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

We are on Lake Lanier and have built with Marvin Integrity Ultrex/Wood. We replaced a smaller house and one of the best decisions I made was to change from slider to french doors. The sliders on the old house were large and did not seal that well (although they were fairly high end). The constant opening and closing of these sliders became annoying after a few years. With the french doors, the opening is much bigger (when you open both doors) and they operate like a door so kids can use them easier. You're welcome to stop by and see them if you like. Let me know and I'll send my email address.

That stop at the top of the door frame is screwed in about every 8". The installer might have accidently nailed the top trim into the stop too. You can try lowering the door and lifting it out, but the spring loaded wheels might make it difficult if working alone.I'm not even sure you can do that with an Anderson. Roll the door over a credit card to "derail" it If you destroy that stop it is a cheap part you can get at your local supplier.

Conceptually, WoW nailed it. Not rocket science at all if you are comfortable working with hand tools and a screw gun. The only thing that I'd add is that the full removal of both of those panels can be a bit of a struggle at times. The door is designed without a lot of play in it (a good thing), which means that the panels fit tight and can be tight to remove after installation. There are also a few other hidden blocks and things that will impede removal that can really be a pain in the rear. There is a screwed in weatherstripping block on above the moving panel that is difficult to access in particular. You will also need to remove the screen which necessitates adjusting the rollers down on that, removing threshold inserts, etc... It's a few hours worth of work. If pulling the bumpers and removing the handle will get you the clearance that you need, it would definitely save time.