All exterior doors do two jobs: they offer security and protection from outdoor elements and – more importantly – adds to your home’s outside styling.
You should choose a patio door that lets in enough light when you need it.
Nine Manufactured Home Patio Doors Shopping Factors
- Style
- Material
- Weatherproofing properties
- Impact resistance
- Energy-efficiency & Weather Stripping
- Size of the door
- Option/Type of glass
- Security & Locks
- Frame & Fit
1. Style
Choose a style that’s perfect for your home. Most patio doors you will find in the store can be grouped into three styles:
- sliding
- swinging
- folding.
Sliding Patio Doors
They can be a great choice if you are looking forward to saving some space. As such, they are ideal for small, perhaps with plenty of furniture on them.
If you are looking for something with extreme functionality or one that boasts style, you can’t look further than this kind of patio door. Sliding glass doors can be used to establish a near-effortless transition from outside to indoors and vice versa.
Vinyl sliding doors are the best in this category because of their minimal upkeep demands.
The expanded glass/fiberglass area allows natural light to flood the living space, establishing an inviting and cozy atmosphere.
More features and benefits:
- Two (2) or more panels over discrete sets of rollers
- Allow maximum light into your living.
- Large glass panels that offer a great view of your outdoors
- May permit the addition of a screen panel to boost ventilation
- Compatible with most architectural designs and styles
- Least space-invasive choice (won’t interfere with furniture layout)
- Provides a weather-tight seal in windy conditions
Check out JELD-WEN’s vinyl sliding doors.
Swinging Patio Doors
This style can be found in center-hinged French and garden doors. They are a direct opposite of the sliding door – they shut and rescind at an angle from the frame instead of sliding along it.
A swinging patio door is a sure way of adding elegance to the home.
They are the easiest patio door to customize and make them match the style of your home.
More features and benefits
- It comes with large glass panels to allow a larger view of the outside
- Two (2) door panels all hinged either on end or in the center.
- Allow plenty of light into your living home.
- The door will swing open into the living space (therefore, be mindful of items and furniture placement)
- The Center hinge door provides the much-needed weather-tight seal during windy conditions
- French patio doors work flawlessly when protected from adverse weather conditions.
- French door option: two (2) doors hung on the same frame, but opposite sides of their opening frame, or sometimes latched together at the center
Folding Patio Doors
These doors aren’t as commonplace as the above two styles but are still observable in some modern homes.
Folding patio doors can open a much wider area to your outdoors compared to sliding and swinging doors.
This feature makes them perfect for a much wider door opening designed to permit unhindered access to the patio.
The system normally operates accordion-style, meaning each section is designed to slide on overhead tracks and neatly fold back for full access.
Folding patio doors are available in multiple configurations, ranging from 2 to 8 leaves.
Check out these folding doors from JELD-WENS.
2. Material
Choose an aesthetically pleasing material that’s both durable and hardy.
Manufacturers never run out of the latest and better materials (such as composites) to produce patio doors, so we won’t attempt to list everything.
Here are some of the most often used patio door construction materials:
Vinyl Patio Doors
If you are looking for one of the most durable – if not the most durable – patio door, then be sure to go for vinyl patio doors.
They are normally built to deliver service for many years while standing up to severe weather conditions in your area.
Surprisingly, vinyl is more affordable than wood and fiberglass. Things get even more reassuring when you learn that vinyl provides the same benefits (such as energy-efficiency) as fiberglass and wood.
Vinyl patio doors also come in a wide variety of colors that you can choose from, including woodgrain laminates that are designed to imitate the appearance of natural wood.
Wood Patio Doors
Few materials can beat wood when it comes to providing that natural stylish look wood is known for.
Better yet, wood can be easily customized to go with any stain or paint you want.
The biggest setback with wood is the exorbitant price tags many manufacturers love to put on wooden patio doors – wood beats most other materials when it comes to the acquisition price.
Even worse, the upkeep costs of wooden patio doors are usually higher, especially after the winter.
