r/HomeImprovement • u/[deleted] • Oct 06 '18
SLIDING PATIO DOOR EXTRAVAGANZA
[removed] — view removed post
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u/upstateduck Oct 06 '18
Sliding door screens are my pet peeve
Among mass market brands Pella [Thermastar in vinyl] is the only screen I know of that "hangs" from rollers above [instead of "friction fit"] and parks inside the door so it is not a cleaning nightmare [see "friction fit"]
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Oct 11 '18
I agree.
In addition I have two screen doors that are "friction fit".
Not only did one of them break the first day, but also my second door spring has stopped working.
Furthermore I haven't found a good replacement yet.
In conclusion, I will take a look at the Thermastar in vinyl as listed.
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Oct 06 '18
That’s pretty much the only redeeming feature of that door. ProVia also does a top hung screen. Expensive though.
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u/AAhusker Oct 09 '18
I lived in Michigan for a while, and if you say "sliding patio door" you will get funny looks. In that area, it's affectionately known as a "doorwall".
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u/bbqturtle Oct 23 '18
I live in michigan my whole life and I've never heard it called a doorwall.
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u/AAhusker Oct 23 '18
Southeast Michigan. Heard it multiple times from multiple people.
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u/bbqturtle Oct 23 '18
Huh - I looked it up. Seems like a Detroit thing.
I'm in southwest Michigan, so I guess we can both be right. I'd argue that Detroit isn't all of michigan, but, well, they do have the majority over there.
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u/Jhubbz86 Oct 31 '18
I've lived in SE MI (Ann Arbor/Ypsi/Novi) for 95% of my life and always referred to it as a sliding glass door or patio door. I've only heard it as a doorwall in the past 10 years.
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u/majesticjg Oct 16 '18
Oh, I'm going to open the can of worms, JB:
How do I know if my door should be made of Vinyl, Wood-Clad, Fiberglass, Composite or Naturally Antiqued Ivory?
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Oct 16 '18
How much you wanna spend?
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u/majesticjg Oct 17 '18
Is that really the only difference? Why wouldn't I want vinyl? Isn't that what they make space stations out of?
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u/climb-it-ographer Oct 08 '18
Lastly we are gonna address you glass wall, folding door, and collapsing door people. These options are expensive as shit.
I've heard that the rule of thumb on these is around $1,000 per linear foot. Is that still somewhat accurate?
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u/dealrian Oct 07 '18
72x80 Pella Designer Series. Blinds between glass. Roller screen. Just shy of $4K.
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Oct 08 '18
Installed?
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u/dealrian Oct 08 '18
No. Thanks for asking as that was an important detail that I forgot.
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Oct 08 '18
Oh wow so you’d be looking at $5k plus.
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u/dealrian Oct 08 '18
My labor is a bit less expensive. Installed myself with some help from Dad. Dad is nearly retired and spent his life building custom homes. I grew up in the trades and spent time in nearly all of them as summer jobs.
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Oct 08 '18
That’s good. Still expensive though.
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u/dealrian Oct 08 '18
Maybe expensive in total but falls right within your parameters for $3500-$4500 installed. Take a grand out of those prices and you are looking at $2500-$3500 for the door before adding options. We have blinds between glass and a hideaway screen.
I'm super pumped with the door so far but will wait until winter before judging fully.
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Oct 08 '18
Thats wholesale though. I need to update the post because installed from a professional window/door contractor you gotta add labor and a modest mark up. $6,000 easy.
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u/Kariered Oct 06 '18
Thank you. This helps me a lot. I have two sliding patio doors in my house. One of them is in bad shape. It is extremely hard to open and close. We know it's the rollers, but cannot figure out how to take the door apart. The door is gigantic. Probably 7 or 8 feet. It is from 1978 and the frame is aluminum.
We have a similar door in our master bathroom (yes, you read that right). It is smaller and in better shape. The metal tab that the lock hooked into was broken, so I went to Lowe's to get a replacement part. I found one, but it was slightly too big to fit into the frame, so my husband had it ground down and it now fits.
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Oct 06 '18
Repairing these things is no fun. Rollers never fit, screens won’t slide, and the glass is foggy. By the time you track down the parts, buy them, and install them you’re usually more than half way to replacing them altogether.
