I second this! When the seals fail, it’s very easy to have a glass company replace the panes.

I would look at two options:

1. Replace the glass

2. Replace the doors with a taller, standard unit (no transoms) and no divided lites.

I think you will be surprised at how little the difference is and in the end if you go with new doors, you have "new" doors. Avoid custom size which may be needed be fill the opening as is. That gets expensive.

Good luck!

You can certainly have the sealed units replaced but I guess my question is do you really want all those grids I find them way to busy so i would tend to want just no grids in the doors at all. I would be nice to know how they relate to the rest of the new windows and how the exterior area is going to be done. I hope you will also be getting rid of the bamboo shades there are really nice soloar shades for light and heat control that let you keep the view .

Your home doesn't look old enough to be replacing windows. It's always $$$$. Are you sure you can't just refurbish the windows?

As for the seals,.....is there any label on the door because I would still contact the manuf. for replacement glass.

In my area I can get panels like that swapped out for 300-400$ (I don’t know about the grids, never had to do that)

So, my home was built in the late 70s and I currently have all original wood windows and doors. My frames are good so we are just swapping out window sash kits in an aluminum clad.

My new grids are 6 over 6 SDL. I agree that all the door grids are busy. They actually are the old kind that pop out so I could take them off and see how in looks.

I’m very interested in knowing more about blinds that can help with heat. I’ve actually been wondering about this lately b/c the room with all the doors gets super hot in summer. Can you recommend something?

Any idea (like a picture) how the door would look without the transoms & taller? I can’t picture that...

It would cost a bunch since they would all have to be tempered and a small cost as much as mid sized one. I would request the glass with no tempered markings as well. Best bet is to price it each way.,Is it all the glass panels in the doors and transoms? Are they true divided lites?

There are no divided lites. It’s all glass panels with removable interior grids. I had not considered it but the windows near these doors will have SDLs. I really do not have the budget to replace these units right now. I just a lesser expensive fix that takes care of the glass seal issue (if that’s even possible).

It will be a lot cheaper to replace the glass then. The transoms would not need tempered glass.

This is a duplicate post why did you post it twice.

What? I’m not sure what you mean

I have a different issue, but similar in that I need to replace or repair glass doors.

Window replacement company - $12,000 to replace - explained it was better to just replace, they wouldn't attempt a repair.

Local handyman (retired contractor) - $400.00 to remove, repair and put back together.

Guess which one I picked?

Wow! Did he replace the glass for you? I’m guessing the $12000 was for a whole new unit right?

The 12 k was for a whole new unit. Like I said, mine was a different problem than yours - the glass was loose, frames not tight around the glass, but the replacement guys really pushed for me to replace rather than repair.

I would request the glass with no tempered markings as well.

Todd,

IRC requires that tempered glass has a permanent label identifying the glass as a safety product if the location requires safety glass. There are no exceptions. However a certificate confirming laminated glass is allowed in lieu of permanent logo if requested and allowed by the inspector. Not all inspectors will accept a certificate in lieu of logo for laminated glass.

And I have had a few interesting discussions with building inspectors over whether or not laminated glass can be used in a location where the inspector was expecting to see tempered glass...but that is a different story.

There certainly are cases where building inspectors have accepted a certificate for tempered glass rather than logo, but in those cases the inspector was wrong to do so - IMO.

I have seen applications (typically TDL doors) where the tempered glass logo (or bug as often referred to) on every single small lite totally wrecked the appearance of the door, I get that for sure, but that doesn't mean that the glass should be replaced with non-tempered glass. There are ways to label the glass that are unobtrusive and even difficult to see when not specifically looking for the logo.

And consider that if one inspector approves the glass without logo, there is no reason that the next inspector would approve it as well. What if the certificate is lost, or how would someone prove that the certificate applies to any specific lite?

That could be very awkward if selling the home, or worse if someone either unknowingly or intentionally replaced one of the tempered lites with an annealed lite and someone was badly injured as a result.

There would be no realistic way to tell if a replacement lite (or original) is actually tempered glass without the logo.

I know that some (not all) glass manufacturers will produce tempered glass without logo if requested, and some will even produce a certificate (not all), but IMO that is a very bad idea for all concerned.

I have kids. I definitely want tempered glass even if we live in this house forever 😛

Since the glass would be 1 piece for the door I would not worry about the Tempered glass marking since there would be only 1 marking. I don’t think most places require a permit to replace glass I don’t worry about ou t what they have to say. I have bought and sold a few houses and never seen any one check for tempered glass.

A couple more questions based on the decisions you all helped me make in these comments. I’m definitely removing all of the mullions on the doors. Should I do the same on the transom? My windows all over the house will be original food frames with aluminum clad sashes (this is already decided and ordered). Do I go with aluminum clad doors? Can they just change the doors out & keep the door frames or is that a bad idea? Some are windows not doors BTW.... I’m looking for the least expensive, decent looking option at this points.

What happened to just replacing the glass, I thought the doors were fine? I would not recommend replacing just the door slab , aluminum doors have specific frames (mine have multipoint locks as well)

Yes- still planning on probably just replacing the glass. I figured out yesterday (and I’m not sure this changes anything) cut rot out of the that the prior owner of this house cut rot out of the bottom of the doors, replaced it and covered it up with a wooden panel. If you look closely at the bottom of my doors you will see a panel that isn’t original to the door.

I will need to price the glass. I guess it’s starting to make me question if I’m just going to be throwing more $ into a door that could fail sooner than later.

Ahh. Then yes, you need new door units (door and jamb). Aluminum clad is best, another option are smooth fiberglass doors, get them made in a pvc jamb.

Do I have to replace the whole unit?

Or can I just replace the doors?

You need a door unit. If the doors are rotted I will guarantee there is rot in the jambs even if you don’t see it. Additionally doors aren’t designed to swap out like that- an aluminum clad 36” door will be a different size and have completely different hinges than the wood doors you have currently. You likely could get new wood door slabs and get them planed to fit but that would be a waste of $ in my opinion.

Entire unit. Brands are not really interchangeable, with locksets, weather stripping, etc, etc. Changing out leafs only gains you nothing in the long run but increased labor costs and no warranties. Good money after bad in my opinion.

Thank you so much for explaining this. Can you possibly recommend a starting point for companies to research that make decent but not insanely priced aluminum clad or fiberglass doors?

BTW- I live in South Carolina. Doors face east and get full sun. It gets extremely hot here in the summer and we have relatively mild winters.

Go to a local lumberyard and talk to them. Each lumberyard will have brands they carry. When you replace the doors remove the tiny row of vinyl siding- just get wide flat moulding from the door to the brick. It will look much cleaner. In for a penny in for a pound!

For those that are curious about what it looks like without mullions

Still need to take out the ones on the top. I do need some sort of interior blind or shutter. What if I did a plantation shutter?

In my layman opinion, I really like how the doors/windows look without muntins, but I wouldn't touch the transoms. i think the mix of muntins in the transoms and unobstructed in the windows/doors looks really great.