Fiberglass Patio Doors
If you are looking for the cheapest material to maintain then you should go for a fiberglass patio door. Sounds like a material you’d choose for your location’s erratic weather, doesn’t it?
Fiberglass is perfect for protecting your space from harsh outdoor elements that attempt to utilize the patio as a pathway into the property.
Even better, you can customize it easily to blend flawlessly with your home’s design.
However, with its many attractive benefits comes the ultimate price – the price tag! Fiberglass is the least affordable material you want on a door: it even beats the likes of wood at this factor.
Aluminum Patio Doors
If affordability is on your mind then you should limit your options to aluminum, which is among the least expensive construction materials out there.
The drawback of aluminum is obvious – “lightweight-ness!”
Because it is too lightweight compared to most other door materials, it is a poor retainer of heat and is the worst keeper of cool air inside the space.
So, you are likely to spend more on energy with this material. Another thing: aluminum scratches and dents easily.
3. Weatherproofing properties
If your home is situated close to the coast or in areas prone to turbulent weather conditions or outright unbearable cold climate, go for a patio door design to withstand these conditions.
Perfectly weatherproofed doors are a bit rare, so you will be required to do much of the weatherproofing yourself.
4. Impact resistance
Burglars and other intruders may try to gain access to your home through the patio. If they find your patio door to be weak, the security of the entire home will be compromised.
Also, if you live close to the coast, it would be a great idea to install an impact-resistant patio door.
You have probably heard of these doors being referred to as hurricane doors or coastal doors – the reason is in the name.
But, what makes typical impact-resistant doors stand out of the lot? The secret is in the construction – most of them feature a heavy build with invisible plastic interlayers sandwiched between their glass panes.
The interlayer helps protect the glass from punctures inflicted by flying debris.
During extreme conditions or impact, the outermost glass panes may easily shatter, but this interlayer won’t break out of the frame, keeping the indoors of your house safe.
5. Energy-efficiency & Weather Stripping
Go for patio doors with ENERGY STAR label on them.
ENERGY STAR certification means the product meets certain criteria established by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
Home appliances like your washer/dryer and refrigerator dryer can come with ENERGY STAR certification, but so can any material used to improve or build your home, including patio or exterior patio doors.
In most cases, the brand itself has to be a partner with ENERGY STAR for the label to appear on their products.
You will notice that glass packages with EPA certification are designed to work for just one of the four American climate zones:
- southern
- south-central
- north-central
- and northern.
But, what makes the door to be energy-efficient?
Check for multiple glass panes – double or triple-paned insulated glass can greatly reduce the loss of heat during the winter.
Patio doors with improved and tight-fitting weather-stripping come with an impressive energy-efficiency score.
New frames may feature magnetic strips to make a tight seal that cuts air leakage almost completely.
You can also check for improved core materials – fiberglass, wood cladding, polyurethane foam, etc. – that are added in the core to make the door even more resistant to penetration by the cold.
Since air leakage often accounts for between 30% and 40% of an average home’s energy consumption, you want the door to leak as little energy as possible even if it has the ENERGY STAR label.
That’s because the air-tight factor is determined by how you install the door among other things.
Weather-stripping is meant to seal gaps around your patio doors and reduce the amount of air escaping to the outside.
There is a wide variety of weather-stripping materials available for sealing gaps around doors. They include sponge, foam, vinyl, felt, and magnetic materials
Damaged weather stripping materials can easily escalate energy loss around glass panes and the door.
Check your door’s weather stripping yearly and replace them as necessary.
6. Size of the door
Many of the patio doors you will find on the market, especially the sliding type, are only offered in stock sizes, and this includes 6-foot, 8-foot, and 9-foot sizes.
Why?
It’s because the tempered glass on patio doors can’t be re-cut after they have been tempered. However, you can obtain your doors from a dealer who will create custom sizes that fit your home.
7. Option/Type of glass
The glass on two patio doors may look the same but isn’t if you come close to examine it in detail.
Also, patio doors always permit customization whether you are thinking of built-in blinds or decorative glass, so you might expand your choices of glass.
