Thank goodness for small miracles... that being you did not post this 10 months ago while there was still time. Holy cr@p! what nice doors and if I had seen them in time, I might have another over budget situation. VERY VERY VERY NICE!
As I have said repeatedly for the last year since we started our house, the only limitation to your wants these says is the depth of your wallet! We have found that almost anything is achieveable...at a price!

So OK, with doors like this, what are you doing in your kitchen?

We have also looked at these doors. They are pricey. Could you post a pic of your door? We have a 15' wall on the waterfront side of our house and have thought about one for there. We are just wondering if we will use it enough to justify the cost.

thanks.

I'm begging for a picture! I'm considering this, but it's definitely pricy...I was thinking 2 sets of French doors would possibly get me a similar result.

Okay, here are pics--but they're horrible! I feel bad even posting them because our house is unfinished and has no lighting (or any kind of interior).

We're about to change the porch area seen in the pictures--taking out the brick knee wall to what was going to be our screened-in porch. We've now decided to open that area up and use it as a covered lanai and then once we get the pool installed we'll have a screen enclosure over the pool and decking leading from the lanai. It's a work in progress. We just hope we'll get it right and enjoy it!

Those look very nice; I like the ability to make them extremely long. Are they well insulated? We went with a 12' sliding glass door that opens into our backyard, which has a lovely forest view (conservation & we own it so no Wal-Marts coming to ruin our view!). Our door is in 3 panels, so that we can open it up with an 8 foot wide opening, but it would have been nice to be able to get all 12 feet open.

Cheers!
Heather W

Here is a link that might be useful: Our ICF Home Construction Journal

Those are very nice. I wish we had known about them before we ordered our doors (sliders for the family and french for the living). So like Heather, we will only be able to open 8' of the 12' sliders and 5' of the 11' french.

Enjoy!

Hey Heather! I loved reading about your build and seeing all the progress--it'll be so beautiful and you're almost done (envious sigh)...

We're building in TN, but currently live in the Daytona Beach area--not sure where you are building as Central Florida covers alot of ground. Anyway, just wanted to comment on your house progression--can't wait to see the finished product. What kind of low-VOC paints did you decide on? We're wanting to use those as well but haven't totally researched the different commercial brands vs. "milk paints" so I'd love to hear what you chose.

Thanks,
Anna

Anna, thank you for the compliments on the house! We're building in Lake County - my husband works for the Mouse. We went with Sherwin Williams' low VOC. Adding the color adds some VOC to the paint, but not a lot, and our house definitely doesn't have that really painty smell, which we appreciate!

Cheers!
Heather W

Here is a link that might be useful: Our ICF Home Construction Journal

Beautiful lanai door, ftb! But the price! Ugh!
We stayed in a condo on vacation once that had these, and a beautiful view! Another thread mentioned double-sliding glass doors, and they seem less expensive, at about $2500-$3000...
Oh, the choices we have to make..sigh.

Has anyone looked at the Jen weld folding door system? I am trying to save on the expensive Lanai....our builder suggested we use this in place of Lanai.

Our doors are very similar to the Lanai doors. I purchased our doors from www.lacantinadoors.com. I checked out the lanai prices and then compared their quote against what I paid for my doors. It was a bit cheaper, but my doors are aluminum clad outside, alder inside, and 8' tall. they also did a color match (all of these options are avail. w/the lanai door I believe).
the la Cantina doors are made in palomar, CA and you may be able to save on the shipping or get a builders discount, which they gave me.
I love my doors ( had to get 4 of them) and it was the first purchase I made for my home!
They are so similar to the lanai doors and I absolutely love them!
You did a great job on your selection!

Matt,
We are very please still with our doors. Keep in mind we are not living in our house yet.
Some things to consider, will the doors fold out or in? Out will be more water proof than in (so they told me)
at La Cantina.
They are difficult to install, I received all of the specs from the LaCantina website for my installer and he still had to call the company with a few questions.
I upgraded with the ORB handles and hardware, custom color and aluminum clad exterior to match my windows.
I would say they're durable and will stand up like any other door, french, sliding, etc. They have two latches, one lower, one upper, used to open up the doors, so the kids can't do it and pinch fingers.
So far, that's about all I can report about them, hope this helps.

