Roll-Up Garage Door Gaining Acceptance
When I did my March 13, 1983, column on the Porvene roll-up garage door, the product was new to the West Coast market and was decidedly unusual.
The situation has changed since then, but these steel garage doors that roll up like gigantic window shades are still relatively rare in residential applications.
“Last year was the first year that California really started demanding Porvene doors,” said Ed Lang, president of Porvene Roll-A-Door, Santa Fe Springs. “At virtually the same price as a sectional door, homeowners can enjoy a garage door with features unmatched by any other door.”
He cites the security of the Porvene product, its high-tech appearance that goes well with a wide variety of architectural styles and the ability to park high vehicles in garages.
Hoyt Jeter from Poway, a San Diego County community, needed to park his van in his garage: “By installing the Porvene door, we gained all the space where the tilt-up (door) had rested. Plus we gained the side space where the springs had been.”
After installing a double Porvene door and a matching dummy door in front of his workshop, Jeter even managed to sell his old “shin-buster” wooden door through a newspaper ad.
Porvene doors are used by high-end Southland builders like Harlan Lee & Associates for 16 houses at the Silver Strand development near Marina del Rey. These houses were designed by architect Carl Pelke and range in price from $435,000 to $1.1 million.
Not far away, in Venice, Christiana Community Builders chose Porvene roll-up doors for the 54-unit Del Rey Colony project.
“In some cases, this development does not have a lot of room for driveways,” according to Paul Donin, project coordinator for Del Rey Colony.
Typical residential installations range in price from $550 to $950, including an electric operator, Lang said. The doors are available in brown or white finish, or they may be painted in custom colors.
CATALOGUE TIME: Two catalogues from woodworking supply firms feature new products that might be of interest to readers of this column.
The Fall 1985 catalogue from Woodworker’s Supply of New Mexico shows a Ryobi 10-inch planer that’s billed as portable (it weighs 57 pounds) and is priced under $500. Planers are not the most common tool in a home workshop, but they perform duties that are cannot be duplicated by other machines. The $2 catalogue also lists plans for toy wooden trucks that would make ideal holiday gifts. From: Woodworker’s Supply of New Mexico, 5604 Alameda N.E., Albuquerque, N.M. 87113.
Also priced at $2 is the latest catalogue from Trend-Lines, 375 Beacham St., Chelsea, Mass. 02150. This mail order house has hundreds of tools, books, plans, etc. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced wood-turning lathe, the $445 Delta Model 46 on Page 21 is an excellent package, complete with motor, stand and accessories. This lathe accepts an expansion bed.
