Sliders vs french doors

[Luv2Roam]

I would like to hear from others who live in the land of snow and ice iabout experience with french doors.

We are remodeling and have a sliding door now. (Walk out level from the family room) The slider leads to a lower deck. We have shrubs around the lower deck, but it is very windy here. We have dogs to let in and out.
Due to wind, snow drifts on the decks and it's a real pain when the dogs come into the house. It creates an avalanche. So I am scooping snow out of the track, sometimes during the night. It's cold, wind/snow is blowing in my face and sometimes more snow falls into the track than I scoop out. Great during the middle of the night when I'm half asleep anyway.
We are replacing our decks. We also want to replace the 6' slider for french doors.
One of the deck people who was measuring for an estimate said we would NOT like to have french doors. He says he replaces a lot of new, nice french doors with vinyl sliders.
He said there is always a gap where the doors meet/open in the center.
So -- I need opinions from those here who have (or had) french doors and live where it snows in the winter.
We also have an upper deck, with a standard door that leads from the kitchen. Often in the winter I let the dogs in and out there just not to bother with the slider in the snow.
TIA!!!

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

Howdy neighbor!

We live about 2 hours southeast of you.... so the weather is very similar. We installed TWO SETS of French doors in our new home. There is NO gap at all. They are Pella - the middle series (forget the name).

One set faces West and the other Southwest. We have not had a lot of experience since we just moved in last August... but we would not trade the doors for sliders.... not a chance!

We did consider sliders - but liked the looks of French doors much better and felt they would wear better. The Pella people told us THEIR sliders would not loosen over time, but we really did not want to take that chance.

Let me know if you want to roadtrip down and check them out!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Well,, I have always wanted to visit that house museum in Viscilla (sp?) See what all the talk was about.

 

[Blondie]

It snows here, sometimes!

We had french doors on a house we were renting until this house was finished, and it had french doors that went out onto a deck.

I really like the french doors, and the way they look.

If I had my choice, I'd take french doors over a slider any day!

 

[Tess]

I prefer the French doors to the slider. The slider in the winter is difficult to open, but the French doors are perfect! The French door opens onto a deck and the slider to a ground level patio. We built the house in 1996 and have lived in it since then--I wanted French doors on both openings, but the builder talked me out of it. (In fact, everything he talked me out of, I wish I had been smart enough to stand firm on. I know I would have liked it my way better! ) No problems whatsoever with the French doors! Both are Anderson if that matters to you.

 

[TiggerPiglet]

We have French doors that lead onto our deck and we love them. I definitely prefer them over the sliders, they just seem sturdier and definitely look better, JMHO

 

[justjulie]

and I prefer the slider to be quite honest. The french doors are lovely but ours opened into the room which meant you had to allow for "swing space" which we just didn't have. You can get new sliders with "mutton bars" (the look of French doors with the "bars" in between the glass for easy cleaning). We opted for the sliders with the mutton bars and love them.

 

[yoopermom]

My mom has a slider that faces west and hates it, the ice builds up in the track in the winter, the dogs drag the snow in, etc.

My dad has french doors that open out facing south onto a deck, and just loves them. It's maybe a few inches down to the deck, just enough that unless they have a huge storm he can still get the door open to let the dogs in/out without having to shovel. They're sturdy, and definately meet perfectly.

Good luck, I'd love to have either!
Terri

 

[LoriKay]

Luv2Roam, I can answer this question! We live in Kansas City now, however, we used to live in Nebraska (just outside of Gretna) where we built a house with 2 sets of French doors to the outside. We lived there for almost 9 years and we also had dogs that had to go in and out of those doors. We never had any problems at all but I would also suggest using a high quality door.

I have to tell you that I've been keeping track of the Disney Store closings in Nebraska through your posts! I'm so disappointed about the closing at Westroads because it was the first Disney Store I ever saw. I never particularly cared for the one at Oakview for some reason. And I'll miss the Lincoln store because I liked to stop there when we came up for NU football games. Gateway Mall just won't hold the same appeal anymore!

