BRANDS

Many contractors won’t touch them again after their first attempt at an install. They are tough to demo, and require significant masonry work to reinstall. But we love them. Confident Home Remodelers is now marketing exclusively as a cellar door installer. We’ll replace or add cinderblocks as needed, or otherwise make your non-standard opening fit a standard size cellar door. The market isn’t well served in our area, and many people express frustration in finding an affordable company that they can trust to get the job done right for these installs.

Cellar doors are only found in the Northeastern United States, basically from Maryland to New England. In many parts of the country, basements are either rare, or local building codes historically did not require special ingress and egress to the side or rear yard. On rare occasion, a unit may be found outside of the Northeast geographical area. 99% of Cellar Door customers are replacing existing ones that have rusted out or got damaged, or to cover basement stairs that are open to the rain. They were popular for new construction mostly between 1900 and 1970.

BILCO is actually a brand name. They are the industry standard, and have about 80% market share. Bilco is our preferred brand, and we seek to develop a closer business relationship with them. Bilco was founded in New Haven, CT, and is currently based in Ohio, even though Ohio has very few cellar doors. Bilco’s can be ordered at Home Depot, or for a little more money, almost every lumberyard or masonry supplier is registered as a Bilco retailer. Here is their website

https://www.bilco.com/

Check the handle on the unit, if it doesn’t say Bilco, its either a very old Bilco, or it’s from another cellar door manufacturer. Bilco still makes most the original sizes sold 80 years ago. Their main upgrade is hardware changes. Bilco units now comes standard with a piston pump for each door to keep it from slamming on people’s heads. Modern units also have a larger ventilation gap under the bottom front than in the past, to reduce rust, mold, and mildew problems. Customers don’t like the gap, but it is essential. There are also optional “keyed entry” systems that can be installed on any Bilco unit. We’ve installed a few of them, at customer request. Bilco offers a powder-coated paint, which is clearly better than other paints, and has a one-year warranty. There’s six colors available. We like the Bilco powder-coating, but our glazing is more durable in the long run.



A few decades ago, Bilco came out with polyethylene units called the “Ultra Series”. They started with the “C” size, 55” x 72”. There were problems with the Ultra Series, and Bilco never rolled out Ultra units for their other sizes. I will never install an Ultra Series. At some point, we expect them to be discontinued. Also, Bilco stopped making custom-size steel units some time ago, so we have to go with Steelway for these. We occasionally come across custom Bilco units in the field.

CURRENT MODELS WITH 90-DEGREE TRIANGULAR BASE

•  51” wide x 43.25” long x 52” high = Bilco SL (high slope)
•  47” wide x 58” long x 30” high = Bilco O (original)
•  51” wide x 64” long x 22” high = Bilco B
•  55” wide x 72” long x 19.5” high = Bilco C
•  Extensions are available for Bilco C only, 6” and 12”

Gordon is located in Southington, CT, and competes with Bilco. We install Gordon when the foundation size best fits a Gordon, and/or we are replacing an older Gordon, and it is not cost effective to get a Bilco. The metal thickness gauge is slightly thinner than Bilco, and they do not offer a piston pump. However, they will make any custom size. We typically install at least one a year of the Gordons. Gordon can be ordered at Lowes.



One serious limitation on the Gordon flat units is that they are exceptionally hard to assemble, and then cannot be unassembled for any reason. We suspect that the Gordon primer is reducing the diameter of the hole that receives the pin on the door, and this is the cause of tightness and a creaking noise.

Steelway is Bilco’s biggest competitor. They are in business since 1963, and located in King of Prussia, PA. www.cellardoors.com Steelway is our go-to source for any custom or odd-size unit. They also make every size unit that Bilco does, but they don’t have an array of retailers. Every one has to be ordered from Steelway direct.

Steelway makes all the sizes Bilco makes, but it’s hard for Steelway to compete with Bilco on price due to logistics. I can pick up the Bilco’s at the local Home Depot, but I have to drive 1.5 hours to King of Prussia to pick up a unit. Getting a Steelway delivered costs hundreds of dollars, and is not an easy process. The truckers they hire only deliver “curbside”, not into a driveway. It’s their discretion if they will actually deliver into a driveway. One driver refused to drive down a gravel private road. Home Depot deliveries are far cheaper, and less complicated. Just the uncertainty of delivery problems is enough to push the order over to Bilco.

Steelway has one major plus over Bilco, which is the quality of the piston pump. A few minor advantages are (1) they have a nicer handle, and (2) Steelway will deliver a unit unprimed, which for me is a plus, because we glaze them. However, Bilco’s cylinder and cotter pins are larger and far superior to Steelway’s, making the Bilco unit is much easier to assemble. The steel on the Steelway unit is a tad thinner.

Ordering a custom Steelway unit is typically about $1200 more than a standard size Bilco

CURRENT MODELS
“custom size, any size”