Doors and Windows - French / patio doors
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Terry Toolman
05-13-03, 07:26 PM
Whare can I find information testing / specifications or comparsion data for different brands of french and patio doors. i would also accept any comments that fellow DIY's as to your experiences. I would like to have fiberglass with wood interior and fiberglass threshold, if there are any such doors available.. Any comments?
Mike Swearingen
05-14-03, 12:38 AM
I don't know a comparison source, but after our research, we chose to install two triple-panel sets of full-glass Andersen French doors (doors in between two fixed door-sized panels each) in 1998, when we remodeled.
They have color-choice vinyl-clad exteriors, and a plain wood (stain or paint to suit) interior. You can select the quality of insulated glass. We went with the best argon-gas filled, tinted, etc. that Andersen offers. The doors have a single-latch triple deadbolt (top, middle and bottom of door).
They are guaranteed for 20-years and not to leak in 60 mph winds. (They're actually made not to leak in almost 100 mph winds, as I saw on a Bob Vila TV show Andersen factory visit.)
Ours have been through several near-100 mph hurricane winds and not leaked a drop. We did, however, have minor temporary leaking during an extremely powerful, freak thunderstorm here last Friday...the worst that I've seen in 27 years of living here.
A neighbor's windspeed indicator registered 106 mph winds in the tstorm windshear downburst with small twisters coming down on the backside of it. We had no permanent damage (just layed towels down at the bottom to catch the leaking inside).
Some neighbors had waterfront windows blown out, roofs torn up, trees down onto vehicles, etc., but our Andersen doors and windows withstood it all intact. The doors leaked a bit due to the extreme wind force directly against them off of the Albemarle Sound that they face, but the windows didn't leak a drop,
We're totally sold on Andersen. You get what you pay for in this instance.
Good Luck!
Mike
They have color-choice vinyl-clad exteriors, and a plain wood (stain or paint to suit) interior. You can select the quality of insulated glass. We went with the best argon-gas filled, tinted, etc. that Andersen offers. The doors have a single-latch triple deadbolt (top, middle and bottom of door).
They are guaranteed for 20-years and not to leak in 60 mph winds. (They're actually made not to leak in almost 100 mph winds, as I saw on a Bob Vila TV show Andersen factory visit.)
Ours have been through several near-100 mph hurricane winds and not leaked a drop. We did, however, have minor temporary leaking during an extremely powerful, freak thunderstorm here last Friday...the worst that I've seen in 27 years of living here.
A neighbor's windspeed indicator registered 106 mph winds in the tstorm windshear downburst with small twisters coming down on the backside of it. We had no permanent damage (just layed towels down at the bottom to catch the leaking inside).
Some neighbors had waterfront windows blown out, roofs torn up, trees down onto vehicles, etc., but our Andersen doors and windows withstood it all intact. The doors leaked a bit due to the extreme wind force directly against them off of the Albemarle Sound that they face, but the windows didn't leak a drop,
We're totally sold on Andersen. You get what you pay for in this instance.
Good Luck!
Mike