Door replacement advice

5 years ago

Hi I live in Tennessee in a brick ranch built in the 1960’s that was renovated to replace nearly all the windows with doors back in the 1980’s. Some of the doors are rotting and need to be replaced and I am. looking for advice on what configuration I should use.

In the living room there are 3 sets of French doors that open inward and a fixed window on either end. I am wondering if I should just leave a center set of doors and make all the others fixed. I would like to be able to have them both slide open but there are supports on each side that I think would prevent that. Would that greatly reduce the cost of the project or make it more energy efficient to have most fixed windows? Should I just stick with the current configuration? What other options do you think I should consider? I am attaching photos of the doors both from inside and outside. I am not interested in having a wall of doors that opens all the way. I do not want to have to put in a beam and I would rarely open them all the way with our weather.

My second question relates to the doors across the front of the house. Do you think I should just replace those with new French doors or would casement windows be more airtight? There are no stairs on the outside and they open inward so

they take up valuable floor space. Thoughts? Thanks for your ideas and suggestions.

Featured Answer

maureen214
Original Author

5 years ago

Thanks Debbi. I had wondered if that was an issue. The Anderson renewal rep said to replace with casements in the front would be less expensive than replacement doors but did not mention special glass which is probably a code requirement. The other concern I had was that the levers to operate the casement would basically be ground level. In any event thank you for the tip!

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Comments (6)

jck910
5 years ago
I would do the center a French door and the others all fixed. I would do casement on the front
maureen214
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for responding!
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J Inhof
5 years ago
I would go to a couple of window stores in your area and discuss with them the new materials and styles used for windows and doors these days, also energy efficiency, and to get an idea on pricing. Of course, you don’t have to buy from them—just look and learn about what is available, then comparison shop or have your contractor source them.

I can see your point about the french doors taking up floor space, but I would personally prefer the french doors. We just installed three sets of french doors, mostly because I like the idea of open access (even if we don’t actually use them). Just a quirk of mine, I guess.
maureen214 thanked J Inhof
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Debbi Washburn
5 years ago
I had a customer look into this once and discovered that because her windows were lower to the floor than 20" ( I think ) she had to purchase very expensive windows due to a certain glass requirement. Make sure to ask about that!
maureen214
Original Author
5 years ago
J Inhof - I agree with you that I like the idea of French doors in the living room. I have been thinking about 3 sets of sliding doors because they would be so functional (they don’t take up extra floor space so I could open them like windows, they have screens etc) but I don’t like the bulkiness of the hardware that I have seen on them or the fact that it would not be a”level plane” on that wall that the sliders are set at different depths to operate. I appreciate your input!