Thanks for the input vfish - it helps alot. Based on your response and other stuff I've read about them I am pretty much sold on the door as long as I can get over one hurdle. Our patio is slightly sloped for water runoff (as it should be) and the addition is being built right alongside the sloping edge of the patio. Basically, what this means is that while one side of the door could be at patio level the other side would be 1-1/2" to 2" above the patio level for a 12' wide door. It's tough for me to tell how much this would effect the functionality, aesthetics and comfort of the door without seeing it installed. I guess I could raise the floor level of the addition by about 4" so there would be a step down across the entire door but the distance down would still increase by the 2" from one side of the door to the other. I love the concept of the door and I really want to make it work but I don't want to pay upwards of $10,000 and end up with an awkward transition. Anyone have any thoughts/solutions to this? Thanks.

Matt

"Posted by marathonmom (My Page) on Sun, Jul 8, 07 at 16:16

Has anyone looked at the Jen weld folding door system? I am trying to save on the expensive Lanai....our builder suggested we use this in place of Lanai. "

I just took a look at the Jeld-wen folding door and that might be our ticket as well! The Nana and Lanai doors are beautiful but out of our budget. I can't finding any pricing anywhere on the Jeld Wen. Does anyone know a ballpark guess on what they run? On the Jeld-Wen site, they don't even give the size specs for each door, just the door configurations. Does anyone know a ballpark guess on what they run per linear foot or by the door panel? I like the fiberglass, but would go with wood as well. I have about 12-14 linear feet between my Great Room and Sun room where I was planning to use two sets of french doors, but I like the folding door look better.

Here's some pricing information that LanaiDoor sent me.

"Thank you for your recent inquiry into Lanai Doors folding door systems. Working directly with homeowners, contractors, builders and architects we take pride in our personal customer service. Lanai Doors systems are hand built to meet your dimensional specifications while balancing any financial limitations.

We configure and price our systems on a per door panel basis. Overall, we want to build you a system that meets your needs while exceeding your expectations. The maximum width for our standard size panel is 36 inches and maximum height is eight (8) feet. For example, a nine (9) foot wide opening would require three (3) approximately 36 inch panels. However, keep in mind that we can build systems with door panels up to 42 inches wide and 12 feet tall. Our per panel prices for our standard sized Lanai Doors door systems are as follows:

Aluminum $1,700.00 per panel

Solid Wood $1,900.00 per panel

Aluminum-Wood Clad $2,300.00 per panel

Our standard door panels include dual-glazed tempered glass. However, we can provide various glass alternatives to meet your special needs. In addition, we have threshold options for weather resistant situations or seamless transitions.

We have shipped Lanai Doors systems as far as the Virgin Islands, Mexico and Hawaiian Islands. Please feel free to give us a call to discuss your project at your earliest convenience."

I looked at Jeld-Wen as well, however, I couldn't find the right package for our needs. I don't think they offered the paint matching, aluminum clad fronts.
Their price was about 15% higher than the La Cantina doors and I couldn't go and physically see them and feel them before I purchased.
The La Cantina doors just fit out needs. I compared the following door options in great detail!!
French, Sliders, La Cantina, Nana, Jeld-Wen and one other folding door system and I can't remember the name.

Update: I got some pricing info on the Jeld-Wen folding door system directly from the company. They run about $1,000 per linear foot installed, so they are not any less expensive than the Nana Wall or the Lanai system, but they are available in both wood and fiberglass.

We considered Lanai and NanaWall, but we couldn't locate anyone I felt comfortable with to install and service. So we went with a system from our window/door sub. They used a hardware system from Centor Architectural (http://www.centor.com.au/america/e4.html).

We haven't moved in yet, but they seem fine. The advantage is that the doors exactly match the other doors and windows in the house (and there is a local company to service them).

We ended up paying more than we would have for NanaWall or Lanai, but that was primarily because we went with premium doors (from Weathershield). The door covers about 18 feet and cost around $16K installed.

I have a feeling that a lot of the traditional window manufacturers are using this same basic hardware system and just putting their doors on them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bifold Doors

Here is a pic of the Jeld-Wen folding doors

{{gwi:1459216}}

Hey, is that picture by chance from the first house at the Portland Street of Dreams? I was there last Friday and it sure looks familiar. I liked most of the houses but was surprised that that was the only bi-folding exterior door at the entire show.

