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How to Get the Door You and your Dog Need!
Monday, May 12 2014

 

 

We all live uniquely in our homes, with an individual array of priorities and site challenges. Getting what we want and need when remodeling can be the biggest challenge of all.

 

Chris Cole, president of Associated Building Supply, Inc., a statewide window and door retailer headquartered in Oxnard, California knows all about “unique” requests from his clients. When old friends told him they were finally ready to renovate the entry system on their Tuscan style estate, he was expecting something fairly basic.

“But this request was over the top,” he says.

 

When his friends shared that they were hoping for a wood entry system that would look beautiful, let in cooling breezes without leaving the doors open and, most importantly allow their 7 dogs access to the entry courtyard without cutting a “doggie door” into a wall, he picked up the phone and called AG Millworks.

 

The existing entry was dominated by a massive half-radius transom with a fan light pattern in nondescript bronze anodized aluminum that was completely out of sync with the small pair of multi-panel doors and fixed sidelites below (see “before” image above). The existing solid panel doors made the interior foyer dark and unwelcoming, and the dogs were always scratching at the doors to get in or out. The challenge, Cole understood, would be finding a way to incorporate the giant transom and its inherent support system, and designing an entry system beneath it that met his friends needs while resolving the “dog access problem.”

 

After deciding on the wood species (Sipo, in the African Mahogany family) Cole went to work designing the functional aspects of the entry with the AG Millworks design team including CAD specialist Brian Tanio who would create shop drawings for production. To address his friend’s ventilation requirements, Cole suggested tilt/turn sashes for the fixed sidelites and to create access for the family’s 7 ranch dogs, he designed a concealed dog door disguised as a wood panel in the bottom of each sidelite, which when closed and latched from the inside, revealed no evidence that the dog door existed. Custom iron grilles in front of the rustic seedy swirl glass in the doors and sidelites created a cohesive design that blended seamlessly with the dark bronze transom above.

 

The crowning touch was a matching set of doggie ramps constructed of Sipo Mahogany, iron and carpet, one on the interior and one on the exterior of each sidelite, which made it easy for the older, less agile dogs to come and go as they pleased without having to jump over the 8 inch bottom rail of the sidelites (see “after” image).

The result is a stunning design that solved a problem for his clients, respected the site conditions and created a dramatic transformation.

 

Associated Building Supply, Inc. has 8 California window and door showrooms: Oxnard, San Diego, Costa Mesa, Torrance, Calabasas, Oxnard, Los Gatos, Berkeley and Burlingame.www.associatedbuildingsupply.com

If you plan to attend the 2013 PCBC trade show in San Diego June 5-6, be sure to visit the Associated Building Supply booth (#921) featuring a large AG Millworks lift and slide patio door and unique door systems from other premier manufacturers.

 

Need help getting the door you (and your dogs) need? We’d like to hear from you!

 

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    About us

    Welcome to AG Millworks, where we combine extraordinary designs with traditional old world craftsmanship and innovation to produce ageless millwork creations that will bring your building project to life.

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    Phone:  (805) 644-4494
    Customerservice@AGmillworks.com
    3111 Golf Course Drive
    Ventura, California 93003