Anyone have sliding patio door with blinds between the glass?

[Snoozan]

Just came from a Home Show and saw the sliding glass patio door I'd like. They have them that has the small mini-blinds between the glass. Does anyone have these? How do you like them? Any problems?

My BIL is my salesman so he's going to give me a quote for this door, but I'm not sure if I'm asking for trouble with this. I definitely need some sort of blind/curtain for this door as it's on the south side of my house, plus I like to cover it for privacy at night.

 

[disneysteve]

We have a Pella sliding door with the blinds inside. To be honest, we've been in our house 11 years and have never adjusted the blinds. We just set them where we wanted them when we moved in and they've been there ever since.

 

[mtblujeans]

I need to replace all the doors and windows in our house and I was wondering about these, too! Our house faces west and in the summer the huge window in the living room feels like an oven with the bright sun and heat coming in. I bought some of the sun-blocking film at Home Depot but have not put it up yet. (lazy) I wondered if we should get the blinds-in-the-windows instead. Do they have that gas in them, also, to help block the bad sun rays? Anybody know....??

 

[Disney Doll]

You know what I always wonder though??? What do you do if the blind breaks? Can the 2 panes of glass be separated to fix it, are you stuck with the blind in whatever position it broke in? How do you fix that?

 

[Snoozan]

Disney Doll - That's what I was wondering. I guess I can ask my BIL, as he's the window salesman. Of course, he IS a salesman and will tell you what you want to hear. He did tell me the warranty on the glass goes down to 10 years instead of the usual 20 years for the door. That should probably be a clue....................Wonder if anyone has any experience with these blinds that actually use them?

 

[Michelina]

My in-laws have this type of window in one of their bathrooms, the blind inside is broken and stuck half open. I asked my MIL about it and she said there wasn't any way to fix it except to take the whole window apart.

 

[Bob NC]

You know what I always wonder though??? What do you do if the blind breaks? Can the 2 panes of glass be separated to fix it, are you stuck with the blind in whatever position it broke in? How do you fix that?

Pella has just redesigned their Designer Series doors and windows with the blinds or shades between the glass. You can now get blinds and grids between the glass and still have insulated argon filled, Low-E glass on the exterior. The, (third), inner panel of glass hinges in to provide access to the blinds or shades. Once installed properly, the instances of malfunction with the blinds is very rare. If there is ever a problem, they are easy to repair.

Can you guess what I sell?

 

[Bob NC]

My in-laws have this type of window in one of their bathrooms, the blind inside is broken and stuck half open. I asked my MIL about it and she said there wasn't any way to fix it except to take the whole window apart.

If it's a Pella window, it's easy to repair. Simply pull out the clips that hold that inner panel in place and it pops right out easily.

 

[wld]

My entire house has pella windows with the mini blinds inside including a sliding glass door with muttons as well and we love them. Saw them at a home improvement show and knew I had to have them because I hate heavy drapes and I hate sheers. We put the blinds in ourselves and they are very easy to take apart. Since you can take them apart I am assuming no gas. Our bedroom ones remain closed most of the time but we open and close the ones on the slider if the sun is coming through too strong. Most of the other ones we just leave open as we don't have any close neighbors. We have had them in for about 4 years and got them from a pella dealer. The blinds work much better than the ones that hang on the outside and I only use window toppers on my windows or nothing at all. Just not a curtain person. These windows cost a little more but I figure I saved the money with curtains.

 

[mtblujeans]

I am not a curtain person either....and we also do not have close neighbors. This info is good to know. Our house is about 25 - 30 years old and the windows were installed when built. If I check around well enough, I hope to get windows and doors that will last another 25 - 30 years! Thanks!!

 

[Jeafl]

We have French doors with the micro blinds between the panes, and I love them. It's great that you never have to clean the blinds, and it's very easy to adjust them. Ours have never broken, so I don't know what you'd have to do about fixing them.

 

[Disney Doll]

Let me guess BobNC...you sell windows, right????

I actually appreciate the info, since if I am ever interested in this type of product, I would want soemthing that is easily repaired should the need arise.

 

[lisaross]

I'm looking to replace our sliding door in the kitchen that leads onto deck.

I know they are pricey but do you love them?

 

[HM]

We had them in a house we rented at the beach once. One day the blinds got stuck with part going one way the other going another. We were afraid we'd get charged because we broke them. Later we found a note in the 'book of info' that mentioned how we could fix this situation. Sure enough, whatever it was we did (can't recall now) fixed it. I guess this happens a lot or they wouldn't have put it in the 'book'.

 

[Squirlz]

I would have had one in the new garage but the day after I looked at one (on sale for about $600) the door the contractor picked was delivered. We do have two regular doors with built-in blinds and they are great.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We had our French doors remodeled into one door with "lights" on either side. All three windows have the blinds built into them. That was two years ago and we haven't had any complaints. You do need to make sure the blinds are closed when you raise/lower them to prevent them from getting stuck.

Since I'm not a fan of "normal" blinds, I had to be convinced -- talked to a friend who has them. Glad we made the decision.