Updating interior doors has been greatly simplified
If someone were to tell you that you could completely transform and update your home without any on-site construction, paint cans or tarps littering your living spaces - and without estimated completion dates coming and going without progress, you might think they were crazy.
However, it is possible and it doesn't have to cost an arm and leg, said Christina Files, director of marketing for HighMark Digital of Sacramento, California, which markets its products through the HomeStory name. It has offices in Elk Grove Village.
Replacing a home's interior doors has always made a big difference in the look of a house. But until recently, the mess and expense involved served as a deterrent to making that change. Doors had to be cut, planed and then painted on site. So, it was a time-consuming and messy process.
That is no longer the case, however, Files said. HomeStory has taken a home renovation that used to take lots of time and involved hiring a contractor, and transformed it into something that only takes a couple of hours or days, depending on the number of doors involved.
"You can transform an entire home by replacing old, uninspiring doors with stylish new doors with almost no hassle, thanks to major advances in technology," Files said.
HomeStory's door-measuring technology generates custom replacement doors by taking 13 precise digital measurements and capturing the geometry of the existing door frame. Using those measurements, new doors are uniquely milled on an automated door machine and then painted, all in the factory rather than in a customer's house.
Installed in minutes, the custom-fitting doors close properly, preventing any drafts, making the home much quieter and more energy efficient.
"The precision of the process allows HomeStory to update any home, regardless of how and when it was built," Files said. "With our technology, we are even able to accommodate homes that are very old."
Doors can shift over time as a house settles. Fixing the ill-fitting doors that result used to involve planing down the existing door and then repainting it on site. People also ran into problems when they replaced carpeting with hardwood floors, leaving them with large gaps at the bottoms of their doors. HomeStory can also correct these issues.
In addition, since the doors are painted in the factory, you won't see any brush or roller marks and installation is seamless. Delivery generally takes three to six weeks once the measurements are taken.
HomeStory's offers molded panel doors made of composite wood that come in a choice of hollow core or solid core versions. They also offer medium density fiberboard (MDF) doors that offer the heft and feel of real wood, but won't shrink, expand or warp like wood doors. Made by Tru Stile, they are also architecturally correct in their construction, eco-friendly and more affordable than wood. However, wood, mirrored, bi-fold, bypass and glass-paned doors are also available from HomeStory.
Homeowners tend to choose solid core doors for hallways in order to cut down on noise, Files said, but they may choose to go with hollow core doors on closets in order to save money.
An almost infinite number of hardware choices for hinges and lock sets are also offered or homeowners may also choose to re-use the ones they already have in order to economize.
Files said HomeStory offers seven different shades of white, a black and a tan, as well as multiple styles of door to fit with any decor. A hot new trend, she said, is for people to mix their stained door frames with white doors for an updated look.
Mirrored doors in which the mirrors are inlaid into the door, not just attached to it, are also very popular, especially for closets, and can be installed as bypass sliders, not just on hinges.
For more information, visit www.HomeStoryChicago.com or call (847) 258-3417.