International Builders Show 2011 – Orlando, FL

I’m working my way around the trade show floor and seeing some interesting products and trends. I thought I’d stop for a second and share a few. I’ll get into more detail on some of these later, but just a quick look at some of my notes:

Side Mount Garage Door Opener

LiftMaster – Makes a cool garage door opener that mounts on the wall beside the garage door like you see in the picture. Would have helped me out tons of times when we faced ceilings under 8′ in garages with room additions above. It also has a battery back-up so you can still get the door open with ease when the power fails.

Hand Scraped Wood Floors

Shaw Flooring – Makes hand-scraped flooring that is actually hand scraped! (no machines) The authenticity of the finished product is hard to beat.

Lots Of Foam Insulation

I’m seeing a strong trend toward the use of foam insulation. It’s been coming for awhile and it looks like foam is arriving in a big way.

Wood Floors That Stick Down w/ Ease

Lumber Liquidators has a product that really looks to have promise for the DIY market. You buy an underlayment in rolls for a couple bucks a square foot and just roll it out on your sub-floor. Then you simply peel the film off the top to expose an adhesive and stick the wood down to it.

Simple as that!

I’ve only seen a small part of the trade show floor, so I’ll be back!

~ RG