Needless to say, glass panels are the most integral part of any patio door.
Low-E Glass (Best for Energy-Efficient Patio Doors)
It is recommended that you choose a patio door equipped with Low-E glass panels.
This kind of glass helps reduce energy bills – you are going to see the difference in your energy consumption within a year.
Low-E glass is made different: it comes with a coating that cuts the amount of UV rays entering the home.
UV rays can be devastating on your furniture, carpet, and anything wooden, often causing them to fade their colors. So, if energy-efficiency and protection of your interior items is a priority, go for a patio door with Low-E glass.
Decorative Glass (Great for Aesthetics)
Most patio doors, more so the French and hinged type, tend to provide an option for the buyer to select decorative glass.
Depending on how you look at it, decorative glass can be used to accomplish two goals: improve the appearance of your backyard and provide the privacy you deserve.
The world of decorative glasses is a diverse one, with some of them specifically engineered towards providing maximum privacy (frosted glass, for example).
Built-in Blinds (Placed Between the Glass)
There are patio doors with an option to put blinds between glass panes.
This is a highly useful feature since it would mean you don’t need to clean the blinds patio door blinds since they are contained within the glass of your door.
This sort of glass is the easiest to clean because the blinds are out of the way.
Yes, built-in blinds on patio doors do come with huge benefits, but only if the homeowner likes the look – their fuzzy appearance doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Grids Between Glass
This glass is very much like glass with built-in blinds. It comes with sets of grids in between the panels. The major exception is that it’s more appealing and removes the need to clean around the grids.
8. Security & Locks
Because your patio door will be on ground level with the rest of the patio or floor (unless you are looking for a patio door you’d install on a balcony), you must consider such security features as locks and strength of the hinges.
Many patio doors come with more than one locking mechanism for the main door and the screen of the patio door.
Check your door of interest if it is equipped with Dual Point Locks.
While these are the most used locks in sliding patio doors, there are better options than them but it often boils down to your taste.
A typical dual-point locking system is made up of “hooks” that are designed to latch from the sash or sliding section of the door onto the frame.
Additionally, there are four-point locking systems for added security in sliding patio doors.
Hinged and French patio doors come with a traditional deadbolt locking systems. Deadbolt locks are made up of a lock at the bottom and a deadbolt on top.
9. Frame & Fit
The material used to make your patio door can affect heat loss.
While most patio doors nowadays are made of large sections of either plain or Low-E glass, and we all know glass is a bad insulator, the kind of frame holding the glass can be instead used to reduce heat loss.
The most energy-efficient patio doors are metallic, fiberglass, and wood cladding, but that’s because materials with the highest R-Value than these materials are either too foamy or loose to make a firm frame.
Correct fit can positively affect the energy-saving factor of the door nevertheless.
So, ensure the seals on the patio door of your liking are tightly held on all parts of the jamb and if not, look for bends on the frame and the door – replace if necessary.
Doors don’t come in one-fits-all size: patio doors come in a range of sizes according to type. Therefore, if you are replacing an existing door, be certain to take careful dimensions before shopping for a new door.
Here are some of the commonly used patio door sizes:
- 72” X 80” door
- 60” X 80” door
- 72” X 96” door
- 96” X 81” door
Choose a style that’s perfect for your home. Most patio doors you will find in the store can be grouped into two styles: sliding, swinging, and folding options.
When it comes to materials, choose an aesthetically pleasing material that’s both durable and hardy.
If your home is situated close to the coast or in areas prone to turbulent weather conditions or outright unbearable cold climate, go for a patio door design to withstand these conditions.
Go for patio doors with ENERGY STAR label on them.
Since air leakage often accounts for between 30% and 40% of an average home’s energy consumption, you want the door to leak as little energy as possible even if it has the ENERGY STAR label.
That’s because the air-tight factor is determined by how you install the door among other things.
Weather-stripping is meant to seal gaps around your patio doors and reduce the amount of air escaping to the outside.