
Speaker 3:No. You know? No. So we are still seeing the mullions being put in, but there's they're fewer. Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Very simple. So instead of a window having, you know you know, six or nine lights Uh-huh. You know, the divisions in the window cutting up that glass, Now we're seeing more like four where the mullions, everything looks taller.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I actually really like that look, especially in this the more modern looking homes. And I'm even seeing this a little bit in the in the more transitional, like we were talking about earlier. Mhmm. There's that transition of traditional and modern in the same house.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:I'm seeing that a lot lately, and I really like it. Yes. It gives that charm to the outside of the house, the inside of the house. And then, obviously, everything else they do in the home kinda pulls it all together.
Speaker 1:Very good. So as we come to a close on my list of questions, my most important question probably is, are there any specific information about selecting and purchasing our our windows that I haven't asked yet?
Speaker 3:I don't think so. All I can say I think the one thing we haven't really talked about is just, everybody needs to be a little bit more prepared to wait longer. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it. No one's no one's doing rush orders. And even if they did, you're not gonna want what comes out of that rush order.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So you're looking for trouble if you try to exceed the process, which is why it is important to make those decisions earlier than I wish they were.
Speaker 3:Yes. I would say the biggest thing right now is patience. Please be patient.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because we are seeing such a difference in our industry right now that we really all everybody just needs to take a breath and have a little patience. So that way when they do get their windows, when they show up, that they're what they want and they're good quality and they're made well and not being rushed through a system because you needed to have them very quickly.
Speaker 1:And do you think things can get better, or are there changes that have gone on in the industry that are going to be a new a new, you know, a new normal, or is it a matter of still transitioning?
Speaker 3:I I do think it's gonna get better. This did not happen until COVID happened. Right. Unfortunately, I never expected this, but Yeah. We have seen the weirdest things happen when COVID hit.
Speaker 3:Yeah. As far as how it trickled down to even the smallest detail like screens Uh-huh. We're not getting screens with Windows from every company. The majority of our company of our companies, the vendors, are shipping windows without screens, and the screens are coming five months later.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:And it has to do with getting the aluminum material. Once they get the aluminum material and they make the screen, the painters are so backed up, they can't paint the frames.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:So and and you never think about something as small as
Speaker 1:a square foot.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Or even the crank hardware. Or, you know, a lot of people talk about, oh, how they couldn't get their new car because their chips were back ordered.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:Well, skylights that are that function have chips in them. The blind systems have chips in them. Mhmm. And so we're seeing and you and I never thought I would ever see that in our industry. I thought, okay.
Speaker 3:Cars. No problem. I understand that. They function on computers. Well, some windows do too.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well, that's a a major factor. And how how does the mechanisms in the windows affect the the cost? If and what are the circumstances in which we're gonna want to look at a window with a a mechanical process?
Speaker 3:My my thing is is it's mainly at the beach area. I have to be very careful. But nowadays, casement windows are the ones you have to watch out for the most. And the reason why is because those windows crank out. Right.
Speaker 3:And when those windows crank out, you have exposed hardware. That hardware has to be stainless steel.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And the majority of our vendors have all stainless steel hardware now. So it's a good thing. Other windows are good. You don't have to really worry as much, but these crank out so they're more exposed.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yeah. So, I mean, clearly, the goal is to get the window portion to the job site as quick as possible as soon as the framing is ready for it because closing up the house, you know, to be able to move on is the most important thing. Installing the windows is a major transition point in the building of a new home as it will determine the time when you can start to begin working on everything internal without being subjected to weather. So the race is on from the start to get to this point.
Speaker 1:And then if the screens don't come till later, you probably have five months, you know, before someone's gonna be living in that house from the time that the windows are are put in. So, you know, that sort of justifies itself. Well, thank you so much, Lynette, for being with us today.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's great. Thank you for helping us understand the process of selecting and purchasing the windows for our new home. Please join us on the second part of our conversation about interior doors. Doors, doors, everywhere are doors.
Speaker 1:For more information about Coast Doors and Hardware and their products, go to www.coastdoor.net. And we look forward to hearing from you at our website, which is www.fromdisastertodreamhome.com. Please get in touch with us with stories about your rebuilding process or any questions you have for our guests.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us on this episode of From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. Each week, we bring you time tested practices and the latest trends through conversations with top professionals in the building industry. You can find other episodes of From Disaster to Dream Home at ewnpodcastnetwork.com as well as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, and most other major podcast streaming services. Need design help? You can contact us or find out more about our guests at fromdisastertodreamhome.com.
Speaker 2:Until next time, let us guide and inspire you as you create the home of your dreams.