We are on Lake Lanier and have built with Marvin Integrity Ultrex/Wood. We replaced a smaller house and one of the best decisions I made was to change from slider to french doors. The sliders on the old house were large and did not seal that well (although they were fairly high end). The constant opening and closing of these sliders became annoying after a few years. With the french doors, the opening is much bigger (when you open both doors) and they operate like a door so kids can use them easier. You're welcome to stop by and see them if you like. Let me know and I'll send my email address.

Look at Integrity by Marvin if fiberglass. The premium wood or wood clad doors would be Marvin Ultimates, Kolbe and Loewen. If your looking at vinyl there would be several good brands but I am not certain what manufacturers are available on the west coast.

Although wood windows look nice, they do come with a price. They usually arent as air tight as the high end vinyl offerings such as soft lite, okna , or sunrise. wood absorbs moisture and that can warp the sash just enough for more air and also rot the wood. Bear in mind low end vinyl easily warps as well but not the higher end. heat can also dry out a wood window. Also, wood windows dont have as much weather stripping as higher end vinyl or some of the engineering features such as an interlocking sill. Extruded products offer a wider variety of energy efficient features opposed to wood. integrity windows do have a basic wood interior. that said, with the right conditions, very very cold temps, ive actually seen very high quality windows have that problem. Its rare but it can happen given the right conditions. i can see it occurring in the chicago or dakota area.

I use the very thin round piece to open or close, and use my hand the slide the glass. They slide pretty smoothly.