Two door with one frame or two separate frames? Are you going to get a 6 foot wide opening doing it the way he is suggesting?

Two doors with separate frames. Two frames. Yes we're going with a six foot opening. Thanks for any advice you may have.

2 doors with separate frames = 2 separate doorways mulled together. This does not equal a 6' opening, except during the rough framing stage. You will have 2 separate completely framed openings side by side by the description given.

I have seen the setup I think you're talking about (2 doors in 1 single frame to mimic the look of the patio doors). They took 2 doors and put a working latch & deadbolt on one and the receptor on the other. The receptor door also had a non-functioning handle and a slide bolt on the top & bottom for stability/security when the door was in the closed & locked position. You might be able to have a 3 point locking mechanism installed--check with your builder on this.

The big thing that stands out to me when you do this is that it is hard to get the same look of the patio doors. Patio doors like you get from Pella, Jeld-wen, Andersen, Marvin, etc all have a more sleek look because the glass sits in a low profile frame. Most imitators have a bulky plastic frame that holds the glass in place. In my experience, the plastic yellows (even with a coat of paint on it) and the plugs for the screw holes never line up properly. The closest I have been able to find to a door that looks like the real patio doors from the manufacturers mentioned above is the Plastpro flush glazed door. You may want to check them out. If you want to see photos, just ask--we used the Plastpro doors on our house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plastpro Flush Glazed Doors

Hi- thanks so much for all the info. I believe I was wrong when I answered. There will be one 6 ft frame with two doors. Don't know what I was thinking...not getting much sleep with all the decisions we've been making!

If I were you, I'd just use Reliabilt 6 ft. patio doors from Lowes rather than do this. They are $378 and you aren't going to get much cheaper than that. We just replaced sliders to our sunroom in our FL vacation house w/ these and other than the fact they have a metal threshold (which we're replacing), they don't seem all that different to me than the Anderson doors in my "real" house.

Reliabilt here

One 6 ft frame with two regular doors - I'm not sure how you would get a tight seal between the doors if they aren't intended to be installed that way.

I have a question about safety of patio doors? Does anyone know related to the original posters question, the safety of having a slider, vs. french doors, vs. doors like she is having that will have no frame in between them (like many people do for their front entry)? Would these to be easy to kick in as a burglar? I want the safest doors possible with the best look?

Purchase a quality brand double door with multipoint hardware as this would be the best hardware for your application.

Sorry to revive an old post, but I couldn't find the information I'm looking for.

I would like to try to install three separate doors/slabs/panels instead of an expensive all in one patio door unit with sidelights. We want a swinging door instead of a slider so why not just put a regular 36" exterior door with two matching door panels that don't open. The frames could be separated by a double 2x4 or single 4x4, eliminating an expensive top beam also. The only drawback I see so far is getting the interior trim to flow together.

What is your question then?

Is this a feasible alternative or will it create more issues. Has anyone done a project like this? How did the finished product look?

Should work fine but at the end of the day I do not think you will save much money over a 3-panel door by the time you frame three separate openings, trim, drywall, spackle & paint 3-separate openings. This is of course you are purchasing quality interior doors and not a crap brand from a box store or a basic steel/fiberglass unit.