At first glance, it may look like the luxury villa located in Miami's Belle Meade neighborhood doesn't even have a garage. Then suddenly, with the push of a button, one of the walls begins to swing out and up.
What looks like a normal exterior wall is, in fact, a hydraulic garage door from Schweiss Doors, measuring 15 ft. by 8 ft., installed to blend seamlessly with the rest of the home's façade.
"I wanted to basically make a peek-a-boo door," said Mirna Barake, who designed and built the house.
Mirna, the owner of Barake Design of Miami, has been an interior designer and property developer for 15 years. During the design phase of the Miami home, she came across a property with a hydraulic garage door and decided she wanted something similar for her project.
"The design, number one, it is absolutely gorgeous," Barake said.
After some online research, she was led directly to Schweiss Doors. Barake worked closely with the team at Schweiss, including Brent and Jeremy from the sales team, to engineer and build the perfect door to fit her vision.
"It is one of the coolest features of the house," Barake said.
The door is covered with a stylish blond composite wood cladding to match the design exterior aesthetic of the rest of the house. Barake describes the house as having a very organic and tropical look with a mid-century touch, built with high-end materials and products."
"Very Miami, I would say," Barake said.
On the interior of the door, Barake decided not to hide the mechanical and industrial features of the hydraulic door system. The interior metal structure of the door blends nicely with the black-painted plywood while the two-horsepower pump and hydraulic cylinders are showcased as part of the design of the garage.
"That is the coolest part," Barake said. "I love the sound, too," referring to the gentle hum as the hydraulic power unit opens and closes the door.
She says the weight of the door was a surprise to her. It's a detail called out in the Schweiss Doors specifications, yet something customers should keep in mind while planning. Barake had her own team of builders installing the door and it went well. With the weather seal kit, the door is very secure and closes tightly.
"The whole process was perfect," Barake said, adding the Barake Design construction team did a great job of installing the door.
The process of buying, receiving and installing the Schweiss Doors hydraulic door went smoothly. Since this was Barake's first time purchasing and installing a Schweiss door, she did learn a few things along the way. Miami-Date County requires builders to obtain a Notice of Acceptance for any building product being used in a construction project, including things such as garage doors, to make sure the products meet building codes, including wind speeds. Barake had the door engineered to withstand winds up to 175 mph, a must have in hurricane territory.
Schweiss Doors is very familiar with the product approval process Florida requires for doors and fulfilled the requirements for approval.
"It is 10 times better than any other door," Barake said.
She noted she was able to lean on the team at Schweiss Doors throughout the whole design and build process surrounding the hydraulic garage door on this Miami residence. There were plenty of calls back and forth during the process and the people at Schweiss were always happy to help. Barake was especially happy with Brent from the sales team.
"I'd call him 20,000 times and 20,000 times, he was like ‘Hey!' and he would recognize my voice," Barake said. "It was amazing, amazing customer service."
Barake has been so impressed by Schweiss Doors that not only would she recommended the company to others "100 percent," she already has plans to install a Schweiss door on another house she is building.
For more information, visit bifold.com.
