Aluminum Patio Doors

Aluminum patio doors are very common but some are better than others. There are also misconceptions about about them. Often people think that they are available in standard sizes and so parts can be changed between different makes of patio door. Thats often not the case. Some aluminum patio doors are made 79-1/4" tall while others are made 79-3/4" tall. Manufacturers make them "close to a standard size". This page will lay out some of the things to look for in a good patio door so you can make an informed buying decision.

4 Panel Aluminum Patio Doors

A 4 panel aluminum patio doors have 4 glass panels. 2 are fixed in place and 2 that slide from side to side called "operators". The operators can be mounted on the left or the right. The screen door will usually slide in between the glass panels on a center track. This is good because it is protected from the elements. In a 4 panel door, there are separate sheets of glass in each of the 4 panels, usually 5mm thick. This glass is often required by local building codes to be tempered. This makes it safe if you accidentally walk into it and break it. The glass will shatter into a million fragments which are not sharp. You might still have a headache, but you wont be cut by the glass. Typically patio doors more than 20 years old will not have tempered glass.

2 Panel Patio Doors

A 2 panel door is a patio door with one fixed glass panel and one operating panel which slides. The screen door is installed on the outside.

2 Panel Patio Doors use insulated thermal glass. Thermal glass is 2 sheets of glass sandwiched between a spacer which does not conduct heat. New thermal units offer argon gas between the glass which slows the transmission of heat. A low E coating or film is also often included which also helps slow heat loss. Again modern patio doors all use tempered glass for safety. The tempered glass thermal glass units are 5/8" thick so a thicker frame has to be used in the 2 panel door.

The 2 panel door is more convenient because there are less panels to slide. Its also easier to keep clean because there are no panels to move and take apart. The drawback is the expensive thermal glass. If they break they are expensive to replace. There are also problems with seal failure. If you have a thermal glass patio door which always looks cloudy, no matter how well you clean the glass, you probably have a seal failure with dirt getting in between the sealed panes. This often requires glass replacement. 2 panel doors are very heavy because of the thermal glass. If you are looking at a door with panels wider than 40", make sure you choose a door that has "tandem" rollers to carry the extra weight.

3 Panel Patio Doors

You may have a 3 panel patio door in your home. These doors were used by some builders. In a 3 panel door, there is one fixed panel with thermal glass and two sliding glass panels with regular single pane glass. One on the outside, one on the inside. The screen door is mounted on a track on the outside. These doors get around the problems of a heavy sliding door by using 2 lighter panels. The lighter door each has their own separate weatherstripping so these doors seal out the drafts quite well.

Patio Door Security

Patio doors are often blamed for being easy to break into. There are a few steps you can take to make your door so secure that the only way in is to break the glass down. Most thieves do not want to make that much noise.

Check with your patio door supplier to see if a commercial quality lock is available for your new door. Most patio doors use die cast metal locks and keepers that can easily be forced open with a long screwdriver or crowbar. A proper steel lock anchored with a steel keeper thats anchored in the door jamb with long screws wont be so easy to jimmy. If the manufacturer does not offer a better lock, get a patio door window bar to stop the sliding panel from being opened while you are away.

Many manufacturers offer anti-lift blocks so the sliding panels cant be lifted out without first removing the blocks. These are dirt cheap security. Also make sure the fixed panels are installed with many screws holding them in place from the inside. Quite often new patio doors are installed with one plastic fix clip and screw holding the fixed panel closed. The fix clip is like a flag that says to the burglar, "Put Crowbar Here". I've even seen fix clips installed on the outside! Do not ask for trouble, put many screws directly into the frame along the height of the fixed panel on the inside.