A dedicated team working for our customers.
To build lasting partnerships, deliver excellence, and provide innovative solutions that foster success and growth across communities.
Our purpose is to serve our customers with quality service and product… To serve our peers through collaboration and leadership to succeed… And to serve our community through support and volunteerism.
We work to provide and improve for our families and our industry.
A pleasant work environment that stems from happiness and growth is a priority, where team members are treated respectfully and enjoy being involved.
We aim to complete every job precisely and efficiently.
Whether we are investing in people or partnerships, we are always looking to develop and challenge ourselves to evolve and improve.
National Door & Trim prides itself on the opportunity to give back to the community we call home.
The National Door & Trim team continues with the original quality and high standards set forth from the very beginning, while expanding into a company of today, tomorrow and the years to come.
Turnwald Construction Inc. Began
Turnwald Construction Inc. began in 1967.
It was a full family crew when two brothers Tom Sr.
and Vic Turnwald, and one cousin Gene Turnwald, started building homes throughout Van Wert County
and the surrounding area.
1980s
Throughout the 80s National Door & Trim was truly a family affair.
The location on Zimmerman Road had nine employees and each one was heavily involved in all aspects of the business. The entire family pitched in whenever and wherever they could.
Throughout the 90s, National Door & Trim was providing prefinished material for over a third of new homes being built in Toledo, Ohio.
Prefinished stain became an industry trend and business really took off.
During this time National Door & Trim expanded into the Toledo market. The real jumpstart
came when a builder was behind on a home. He needed product in a week and said if that could
happen the job was National Door & Trim’s. Everyone pushed it out in time and with the
extreme quality that was expected.
After that word quickly spread of the quality and service of National Door & Trim through the
Toledo market. From that point on, every Parade of Homes featured National Door & Trim product.
Business continued to grow throughout the 90s. National Door & Trim entered the computer age
and continued to make all aspects of the business high quality and more efficient.
1992
As the business continued to grow, National Door & Trim continued investing to make the business as efficient as possible – which included an addition to the Zimmerman Road location for the fifth time.
National Door & Trim became a Pioneer in the Industry by being the first to pursue the switch to water base finish and make it equivalent to the lacquer finish everyone was using. At first it was so much thinner, making the grain show through. The team continued to adjust until the quality was up to National Door & Trim’s high standards.
Expansion of The Business
In 1993, Tom Sr.’s son Tom graduated from college and looked to continue with the expansion of the business; however, they had run out of space at the current location on Zimmerman Road.
This began the search for a larger building.
1994
Fire at National Door & Trim
On February 19, 1994, a fire broke out at National Door & Trim. The building was not a total loss, but a rebuild was necessary as there was significant damage throughout the production facility and the office.
“Our son Todd was playing a home varsity basketball game vs. Columbus Grove. I’ll never forget getting that call and we drove over. I tried to go in through the office and the firefighters wouldn’t let me through because of the damage.”
The Move To Vision Park
National Door & Trim struggled to find a prebuilt space to fit their needs, which is when a unique opportunity and blank canvas on Industrial Drive presented itself. Tom Sr. laid out each area of the building in precise detail in order to create a building tailored to operation, quality, and success. Custom spray booths were designed and hand built to best accommodate the vast residential product line. The move to Vision Park was made in November of 1999.
Tom Sr. believed that there had to be a more efficient way to obtain the same high-quality finish without hand spraying every product that went out the door. He had a vision and sketched up a finish line that would include automatic spray guns – providing consistent quality on all products in an efficient timeframe. Tom Sr.’s sketch was given to an engineer that worked as a local grain operator. He built the machine and ND&T used it for years to come.
2002
Tornado hit on November 10th.
An F4 tornado ripped through Van Wert and the surrounding counties and National Door & Trim was directly in its path. The building was completely leveled and only debris remained. It was the most physical and emotional toll that could have hit National Door & Trim that day; in those moments directly after the dust settled, it was uncertain what the future would hold.
In September, the move to
Vision Park was completed.
The last few months of 2006 showed the first visible hit of the recession to come.
Orders dropped drastically in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
Another recession hit the industry.
When the economy plummeted – housing numbers dropped substantially as well – ending at 745,000 whereas the previous year in 2005 had 2.4 million housing starts.
2009
The Toledo housing starts, which were once booming, quickly dropped over 90%. Not a single week would go by without seeing a lumber yard or supplier closing.
If a house was starting to go up, everyone near and far knew about it, and it seemed there was a battle over every single house during this time. National Door & Trim knew it was vital to look into how our team could provide as much product as possible in one house and determine what we, as a company, could realistically manufacture and sell to our customers during a time like this.
This was the year things really hit the bottom of the barrel -- and then slowly started to improve.
2011
National Door & Trim’s cabinet division was officially developed and offered as another service for the business.
From the very beginning, National Door & Trim’s sole focus was on residential builds. As the economy began to come back, National Door & Trim now had the unique opportunity to expand product lines within the residential sector.
