I have a friend who lives in California, and I remember when he moved out there how stunned I was by the costs for real estate. This was 20 or more years ago and even back then the best you could do for around $500,000 was a very small, major fixer upper. About three to […]

Over the past 30 years, I have seen a lot of ups and downs. Just when I thought I had seen it all, COVID-19 came. The past three years have been some of the most interesting I’ve ever experienced in the door and window business, but, as usual, they have brought the creativity of our […]

Kodiak Building Partners, a building materials distribution acquisition firm based in Highlands Ranch, Colo., has acquired Diamond Home Improvement (DHI). In a press release, Kodiak says the acquisition will expand its market reach in the Northwest, providing building materials and lumber, doors and windows, moulding and millwork, and more quality tools and materials. Diamond Home […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published final specifications for Energy Star 7.0 Thursday, handing manufacturers their final marching orders if they’re to keep the program’s sticker on their door and window products. The news arrived amid the final hours of GlassBuild America—a week in which some companies said they were shopping new glass packages and […]

The rise in home improvement activities during COVID-19 includes doors and windows but extends to bathrooms, home offices and more. A new report from the Freedonia Group examining home improvement trends shows that such projects will likely continue through 2022 as materials and labor become available. Data collected across 2021 and through February 2022 indicates […]

A panel of experts gathered recently to share with those who sell home improvement products, including doors and windows, how to become more efficient with leads while at the same time lowering costs. While homeowner demand continues, one theme that emerged throughout the Home Improvement Profitability Summit, held last week in New Orleans by Dave […]

With the fall trade show season comes a chance to catch up with suppliers regarding the state of the industry, and although these shows moved to online venues, that didn’t stop those conversations from happening. Tara Taffera, editorial director for USGlass and Door and Window Market [DWM] magazines, talked virtually last week with Erin Johnson, […]

When members of Fenestration Canada met in early June as part of its virtual spring meeting (moved to virtual due to COVID-19), they were able to attend an informative presentation on lean manufacturing—a concept that’s been around for years, but might go much deeper than you think. It could also save your company time and […]

It feels like a risky time for pep talks. And who can fault anyone for wanting to hurl something at someone trying to shed any positive light in the current situation. But anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a pragmatic optimist. I can understand why some folks are reluctant to receive a pat […]

As door and window manufacturers learn to lean on the suggestions of artificially intelligent software, those are the types of human-machine interactions that are necessary to build trust, says Kari Tamminga, product owner and leader of a data science team for Paradigm. But it will take many more of those experiences to nudge the industry […]