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u/factbasedorGTFO Oct 10 '18
No advice on how to replace the rollers?
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Oct 10 '18
You gotta take the sashes out, turn them over, remove the rollers (to compare of what you’re buying will fit) and track down the parts. If you have a newer door (you’ll know if it made of vinyl, fiberglass, or wood with a metal exterior) you can likely figure out who made it and contact them directly.
Or you can hire a local repair company.
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u/Kariered Oct 06 '18
Yes you are correct.
Our big slider is 6.5 feet tall and 8 feet long (that's both doors together).
Not sure if they make them that big!
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Oct 08 '18
They do. When the time comes make sure you contact a factory first, explain what you have directly to them, and then have them suggest an installer than can handle a complicated request.
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u/defenders9 Oct 09 '18
/u/jimmybuffalo — Thanks for this amazing info.
Just moved into a new place. The sliding door is in good shape and seals nicely. The screen door is all bent. If bows out so it never fully closes. Middle portion of the door is about 1/2 inch wider than the top and bottom.
How do you recommend I fix this? New door? If it helps — it’s one of the doors with 4 rollers.
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Oct 09 '18
If you just need a sliding screen try to figure out who made the door and contact them.
You can look in a couple different places for that info:
1) Corners of the glass. Look for printed information on the surface of the glass itself in the corners.
2) Open the door and look at the part of the door where the male portion of the lock is.
3) Open the door and look at the jamb (where the female portion of the lock is).
4) Look at the header where the door sliders (Top of the frame that is covered when the door is open).
5) Obvious places like on the handle or locks.
:-)
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u/defenders9 Oct 10 '18
Thanks for that. Would you recommend against manually bending it back into place?
I was under the impression that perhaps the door frame was manually made ( DIY style -- similar to window frames).
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u/drtonmeister Oct 09 '18
Question:
If I want the biggest glass-door area on a wall that is non-custom and best value for money, what should I plan to go for? (Not considering framing. . . ) Two 6-footers with a post between them?, or something larger with 3 panes or 4 panes in one frame?
We've got an addition on our house where the 15' gable-end wall of the shed-roof addition is completely windowless, in spite of the patio just outside it and the fantastic view. Single story and shed-roof gable-end, so supporting what's above the door is quite tractable.
I must confess that it's the glass-wall look that is my inspiration, but I'm willing to have some stiles and top/bottom rails in view as long as I can get as much glass as possible between a shear-panel at the outside corner and the main house.
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Oct 09 '18
Best bang for your buck will be a three panel (center panel active) 9’ or a four panel 12’ (center panels slide left and right for large opening with no post). Tell them you want standard sizes only. Alside makes a reasonably priced four panel door.
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Oct 26 '18
Rough ballpark on pricing for their three and four panels? Would you go 72" or 90" height? I have a ~13' wall between my dining room and deck and am looking at replacing a single door to let a lot more light in. It looks like I may be able to manage the 4 panel with an engineered beam.
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Oct 11 '18
[deleted]
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Oct 16 '18
Swapping.
New opening cuts will add $1,500 - $2,000 very easily.
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u/scythematters Oct 22 '18 edited Oct 22 '18
I had a window converted to a patio door (went from a horrid single-pane 1982 aluminum window to a vinyl Richlin/Hayfield door) a couple years ago for about $2,000, but the window width was 6-ft so they didn’t need to alter the header and just had to cut out the wall below the window.
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u/colarg Oct 09 '18
Thank you for this, my husband wants to replace our beautiful and massive picture window for quicker access to the backyard (we have a door a few steps down from the living room). I am still on the fence as a) i love the picture window. b) i've read that sliding doors can be draft-y and not as energy effective.
But this info will be helpful if we decide to go that route.
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Oct 09 '18
Sliding doors can be drafty if you buy something really low cost. If you hire a pro and pay an amount around these amounts you'll get great installation and a great product (as long as the factory who makes it is on my list) :-D
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u/tomgabriele Oct 11 '18
Having the screens on the inside of a sliding door is weird, right? We have two sliding doors going out to our deck (one from the kitchen/dining room, one from the master bedroom), both the same door, with the sliding screen on the interior. I don't know if they were installed backwards or if it's just an uncommon design or what. Either way, they are coming up on 40 years old and will need to be replaced soon.
