The newer doors have a higher threshold to prevent water and air from getting i to your home whicch means you have to step over it. . I dont install anything flush with the sub floor. Your contractor did nothing wrong.

You could ask your contractor to refer you to the code that he was following.

Installation instructions for my new slider showed it being installed directly on the subfloor or over a sill pan attached to the subfloor. The door that was removed was installed directly onto the subfloor, too (slab). I would be annoyed, too, if I had to step over a 2 1/2 inch threshold. Is this a 2 1/2 inch step from the interior side? You can likely find the installation instructions for your particular make/model door online.

Thanks both for the replies. Yes, 2 3/8" is the height from the interior side. The installation guide for that door is not explicit but I found a number of other door installation PDFs that seem to imply installation on the subfloor, and doing a quick google image search of "sill sliding door detail" shows most on the subfloor w/ finished wood floor brought up butted to the frame of the door. https://www.google.com/search?q=sill+sliding+door+detail&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwir7oXrhqTMAhVMcj4KHRJCCgUQ_AUIBygB&biw=1275&bih=629

Jeld Wen installation PDF

http://9dc159b43a66b1fe0a49-bd2073f7c8dbd16f36eed639782493f0.r48.cf1.rackcdn.com/JII015.pdf

I think I'm going to send these to my contractor and likely have someone else come take a look. I hate that I'm even considering having a change made but the lip seems awfully high and with young kids and an aging mother in law I don't know that it will work.

Thanks again

Mike

Can someone please explain the need for raising the sill as the OP's contractor did?

We still do not know that he did. Pictures would help. Without something to prove me incorrect, I assume (bad word I know) that he has a set up up like this.

" ... for this new door they built up the [sub]floor to be even w/ the finished wood floor and installed on top of that."

Here are a few photos. I have to say I'm very intrigued by the feedback, seems as tho at least three pros agree with the install and all agree that increased threshold height is becoming more standard? (This is somewhat of an odd trend I think in that tripping and ease of use would seem to be of high prority to most people I would think, marvin has a low profile option on their doors so it's not an unusual idea). Anyway, I'm rethinking things a bit after the feedback. Is there a flashing or sealing reason that the subfloor install would not make sense for a new door? I did a quick look but I haven't been able to find a door with a similar thickness yet (most seem to be in the 1 1/2" range, but I don't know a lot of manufacturers).

Anyway, when we first saw the install the height seemed awkward to our family so that's the only reason this has come up as a discussion. I am now more interested in the sill detail of this, so if we take

the height out of consideration and we compare the flashing methods on the sill, I just have this thinking that with the sill flat and even with finished floor that any moisture that finds its way below the door frame has more potential to seep inside than if the door sat lower with the butyl tape molded to the inside part of the sill? Doing a bit more googling I came across standard ASTM E2112-07 and article "flash in the pan" but don't know any more about it.

Interesting discussion for sure. The door is provia endure.

Thanks again. Mike

Yes jelly but still need to see pics as that really does seem like something is off.

Just saw my previous photos didn't come thru....hope these work.

The casing is still needing to be done and some trim along the floor where you can see the added wood and butyl flashing.

Can you look up the residential building code for your area to see if your threshold height is within required limits? I don't think that height would fly in my area, thought it is difficult to tell how high the exterior measurement is from your photo.

That's crazy.

Wow, I've heard of high water french doors, but have yet to see one. That is incredibly tall. I'm agile but would definitely dump a platter of steaks someday with that threshold. This is not a typical off the shelf door unit (at least where I'm from). I would have installed the door in a pan, on top of sub floor, but not until after the high frame red flag was mentioned to the customer. Long story short, it could have been installed onto the sub floor to save a little bit, but the door is designed just as it looks. Typical off the shelf sliding french doors around our parts only rise about 3/4" over the finished floor, depending on the interior floor material. (ADA for exterior patio door entry is still 3/4 max height I believe)

I agree completely with Legacy, the contractor may not have done anything incorrectly although he certainly did not do you any favors.................

Who selected the replacement door?

The door was presented as an option by the contractor and showed us a brochure and spoke about how well made they were so we didn't get to see the height in person. Had the door been installed on subfloor this may not have come up....we'd only be seeing a 1 5/8" high threshold.

I took a look and we are under the 2012 international codes and for sliding doors the max height was 7 3/4" to an exterior step I believe so I do think it is too high.

I had a lot of faith and confidence in the contractor after seeing some of their previous work but now I'm very uneasy about a number of things that have been done. The siding is being replaced as well with hardie plank and they've installed trim boxes with j channel around penetrations and at a louver. Taking 2 secs to look up the hardie best practices I'm not so sure this is the best way to do this. They have a supplement instructions for installation around window j channel which I'm not sure was followed here but why would you introduce this situation intentionally??

If you want things installed correctly, it must be specified and it's an upcharge. ;-)

Look at the manufacturer's photos again to see how high it looks there.

P.S. Their online photos do not show raised doors. Send them a picture to see what they say about the installation.

If you have taken the time to look up and read through Hardi's best practices, then you have done more than many would take the time to do.

shame on me for expecting the installing contractor to do the same...they are listed under the hardie contractors so I would expect them to have seen that document or the install doc. It takes 30seconds of navigating on the hardie website to find so it's actually very accessible.

Aren't Hardie referred contractors supposed to comply with Hardi's best practices for installation? What does your contractor have to say about the way he handled those pipes?

Enlist Hardie. As well as the door manufacturer.