Top 6 Glass Patio Door Styles

Glass patio doors come in a variety of styles and functions that can beautify your home and create a seamless transition between your indoor and outdoor spaces, but which style is right for you? Here is what you need to know about each style of glass patio door to help you choose the best fit for your home.

French Doors

French doors have the definitive double-door, in-swinging or out-swinging hinge design that opens up your home to the outdoors and creates a wide walkway for guests to move in and out of your home to the patio without constantly opening and closing doors as they do so. They are typically no wider than six-feet each, but will take up space on each side when opened, so consideration should be made to keep the area clear.

Other factors to consider are things like screening, hardware to hold doors in place to prevent the wind from slamming them shut, and the amount of threshold space you want to allow for the frame. These are all things you can work out with your contractor to ensure you get the best use and fit for your French door installation.

Sliding Glass Doors

Sliding glass doors are the most common style, featuring a pair of framed glass panels where one panel slides past a fixed panel to allow quick, easy access in and out of the house. They allow for a wider opening than other glass doors. Usually glass patio doors will be around 6 feet wide, but sliding glass doors can be as wide as 10 feet.

French Sliders

There are also sliding glass doors known as French sliders which give you the advantages of a sliding glass door with the elegant look of French doors. These doors have four panels instead of two, with the outer panels fixed and the two inner panels sliding past them and butting against each other when closed. French sliders can be opened even wider than stander sliding doors, up to 16 feet to allow for lots of ventilation into the house from outside.

Telescoping Sliders

Telescoping patio doors are another type of sliding door that contain three or more panels that slide past each other to create an even wider opening than other sliders. These doors can completely eliminate the barrier between your indoor and outdoor spaces, or you can have it open at either side or just a little. They give you the most flexibility when it comes to how much or little you want the doors open, but the drawback is with so many panels the track becomes really wide and can poke out from the wall so additional space will be needed.

Folding Glass Doors

Folding glass doors create the same big open space as a telescoping door, but the advantage is that it doesn’t require large spaces in the wall for the panels to slide into. Instead the panels fold into each other at the sides where one of the panels can also be hinged to serve as a standard door when you don’t need the entire door opened up.

Pivot Doors

The pivot door is a large one-panel design supported on pivots and pivot boxes, but it works like a hinged door that can swing in and also swing out. This design allows the weight of the panel to be placed in the middle and can create a large opening with only one versatile panel. The drawback is that the design doesn’t allow for screening, so it would be ideal for a screened porch if bugs will be a problem.

If you have questions about these or any other glass patio door, contact All Seasons Construction today at 316-685-1700 for a free consultation with one of our home remodeling experts.