About Dando Doors and Windows

Our Love of Wood

Our business is built on three generations of joiners in the Dando family, with timber knowledge passed down from grandfather to father, and now to me.

Our story began in the late 1940s, when my grandfather started his working life as a carpenter, and joiner at a time when timber was the backbone of New Zealand housing. He later employed my father as an apprentice and trained him in the trade from the ground up. Dad served his apprenticeship and became trade qualified in carpentry and joinery. That early foundation in practical building and joinery still shapes how we think about timber today.

In the late 1970s, my father went out on his own and established a business focused on manufacturing timber doors and windows. By the late 1980s we moved to our current premises, where we have operated ever since. Over the decades, my father carried the business through major changes in the building industry, and my mother later joined, followed by my brother and sister. Each contributed skills that helped strengthen the company and carry the family knowledge forward.

Timber doors and windows have long been part of how New Zealand homes were built. For generations, they weren’t a premium feature. They were simply the standard. That matters because the older homes still standing across the country prove a simple point. Well made timber, properly maintained, lasts.

In 2005, I took over the business as the third generation of the Dando family. Since then, we have continued to evolve from traditional trade roots into specialist joinery manufacturing. We combine proven craftsmanship with modern engineering, coatings, and glazing systems suited to New Zealand conditions.

Today, we are master joiners and we are one of New Zealand’s largest producers of Compliant Timber Joinery.

In 2024, JMF NZ acknowledged that over the previous 12 months we purchased the most JMF tags nationally, out of 118 manufacturers. For our clients, that matters because it signals proven capacity and disciplined compliance at scale. Builders and homeowners use us because they want quality workmanship, predictable lead times, and a supplier who stands behind what they make.

A key advantage of timber joinery is its lifespan and repairability. Timber can be maintained, repaired, refinished, and updated rather than replaced. Aluminium has become common only in recent decades and it has its place, but finishes age over time and replacement is often the only practical path. Timber behaves differently. Done properly, it is not disposable.

Just as important as the Dando family history is the team behind the work. We have a long serving group of craftspeople. Our joinery team has a collective 149 years of service at Dando, including some with more than 30 years’ service, and most with well over a decade. That stability matters because it delivers consistency and quality, job after job, year after year.

We manufacture custom timber doors and windows for homes throughout New Zealand, choosing timber carefully for stability, durability, and long term performance. Our reputation is built on quality workmanship, clear communication, and standing behind what we make.

As for the future, one day one of my children may choose to pick up the baton and carry this craft forward into a fourth generation. If they do, the values will stay the same. Respect for timber, pride in workmanship, and a commitment to building things properly, for the long haul.

That’s our story. And it’s still being written.

If you want timber joinery that is made properly, built to last, and backed by a team with decades of experience, we would love to work with you.

About the Owner

I have been involved in property and construction for most of my working life. I started my career in the early 1990s as a land surveyor, which gave me a practical grounding in how land, planning constraints, and site conditions shape what can be built.

From there, my career moved into commercial property investment and development, including senior roles in the United Kingdom within private family office and estate trust environments. After returning to New Zealand, I continued investing and developing property through Dando Holdings, where I remain actively involved as a principal and long term owner across residential and commercial assets.

I returned to the family business in 2005 after several years overseas working in property. I also grew up in the workshop and still remember school holiday days sweeping floors, helping the joinery team, and learning the basics during smoko breaks. That combination of early exposure and professional development allowed me to bring a developer and asset management mindset back into joinery, looking beyond installation day to how buildings perform over decades.

That perspective informs how Dando Doors and Windows is run. We focus on doing things properly the first time, from specification and detailing through to manufacturing quality, performance, and longevity. We continue to invest in people, systems, and processes to deliver consistent quality at scale, and I am proud that the business is now recognised as one of New Zealand’s largest producers of JMF compliant NZS 4211 timber joinery.

For our clients, this means joinery designed with real buildings in mind, including insulation, moisture management, durability, and long term maintenance. Builders value clear specifications, predictable lead times, and straight answers. That is how we run the business.

I am a Chartered Surveyor and a long standing full member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and I apply those professional and ethical standards to how I work and how the business operates.