Nancy and Others: I have also been researching what to replace my great room sliding glass doors with (one 6 ft wide and two 9 ft wide). Here it is, already December and I haven't made a decision! We bought the house in 06 and these are the orig that came with the house. I spent last winter stuffing kitchen towels in between the sliders with a spatula. Not the most attractive thing for the room company walks into. Originally, I thought of going with french doors but the prices quoted were so outrageous and since we don't plan on staying here more than 3 or 4 more years (as it is, we'd take a bath if we sold now with home prices as low as they are now and we wouldn't be able to get what we paid for it), I don't know if it would be wise to invest that much money. I'd been thinking of going the sliding door route once more. Someone above said french doors are tighter than sliders and thoughts of all those kitchen towels between the sliders last winter have me shifting back to french doors. I also want the blinds for the same reason you do....five dogs (3 pugs and 2 shi tzus). One thing I've learned talking to people at Home Depot and Lowes....the town I live in won't sign off on french doors that swing out. In the south, like Florida, they are preferred because of hurricanes pushing open doors that swing in, however, they are not permitted here. I assume it has something to do with snow and ice on the outside preventing exit in case of an emergency. I guess your posting was a couple of years ago so it may be too late to say to check with your building dept first. I'm curious to hear what you installed and how happy you are with it. Daisy

I personally think the Sunrise slider is nicer than that the Provia in this comparison. The Hinged patio or French equivalent of the Provia door would be more expensive as a standard when compared to their slider variant. Most folks have the idea that the French is a more premium door than a slider but the slider works better for most people because it does not encroach into the roof vs. and Inswing French and it has a screen as a standard whereas an Oustswing will not.

Decent quality sliding - or folding sliding doors - will do the job and last more than 15 years. Of course you have to fit them properly for a good seal so choose an experienced fitter, a specialist fitter or buy a door that can be fitted by the manufacturer. As with anything, you get what you pay for. Untreated softwoods are likley to warp over time so treated woods, hardwoods or metal doors will perform well over a longer period.

I have a patio door with a single sidelight the same width as one of the patio doors. It looks like a 3 panel setup but only two of the doors open. I think they are 36" wide but would have to double check. So a bit wider that your existing opening. Looks similar to the door in the picture but i have two doors that open.