“REHAU panels take away the pains of paint. I have greater confidence in the longevity of REHAU panels over conventional paint at dishwashers, ovens and other high-heat, high-moisture or high-wear areas. I don’t have the service issues with these panels that I have with paint,”

-- Matt Krig, vice president of Northland Woodworks

Northland Woodworks | Stillwater Residence | Minnesota

House Fire Has a Happy Conclusion for Minnesota Couple

When a 2016 electrical fire gutted their home, a couple* in Stillwater, Minnesota, was forced to start from scratch rebuilding their home and their lives. They turned their misfortune into an opportunity to make dramatic changes. Instead of building a two-story structure like the home that was destroyed, the couple, thinking of their impending senior years and the steps they may not want to navigate, went with a spacious rambler.

“We were drawn into an experience that came with a lot of emotion and a lot of decisions,” says the wife. “It took us a while to decide to go the rambler route, and in the long-run it was the right choice.”

The wife and husband quickly discovered it was the first of seemingly endless decisions. Their general contractor provided vendors for everything from flooring to cabinetry, while stressing the couple could also use their own vendors. For cabinets, the couple traveled to the showroom of Northland Woodworks in Blaine, just north of Minneapolis.

“We looked at everything on the floor, and we found a lot online as well. When we saw something we liked, we’d send a link so they could understand what we were trying to achieve,” the wife explains. “They started to understand we were looking for clean, contemporary lines, minimalist and very crisp. That’s when they told us about a company they had recently started working with named REHAU.”

Project	Stillwater Residence, Minnesota
Project Type	New home build
Manufacturer	Northland Woodworks
Distributor	Holdahl Company
REHAU Products	RAUVISIO sky™ White and Black, RAUVISIO urban™ White and REHAU matte surface with perfectly matched REHAU LaserEdge™ technology

When the couple was shown samples of REHAU RAUVISIO cabinet doors, with zero-joint edgeband for a seamless transition between fronts and edges, a number of decisions were tackled all at once. The couple chose REHAU surfaces for cabinets in nearly every room of their 4,800 sq ft (1,463 m) home. RAUVISIO sky White, a super matte PET surface, was used in the kitchen, great room, family room and all three bathrooms. The PET patterned surface, RAUVISIO urban White, was used in the mudroom and laundry room. The basement wet bar was done in RAUVISIO sky Black, while the kitchen island cabinets and the mudroom bench top used the self-healing matte surface.

Northland Woodworks fashioned a cabinet with RAUVISIO to house an electric fireplace in the basement. “We couldn’t do that with painted cabinetry because of the risk of bubbling,” explains Matt Krig, vice president of Northland Woodworks. “The durability of RAUVISIO creates a lot of options for us.”

The Stillwater home was the first project in which Northland Woodworks used RAUVISIO, but there are many more ahead. The company is impressed with the unique qualities, durability and flexibility of the REHAU surfaces. It plans to explore future possibilities with them using its edgebanding machinery that helps the company produce its own cabinet doors and drawer fronts.

*Homeowners asked to remain anonymous.

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