Perhaps if you had squared the frame to start with the doors would have worked. I read all this drama over the doors mine is in it's 4th season and the doors work fine. In the spring I can crack the doors and let in some cool air and they will stay in place can't do that with a swinging door a gust of wind would whip it around into the GH and tear something up. I mention to my wife that many people was installing swinging doors and she said I don't want them the ones we have work fine so if the little woman can slide them and no reason she can't they slide real easy. In my opinion the sliding doors are MUCH better than a swinging door that must remain latched or it will be tore off by the wind.

I do not have a HF but I would think you could lower the frame and guide bar down to the ground and fill in the top part with lexan or polycarbonate. You may have to buy some metal strips at HD to make a new frame. We lowered the door on my greenhouse and put lexan at the top. See My Page.

Peggies you are now on the blacklist - pockets are the "doors du jour" on Houzz. I have removed pockets and left in the frame for clear openings. If it is a steel frame you will need to expose the side to unscrew the track, as your steel studs are mounted integral with it. If the swing door latch is against the pocket frame, I suppose you could get away with just a jamb, but if it's the hinge side you will need 1 or 2 trimmer studs. The swing door will be smaller than the nominal pocket door slab size in any case.

You cannot convert an exterior inswing to an outswing later; different threshold, jambs/stops, hinges. I guess you could if you want to tear all of that out and start over. For an open patio, it will have to remain closed, unless you like bugs or those curtain screens and want it flailing in the wind. When opening, you have to hold on to the door handle so it doesn't fly open or the wind catch it. We were warned about the wind thing with our new swing-out doors. Hopefully the wind will not be too bad since the doors open out unto a screened porch, but I plan to have some sort of soft pouf like thing for a door stop in case the doors do get away from us. They will be placed against the brick walls where the doors will open out to. Now to find something! Or I could use these $$$ or make something like THIS without the rope. Should be easy to sew up triangles and stuff with sand. Certainly not $70 worth! They can also be used to keep the door open without worrying that they will slam shut.