Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep.#71: From Carriage Gates to Smart Technology: The Surprising History of Garage Doors

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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The evolution of garage doors from their invention after automobiles to today's smart technology reflects changing homeowner needs and technological innovation. Brad Hickman from River City Door Company shares historical insights and predictions for future advancements in garage door technology.

• C.G. Johnson invented the upward-acting garage door to replace swing-out carriage doors, later developing the electric garage door operator
• Future innovations may include greater connectivity with smart devices, geofencing technology, and voice activation features
• Modern garages serve multiple purposes beyond car storage including workout rooms, entertainment spaces, and holiday gathering areas
• Today's homeowners prioritize aesthetics, durability, reliability and security features in their garage doors
• Smart garage openers like Aladdin Connect allow remote operation, automatic closing timers, and security notifications through smartphone apps
• River City Door Company can be contacted at 334-521-0630 or visited at 300 North Dean Road, Suite 4, or online at rivercitydoors.com

To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the Good Neighbor Podcast, visit gnpauburn.com or call 334-429-7404.


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.

Speaker 2:

Welcome. My guest today is Brad Hickman. He is the owner of River City Door Company, and you've got a you know, a location here in Auburn, and today, though, we are going to talk about the history of garage doors you don't really kind of think about. Well, how did that get started? Well, it's got to be as old as cars, right?

Speaker 3:

Almost yeah.

Speaker 2:

Almost. So what is the history of garage doors? How did we get into that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so before cars right, we didn't need garages, we didn't need garage doors. But once the advance of the automobile happened, a man named CG Johnson decided to create a garage door the way that we know it today, right? Instead of the swing-out doors that you would see, like on horse carriages and stuff like that, he invented an upward acting door that left people with more room and all those kinds of things in their garage. And so you know, and shortly thereafter he invented the electric operator for garage doors.

Speaker 2:

And that's pretty much what we use now is electric operated doors. What do you think is the next big innovation for garage doors? What's coming in the future?

Speaker 3:

You know that's hard to say. Well, you know there's a lot of advancement in technology and all those kinds of things that will help propel that. I think you'll see more connectivity with devices, like you know, with Google and maybe AI kind of devices, that that'll allow operation of the doors. And, you know, I think you'll see maybe some geofencing, so like when you, you know, maybe you pull into your subdivision, your door starts to open or stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

You know, that's nice yeah.

Speaker 3:

You know who knows, but those are the kinds of things that I think you know. Maybe voice activation, something like that, could be in the future, so we'll all have to see it changes so rapidly. You know who knows.

Speaker 2:

Right. So you know, for me, my garage is, you know, a storage shed, and it also is for my cars as well. So I think most people use their garages in their garage doors, specifically for, you know, safety they want it to be closed off so you can't get to the house but also the ease of getting in and out of the garage. What do you see as changes in the future? As our lifestyles evolve and maybe even our home design evolves? How do you see the role of that garage store changing?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, well, we see garages used for a bunch of different things. Right, workout rooms, you know people. People use them for when they have big family gatherings around the holidays. They might, you know, put the door down and set tables up out there and those kinds of things to gain some more.

Speaker 2:

Some people put huge televisions in there and make it, you know, a fall football room.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yes, make them into man caves, or.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

A few sheds or whatever you want to call it. But yeah, you know it's going to be interesting to see. I think you know, obviously, you know it's there. It's there to secure your vehicle but a lot of people and to add an extra layer of security to your home and give you some convenience. You know, but people use it for for all sorts of purposes these days.

Speaker 2:

So how do modern garage doors, how are they balancing that design and security issues? What features do homeowners now typically prioritize when they're looking at a garage door? So I think that you know prioritize when they're looking at a garage store.

Speaker 3:

So I think that you know what they're looking at. Aesthetics are a huge thing. We wanted to. We wanted to look and to fit the look of your home and the style of your home. But you know our customers want something durable, reliable. They want you know, they want peace of mind, that you know the door that they're buying from us and making a big investment in they're going to be able to rely on it, that it's going to keep them safe, it's going to keep the elements out and make their life easier. And that's what we shoot for.

Speaker 2:

Now we talked about, you know, the smart garage openers is something that is, you know, on people's minds these days, as they are trying to integrate their home into the internet world. So what are some recent technological advancements that are happening for garage stores that we might can look forward to?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we sell a Genie brand operator and so they have a system that's called Aladdin Connect and it is an app that you can put on your phone. It allows Wi-Fi connectivity from your garage door to your whole home Wi-Fi. You can control that door from your phone. You can set alerts. If your door opens while you're not there, it will send you a notification. You can close it from anywhere. You know we were my wife and I were on vacation and we were in.

Speaker 3:

Boston and my mother-in-law's feeding the cat, and she left the door open. I got a notification and said hey, your door has been open for 10 hours, you know. So I shut my door from my phone, those kinds of things.

Speaker 2:

So pretty nice advancements in home security and on the home security side of garage doors, yeah, and if you're like me and you drive away and you go I don't know if I closed my door or not at least you don't have to turn around and go back and look. Right, you can look on your phone, that's right, that's right, and you can also set.

Speaker 3:

You know they have models with timers to close now, so you can also set. You know they have models with timers to close now, so you can set it. You know five or 10, you have to have an audible alarm so it'll beep or buzz to let you know that the door's closing, but you can set it to close. You know, hey, five minutes after it opens I want it to close, and so you can. You can do all that stuff now and it's just a world of changes for garage doors, right, and it's just a world of changes for garage doors.

Speaker 2:

Right Sounds great. Well, thank you so much for joining me, brad. Give us some ways that we can find out more about River City Door Company and how to get in touch with you.

Speaker 3:

Yes, ma'am, you can give us a call at 334-521-0630. Stop by our office at our design center on 300 North Dean road, suite four and uh, or you can visit uh rivercitydoorscom and uh. Drop us a form in the request for service.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, Brad, for being with me. I really enjoyed talking to you.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, Susanna.

Speaker 1:

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.