[stoney]

I am looking to replace the poorly sealed, single pane glass French doors in our downstairs. I want to replace them with a slider. Preferably triple-paned for heat insulation. I know nothing about them and even reading about them is not helping any.

Has anybody replaced their sliders or have any knowledge about them?

Thanks.

 

[kazlx]

Usually, they are made of glass. And slide.

There's really nice doors and crappy ones. I wouldn't put in the crappy ones, but that's just me. Probably the double panes are the best bang for the buck. Most places sell standard sizes or will order to fit the size you need. They usually come framed, you literally take out the old doors, or cut and frame the right roughed out opening, shim, nail off and trim out.

You rely can't go wrong as long as you buy something that isn't really cheap. I prefer full wood frames or nice plastic ones. The cheap plastic ones look cheesy.

Do you want to install yourself or pay? They really aren't hard to install, especially if you are matching an existing opening.

 

[stoney]

Usually, they are made of glass. And slide.

There's really nice doors and crappy ones. I wouldn't put in the crappy ones, but that's just me. Probably the double panes are the best bang for the buck. Most places sell standard sizes or will order to fit the size you need. They usually come framed, you literally take out the old doors, or cut and frame the right roughed out opening, shim, nail off and trim out.

You rely can't go wrong as long as you buy something that isn't really cheap. I prefer full wood frames or nice plastic ones. The cheap plastic ones look cheesy.

Not sure if trying to be helpful or sarcastic

Do you want to install yourself or pay? They really aren't hard to install, especially if you are matching an existing opening.

I have researched the installation, and assuming I have a standard size (tape measure is upstairs, doors downstairs = lazy), I will be doing it myself. My neighbor who works at HD will probably be helping me with the install, so that should help some.

 

[Nick]

French doors > sliding door. Replace the crappy french doors with quality doors, they look way moar better than sliding glass and a good product will be as energy efficient and well insulated as can be.

 

[kazlx]

I was being sarcastic but still trying to be helpful. There are a million options and without knowing what you want its hard to give an opinion. I agree with replacing the French doors with newer French doors. Is there a specific reason that you want to put a slider? I would think French doors would be more appealing and add more value to the home...they just look nicer usually. There are so many options that I would literally get the rough measurements, go to a couple places and have them tell you your options. If possible, get a look a a sample of the doors in person before ordering. Most of the times you can't return special orders unless its wrong or something broken.

The installs are really not hard. Is there something specific you wanted to know? You really just set it in place, shim it, nail it off, foam it and trim it out. We have pretty much all 2x4 construction out here with stucco. Pretty basic. I don't have much experience with brick or other materials for housing construction.

 

[stoney]

I was thinking sliders for ease and cost. It will be replacing the exit door from our basement, so it doesn't necessarily have to be spectacular. Looking at French though, they look less expensive for equal (how's that work out?), so I'm going to start looking that way.

As it is from the basement, it is framed by cement with 2x4 edging. That will require a bit more research.

 

[kazlx]

The cost really is determined by two things, the frame material (ie, wood, plastic, metal) and the complexity of the glass, with single pane being the cheapest and going up from there. Obviously, the fancier the door the higher the cost. It really boils down to finding something you like that fits the budget and goes with your house.

 

[jdcamb]

Pry bar and a flat blade screwdriver gets me in....

 

[eric strt6]

Pry bar and a flat blade screwdriver gets me in....

its a glass door, this is all you need

 

[jdcamb]

its a glass door, this is all you need

you can go first....

 

[Westy]

Everything else being equal sliding doors can be a pain in the ass. Tracks get dirty, rollers and seals wear out. That may take years but since part of the track is exposed to the elements it will always require more maintenance and cleaning.

 

[bean]

Everything else being equal sliding doors can be a pain in the ass. Tracks get dirty, rollers and seals wear out. That may take years but since part of the track is exposed to the elements it will always require more maintenance and cleaning.

