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About 75% of replacement exterior doors and patio doors were purchased from home improvement warehouse stores, while less than half of replacement windows were purchased there, according to a recent presentation by Ed Hudson, Home Innovation Research Labs.
Among his other findings:
- Vinyl windows are the most common type in new homes overall, particularly in starter and move-up homes. Larger builders—those constructing 50 homes a year or more—are three times as likely to install vinyl windows than smaller builders.
- Wood windows are the top choice of smaller builders and builders of luxury homes.
- Recent data shows the average new single-family luxury home has about 28.8 windows, while the average starter home has only 11.3. The number of windows installed in a new single-family detached home went up from 17.8 to 19.5, on average, after declining in each of the previous 5 years. This increase reflects the strength of the move-up and luxury home markets in 2021, where rising home prices sidelined buyers at the lower end of the price range.
- Over the past decade, sliding patio doors have gained share from about 40% to 60% of new single-family home installations, while swinging patio doors have declined by the same percentage.
- Moving glass walls are being used in place of traditional patio doors more than ever—now included in about 8% of all new single-family homes. Moving glass walls are particularly popular in the South and West.
