Looking for Sliding Door / French Door Hybrid

7 years ago

I have an older home with sliding doors in back that I want to replace with something that is more energy efficient. At the same time, I also want to make it possible to open up the full width of the opening, to make it easier to move large items in and out of the home. I could go with a French door, but the problem with these is I do not have room to open them internally. If I get doors that open externally, this exposes the hinges to an intruder, which makes it easier for a thief to get in.

What I am wondering is does any vendor make a hybrid sliding/swinging door? If opening from the right side, inside the home, the door would slide on its track to the left side. Then - on the rare occasions you need the extra space, the stationary door and opened right door would unlatch from the track and swing inside the home as a regular French door would. This configuration would give me the convenience of a sliding door, together with the occasional utility of a French door that gives a very wide opening into the home. Does anything like this exist?

I am aware of the NanaWall system of accordion folding doors - which are gorgeous - but the price on these is ridiculous. For a small 7 x 7 opening the hardware alone was $7K. I think they are focused on the cost-is-no-object-this-is-my-dream-home market, and that is not my application.

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Comments (4)

dan1888
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I think you are trying to create a solution for a problem that will be extremely rare. You don't have anything that big now because there's no existing opening...just a sliding patio door. Let's say you wanted to get a large piece in now. Here's a video of Tommy on This Old House doing a patio door install. At 6:30 he has the frame in and installs the fixed and sliding parts of the door. This is a couple minute job and the last part of the install. Removing both would also be a quick procedure. And you'd have a very large opening for the rare time you'd need one. A couple more minutes and everything is back together. It's that simple.; You just saved a ton of money. It's not as 'ordinary' as opening two swinging doors, but it gets the job done in the moment with zero negative repercussions. Moving a big piece of furniture takes several or at least a couple strong people who would be capable of lifting the patio doors out and in again.

You can use this video to make your new sliding door wider too.

If you want an outswing French door the hinge pins can be locked in with a set screw for each pin.
AnnKH
7 years ago
Couldn't an intruder simply break the glass, instead of pull out hinges? I doubt an intruder is concerned about damage to your patio door.
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User
7 years ago
As dan mentioned out-swinging doors typically use security hinges that have a stud that prevents removal of the door when closed even if the pin has been removed by an intruder. The stud can be built into the hinge or added in one of the screw holes. The concern with out-swinging doors is water and sun exposure of door and damage from wind when open.

It is also possible to create a larger opening than possible with a sliding door by using an operable glass door that hinges on the edge of an adjacent fixed glass panel so that it folds back against the fixed panel. That adds 3 or 4 inches to the opening of a sliding door.

How wide is the door opening?
Isabell Bacot
7 years ago
Panoramicdoors.com home depot just got a similar product, but a little more expensive. I am actually getting ready to order one for my 9x10ft opening. If anyone has experience installing one of those, I'd love to hear about pitfalls.

Looking for Sliding Door / French Door Hybrid

Comments (4)

dan1888

AnnKH

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