It’s not often a door stopper becomes a home’s showstopper. Door stops, after all, are usually just a functional afterthought for most of us, something that is far from top of mind when we’re thinking of the finishing touches for our homes.
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It’s not often a door stopper becomes a home’s showstopper. Door stops, after all, are usually just a functional afterthought for most of us, something that is far from top of mind when we’re thinking of the finishing touches for our homes.
Installed to stop doors from slamming, we rarely pay attention to a door stop’s aesthetics. There’s the version that attaches to the baseboard and looks like a stylized version of a Slinky toy, or there’s the version that sits attached to a door’s hinge system. Neither are awe-inspiring when it comes to finding a finished look for your home, but that’s not the case anymore. Today’s new door stop — the Fantom Doorstop Solution — is sleek, smart, and more importantly, unobtrusive.
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“The Fantom Doorstop Solution merges artistic design principles with innovation in engineering to create a product unlike anything else on the market today,” said Tony Bulman, president of Sherwood Park-based Fantom Door Hardware Canada, which imports the Australian-created product into Canada. “With the striker plate mounted on the bottom of the door, there is no unsightly hardware on display and the contemporary design ensures maintenance-free operation.”
The Fantom Doorstop is designed for interior or exterior doors and will also work on low-pile carpet. It comes in a variety of colours and finishes to match a home’s décor and is flush mounted, using rare-earth magnet technology to keep a door open. The rare-earth magnet — installed and concealed in the bottom of the door — activates the in-floor pin when it passes over it. Once activated, the pin strikes the door-mounted striker plate, which not only stops the door, but also holds it open and in place, eliminating any chance that a draft or breeze will slam it shut. It also keeps doors open, which is helpful for those doors that tend to veer back to their closed position.
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“I didn’t wake up and aspire to sell door stops, but it’s a really cool product,” said Bulman, who has a background in manufacturing and distribution. “With my manufacturing background I’ve always been interested in new technologies and innovation, and I was searching for innovative technologies when I came upon the Fantom Doorstop.”
Bulman contacted the product creator about distributing it in Canada, and then checked with a local door manufacturer to see if there would be any interest. Bulman was told that the Fantom Doorstop solves a problem that previously didn’t have a solution. With the first shipment of product reaching Edmonton in late spring of this year, Bulman has already piqued the interest of a number of local homebuilders, including Konark Homes.
“We couldn’t find a door stopper that the homeowner liked for his front door,” said Darryl Hlushak, Konark Homes’ construction manager, discussing a recently completed 5,000-square-foot custom home situated in the community of Royal Oaks, located south of Summerside and west of Beaumont. “That’s his grand entrance and he wants it to look really ritzy.”
Hlushak checked out local suppliers for door stops, but couldn’t find anything the homeowner liked or would let him install for the front door. But a conversation Hlushak had with Bulman — who he had worked with before — yielded positive results, and the Fantom Doorstop appears to be a winner.
“He (the homeowner) was happy about it. He might put it on the other doors, he just wants to see it first,” said Hlushak. “Homeowners don’t really like the feel of the existing door stops, and a lot of time the spring ones bend and the ones with hinge stops punch through the doors and the door then requires a repair. We’re always looking for new products to make our product better and we will be putting it (the Fantom Doorstopper) into our new show home in Windermere.”
Hlushak said he is impressed with the Fantom Doorstop and believes it could be a game changer.
“It will bring more value to a house,” said Hlushak. “It gives it a sleeker look and adds to the design, compared to the original door stopper most others put into their houses.”
And it’s not only homebuilders that are interested, homeowners are as well. Scott Martin is having one installed in his two-storey, 20-year-old Sherwood Park home.
“Going from the garage to the laundry room and into the house, the door gets swung open, and the doorknob would always hit the wall and I would have to repair it,” said Martin. “The door would swing open, as everyone is carrying groceries, and then the door would swing back on them and they would hit the door.”
Eventually, he quit fixing the hole in the wall and decided to live with it.
“I used all the traditional doorstopper methods,” added Martin, noting that the hinge doorstop would not stop the door properly, and in the process it would break the moulding. Meanwhile, the baseboard version never caught the door exactly right.
“We’ve all seen door stoppers and they haven’t changed in 100 years. A door stopper is a door stopper. The Fantom Doorstop was totally new to me and solved a problem for me. I could see it was a solution,” said Martin. “I like how it holds the door open, so when you’re loading things in and out of the house the door won’t swing shut on you. It’s permanently in position. I just think it’s very clever.”
Australian carpenter Mark Sellar was inspired to create the Fantom Doorstop when he couldn’t find a fully concealed door stop that was flush with the floor and didn’t pose a tripping hazard. The product is now available in Canada.
How it works: The rare-earth magnet is installed and hidden inside the door, and held in place by the engineered strike plate. As the door opens, the magnet passes over the pin and draws the pin up, and the pin stops the door from opening further. To release it, simply exert minimal pressure and grab the door to close it.
Finishes: Designed to match modern finishes in the home, the Fantom Doorstop comes in a clear version, white, black, chrome, brass and brushed alloy.
Cost: The clear, white, and black versions retail for about $25.49. The brushed alloy, chrome and brass versions are part of the company’s premium line and will cost a bit more.
Installation: Requires drilling into the floor, and door, and removing the door and putting it back; some handyman skills are required. A six-piece installation kit is available if you don’t have the required drill bits. A diamond bit is sold separately and recommended for tile installations.
Availability: The Fantom Doorstop is currently available in Windsor Plywood’s west Edmonton and Sherwood Park locations. Find out more about the product at fantomhardware.ca.
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