There is artistry and inspiration found in the unique style of glass honed in the 20th century that brought light in, around, and under. While it was born through function, today we enjoy it for the fashion. Originally crafted to solve the struggle of limited light in the underbelly of ocean crossing ships, prism glass absorbs the outdoor light, pulls it in, and disperses it through the interior of the designated space. The fact that the end result was stunning even then is a total bonus.

When this type of glass is used today, it is a representation of an era that valued quality, ingenuity, and sustainability. Today we use this glass on many of our Landmarks doors produced for the FDNY with the same values in mind: quality, ingenuity, and sustainability. Let's take a closer look at prism glass.

Prism glass is an architectural glass which bends and redirects daylight through refraction and reflection. If you aren't thinking of Pink Floyd's album, the Dark Side of the Moon, we will have to talk later; however, many of us are familiar with the single beam of white light hitting the triangular prism and splitting the beam into its individual parts thus creating the rainbow. This iconic representation may be the most widely known (at least by music and cultural standards) depiction of how light refraction works. 

This innovation in glass became common around the turn of the 20th century. The first patent for prism glass described it in this way: "Whereby the reflection of the light into the room is considerably increased without increasing the size of the window." It elaborated to state the innovation would "double the quantity of reflection or illumination."

At this time (1882), Edison had formed the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York which was, (albeit slowly) bringing electricity to much of Manhattan. During the transition, many people still relied on gas light and candles to illuminate their homes. It was some 50 years before half of New Yorkers were able to incorporate electric power into their homes. It's no wonder this innovation was applied to rooms and spaces beneath sidewalks and entryways as New Yorkers awaited their Edison electricity!

The same was true of structures of the time such as firehouses. In many cases, prism glass was used to shine light from the front of the building into the living space and the basement of the structure. Many firehouses were known to have removable floors inside the door that would illuminate the basement.

FDNY

A walk through the streets of New York's five boroughs will undoubtedly bring you past one of the 197 Engine Houses associated with the FDNY. Most of the doors you will see have been manufactured by Fimbel either then or now. Together with our team at Thompson Overhead Door in Brooklyn, the FDNY, and the Landmark Society of New York, we bring the facades of historic firehouses back to life with stunning commercial garage doors that look like art. Utilizing block prism glass is one way that we incorporate art, function, and history into our vinyl and composite constructed doors. Our low maintenance products have the look of painted wood and are built to last.

If you would like to learn more about our products, please enjoy this blog and the many others we have available, or find a dealer to start the conversation at www.fimbelads.com/dealers.

Every animal who goes into a foster home brings down the number of shelter pets euthanized each year. Fostering an animal can be one of the most rewarding experiences as each fostered animal is a life saved! At Fimbel ADS we know a lot about this journey. Our participation with fostering has brought 23 pups to their fur-ever home. This passion project, charged by our President, Erin Fimbel, and her family brings our mission of sustainability and compassion for Mother Earth and her creatures to the forefront of our business.

One of the success stories Erin and our company share is mine! Our Sunshine, lovingly known as Sunny (pictured above), joined our family after a two week foster. During this time she was able to meet us and the kids, and we quickly found her personality jived with that of our family. She came to us with a healthy level of trust and basic house manners thus easing the burden of initial training and creating a smooth transition. Her time with a dedicated foster family made that success a possibility.

What's this got to do with Fimbel?

"My foster pups often come to work with me", said Erin. "The team loves our four-legged additions to the family. They interact, walk, play, and love our fosters as well as help promote and find them homes."

Our commitment to sustainability is not only prevalent in our products and practices but in our involvement with the earth and her creatures. Our garage doors are made to last and low-maintenance which means there is less to the landfill and less chemicals used over the course of time. Our practices for operations are focused on optimization and reduction of waste, so we recycle what we can and continue to innovate.

If we stopped there and accepted this as good enough, we wouldn't be Fimbel. For 95 years our family has manufactured garage doors, and today we want to give back in more ways than providing to the building industry. Through our partnership with One Tree Planted we plant one tree for every single door we sell in hopes of giving Mother Nature back what she so generously provides to you and I. Our participation in Erin's foster pup mission is just the same. We need to love the earth and her creatures, and this is the most joyful and effective way for our company culture.

With the influx of advertisers streaming into your social media feed, your email inbox, and your digital media, it is often hard to differentiate quality products from quality photographs of sub-par products. We know this is especially true today with the overwhelming impact on your shopping habits from COVID-19. At Fimbel Architectural Doors, we want to make sure you get the right product with the quality you deserve. All Fimbel Doors come with the promise of quality that is backed by our robust warranty and our 95-year legacy.

As a 4th generation family run business that has been building garage doors since 1924, we have quite a bit to offer today's curious consumer! We know that the garage is likely the last thing considered during the initial phases of most projects, and we want to rewrite that mindset by delivering samples right to your front door.

