Our History

Richards-Wilcox was incorporated in Canada in 1912, making us the oldest door company in the world. We’re proud of our long history of quality products and we’ve built upon that history to bring you the exceptional line of residential Premium Garage Doors we offer today.

At Richards-Wilcox, we are committed to making the next chapter of our history just as exciting as the first. We are passionate innovators of garage door design and desire to be the highest quality door systems manufacturer in the world.

100+ Years of Successes

Cool Timeline

1912
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1912 to 1960’s

1912 to 1960’s
Journey begin

In the 1800’s, the first North American branch of The Richards Manufacturing Company and The Wilcox Manufacturing Company were headquartered in Aurora, Illinois. Richards-Wilcox was later incorporated in 1912 and expanded its North American operations by establishing a Manufacturing presence in London, Ontario, Canada. In the subsequent years, factory owned dealerships were established in all the major cities across Canada. The 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s saw the introduction of many door and door related products by Richards-Wilcox. From sectional overhead doors and electric operators for both the industrial and residential markets to very specialized door systems such as Blast resistant doors, multi-blade doors, aircraft hangar doors, rolling steel doors, sliding fire doors and almost any other specialty applications.

1970
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1970’s to 1980

1970’s to 1980
Introduced Insulated and non-insulated steel sectional commercial doors

In the 1970’s after decades of establishing a strong distributor network and diverse product line, Richards-Wilcox introduced a full line of commercial Steel sectional insulated and non-insulated doors.
The 1980’s were a period of growth for Richards-Wilcox having moved our manufacturing plants to the Toronto area and introducing Canada’s first continuous polyurethane insulated steel door manufacturing line. It was one of only three production lines of its kind in North America capable of manufacturing polyurethane steel two side sectional overhead doors.

1990
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1990’s

1990’s
Brings Bulk Thermatite Management System

In 1992, with well-developed product, Richards-Wilcox began exporting sectional doors to other countries and set up our first U.S. distributor. 1993 brings an introduction to the Bulk Thermatite Management System (BTMS) and we began to specialize in supplying bulk sections and components. Later that decade, Richards-Wilcox introduced a new generation of sectional hardware and export sales exceeded those of Canadian. In 1999 Raynor Worldwide, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of Residential and Commercial Sectional and Rolling Steel door products, acquired Richards-Wilcox

2000
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2000 to Present

2000 to Present
Introducing the world’s first polyurethane Residential Semi-Bulk program

The year 2000 brought new opportunities to Richards-Wilcox as we applied our commercial technology and expertise into a Residential polyurethane insulated sectional door product. With this also introducing the world’s first polyurethane Residential Semi-Bulk program, available from a manufacturer who produces both the hardware and the sections supported by the BTMS business software program. The year 2002 saw Richards-Wilcox celebrating it’s 90th year, making it one of the worlds oldest sectional door manufacturers. In 2002, Richards-Wilcox completed combining offices and plants. Still located in Mississauga, Ontario the plants are close to Pearson International Airport and are within minutes of the continent’s great network of highways providing access to the U.S. and eastbound to Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Sales, Engineering, Production, Shipping and Receiving are all now tightly grouped, giving Richards-Wilcox greater control over quality and costs as part of our continuing effort to stay in front of the industry, where we have held the pride of the place for more than eighty years.

Why Richards-Wilcox

AUTHORIZED DEALERS

A door is only as good as its installation. That’s why our doors are only installed by Authorized Dealers. This process ensures that every installation meets our standards of quality.

LIFETIMER™ WARRANTY

When you choose R-W, you’ve chosen the best garage door you can buy and we’ll back that up in writing with our Limited Life-Timer™ Warranty.

Neufoam™

In order to achieve the highest thermal values and stability, RW sections are evenly filled environmentally friendly CFC/HCFC-free Neufoam™. The higher density polyurethane insulation in a computer controlled continuous process provides uniform insulation, superior adhesion and excellent strength to the door panels.

Click to learn more about the benefits of a Neufoam insulated door

WeatherLock™ System

Featuring our exclusive WeatherLock™ Section Joint, Dual Fin Triple Contact Weather Seal and Arctic Grade Bulb Shaped Bottom Seal with a Dual Contact aluminum retainer.

TruBalance™ Drum System

The patent pending TruBalance™ Drum System provides doors built with a heavy weighted glazed top section with up to an 87% better balance than industry standard.

Click to see TruBalance™ Video

Standard Hardware &
Standard Hardware Plus

We manufacture very beautiful doors. We also care about saving you the hassle and maintenance for many years to come. We have built our reputation on delivering exceptional quality. Our hardware items are manufactured to the highest standards in the industry.

Click here for the R-W Hardware Poster

Find A Dealer Near You!

A door is only as good as its installation. That’s why our doors are only installed by Authorized Dealers.

FIND A DEALER

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