Readymade doors are getting popular for their quality, designs and affordability

Kathmandu

Doors and windows play a vital role in the look of your house. As natural wooden doors are very expensive, the market has various options of readymade doors such as laminate, PVC laminate, HDF, one side teak (OST) and melamine among others. Both local and imported doors are available in different designs, quality and sizes.

“Wooden doors are expensive and take longer time to install. This may be the reason why customers are attracted to readymade easy to install and affordable doors,” said Ummed Bothara, Proprietor of New Lotus Hardware at Maitidevi that supplies Shikhar ply and doors.

The store has four types of doors OST, PVC, laminate and melamine, of which OST and PVC are more popular. “We have various designs, patterns and sizes available in these types,” said Bothara, adding that 80X32 inch doors sell the most. It costs Rs 260 per sq ft for OST doors while melamine doors costs Rs 6,000 per piece. PVC and laminate doors cost Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000 per piece respectively. He informed that particle boards used in PVC and laminate doors are imported from Germany. According to him, they also have teak wood door that cost Rs 1,300 per sq ft.

The real estate industry directly affects the business of doors. As the real estate sector was affected by the earthquake, the demand for doors has decreased. “We saw a drop by 50 per cent in sales in the last fiscal year due to the earthquake and blockade,” said Dipesh Shrestha, owner of Readymade Doors at Kalimati. He further said, “With the introduction of the new building bylaws, construction of buildings has decreased significantly and as a result the demand for doors was also dipped.”

On an optimistic note, Shrestha said, “We are hopeful that the situation will change and the demand will increase in this fiscal year.” According to him, January and February are the peak season for the business. Citing that there is unhealthy competition, he said, “Due to the competition, many players supply inferior products at low price.”

Readymade Doors imports carved wooden and laminate doors from India. “We have a variety of doors such as block, one sided, solid wood, white and carved for front doors and indoors. Customers can choose as per their preferences and design of house,” he added. It costs Rs 1,800 to Rs 5,000 per sq ft for carved doors, while wooden doors cost Rs 800 to Rs 1,300 sq ft depending upon quality, design and patterns. The price of laminate doors start at Rs 5,000 to Rs 9,000 per piece at the store.

“After the earthquake, the demand for HDF doors had drastically dropped with housing and apartment projects coming to a halt,” said Kanchan Shrestha, proprietor of Nepal Wood Craft at Panauti. Citing that the demand for laminate doors is increasing, he said, “Unlike earlier, people don’t opt for wooden doors which are expensive and tedious to install. Customers opt for laminate doors which are ready to install.”

Citing that they make customised doors, he said, “Customers are still unaware that we are manufacturing customised doors which are durable, fireproof and water resistant.” According to him, they have sliding, double and single doors as per the requirement of the customers. He claimed, “We produce quality doors as we use pine, oak and rose wood for inner board.” The starting price of doors is Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 per piece depending upon boards and design.