Oaktown, the salesman who was working with my mom indicated that these new doors have a better air seal /better efficiency than French doors. Of course, when don't sales people say what works for them? You're right about the track. RunnerGirl, I've also lived with no-good apartment sliding glass doors, but these were not the same -- perhaps that's why they've "upped" the name -- they want to separate them in our minds. BeautyButDebtFree -- love your name! Yes, I HATE the swing of my French doors. It's a pain and prevents breezes from entering the house. My mom agrees, and we're both excited to see how these doors work in her house. As for sizes, you'll have to do the math yourself -- after you're sure of your wall sizes. No one choice is going to be right for every house. Bottom line for me: When I went shopping with my mom, I wasn't prepared to be so wowed by these doors. I thought the choices were old-fashioned sliding glass doors or inefficient French doors. These new doors seem to have the best of both options, while removing some of their problems. I'd recommend that any home buyer give them a look before making a decision.

I love the idea and look of French doors, but we chose a four panel (Anderson) slider that opens from the center to go from our dining area into our sunroom. They may not have quite the charm that French doors do, but when both sides are pulled open from the center they really do open the rooms and allow easy traffic in and out when entertaining - almost like taking a wall down - and best of all there is no lost space in either room. My heart wanted to go with French doors for the feeling they evoked, but my head went with the sliders for practicality. I'm pleased with the look, and I don't regret the decision at all. BTW Ours went in a new build. Much as I love mine, I wouldn't go with sliders if I were restoring a period home.

Squirt silicone under and tape it down for a day. It'll be fine.

OK, they just left. I am happy to say this finally brings my thread to its ending. I hope this thread ends up helping other people when they encounter issues during their install. While I may of vented here at times, I was never disrespectful to the company providing their services. Even today after they were done, we sat around, talked and drank some water I offered before they left. This was probably one of the nicest group of guys I have ever hired, unfortunately we ran into a lot of roadblocks. Not only was there some install quality issues, but I had 5 panels of glass that arrived with large factory defects that was completely out of their control. When you combine everything, it just felt like a lot to deal with. I will post up some final images. All flashing was done properly this time, and they redid the exterior trim and added wood behind the trim as before it was just hollow without support which is why it started separating. I am now happy and just wish this could of been done the first time. I just left my review for the company involved and gave them 5 stars. While it took 5 visits to get all this corrected, they never disrespected me, and always responded to everything. That is a sign of a good company. I told them I never tried to be difficult, but I wanted to be sure I protect my biggest investment which is my home. Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way, I appreciate all of the support/guidance/advice your provided. Have a great summer!