Charlie:
Richard writes to us this morning. He writes, “I have French doors in our bedroom that are about 33 years old.” He says, “One door has signs of moisture which I can poke a finger through.”
Tom:
Okay, like I say, if you want to know if it’s wet, stick your finger in it.
Charlie:
Well there you go. I would say that that indicates that door needs some work.
Tom:
That’s what I … I agree.
Charlie:
All right, so he says, “I’d like to replace them with sliding patio doors.” But he wants your suggestion. He’s looking at vinyl ones, he’s looking at fiberglass ones, your advice sir.
Podcast: Play in new window
Tom:
Well vinyl and fiberglass. Vinyl is usually a clad. I’m not much on clad doors in this part of the country because it’s got a wood interior structure. So, unless it’s a metal structure with a vinyl clad, because some of the big ones they do that and those are pretty nice actually. So it really comes down to what you like as long as you stay away from wood based products on the interior of the door-frames and it’s something that has a lot of … You know it’s all in the hardware. You’ve got the rollers and the locks and this and that so you want to make sure it works really nice and the package is complete and it’s weather-tight. So, fiberglass is fine. When you get into big sliders usually it’s aluminum with a coating because of the strength it has to have because it’s a door and a big piece of glass.
Charlie:
Even a fiberglass door.
Tom:
Yeah, even a fiberglass. Someone who can’t handle the size. If you get into three foot doors or these bigger doors, so it depends on that. Most of the time a sliding glass door like that is going to be a vinyl clad aluminum.
Charlie:
Okay, and which strength, if you’re picking a sliding door, which one do you prefer?
Tom:
I’d have to look at them. I’d tell you which ones I liked the best. I’d look at the hardware, I’d look at the warranty on it, I’d look at the whole package and if it’s designed for the size of it, get the one you like. Course, Doors Clearance Center is a place you could go to find a lot of different options at a lot of cheap prices.
Charlie:
Yeah and they have both the vinyl and the fiberglass and wood.
Tom:
They’ve got vinyl, glass, metal, wood.
Charlie:
If it’s a door …
Tom:
You can get glass and iron if you want.