A new look for National Door & Trim. As the economy was bouncing back and National Door & Trim was able to focus on the expansion, a rebrand was in order.
A new logo was developed to better represent the vast product offerings and sophisticated services of the company.
Growth was at the forefront as a company and we wanted a way to showcase the quality and options available to our clients.
A top-of-the-line showroom featuring our diverse selection of offerings was developed –
featuring multiple kitchens, doors, moulding, and everything in between.
As the Boomers began to retire and the Millennials entered the work force, a shift to multifamily and senior living hit the industry. The opportunity for commercial projects and pursuit of a different market took hold — thus, the National Door & Trim Commercial Division was developed.
2016 And Beyond
The third generation joins the National Door & Trim business - continuing to provide exceptional sales and service in this ever-changing industry.
The National Door & Trim team continues to provide the original quality and high standards set forth from the very beginning, while expanding into a company of today, tomorrow and the years to come.
Site design by Brand It Marketing Communications
During a time where we were working in survival mode, we were constantly looking for a new avenues to keep business running. KAM , another Van Wert, Ohio company started to expand across the country and National Door & Trim developed display cabinets for their purse lines. We produced hundreds of cabinets with lighting and the whole works to be sent across the country. This was the official beginning of our expansion into cabinets.
The next day, Tom began searching for a temporary fix to keep the operation moving forward. After finding a location that would house the operation until a rebuild was completed, everyone worked together to figure out what could be salvaged. Tom Sr. organized production with enough sufficient equipment to get back up and running and Gene worked with vendors around the clock in order to account for and replace the lost products.
Within a month, National Door & Trim was utilizing the makeshift facility along with two other companies devastated by that day’s events. Although it took a while to adjust, within six weeks of the tornado – product was being shipped out again.
As operations continued at a temporary location, construction began on the rebuild. The new facility would be located on the same original foundation acquired in 1999. Tom Sr. also increased the size from the existing foundation and began re-building the facility they needed.
The recession continued.
In the early 80s, interest rates were sky high at 17%, which meant no one was building. It wasn’t until President Ronald Reagan took office, that interest rates started to lower, and business began to pick up.
In the meantime everyone’s main goal was to keep the business running and support their families. Tom Sr. and Ruth alongside Gene and Kathy worked day in and day out to find any new business they could.
“Orders didn’t come to you – you went and found them.” – Tom Sr.
As their kids went off to college, the entire family would work evening shifts during summers. The business was their life, and they poured their heart and souls into it. Ruth did the sanding, Tom Sr. and Kathy sprayed all the product, Gene worked with all the trim and assembly, all while Tom Sr. and Ruth pitched in to complete office work and exploring the realm of sales.
The 80s brought about a new development for National Door & Trim – an original take on the current day split jamb. Tom Sr. wanted a way to quickly install the prefinished material, so he invented a jamb using dowels. As the business continued to develop, split jambs came to fruition. National Door & Trim eventually purchased the jamb through a vendor rather than taking production time to create Tom Sr.’s original design.
In 1987, Rick Anderson moved back to Ohio and began working for National Door & Trim. He worked both in the office and spraying doors to start. At that time everything was prefinished, so ND&T managed a selection of six-seven of the most popular stain colors for customers to choose from.
During this time, the first outside salesman was added, along with employees for production. Gene then moved into the office and began scheduling trucks, and eventually handled all purchasing duties from inventory to office paper.
Quonset hut beginning.
In the beginning, Turnwald Construction rented and shared a quonset hut with another local Van Wert, Ohio company.
In 1967, Turnwald Construction worked out of the front portion of this quonset hut until the remaining portion of the building became available to purchase. The back half of the building was unfinished – no floor or insulation – but they needed the extra space.
Turnwald Construction single-handedly finished the building.
“We finished the space ourselves, clear down to pouring the concrete for the floor.” – Gene Turnwald.
The day-to-day schedule remained carpentry work for Turnwald Construction customers, while their evenings were spent working on the building. There were many nights and weekends that family and friends pitched in to help.
Determined to Succeed.
Tom Sr. and Gene Turnwald took notice of how poor pre-finishing was within the area and knew they could produce a better-quality product.
In the wake of the 1978 recession, company shares were offered internally so Turnwald Construction could invest in their own pre-finished product. As the economy continued to decline, many key partners dropped out.
Establishing National Door & Trim
Tom Turnwald Sr. attended the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta, GA and began tracking down everything needed in the finishing industry to hit the ground running.
Tom Sr. and Gene, as Turnwald Construction, continued building projects from start to finish. The pre-finishing market did not fit the standards of Turnwald Construction, they were determined to provide a higher quality finished product and they knew they could. Hence, National Door & Trim was officially established.
Quality was always their Focus.
At that time, there was no automation and everything was done by hand. From day one, quality was Tom Sr. and Gene’s focus and product had to be perfect.
“If something went out wrong, it was a bad day in the shop… for everyone” – Gene Turnwald
Questions? Give Us A Call!