Need advise on French doors

[JRobyn]

We have 5 sets of French doors in our house. BIL had fiberglass in his new house and we just didn't like the look of them. Ours are aluminum clad wood (powder-coated aluminum on the outside, stain-grade clear pine on the inside). Made by Sun Windows. Both panels function. The hardware is top quality. I especially like the fully adjustable hinges. We have been very pleased now after about 5-6 years.

 

[Stimw]

I installed these wood doors last summer, both of them open.
They were under $600.00 from Lowes.
I removed sliding glass doors, I HATE sliding glass doors!

 

[RobertBrown]

Je vous sugg鑽e de demander un Fran軋is

 

[EddieWalker]

Of all the exterior door options, french doors are the worse for letting air get through them. When new, they can be pretty stiff, and efficient, but with use, they loosen up and then just keep getting looser and looser. I've had clients hire me to replace them with a single door and side lights.

Fiberglass is nice, but it takes a special paint if you want to change the color.

Why exactly are you replacing the doors?

Do you have a proper porch over them to keep the rain off of them?

Doors and windows are never good investments for saving energy. At best, you can get R3 out of them. Paying extra to get a bit more isn't going to show a savings anywhere. If you can keep the wind out, you're 90% there.

 

[dragoneggs]

Of all the exterior door options, french doors are the worse for letting air get through them. When new, they can be pretty stiff, and efficient, but with use, they loosen up and then just keep getting looser and looser. I've had clients hire me to replace them with a single door and side lights.

Fiberglass is nice, but it takes a special paint if you want to change the color.

Why exactly are you replacing the doors?

Do you have a proper porch over them to keep the rain off of them?

Doors and windows are never good investments for saving energy. At best, you can get R3 out of them. Paying extra to get a bit more isn't going to show a savings anywhere. If you can keep the wind out, you're 90% there.

Mostly agree but I do think if you have to replace glass or dead set on remodeling, Low E glass is a good idea especially to save A/C energy and of course double pane. Can you even buy single pane windows anymore?

 

[EddieWalker]

Mostly agree but I do think if you have to replace glass or dead set on remodeling, Low E glass is a good idea especially to save A/C energy and of course double pane. Can you even buy single pane windows anymore?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was assuming double pane glass on the french doors.

 

[dmccarty]

We have three sets of French doors on the house. They are metal clad wood. I think they are aluminum. Two doors are on the west side of the house and the paint has faded a bit since they are in full sun a good part of the day. We had planned to build on that side of the house which would have shaded the doors but life changed the plan. I suspect I could fix the shading with a pit of polish and such but it is just not a big deal.

No corrosion what so ever.

The doors are now 12-13 years old and as air tight as the day we built the house. The only energy loss I can feel is through the door handles which are just connected to a metal rod running through the door. That rod just radiates cold/heat. The glass is fine and very energy efficient.

The only real problem we have is that one the doors we use a lot had a piece of gravel fall into the the bottom hole used by the vertical locking bar which has caused a problem that needs to be fixed. I will get to that one day since it is a nit not a real problem.

The nice thing about these doors is that it is sooooo easy to move fridges and furniture in/out of the house. Just sooo easy.

I think we used Windsor doors and windows.

Later,
Dan

 

[IXLR8]

I don't remember if you said they were French swing doors or French slider doors. We have 2 Anderson 400 Aluminum clad over wood French slider doors, they are JUNK. They are warranted for 10 years, after the 11th year the cladding started to peal off. We tried to reseal them but it was too late, the wood had started to swell and delaminate. One of them has delaminated to the point that the screen will no longer slide past it and we have had to remove the screen. We are going to have to cut the siding to remove the doors to replace them.
Our replacement doors will be fiberglass doors with wood on the inside.

 

[brjones53]

Use deadbolt locks to secure French Doors with glass

 

[KennyG]

I don't remember if you said they were French swing doors or French slider doors. We have 2 Anderson 400 Aluminum clad over wood French slider doors, they are JUNK. They are warranted for 10 years, after the 11th year the cladding started to peal off. We tried to reseal them but it was too late, the wood had started to swell and delaminate. One of them has delaminated to the point that the screen will no longer slide past it and we have had to remove the screen. We are going to have to cut the siding to remove the doors to replace them.
Our replacement doors will be fiberglass doors with wood on the inside.

I have those Andersens also. The delamination was a defect they now claim to have fixed with a design change. I had mine replaced once under warranty and now have to repair them myself. That said, I have Andersen windows and doors throughout the rest of the house and love them all except those old sliders.