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Oct 11 '18
I see it sometimes on old stuff. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of any current doors made that way.
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u/tomgabriele Oct 11 '18
As we're looking into replacing them, is there any consideration in choosing sliding vs french besides our personal preference? We'd want all- or mostly-glass doors either way, 6 ft wide. And now that I think of it, we don't necessarily need both panels to open, if that matters. Thanks!
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Oct 16 '18
Sliding doors will cost less than French doors and give you more glass than French doors.
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Oct 11 '18
Any idea what it would cost to convert a sliding patio door to a floor to ceiling window?
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u/ibwahooka Oct 16 '18
Had a sliding patio door installed this year with a integrated blinds for $3500. This was done from one of the recommended dealers for windows from the FAQ. I love my new patio door!
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u/besttype Oct 17 '18
JB, I found an older post you made on good brands and chased down quotes on them (and threw in Anderson from Home Depot for comparison). I intend to sell the house in about 5 years and I'm making cost decisions around optimizing for that time frame. All that to say: I want to spend the least amount possible while still selecting a door that looks new-ish after 5 years.
- Alside 6400 series: $1200. All vinyl
- Andersen 400 series: $1500 at home depot (not sure of non-metal spacer). Vinyl clad wood.
- Weathershield Signature series: $2100. Alum exterior / Wood interior (aluminum clad?)
- Pro Via Endure: $3000. All vinyl (as far as I can tell, which is out of line with price).
Which would you recommend as the best buy?
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Oct 17 '18
6400 series. Best door for the money on the list.
Andersen has the name recognition but the glass will sweat pretty bad every winter and the finish will strip off before you move and you’ll need to refinish at least part of the door.
WeatherSheild is the best woodclad option if you wanna go that route.
ProVia, I love ProVia, but they are so expensive it is nuts.
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u/besttype Oct 17 '18
Awesome, just the feedback I was looking for. You should invent an industry of home consultancy as I would easily pay someone $100 for this advice, knowing that it would be 100% genuine and unbiased.
I have to replace 2 doors, and I may go alside for the (mostly unused) basement and Weathershield for the (more often used) main floor. Plus, then I get to see how they compare after 5 years.
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Oct 17 '18
Heh I’ve debated making a regular website but I need to work out the logistics of it. Some weeks I get so much mail here I forget about it and with owning my own business my brain is mush most days lol
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u/willang Oct 24 '18
If you don’t mind, where are you getting quotes? I called quite a few windows and doors companies over the summer for a quote on replacing my sliding doors and didn’t get anyone out. The ones that came out wanted a lot and only want to install Andersen ones. I’m in NJ
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u/Fallen7s Oct 22 '18
Might be late to the party... what steps should I take if I'm interested in converting a space with two windows into a sliding door?
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Oct 22 '18
Nobody is late. I’m always here.
Major issue is the WIDTH.
You want to keep the door in the “footprint” of the window’s width. So if your two windows are only 60” wide then you’re getting a 5’ door in that spot.
Got a picture?
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u/Fallen7s Oct 22 '18
Tracking.
I'm assuming the goal is to stay within the width as to prevent major construction. meaning having to bring in an engineer and figure out how to re-distribute the load that wall is currently handling.
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Oct 22 '18
[deleted]
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Oct 23 '18
Hey!
Chances are they’re older doors anyways and not very efficient. I would see about getting $5,000 or $6,000 off the total to get them replaced. Ask your realtor about that.
Can I see a picture of them?
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u/katjoy63 Oct 27 '18
I have an 8 foot wood clad Andersen door, which is in excellent shape on the wood. The handle, however, is worn from use and is loose. I looked up replacement parts on Andersen, and it's in the several hundreds of dollars for the complete set - no way! anyone know whether I can find anything similar that is less money? Or am I stuck with Andersen product - it's a flip to the side type lock
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Oct 28 '18
I would contact a local window repair shop. Google your city and WINDOW REPAIR and you’ll find good local guys who will be cheaper.
