Challenge
Today’s customers request timeless, simple designs with low maintenance exteriors. Design shifts around the coronavirus pandemic led customers to seek more indoor/outdoor living products to maximize natural light and fresh air, but without sacrificing energy efficiency.
Solution
Plastpro’s Nova 45 Direct Glazed Full Lite Door combines many modern trends in one functional door. Available in a brushed smooth finish or a simple, fir grain, this door features a Craftsman profile, clean lines and a direct glazed glass full lite that maximizes views and natural light.
Impact glass with an energy-efficient, low emissivity coating is a popular, multi-functional option, as well as the standard, clear glass. This door can be customized for any style home with a Simulated Divided Lites Kit. It is available in 6-foot, 8-inch or 8-foot heights and 2-foot; 2-foot, 6-inch; 2-foot, 8-inch; or 3-foot widths.
Each option comes with Plastpro’s HydroShield Technology-only composite materials; there is no exposed wood. This design allows the door to resist warping, rotting and weather damage; doors will be maintainable for decades with minimal effort and hassle for modern homeowners.
The Nova 45 Direct Glazed Full Lite Door is part of Plastpro’s Nova Series, which includes two direct glazed glass profiles: the Nova 45 and Nova 90. The Nova 90 doors have a modern, Shaker sticking and smooth skin while the Nova 45 doors feature traditional, Craftsman sticking and smooth and fir skin options.
Case in point
Michael Tull, owner of Tull Sales and Plastpro’s sales rep in the Southeast region of the U.S. advocated for developing this product. In his region, the Nova 45 Direct Glazed Full Lite door has been successful as an option for multifamily builders, even as balcony doors. A driving factor for this type of use is that the direct glazed glass is more airtight and waterproof than other options, while still being able to meet energy efficiency and other accessibility code requirements.
“The Nova 45 Direct Glazed Door brings the glazing practices from over a century-long history of the glass entry door to a modern, clean design, with assembly features not previously available. The dual sealing of the glass into the compression molded, fiberglass, one-piece skin, combined with Plastpro’s HydroShield protection on all four edges, is unique to the entire fiberglass door industry. The glazing tape ensures the low-E insulated glass is protected during the assembly process and provides an extra step to make exterior water penetration through the door to glass seal all but impossible, forever ending leak complaints.”