5 Tips for Choosing a Patio Door

Today, many options exist when choosing which type of patio door best suits your home and your lifestyle. These options include sliding doors, swinging doors, French doors, and more, and give you the flexibility to create a completely custom design that fits your home’s architecture and defines your patio space. So, which type of patio door is right for you? Well, that depends on how you’ve designed the interior of your home, the home’s architecture, and natural feel and look, and how convenient each style might be to your particular lifestyle.

For example, are you selecting a door that opens up into a balcony? A sliding door would probably be ideal due to the lack of space for an outward-swinging door. Are you looking for a door that opens up to a large deck or patio? The options are plentiful in this case because you have much more room to work with than a balcony opening. Let’s review our five major tips for selecting a good fit for your patio door.

1. Consider the available space surrounding the door. If there is an abundance of room, your options remain rather open. However, if you’re running tight on space, consider a patio door with one swinging door that won’t interfere with your furniture layout, or even a sliding door, which virtually always stays out of the way.
2. Choose as wide a door design as possible. This will help provide greater access and a stronger connection to the outdoor patio. French doors are great when you have a wide opening and ample room to swing the doors open and let the air flow through your home. Another benefit here for those who choose doors with large glass panels is the addition of natural light allowed into the house. This can save money on electricity and provide additional warmth to a home’s atmosphere.
3. Choose the right type of glass for maximum efficiency. Don’t lose out on energy savings. Modern replacement doors are often Energy Star certified, which means they are basically guaranteed to insulate your home well enough to save you up to 15% on your energy utilities. This means that you get a greater return on investment, so choose your glass wisely! Low-E glass helps reduce energy use and protects against UV damage. Other options include tempered glass for privacy and style.
4. Select a material that is durable and needs less maintenance. Wood tends to be popular with the high-end crowd, because of the cost typically associated with those doors. Wood also requires more maintenance, which is a definite downside. Choosing vinyl, aluminum, or fiberglass will ensure a nearly maintenance free lifespan of your patio door.
5. Material selection tip #2: pick a material type that matches the color scheme and feel of your home’s overall appeal. The quality and style of any door should compliment your home, especially those like patio doors, which are often the focal points for foot traffic and natural light. You wouldn’t want to put a vinyl door on a home with a nice wood siding, because it would look cheap by comparison. Instead, a high-end fiberglass or wood doorframe would match the siding and take it to the next level.

Obviously, these tips are not the law of the land. They are, however, basic fundamentals of industry knowledge, which tend to help most people pick a patio door they will be pleased with for years to come. So take these tips into consideration, and get creative. It’s your home, it should represent your tastes.