hardware for patio doors?

[David Zaret]

i'm seriously considering building new wood patio doors for my house. the wood and glass portions (and weather stripping) i feel quite comfortable with, but the hardware portion concerns me. does anyone have a recommendation for high-quality sliding exterior door hardware?

thanks.

-- dz

[Maurice Mcmurry]

That will be a challenge to find. Everything I see for patio door hardware is proprietary.
Reflect Window and Door has a good selection of replacement type parts.

This is their heaviest duty track. It might take a phone call to get a recommendation for rollers that would fit it.
Sliding Glass Patio Door Replacement Track - 10'
Screen Shot 2024-03-28 at 8.29.28 PM.png

https://www.reflectwindow.com/produc...-pacific-doors
https://www.reflectwindow.com/produc...nd-atlas-doors

[James Dempsey]

Can you do a 4-1/2"+ stile?

[David Zaret]

Can you do a 4-1/2"+ stile?

sure. i can pretty much do whatever i want. my house is a log home, so the scale is pretty big, and 4 1/2" stiles (+) would be fine...

[John P Clark]

I would build a lift and slide door - hardware for the door is available, and Alpine workshops has classes on how to build
Oct 23‐26 (Wed-Sat) - Register for Euro Window & Lift-Slide/N. American Door Workshop

they are a lot more energy efficient than us door construction

[Bill Dufour]

Why not French doors?
Bill D

[David Zaret]

Why not French doors?
Bill D

we feel sliders are more appropriate for our house, and easier with the dogs.

[Mel Fulks]

sliding doors get you in and out fast ….AND greatly reduce the number of mosquitos that make it into the house. Saves money on Deet
products, and makes more room for furniture.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I work on and replace lots of sliding patio doors. The ones with stainless steel tracks hold up much better than those with aluminum tracks. Several of my elderly clients are weary of their sliding patio doors because they are becoming hard to open and close. Most of these are in the kitchen dining area where there is not enough room for a swinging door. I am a champion of DIY but when I need a patio door I will buy an Anderson or a Pella with a clad exterior. Pella makes a very smooth slider. A complaint about the Pella is that you have to open the screen to close the door. I also hold a grudge against Pella for the losses I suffered from using Pro Line windows.

[Tom M King]

The best thing you can do for an old sliding door, or even a newer one with aluminum track, is to put on one of the stainless steel snap on covers for the rail.

Lowes used to have a great selection of replacement rollers, but I'm not sure if they still do or not.

https://www.amazon.com/Repair-Slidin...zcF9hdGY&psc=1

[David Zaret]

I work on and replace lots of sliding patio doors. The ones with stainless steel tracks hold up much better than those with aluminum tracks. Several of my elderly clients are weary of their sliding patio doors because they are becoming hard to open and close. Most of these are in the kitchen dining area where there is not enough room for a swinging door. I am a champion of DIY but when I need a patio door I will buy an Anderson or a Pella with a clad exterior. Pella makes a very smooth slider. A complaint about the Pella is that you have to open the screen to close the door. I also hold a grudge against Pella for the losses I suffered from using Pro Line windows.

maurice thanks for this. i'm fine buying units, but i am having trouble finding them in all wood, and specifically in clear cedar or redwood. so, my thought is to build it. it's still a discussion and work in progress, we'll see.

[Warren Lake]

there is a german company office in LA just at the Interior Design show in Toronto they had great quality sliding doors in choices of wood or metal or.

Not up on who sells the hardware but think this is the company I talked to at the show. They told me they had wood as well. I was going to take photos of different options at the show but it got lost in talking to the sales person who knew tons about their stuff. Two glass doors fold out instead of sliding past each other.

my neighbours door slides and its way past its time, its a work out just to get in and out.


https://www.nanawall.com/

[David Zaret]

there is a german company office in LA just at the Interior Design show in Toronto they had great quality sliding doors in choices of wood or metal or.

Not up on who sells the hardware but think this is the company I talked to at the show. They told me they had wood as well. I was going to take photos of different options at the show but it got lost in talking to the sales person who knew tons about their stuff. Two glass doors fold out instead of sliding past each other.

my neighbours door slides and its way past its time, its a work out just to get in and out.


https://www.nanawall.com/

this approach would be my very first choice. my wife desperately wants it. but, we live in a log home, and there's exactly no way to header it off. unfortunately this type of system is out of the question... but i love them.

[Joe Calhoon]

Fold slide systems usually require weight bearing headers. These openings were about 10’ wide. Notice the substantial header.
IMG_3974.jpg IMG_0062.jpg

Lift and Slide systems in smaller widths say less than 8’ wide are not so critical for this. Because of the thick members and frames if one sash is fixed it can be weight bearing. This is a frame with the fixed sash in but not the operating sash in.
IMG_3847.jpg