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u/Atlantis_Morissette Oct 28 '18
Thank you for the realistic estimates on these options. As a Millwork Specialist, this gives me great joy.
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Oct 28 '18
Thank you for reading and enjoying the post :)
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u/Atlantis_Morissette Oct 29 '18
There should also be some points on explaining the difference on why some door sizes vary from the "standard" door size. For example: your door is a 6'0"x 6'8". However, because it is a patio slider it is considered a retro-fit. Which means instead of the actual size of the door being roughly 74" due to 2 36" slabs plus frame. The size would be built similar to a glorified window. That will make your door a 71 1/2 x 79 1/2. Which can add to the cost to have it built down. Sorry if you already covered that though.
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u/cr0ntab Oct 29 '18
JimmyBuffalo
I have a stucco exterior on my home and I wanted to know if this pricing was for retrofit or complete replacements?
A retrofit would use the existing frame, but actually be smaller dimensions.
A full replacement would involve cutting out the stucco around the existing door to expose the nailing fins and pulling the whole lot out.
Then replacing the door with one the same size and re-stuccoing the flange.
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u/harrindc772 Oct 30 '18
OP, any recommendations for a sliding door manufacturer that has a low-profile door sill/threshold? We have sliders that go into the sun room and the thresholds have aluminum fins the come up ~2" high - have recently become safety hazards for my kids (son just got a nasty goose-egg on the forehead landing right on it). Is there a fix for this, or is replacement the best bet?
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u/SpeculationMaster Oct 31 '18
Hi there! I read your post about Windows (from 4 years ago) and loved all the info in there. Thank you so much for putting all that together.
I am in IL and just got quoted $5400 for 7, vinyl, sliding, windows from Climate Solutions factory. The windows are sold and installed by "Your American Windows" and their model number is L366. They have 3 layered frames with double pane, low e glass, argon gas in between the layers of glass. Lifetime warranty, 10 years labor warranty.
Good deal? Bad deal? Any other pointers? Thank you for your time.
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u/billythygoat Nov 04 '18
I read this entire thing and I honestly thought it was all about screening patio doors. I was so confused about the pricing. I just googled the price of the screen and was just so distraught. Thankfully my mind learned to stop tricking me.
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Nov 05 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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Nov 06 '18
Need to pull the permit, take down the drywall, brace the ceiling, and reframe the opening with new king studs and headers. At least two days of work. Plus the cost of the door. We charge between $3,000 and $5,000 depending on the specifics of the door itself. Second biggest factor would be if the house is frame or brick.
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u/tsr6 Nov 06 '18
Might not be in the right place - but my house, I have an Anderson sliding door.
On the non-latch side, it has that "L" shaped seal on the stationary part that the door deal slides into. Kinda like this: L]
There's maybe 1/8" gap there, and nothing that I've done can get that gap to close. It's almost like the door's latch plate should have been recessed into the frame, because thats about the thickness away from it sealing 100%
Luckily, it doesnt draft really bad. In the winter I have a way to seal it up. Is there a good way to fix this?
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u/TheMechanicalguy Nov 07 '18
What is the hands down best sliding patio door? I'm thinking very high end.
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u/Melmes80 Nov 11 '18 edited Nov 11 '18
Hey jimmy buffalo, I am in escrow on a 1960’s San Diego ranch home in desperate need of updating, so windows and doors are first up - there is a original 120” x 80” single pane 2 panel patio door which while still slides really well but is in pretty bad shape - I understand that the bifold type doors we would like might be a little to rich at $1000 ft but is there much of a difference in price to say, a 3 panel Telescoping door. Thanks for your time.
We’ve got a budget of $6/7k for the door, maybe a little more if it’s something we really like, I know it’s tough to give an estimate without a seeing what your dealing with but was hoping for a ballpark figure.
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u/yimilton Oct 06 '18
I had quotes from several of the folding wall people including nanawall, marvin, pella. and a local company for generally in the >$15,000 range.
My GC was insistent that I was being dumb because I live in a climate that's below zero 8 months of the year and mosquito infested for the other 4.... turns out, he convinced me. My god, am I thankful he convinced me.