Using our Dealer Locator tab on the website, find a Fimbel dealer who can help you obtain samples. You can request any of our door samples and any of our standard paint and faux stain samples. When you receive them, they will come in a box with a return label for when you are finished!

Our first construction platform offers carriage and traditional styles using a vinyl clad steel pan and applying vinyl overlays to create the look of a classic wood door. This door is exceptional for two main reasons – the first is the platform (pan) made of a smooth, steel base made for the elements that we coat (clad) in a thin layer of crisp, white vinyl. This innovation allows for the American Legends series to live nearly anywhere, even near the ocean, without rusting and rotting away in the elements. To this we add the smooth, solid white overlays made of sustainable material. Separating ourselves from the competition's fake wood grain completes the constructed look to appear as real, traditional wood. Both features ensure the longevity our ethics demand, the look we all crave, and a price point sure to please.

Our second construction platform truly shines in the blend between tradition and innovation. Using a hand placed wood frame and nesting in our insulation, we laminate a vinyl back cover and a solid vinyl exterior that encases the face. This slab now becomes a blank slate to bring you more for your door. Using both 3/8" and ¾" material, primarily Versatex, we have options to add select profiles and nearly limitless designs to satisfy inspiration. You will see these designs in our Euro-Dor and Presidential Collections offering both carriage, traditional, and modern styles.

To achieve a more classic carriage look, we offer the Roaring Twenties. This series starts with the same platform yet adds solid, sturdy overlays pocketed (nested) into the face. The pronounced look of this classic style can be modified in myriad ways to satisfy decorative features and historic applications. Each of these series offers incredible longevity and beauty we can all feel good about!

In the world of Fimbel, we do not believe in many limitations. We believe that if you can dream it, we can make it. What makes us different is that we build doors that last, reduce impact on the earth, and require very low maintenance and increased durability allowing you peace of mind. We have the best warranty on the market because we stand behind the product we make. We look forward to seeing your creativity and being able to give you a More in a Garage Door.

To request a sample, follow this link!

Garage doors have come a long way. For decades they simply stood sentinel to welcome vehicles and hide our belongings. Today, 71% of families use the garage as the primary entrance to the home, and the role of the door has changed. Now we see design innovation and manufacturing excellence furnishing garages with absolute beauty and supreme function. At Fimbel ADS we are committed to carrying forth the quality and craftsmanship our great-grandfather built our family business upon while blending in the marvels of today's manufacturing capabilities. You will not find a more beautiful or durable door in the market, and we are sure it will only bring satisfaction to your life.

As summer becomes a thing of the past, and we embrace the chills of autumn, making sure the garage is efficient, secure, and safe should be on the honey-do list. For some garages it may be a simple repair or tweek, but rest assured when you replace your door with a quality, high end door, it will be worth it's weight in gold! "Compared with 22 other common home-improvement projects, an upscale garage door replacement offers one of the biggest bangs for your buck and costs much less than many other home improvement projects" according to the Remodeling Magazine's 2020 Cost vs. Value Report. Coming in at #2 with a 94.5% ROI at resale, the garage clearly deserves some attention!

Whether you are building (or rebuilding) your dream home, we want to help enhance your curb appeal, ensure sustainability and energy efficiency, and allow for a low-maintenance lifestyle. With a Fimbel door you can count on more!

The most obvious reason to replace your garage door is to improve the curb appeal of the home. The term applies to the aesthetic appeal of a residential or commercial building as perceived from the street, and it was made popular in the 90's with the release of HGTV's show "Curb Appeal". As you may know, the entry door of most homes only constitutes 8% of the home's frontage while the garage door often consumes 30%, we can see the potential for impact with a new door. With the impressive ROI, utilizing the capabilities we offer through our manufacturing as well as additional options such as finishing and hardware, updating the garage door is a slam dunk! To learn more about designing like an architect, please enjoy the attached blog post where we take you through the process!

With Fimbel ADS we can accommodate any of the design styles you desire. Our doors have the sought after look of painted wood without the maintenance. Our Euro, Presidential, and Roaring Twenties series give you the liberty to design to your heart's delight. Our American Legends series comes not only in the classic carriage style but also recessed panel and modern while offering customizations!

Our finishing options give way for your design to take flight with a standard color, custom color, or hand applied faux stain of your choice. Using sustainable paint products and proprietary application processes, our finish will last and bring peace of mind. To find out more about our finishing options, here's another blog post to help paint the full picture for you!

Color isn't the only way to make a Fimbel door your own. We offer you the opportunity to design your door down to the smallest detail. Whether you want to customize the top section to allow for more or less light, or you want to redesign the top section completely to incorporate scrollwork or a custom design, we have the options for you.

Another way to make it your own is to add decorative hardware to the face of the door. To simplify the installation and application of the add-on features, we can customize our rails and designs to accommodate their size and even pre drill the holes to guarantee a polished final look. To complete the package for the hardware, you have the option to powder coat the track system in virtually any color though we like clean white and solid black!