This. I have yet to use a several year old sliding door that's still rolling smoothly in its tracks.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

if your house doesn't shift it will slide just fine.. That being said my house is falling downhill, stretching more then falling so the falling side has a bind holding the door tight and the pulled side slides good as always been that way since birth.

 

[pinkshirtphotos]

that door always does the trick

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

if your house doesn't shift it will slide just fine.. That being said my house is falling downhill, stretching more then falling so the falling side has a bind holding the door tight and the pulled side slides good as always been that way since birth.

WTF are you talking about ? Are you trying to say your trailer is not level or tying to tell us the story of your birth ?

 

[Quo Fan]

Replacing a door is way easy, but you need 2 people to maneuver the door into place. Carefully measure the rough opening. Remove the trim before measuring, and buy a door that fits the opening.

 

[stevew]

its a glass door, this is all you need

my brothers neighbor had the patio furniture thrown through the sliding glass door for easy access while getting their house cleaned out.....twice.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

my brothers neighbor had the patio furniture thrown through the sliding glass door for easy access while getting their house cleaned out.....twice.

A chain saw works real well also.

 

[Burnt-Orange]

my sliding glass door makes me wish I had enough room for french doors
are you going to put some lambo doors on your car while your at it ?

 

[bizutch]

One big plus of a slider is you have a screen door for letting a cool breeze through. Here in the mountains. if I could have a house that went all screen in summer, that would be pimp.

The cheap slider that came in our house sucks balls, but bust that sucker open and feeling the breeze outweighs sticking some elegant french doors in that do nothing.

 

[syadasti]

One big plus of a slider is you have a screen door for letting a cool breeze through. Here in the mountains. if I could have a house that went all screen in summer, that would be pimp.

The cheap slider that came in our house sucks balls, but bust that sucker open and feeling the breeze outweighs sticking some elegant french doors in that do nothing.

You can put a single or double retractable screen door on a french door.

 

[stoney]

You can put a single or double retractable screen door on a french door.

But it's not cheap. I am looking for a cost effective way to do this. We are blowing hot air out of the basement, so I really just need to get something that seals well and has a screen.

My standards are low regarding the pretty factor. This is a backyard, basement exit, under a deck. The basement is finished, but not nice enough to justify a super expensive setup. I would much rather have the french upstairs going onto the deck, but I don't need it.

 

[syadasti]

But it's not cheap. I am looking for a cost effective way to do this. We are blowing hot air out of the basement, so I really just need to get something that seals well and has a screen.

For a smaller french door setup (32" rather than 36" doors), a quality retractable screen door system can be had for about $800 installed. If you do it yourself I am sure you could save a bit.

 

[motobutane]

But it's not cheap. I am looking for a cost effective way to do this. We are blowing hot air out of the basement, so I really just need to get something that seals well and has a screen.

My standards are low regarding the pretty factor. This is a backyard, basement exit, under a deck. The basement is finished, but not nice enough to justify a super expensive setup. I would much rather have the french upstairs going onto the deck, but I don't need it.

Sliding glass doors are notorious for being hard to open with age, but if your dead set on one then make sure it has a thermal break in the threshold.I have installed hundreds of sliding glass doors and never saw a stock screen that would function properly.

 

[dan-o]

Everything HD sells is ****. Everything.

 

[syadasti]

Everything HD sells is ****. Everything.

Lowes will special order anything in the full Pella catalog though. I don't know about HD, but they probably will do special orders from the full Andersen catalog which has decent stuff.

Around here Lowes has better local installers than HD.

 

[bizutch]

Sliding glass doors are notorious for being hard to open with age, but if your dead set on one then make sure it has a thermal break in the threshold.I have installed hundreds of sliding glass doors and never saw a stock screen that would function properly.

Got an extra one lying around you'd like to replace ours with? Our house leaks air like a sieve. For what it would cost to have an HVAC company seal it off, I can just pay the extra lost thermal energy on my monthly electric bill.