Company meets a growing demand for aluminium joinery in building trade

Press, 13 March 1985, Page 27

Company meets a growing demand for aluminium joinery in building trade

The public demand for good quality aluminium doors and windows has meant a busy time for a Christchurch joinery company which began business only late last year. Style-Lite Aluminium, began operations in Wairakei Road in October 1984 and has already found a steady market for their product and services.

Already the 650.3 sq m factory is proving small for the increasing amount of work, and the company has had to employ an architect to help cater for customers who need special designs or advice on their own ideas.

The architect, Mr Russell Grace, designs conservatories for instance, so that they will blend in with the existing style of home but at a realistic price. He also advises people who have ideas for their own plans, and can guide customers as to the feasibility of their designs in complying with building standards.

Style-Lite Aluminium has been a particularly successful with its conservatories, which are rapidly gaining in populartiy, either as a feature for new homes or as an addition or part of a renovation to an older home.

The sales manager, Mr Paul Ludlow, says he believes that the appeal of the Style-Lite Aluminium conservatories to the public is because not only are they cheaper to install than a conventional extra room, but, especially during the winter, the conservatories give extra heating through the glass from available sunlight, as well as providing shelter from the wind.

The Style-Lite designs are of such quality that they suit existing home designs and do not look like temporary lean-tos, said Mr Ludlow.

The company is now making about 2.5 conservatories each week. The structures are pre-assembled at the factory and placed straight into position on the home site.

Style-Lite Aluminium supplies not only the professional builders and tradesmen, but also individual homebuilders and handymen.

Aluminium as a replacement for older wooden-sur-round doors and windows is a common request from customers, and one which the company prides itself on being able to meet. “We are offering a replacement service that is second to none,” says the company’s factory manager, Mr Brian Hurst.

“Not only is Style-Lite a precision product of top quality, but we ensure it is installed by top-line builders,” he says.

The company says people choose to replace woodensurround windows with aluminium fittings because they enhance the look of the home, they let in more light, add to the over-all value of the house, are maintenancefree and extremely durable. “Every article that goes from the factory is personally inspected so we can guarantee the doors and windows themselves as well as the inside finish,” says Mr Hurst. The company also does internal joinery, such as wardrobe doors and roomdivider sliding panels. Double-glazing is becoming more popular in the South Island as energy costs rise, and Style-Lite Aluminium have for example, met orders for doubleglazed windows on the south side of a home, with a conservatory on the northside. Other special products such as tinted windows designed to cut down glare, and lead-lights doors and windows, are also available.