we have had 2 12' openings in houses. one had 2 sets of 6' sliders that opened away from each other, the other is a 4' fixed panel with an 8' slider next to it. i have to say the 4' sliding panel on that one is pretty heavy, not sure you'd like a 6' sliding panel even if it existed.

thirds looks nicer than quarters or halves, i think. especially since you are having it 2/3 blocked.

You could make some of the doors into fixed windows. You could add a single door or sliders or french doors opening out to the deck.

Go to a window store near you noy HD but an actual window place and ask what they would reccomend but I will teel you to get very good quality because even 4’ sliding doors are heavy and need really good tracks as for a screen get pahnatom screens instead of the ones that come with the sliders.Have you checked the folding doors and also you will need a new header so don’t forget to get that done.

The best choice here will require you rework your layout. The French doors you have now seem much higher end than what you are proposing to replace them with. Before you decide they are a PITA, find out how much to restore them. . .probably much less than all the alternatives and it works with the way you live. Otherwise, the value answer is a double slider .. center opening - outer two will be fixed, inner two operable. Comes in a nice French door rail style - you may be surprised about fewer sash lines - they don't improve your view really . . as you will learn, the sash lines frame the view and add to the architecture considerably . . .

It's not exactly what you describe, but I designed a great kitchen addition with metal sash windows and a door. Beautiful system and lets lots of light in.

Merrill Ave · More Info

Thanks all for the insight. Didn't realize that even a 4' slider would be that much heavier than a 3' slider. So it sounds like the easy answer is either go with the center slider with two fixed side panels, four total 3' wide panels or go with a 4' panel on the left, and then a 8' slider (with two 4' panels) on the right.

Studio Z - that's absolutely beautiful and this kitchen is very much in the same style as our house (our kitchen even has similar floors, slab cabs in white albeit gloss white but with identical hardware, butcher block island and our walls are BM white dove). I'm guessing your solution is out of our budget but if you could ballpark a similar setup for a 12' opening, what would you guess? The only big downside is that with your solution, it's a single door which won't open up much other than what a single door does. Love the black frames though.

I like the 8'x12' Anderson Clear pine prairie doors alot. They operate smoothly, don't transfer heat or cold, and look gorgeous in our master bedroom that opens out to a 100' porch....

We have a 12' opening with a 4' slider in the middle of two stationary 4' panels.

The problem we are having is that we plan to sell soon and the slider is damaged and the mfr just came out and said it's unrepairable. We are looking for cost effective options, and I am wondering if it's possible to use two standard 6' sliders and build a center column in my existing opening to be able to install them. I understand its not the most glamorous option, but we are already going to be selling at the top of our neighborhood and I wont be able to recoup the cost of this. As long as its functional and solid, I think we will be ok. Does anyone have any opinions about this?

fix it pretty, not ugly, or you'll lose even more money. talk to the door guy about how a new build would handle a clients desire for 12' of glass, and then do that.

my guess is fixed panels on either side with a single operational 6' slider set in the middle would be the least expensive.

depending how old your home is, be prepared for some engineering work to happen. it turned out the header for our 12' of glass in our vacation home was up there on magic.

Panels all closed

2 panels open in each wall

In my last condo, I had two walls of (3) four ft. panels that slid back onto one another. The track wasn't that big, and I could open one or two panels. In addition, I could push them all to the left or to the right. Select something standard from a window company, don't do anything custom. My frames were aluminum and I was quite happy with them. They also were 8' tall so the view was great.

Could you replace two 3' areas with floor to ceiling windows and have the sliders in the middle? You wouldn't lose the view and it should be much less expensive, I think.