I don't like Jeld-Wen products. Their wood windows have lots of problems with rotted wood and their vinyl windows are builder grade.

If you have a Sunrise Dealer near you, I would take a look at their patio door with mini blinds between the glass. Sunrise is a much better door. Has a top hung screen door, fiberglass reinforced, foam insulation filled sashes, heavy duty rollers and Cardinal XL stainless steel spacer. It also comes with a transferrable lifetime warranty that includes glass breakage.

Sunrise is also one of just a few manufacturers that offers a hard coat loE glass with mini blinds.

FYI, you cannot get argon gas with mini-blinds by any manufacturer that I'm aware of.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunrise Patio Door

Never used them. Most anything from Provia is of good quality however, the Sunrise doors are quite a bit less expensive and are also of very high quality.

The only thing good I will ever say about Andersen is that I like their patio doors.

I am not a fan of vinyl patio doors. I've just seen too many problems and service issues which I attribute to the immense weight and size, and this is regardless of manufacturer. I also think both the outer frame and the panel frames are way too bulky. A narrow profile vinyl door will have less frame strength and more problems. This is my experience and my opinion, and others here will disagree with me vehemently.

Explore fiberglass doors. I think you will be pleased with what you find. Even Andersen is incorporating fiberglass into their designs. Provia, Marvin, that's where I would start.

As far as the interior shades, I can't say. My instinct is based on the Pella slimshades, and Pella's quality has come down. I'm not a fan of interior shades. I don't blame you for getting rid of the vertical blinds. I have seen people putting up double cellular shades that they can lower at night for privacy. I like the cellular shades that not only raise from the bottom but also lower from the top. You can almost make a door like a window, letting in light but having lower privacy, and then when you want a door you just raise everything. Just some ideas.

Sunrise makes a very nice sliding door with blinds as does HiMark/Okna. Both are reinforced and offer excellent performance. On blinds, what I would avoid are the magnetic rope operators. Major PITB to operate. Those are both very high quality vinyl doors (I would not recommend a lower grade vinyl door like those at HD for the reasons that Window Dog stated). Provia does make excellent doors as well, but you'll pay big $$$ comparatively.

I have never had an issue with a Sunrise patio door. I would rate it as probably the nicest patio door on the market including fiberglass. Usually when I hear an installer state they have had problems with a high end product, it's because they don't posses the skills to install it properly.

2 we have looked into with blinds in the glass are the Pella Designers and the Eagle doors. While we are now going with a single french door, we were pretty set on the Pella designer for a variety or reasons. I think we will go with the Designer french patio door with blinds. They use the "triple pane" (realy just a dual insulated pane with a 3rd gasket sealed pane, so not true triple glaze) but still fairly efficient for a glass door. we many like the blind function and options. Also it is esier to get to if/when something stops functioning on the blind and is not sealed inside of glass.

Lzerarc,

Since you have decided to go with a swing door, did you have a chance to look at the Provia Doors? They are also available with blinds between the glass.

We see plenty of vinyl doors that are failing as well.

I would not lump the vinyl doors that were discussed in this thread into the same build quality category.

The vinyl door that we often use for our client has a Design Pressure rating of 60 and an air infiltration rate of 0.06. I cannot think of any fiberglass or wood doors that have similar data off the top of my head.

I agree, we remove many cheap vinyl doors that have failed. Some as little as 4 or 5 years old. I was recently contacted by a homeowner who had purchased several doors at Blue. The doors were so cheap and the install so bad that she is now having to replace them again. Blue told her there was nothing they could do about it.

As with everything, if you purchase a quality product and have it installed by a professional who is consciencious about his work and possesses the skills and knowledged to apply the most madern and advanced installation techniques, then it's extremely unlikely you will ever have an issue.

Thanks for the insight guys.

I'd agree that Provia or even Thermatru would be preferred for a hinged door.
On materials, every material has its pros and cons. A low end product will result in a less than desirable final product either way, just as a high end product/install will result in a favorable one.

After looking through this thread I was hoping to get some Sunrise Windows sliding patio doors with blinds in-between the glass, but unfortunately they do not seem to deliver in the SF Bay Area.

Could anybody recommend a similar product? The catch is that the sliding doors are for a RO of 95"x80" and a RO of 72"x80" with the 95" being the difficult one.

Thanks

There are quite a few manufacturers that offer this option now and days.

Do you want vinyl, wood, or other?

In vinyl, I would start with Milgard, Anlin, and Amerimax (sp?) on the West Coast.

I'm looking primary for a vinyl replacement, but the size of 95x80 might limit my choices. Milgard for example does not have a 95x80 Tuscany with blinds in-between the glass.
I'll check out the others you mentioned for an 80x95 with blinds.

Thanks

That will definitely be a limiting factor. Most manufacturers only offer them in standard sizes and even then, only in panels 3' or smaller ( ie: 5', 6', and 3 paneled 9' doors).

+1

Those are definitely a specialty item still to this day and are very often made in the standard width and heights as HomeSealed mentioned.

I talked to Milgard, Anlin, and Amerimax and all no dice.

Sunrise has my unusual but not too weird size with blinds in-between glass (or so they told me), but I can not get them here :/ They get as far west as Colorado.

I'm really grasping for new leads or some Colorado dealer and a trucking company setup perhaps..

What about Gorell windows, i thought they had shades? Also Polaris Windows.

I may be wrong, but I don't think that Polaris or Gorell ship to the left coast.

All the leads I had sofar are dead ends, this is getting pretty frustrating. Especially since there is a right-coast company that does!

I'm just hoping that somebody comes out of the woodwork with another outfit that is available out west.

Cheers!

In our last house we had the Pella slider with interior shades for 15 years. Never had a problem with it. Excellent product in my experience.

Pella does not put blinds in-between the glass for the 8ft door in the 350 series however.. :/

But thanks for the pointer.

Well you should consult a window repair expert. that will help you to easily decide which is best as they know better. You can get the brochure and actual windows. that will help you decide which one is reliable

Here is a link that might be useful: Window Repair Free Consultation

That is precisely the first thing I did, and they told me it can not be done. They tend to not look beyond the brands they usually install, so hence the public request for suggestions here.

Sam, shaunbennett is spaming the site. I hope you did not click the link!

I know this is an old post, but based on what i am seeing with a blinds between glass door, I don't think it is a great idea. Perhaps with a higher quality product, the mechanism would work better, but here is what I have going on right now with a Jeld-wen door from Home Depot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkmRtB-f5c

I think what happens is the air between the panes heats and cools and the clearance is more or less depending on temperature. Sometimes the blinds work, other times they stick. The overall impression is not one of quality and I plan to return the door and replace with a regular door.

The door worked fine in the store. But at home, it is exposed to big temperature variations, so I think this problem will happen no matter what. Also, there is already dust on the blinds. I think the blinds between glass idea is a clever gimmick, but not worth the hassle.

Here is a link that might be useful: video of stuck blinds

Sorry to hear they are doing that.

That being said, we have doors with blinds that are 10 years old with no issues.

I am not a fan of Jeld Wen and this further demonstrates why nobody would accuse them of being a premium window or door maker.

+1. I think what we have here is a poor quality, poorly executed example of this feature, rather than an inherent flaw in the concept of blinds between the glass.