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Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
With her genuinely good heart and a wealth of experience behind her, Susannah works to connect local business and non-profit leaders to their neighbors. In a community like ours in which so many have invested their lives, there are fantastic stories all around us that motivate and inspire, often right next door. She hopes to share some of those here, on the Good Neighbor Podcast. Book an interview today at GNPAuburn.com
Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
Ep. #67: River City Door Company: Enhancing Home Value Through Elegant Garage Doors
Unlock the secret to boosting your home's curb appeal with the often-overlooked power of a garage door upgrade. Join me, Susanna Hodges, as I sit down with Brad Hickman, the insightful owner of River City Door Company, to explore how a simple change to your garage door can dramatically enhance your home's exterior and potentially increase its market value. Brad shares his expert advice on choosing the perfect style and material to complement your home's architecture, making this episode a must-listen for homeowners looking to make impactful yet simple improvements.
Brad takes us into the heart of the decision-making process, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how a design consultant can help you select the ideal garage door. From exploring current trends to discussing the significance of a well-maintained exterior, Brad's insights reveal how this upgrade can attract potential buyers and reflect the care you've invested in your property. Whether you're considering a replacement, in the market to sell, or simply curious about enhancing your home's facade, this episode promises valuable tips and insider knowledge that'll make you see garage doors in a whole new light.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.
Speaker 2:With me is Brad Hickman. He's the owner of River City Door Company. Welcome, Brad. Thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3:Thank you, susanna, glad to be here.
Speaker 2:So today we're talking about garage doors, and I think people don't often think about a garage door as a way to increase your curb appeal and maybe even have a good return on investment when you make repairs on them or even replace them. How significant is a garage door upgrade when it comes to boosting how your home looks and its curb appeal?
Speaker 3:Well, we think it's a very significant upgrade, right? So you know, typical garage door in our area is 18 feet wide, seven foot tall. You're talking. 126 square feet of the exterior of your be can be upgraded in a matter of hours, right, and, and not have to to suffer the long, drawn out process of other the other improvements to your home might take, right, Right, and we think it drastically changes, you know, it can drastically change the look of your home altogether.
Speaker 2:Well, most garage doors are completely visible from the street, whether it's a side entry or a front one. So looking at your garage door, I think, especially when you're thinking of selling your home, might be a good place to start there. I've been to your showroom in Auburn. You've got a lot of styles. There's a lot of materials and finishes that are available, so there really is a lot that goes into choosing a garage store. How do you, how do you all you know, kind of advise people about what goes with their house and what kind of style they should choose?
Speaker 3:So in our Auburn store we actually have a design consultant there to help anybody that comes in and and so what we like to do.
Speaker 3:You know everybody's got Pinterest and and the internet right, and so we like to ask the question, you know like have you, do you have an inspiration? Have you seen something that you like online? You know, and then we then we started getting into details about the home. You know, is it a craftsman style? Is it a, you know, an older brick? You know brick facade, you know, or is it a shiplap or board and batten? You know all these kinds of things. And then we have a design tool that we can go in and build different doors and so the customer can see the looks and go from there.
Speaker 2:Well, with all of the choices that are available and trying to match to your home. That's an important part of decision making when it comes to you know, when you're trying to sell your home, what do you think? A you know, a brand new garage door? What kind of impact does that have for potential buyers? Do they respond to that kind of upgrade?
Speaker 3:We see that they do. And you know me, you know I've bought a few houses in my time right, and I'm not going to. You know, if I'm looking at homes, whether I'm looking at homes online or I'm driving through a neighborhood looking at a home I've always wanted, I didn't want to stop and take a look unless the outside looked really good. And we think that I think personally, that somebody that's keeping the exterior of their home and maybe putting a new garage door on those kinds of things, I think that's that says something about how they might've taken care of the inside of their home, right, and so, um, so we think, uh, we think that it helps draw buyers in when they see a new garage door and take you know these, you know maybe your basic, you know garage door, upgrade them a little bit, maybe a carriage style door with some hardware on the outside and windows, and you know it draws buyers in, it gives them something to be excited about right.
Speaker 2:Well, what kind of you know? You've been doing this for a while. What are some of the most popular garage door features, or maybe the materials that people choose that are enhancing their curb appeal?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we see a lot of you know when you're in the construction phase you're building a new home, right, budgets get stretched thin.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Garage doors are one of the last things to go in the home. So you know we see people using a lot of very basic construction garage doors right, no insulation, no windows. You know very basic operators maybe doesn't have Wi-Fi, those kinds of things. And we see a lot of people coming in, you know, maybe a year or two, three, after they've moved into their new construction home and they're wanting to upgrade and so a lot of the features that we see that our customers really like. They love insulated doors. You get a lot more durability, better warranty, they're quieter, and so we see a lot of people move to those. Faux wood doors are really popular. We sell a steel door that looks like a custom wood door without the upkeep. You know you don't have to sand it, stain it.
Speaker 2:You know it's not going to fade yeah.
Speaker 3:Anything like that, right, and so those are really, really popular choices and styles too, and we like and we see a lot of people want to to replace something with some windows in it, right, and get some light in their garage, and so those, those are really the most popular upgrades we see so what if you mentioned you know when you're building a house, it's you got, you know, a budget you got to work with.
Speaker 2:What are some tips you can give for folks that are working with a limited budget? Can you make an upgrade with a limited budget?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you certainly can. We see, you know, we see people that might want, you know, these full view glass doors. You know they look really they're made out of aluminum rails and styles and those kinds of things and they are pricey and they are on the higher end of most budgets but we do have still a still option of that that's a little bit less expensive. So same goes with wood doors. You know we can. We have different choices and species of materials of wood that are going to reduce the cost a little bit. Say, from a mahogany overlay door down to a Western red cedar that's going to be a little cheaper door down to a, you know, a Western red cedar, that's going to be a little cheaper. So and then, if, and then, like we, like we talked about the faux, the faux wood styles you can still get a great looking door, very durable, at a, you know at a better price point than some kind of custom wood selection right.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 3:Sounds good.
Speaker 2:So how would someone get in touch with you or give your you know your location here in Auburn a call if they wanted to come by and take a look at some options?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can always stop by. We're at 300 North Dean Road. You can submit a request online at RiverCityDoorscom or you can give us a call at 334-521-0630.
Speaker 2:All right. Thanks so much for joining me, Brad. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburncom. That's gnpauburncom, or call 334-429-7404.