Matt

Eclipse has hardware for folding door systems.

Here is a link that might be useful: Eclipse Architectural

WOW! Thanks for the info. I'll be looking into the Eclipse hardware.

We've got a 10' Nanawall on order (due to arrive in early November) and we looked (and got quotes for) the doors from the following companies:

1) Marvin
2) Jeld-wen (didn't get a quote for this one)
3) La Cantina
4) Lanai
5) Nanawall

We had prices for the 4 of the 5 and all were very close to each other -- probably within about $1k of each other. Some offered free shipping, others didn't.. None offered free installation obviously. We ended up choosing Nanawall because they had a better mechanical system that we thought was better than the rest.. All of the others use the SAME hardware making it easy for them -- they just attach the hardware to their doors and bingo -- instant bi-fold.

Anyway, the Nanawall should be nice once it arrives..

Although this thread is over, I wanted to add another supplier for those looking here for information.

At the Atlanta Home Show, I saw a German supplier of these doors who is based near Atlanta, GA. The ones he had on the floor seemed to be of incredible quality. The supplier's site is www.rolladenbirk.com and the product is called KlimaFlex at www.klimaflex.de.

I haven't priced these doors yet, nor have I dealt with the supplier, so I can't comment on that. Although expensive, these doors might be competitive with other suppliers and possibly more convenient (less shipping $$$) for those located in the southeast.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rolladen Birk International

Well If you are in the midst of a new project or doing a remodel there are other sources to consider, for example I was cruising Craigs list in the materials section and came across an add that was placed by an Architect who had to remove 3 sets of La Cantina Doors and windows from a project on the Texas coast, the La Cantina doors and windows were mistakenly purchased and spec with impact resistant glass instead of High impact resistant glass so they had to be removed and replaced with the correct glass type to meet Texas Wind Storm requirements, as a result I was able to pick up one of the 3 La Cantina doors the 21ft by 7ft set for a tenth of the cost La Cantina quoted me for the exact same door which was about $18000.00 , I picked the exact same door up with all the hardware and tracks for $2280.00 , so the point is take a look in your local paper,Greensheets and Craigs list and classifieds , you may just find the deal you are looking for .... P.S. I just check Craigs list again and low and behold I found another set with 8 panels each panel is 33 3/4" x 87 3/4" just the panels without the mounting tracks for $500.00 , i am picking them up in the morning!

Here is a quote we got for a Jeld-Wen 11 1/2 x 7 4 panel folding door. Almost $11,000

RO Size:138 13/16 X 88 5/16
Viewed from Exterior. Scale: 1/8'' = 1'
Custom Clad Auralast Pine, Outswing Bi-Fold Door Product, 4 PNL (1L-3R)
Black Licorice Exterior, Primed Interior, Bronze Sill, Black Wstrp, 5 5/8 Jamb, Panel 1 Active, , Clad Pnl, , Extruded Clad Pnl, 1-3/4" Thick Pnl, PVD Stn Nkl Hdw Stainless Hng/Flush Bolts, w/Magnet Catches, Bronze, Contemporary Sglpt Hdl Set/Keyd Alike Active Only, , Std Btm Rail, Astragal Installed,Insulated Low-E 366 Tempered Glass, Standard Spacer, Argon Filled, Flush Glz Bd, FSC Certified,

$11,143.03

We're still researching, but found The Folding Door Company ( http://foldingslidingdoors.com/us/ ) and Solar Innovations ( http://www.solarinnovations.com/ ) to be much less expansive.

Hey HuckBFin...that is an amazing deal...! I'm looking for some doors right now and would like to see if that builder has any left. Can you let me know what city in Texas he is in so i can do a search on CL to find him? I'm in Southern California but it sounds like it would be worth it to check into this! Thanks, Adam

Me thinks HuckBFin is spam, not sure but......

huckBfin, if you could point me to the ad as well, i would appreciate it.

Thanks.

can anyone recommend an installer in the San Francisco bay area?

We bought one 8 feet wide bifold door from AG Millworks, and no one seems know how to install it...it has been several months!