French doors vs sliding glass doors vs????

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shan2themax

shan2themax

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So, as I stated in the chat forum, the floor is rotten under the left side of my sliding glass doors, so they don't meet at the bottom. What are some pros and cons of each door type? The door opens up onto a screen in 10x20 porch, so weather isn't an issue.

What do you prefer and why?
 
In-swing French doors are great if you have the space for the door. If space is tight a slider won't take up any room for door swing. I installed a in-swing French door in a nook in my basement. Both sides are operable and in the location I'm not using up any useable wall space. I have another French door in the basement that only half is operable and it swings in the middle. With that door and sliders you only get half the opening as a door, the other side is a fixed window. So it really depends on the location and where the door will land when open. The picture below shows both doors in my basement. The door on the right is new and both sides operate. The one on the the right hand door swings at the middle. If I was replacing the door on the left I'd probably stick with a similar door one with both doors opening would block the light switches. Something else to think about when choosing your door.

You might try posting a picture of your specific application.
 

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Shan, Outswing French doors might be a consideration as well. I don't recall if I considered French doors when I built. If I did the 8' ft door offering 4' of opening and unobstructed view may have been a factor. However its a bit of a tug to slide a 4' panel for egress.
 
Any door or window that swings is going to be able to get a better seal than one that slides. There's a reason all the hatches on the International Space Station swing open.

Also, personally, I can't stand sliding doors; the motion of opening and closing them is unintuitive. And the bottom trough it slides in gets gunked up because you walk over it, resulting in another thing that has to be cleaned and maintained lest the movement of the door becomes rough/sticky. Compare to a swinging door, that is typically so maintenance free you don't even think about it for the lifetime of the door.

I'm stuck with sliding windows and a sliding patio door because that's what my house has and they were all pretty new when I bought the place, but if you have an opportunity to replace a door and make an informed choice, I strongly recommend a swinging door over a sliding one.
 
Flyover said:
Any door or window that swings is going to be able to get a better seal than one that slides. There's a reason all the hatches on the International Space Station swing open.

Also, personally, I can't stand sliding doors; the motion of opening and closing them is unintuitive. And the bottom trough it slides in gets gunked up because you walk over it, resulting in another thing that has to be cleaned and maintained lest the movement of the door becomes rough/sticky. Compare to a swinging door, that is typically so maintenance free you don't even think about it for the lifetime of the door.

I'm stuck with sliding windows and a sliding patio door because that's what my house has and they were all pretty new when I bought the place, but if you have an opportunity to replace a door and make an informed choice, I strongly recommend a swinging door over a sliding one.
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You make good points, but you also have to consider the swing and where the door will land when open. A door that swings in the middle may allow you to put it where there is currently a slider but other considerations like light switches and furniture placement could limit your ability to use two in-swinging doors like I installed in the photo above. All in all I prefer French doors for the reasons you mention, but in the two townhouses I owned sliders presented the best option with the limited space. Outswings are tougher to put screens on if bugs are a problem and you want to keep the doors open in nice weather.
 
Good point about the screen. I hardly ever use my screen but it's there if I want to leave the door open. In Shan's case the door will open onto a screened porch so it's not an issue.
 
Eddie_T said:
Good point about the screen. I hardly ever use my screen but it's there if I want to leave the door open. In Shan's case the door will open onto a screened porch so it's not an issue.
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True, more of a discussion about what can go into picking out a door type. I'd love to have a number of pocket doors in my house to eliminate doors banging into each other. But to do pocket doors or barn doors you have to take into account the wall space required for the door. A swinging door is open at 90 degrees, a pocket or barn door needs as much wall space as the door is wide to handle the door in the open position.

In Shan's case a slide could be the best option as the door is protected inside the screened porch and it won't be taking the brunt of the weather. That's why I suggested a picture early on in the discussion.
 
She could go either way but a hinged door is more user friendly as Flyover expressed. Especially as both the door and the operator age.
 
I will take a pic on one of my next days off. You'll have to disregard all the stuff in the background as I still have 70% of my moms stuff to go through on the screened in porch....

The sliding door isn't sealing currently because the wood is rotten underneath it. However, l do agree its harder to get a good seal with a slider.
I wish I could install whatever I decide on myself, but I know that at least a slider would be way too heavy for me, and an exterior door would be close also.
 
What about garden doors, which are the same as french doors, but garden doors come with a screen... I put a set of them in the living room in our old house. The doors swung in, and there was a screen... We loved it, cuz that way it looked a lot nicer than patio doors... and still let a breeze into the house...
 
So, you can't see the entire door because I have shelving in front of the right hand side for now, but you can see how it currently opens into my moms "land of stuff". Hopefully this week I can get a better picture
20220906_084737.jpg
 
Hard to say while you have all the stuff there, but I suspect you'd have a tough time using anything but a slider in this situation. Unless you move what is beside the blue curtain a center swing door will only swing 90 degrees.
 
The options can be mind boggling. With sliding doors the opening is 1/2 the door size. With French doors you can essentially have the full width with both doors open yet choose one door to be active for normal egress. I guess one could have one fixed panel and one that opened but that wouldn't technically be a French door if both didn't swing. If one only wanted the look a patio door (centrered) with glass sidelights might be an option. All-in-all replacement with another slider may be the easiest (and most economical) option.

As I sit in my den (though I like French doors) they would be impractical for me as inswing would restrict furniture placement in the den and outswing would look strange with a step down to the patio. Also wind could be an issue.

As I type hummingbirds still check my feeder which had been hanging outside my fixed door panel empty for the past six years. Oh well there's always tomorrow. I guess I haven't taken it down as I would have to decide whether to store it or toss it.
 
It's just a chrome wire shelf in front of the other part of the glass door.... now, whats in front of it on the porch.... its hard to tell. Haven't gotten to that side yet.
The chrome wire shelves house all of my soap making supplies 😳. They will go back into the room built inside my garage once I get the dining room cleared.
I was looking at sliders and they all only have a 4 star review. Even the 2k ones.

I may go into my local Lowes, Home Depot, Menards and check things out when I am off this week.
 
shan2themax said:
So..... I went to Lowes today looking for some weedeater stuff and looked at the sliders..... they charge $1500 to install a $500 slider.... ummmmm ABSOLUTELY NOT.
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Sliding doors are NOT hard to install. They come unassembled and you put the frame together then install it. The doors then slip into the frame. BUT, you really need to fix the rotted sub floor before doing anything.
 
Yes, the floor is the entire reason to replace the slider. The door slides fine, the bottom just doesn't have support.... and if I am going to put new wood down, I am definitely not going to put this nasty sliding glass door back there.
 
Maybe you need a sliding door and a hinged door. Sunday afternoon I was visiting in a $1.5 million home and saw the SIL sitting on the deck enjoying the view of 6 or 7 mountain ridge lines to the west. I used the sliding door from the LR to join him. When we decided to go inside I walked back to the slider but he walked to a hinged door into a sunroom saying come this way it's easier. He was right, they both have their purpose.
 
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