 

[Luv2Roam]

I knew I just had to ask the Dis family!
I asked around in my dept at work. One person has french doors and has had no problems with any gap in between the doors.
Not sure why the contractor we spoke to was so dead against them.
I will add with putting out a lot for the decks, our budget won't allow for Anderson (a couple grand +) or Pella (over a grand).
Lowe's sells another brand that with the screen, will cost almost $700.

This door has blinds inbetween the glass.
We are the first to admit the Anderson and Pella are nicer. No comparison. But....
Still better than what we have. Out house is probably just under or around 20 years old.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

The house I have now has a slider to the screen porch and my new house on Cape Cod has sliders, one on each side of the family room going to two sides of the house.. if I had my choice, I would have done french doors, I just think they look better, more finished looking..

 

[bananiem]

We have french doors and it's really windy here. The snow has stuck to the door so if you open it the snow falls onto your floor. Dew and rain also seem to slide right off onto the floor when you open it. A throw rug would take care of that, though, if you have clearance under the door for one.
I agree that they look nice but I hadn't really taken into consideration how much the "swing" would impact my choices in arranging the furniture in those rooms. Also, look into blinds and valances, if they're needed. I barely have enough clearance above the door for a valance. It tends to get stuck in the door.
I have other issues with them, but I won't bore you with MORE details!

 

[aprincessmom]

Not sure why the contractor we spoke to was so dead against them. I will add with putting out a lot for the decks, our budget won't allow for Anderson (a couple grand +) or Pella (over a grand).
Lowe's sells another brand that with the screen, will cost almost $700.

I don't have french doors but I am a contractor's daughter and I can tell you why I think he may have said that. It's your second sentence in the quote. He may have had experience with the lower end brands and run into that problem. Many times the higher end is worth the expense because the longterm wear and fit is better. Just because it fits well in the first month is no guarantee that it will fit well with constant use.

So that could be why he is trying to steer you away from them...he knows your budget and is trying to give you the best value for what you can afford.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Thanks again. I appreciate all this input.
Again, I KNOW the higher end is much nicer. But truthfully, I would would probably keep what I have before paying top dollar for a door.
Other than letting the dogs in and out, neither the deck nor the doors get much use at all. Just DH and I, and the pets.
And we have considered the possiblility of moving sometime.
We want the blinds inbetween the layers of glass so we can get away from curtains and valances too.
That's another thing I have against sliders -- trying to get anything practical that offers privacy and isn't a pain because of the dogs rubbing up against (or even getting caught up in) the curtain fabric.

Our dogs are pretty good sized. One is just over 100 lbs. The other around 60 lbs, and she is perky.

 

[Chattyaholic]

In 1987 we added on a 24'x24' family room to our house. Facing west we have a set of French doors in a bay alcove with floor-to-ceiling windows on either side. It's an entrance, and has vinyl flooring, whereas the rest of the room has carpet. We live in Michigan so we do have pretty nasty winters and have no problems with the doors. They are Anderson though. I have a small carpet mat in front of the doors for when someone steps in, but we don't have any problems with snow blowing in or anything like that. I like the look of French doors vs. sliding ones.

 

[RNMOM]

We replaced our 10', yes I said 10' slider with a 6' french door and two side windows. We got a Pella.

Have you thought about getting the french door that only opens on one side? This is what we have. It opens from the left side and is fixed in the middle. No chance of a gap and the seal is great on this brand. It looks the same as the regular french door but the hardware is only on one side. It was MUCH less expensive also than the double swing french door.

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

We also have the French (or should I say Freedom? ) doors that only open on one side. So far so good...even through our 3 feet of snow this winter!

 

[Luv2Roam]

rnmom -- Thanks! I wil have to check that out. We really only want one side to open anyway.