GRAND FORKS – First-time visitors to the showrooms of Sunrooms Plus, Inc., are in for a big surprise – the range of products for home improvement, inside and out, is seemingly endless.
“Most people are shocked when they walk in … ” said Ron Hoime, co-owner of Sunrooms Plus, Inc., along with his wife, Cheryl.
New customers are taken aback by the number of “burning displays,” which include gas, wood and electric fireplaces, Hoime said.
But that is only part of the array and variety of products available.
Everything from retractable motorized awnings to outdoor swing sets to patio furniture become top of mind as homeowners reach for new ways to enhance their surroundings and lifestyle.
With the first signs of spring, customers increasingly turn to improvements for outdoor living at Sunrooms Plus, Inc., which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
“We get busy when it warms up,” Hoime said.
To improve the backyard or expand the home’s living space, a solarium, screen room, maintenance-free deck or a gazebo can be added to enhance the customer’s lifestyle. Examples of three- or four-season sunrooms are on display to allow customers to better visualize the completed project.
Sunrooms can be “customized to any size to fit the customers’ needs,” said Hoime, who, with his workers, can carry out the project, start to finish, including installing the footings.
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Sunrooms Plus, Inc., offers various styles of Luxcraft maintenance-free patio furniture, Hoime said. “We have a huge display. They don’t fade; they’re heavy so wind doesn’t blow them off the deck.”
It also offers retractable motorized awnings – cloth or metal – that can greatly increase enjoyment of the home’s outdoor space.
“All you have to do is push buttons,” he said. The movement of the awning can be stopped at any point.
The awning, which can be up to 26 feet wide and go out about 14 feet, can be mounted on a wall or roof, and its pitch can be adjusted to suit the customer’s preference.
“We have 300 different fabrics to choose from,” Hoime said.
For kids’ entertainment, Sunrooms Plus, Inc., offers Rainbow Play Systems swing sets, or “play systems,” examples of which are displayed onsite.
In addition to the products themselves, Sunrooms Plus can install and service everything it sells, and can service competitors’ products as well.
Photo by Pamela Knudson / Grand Forks Herald
As the name implies, the business started out with a focus on sunrooms, but “as the years went by, we added a product here and there,” Hoime said.
Expansion into other home improvement categories – including spas, decks, polyethylene furniture, sheds, window tinting and shading, patio storm doors, building stone and brick, and magnetic storm windows – prompted the addition of “Plus” to the company’s name.
“Keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter is our goal,” its motto reads online.
At Sunrooms Plus, Inc., the variety of wood-burning, electric and free-standing fireplaces and inserts, and wood and pellet burners is extensive. Some fireplace units feature an auto-start system, whereby a push of a button on the side ignites the fire.
The company can provide the venting and masonry to complete the project, and installing an energy-efficient fireplace unit can provide up to a $2,000 rebate on the customer’s federal taxes, Hoime said.
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At his business, the large display space allows customers to “see the actual product burning,” he said. They also can see the up-to-date technology that alters various features – such as the color of the base of a sleek, contemporary fireplace.
“We install fireplaces, start to finish,” Hoime said.
The customer can customize the fireplace by selecting the mantel from an inventory of more than 70 styles, the type of stone or other material surrounding the firebox, and the hearth pad.
“We have all kinds of samples,” he said.
Sunrooms Plus, which draws customers from a roughly 200-mile radius of Grand Forks, started out at a location on Gateway and Washington Street, but with the growing need for more space, moved west about 13 years ago to larger headquarters, just east of I-29.
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