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

Design generally doesn’t need a license. In many states though, the term is state regulated and requires registration and testing. Georgia is one of those states. To be a Registered Interior Designer, you must prove that you have the education, tested abilities, and you must register with the state. You can call yourself a Design Consultant, or Room Stager, or any number of things to get around that requirement. You would need his specific wording of him describing his job to pursue that. Georgia prohibits anyone from performing residential or general contracting over $2500 without a valid license. When licensing is required and an unlicensed contractor has agreed to provide work – the contract is “unenforceable in law or in equity.” Electrical and plumbing are required to be performed by separately licensed plumbers and electricians, NOT a residential basic contractor. Only a fully licensed General Contractor can perform some plumbing and electrical. Any good GC would just hire the subs beyond basic reconnects anyway. https://sos.ga.gov/PLB/acrobat/Forms/49%20Reference%20-%20Licensure%20Comparison%20Chart.pdf He is in violation of GA requirements. And you are legally not required to pay an individual who is contracting without a license. Contact your local attorney general to file a criminal complaint over fraudulent representation. That goes into the public record, which should also be a source to check when initially investigating. Also file a complaint with the contractor board, as he will not be able to get a license with that on his record. https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/licensing/submit_a_complaint

I have never had a closet accessed directly from a bathroom so I have no personal experience, only professional. One client claimed space aliens planted the mold on the clothes and were going to return to earth in 58.72 years to harvest the mold, but I have no way of verifying that. We have questioned a Cladosporium, but they have opted to rely on their fifth amendment rights so it lead to a dead end. Our research has been hindered by funding and time constraints so we rely partially on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How wide are they? If they are tall but also thin, they may not slide all that easily because of the relative area where you will be pushing them vs their height and their narrow attachment width at the top. Are they actually 96"? The reason I ask is because my LR has "8 foot" French doors, but they are actually a bit under because they were meant to be full height exterior doors in an 8 foot ceiling. But the single 8 foot interior door and frame I am using the frame is slightly over 8 feet and will need to be trimmed to install. (Which obviously would not be possible with mirrored sliders)