Make it Smarter:

Our organization hangs our hat on safety and quality not only in how we make our product, and we want you to feel the benefits of that. Fimbel doors are manufactured to be safety first. You, your family, your home, and your belongings will rest safely behind our door. Our doors are engineered for durability! We know that poorly fitted doors are not only unsightly but also allow unwanted openings. Since we can match nearly any opening, weather, burglars, and bugs will not have access to your home through the garage door!

Fimbel doors offer you a low-maintenance lifestyle. The clean appearance of the door should last for years to come with a gentle clean with mild soap and water. No harsh abrasives or undue elbow grease necessary. This aspect may be overlooked, but when we consider the supply chain for cleaning products, the effort to implement the cleaning, and the residual waste moving into the earth, we see our processes make way for sustainability.

Another way that we encourage sustainability is in the benefits you will feel toward energy efficiency! To get a basic idea, the older the door the more likely it is that money is seeping out through it. Our doors are made with insulation that is laminated and completely fill the cavity inside the door to keep air from moving around and through the door. A well-insulated door will reduce energy costs as well as maintain temperatures set in the garage. We want to help you keep cool air in during the summer and cold air out during the winter!

One of the longest lasting aspects of our doors is the contribution made upon purchase. For every door we sell, we work with our partners at One Tree Planted to plant a tree on your behalf. We know the resources generously given my Mother Nature need replenishing, and we want to pay it forward!

iTo back this beautiful, energy efficient, and low-maintenance lifestyle, we offer you a robust warranty that will satisfy! Regardless of your geographical location, we offer a warranty for our products coast to coast and proudly stand behind our warranty.

Make it a Fimbel:

Don't compromise aesthetic appeal for practical needs - you can have it all with a Fimbel door. With our designs, you can find the right door to offer you more. If energy efficiency is what you are after, we have you covered. If your geographic location is limiting your choices, we have you covered. If you are driven by value and longevity, we have you covered. Or if you simply want to make your neighbors jealous, we've got that, too! We are here to provide the door to support your lifestyle and desires – no matter your opening or aspiration, we have you covered!

Find a dealer near you by using our dealer locator!

As the fourth generation of a family of manufacturers, we know what it's like to strive to preserve the integrity and legacy of the past while catching up to the innovations of today's design and building materials. Fortunately, we have learned to balance the two in order to provide a quality product built on tried and true practices while pushing the limits to give you more in a garage door.

We were proud to partner with another organization that holds the value of blending old school with new. The 2019 Idea House in the coveted historic district of downtown New Canaan, CT featured the restoration of the facade of an 1880's Greek Revival. Karp Associates and CAH Architects married old with new to accommodate the legacy of the home and allow for modern aspirations.

One defining aspect of Greek Revival is the windows and the front door which was often expansive to give dimension to the design. Typically they used double hung, 6-pane windows using a mid 19th-century glazing technique. The entry door is known for its dramatic side windows and transoms to enhance the interior light, overall sophistication to provide all who enter a warm welcome!

The plan was to save the historic part of the façade, and build behind it a modern home with today's most innovative, quality building materials while preserving the window sashes and other aspects of the original build. Doing this requires the ability to adjust from the original material to a modern material offering sustainability and design capabilities. This is where we come in!

To complement the restored window sashes on the front of the home and many other features - both historic and contemporary - the Roaring Twenties Charleston design was chosen for the style, size, and complementing interior grille. Powder coated track was custom built to accommodate the angled roof and car lift. Every detail was considered in this project, and the garage doors were no exception. 

The Doors

With the level of commitment made to the restoration front windows, selecting a garage door with complementary windows that are not only big and beautiful but built to last and allow the stark history to shine through. Using our one piece construction method to eliminate the gaps at joints and unsightly plastic inserts of other door models, our interior grille option enhances the character and depth of the top section! The complementary powder coated track truly shines as a nod to the modern twist of color used around the exterior and a break from the traditional white of Greek revival architecture.  

The classic American carriage door comes to life with the Fimbel Roaring Twenties series. With its simulated battens, clean cut overlays, and the look of a swing door, it makes any project feel like home. The smart period detail combined with our advanced materials allow you to enjoy the look of wood with virtually no maintenance. Using patented construction and design flexibility, we offer nearly any combination of window and door styles. Roaring Twenties collection blends both tradition and innovation to welcome you home with a beautiful and durable door to stand the test of time.

The Result

When the project requires beauty and durability while offering more, the answer is a Fimbel door. This Old House Idea House 2019 is what new homebuyers want in a house today with its proximity to downtown New Canaan, the open and modern interior, and the finest 3-car garage in the area. With bonus rooms sprinkled throughout the house, it is clear they left no detail overlooked.

We are proud that our Roaring Twenties garage doors will welcome the new owners home and provide safety and durability for life. To learn more about how you can complement your home with a garage door uniquely crafted for you, please find a dealer and get curious about how you can find more in a garage door.

Resource Guide:

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