Large 2-panel patio door/french door options for a wide 130" span?

last year

I am replacing the windows in my home and also planning a kitchen reno.

We have a 130 inch span currently taken up by a roughly 96" x 80" patio door and 36"-ish window.

I would like to replace it, ideally, with one large 2 panel patio door that spans the entire width. (FWIW, I have had an engineer take a look on-site who is fine with this change from a structural standpoint)

I have looked deeply into multi-slide and bifold patio doors and have eliminated both as options because 1) multislide is expensive and requires thicker walls than I have (I have "standard" -- I think -- 5 inch exterior walls) and 2) bi fold is expensive and sounds like it will have issues with my home (engineer recommended against it unless I could find bottom-rolling vs. top hung which I haven't seen a vendor for, this house built on a hillside with a weird floor trussing system and is prone to settling).

I haven't seen a vendor who will make a 2 panel door in 130 that fits in my wall. The biggest I have found is Pella, who I think will make a 9'11" (119"). Most places do max 8'8" (104", which hardly seems worth replacing the beam/combining)

I would also consider a 3 panel french door, but that takes away from deck space when open + no screen.

tl;dr:

Renovating 1970s era home w/ original aluminum windows.
Looking for a door to span a 130" opening.
Avoiding top-hung bifold and multisliders (exterior wall not thick enough for multislider, engineer recommended against top-hung bifolds).
Fallback is simply to keep current patio door slider/window vs. combining.

Questions:

Any suggestions of vendors who make a 2 panel patio door that can span 130 inches?
Any suggestions of vendors who do a bottom-rolling bifold?
Experiences with a top-hung bifold supported by a wood (not steel) beam? Did you have issues over time?
Other options I should consider?

Details:

Location: Marin County, CA

Mockup:

Actual:

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

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Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
last modified: last year
Maybe just contact custom door companiies but rememember a 65' wide door will be very heavy so it needs to be done right and of course the exterior of the house will be affected since you will need a new header for that opening . I am not sure what you have now is all that terrible but maybe a center slider I mean it opens in the center not on one side might be nice
R Davis thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
R Davis
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the response! I am aware of the need for a new header -- we're doing all the windows (we will be combining some others as well), at the end we'll be doing a stucco skim coat/repair across the entire house.

Re: custom door companies -- do you have any you would suggest? I have already done some research on the major window providers (Pella, Marvin -- who I'm planning on using for the other windows -- Andersen etc).
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millworkman
last year
Look into Eurowall, Arcadia, Weiland, or Fleetwood.
R Davis thanked millworkman
R Davis
Original Author
last year
Thanks for the suggestions!

For posterity:

Eurowall has a max-panel width of 96" or a whopping 8' per panel (although there's some weight limitations that might make this not work for 2 panel applications). It looks like the 2 panel depth is < 5".

Arcadia has a lift-slide door (tsx6000) allowing up to 6 ft per panel (covers 12' total w/ 2 panel) and can work with ~5" exterior walls.

Weiland looks like they got bought by Andersen. Andersen has a max of 108 for a 2 panel with their e-series gliding door. So they're out for this width.

Fleetwood supports 76" panel width (6.3') with their 3 series sliders and looks like it'll fit with "standard" exterior walls.

Now off to get some quotes ...
oberon476
last year
You might take another look at Weiland, although bought by Andersen (maybe 10 years ago?) going by maximum size available for E series isn't the same as Weiland maximum. AW bought them specifically for the larger door market on the west coast.

Agree with millworkman that those are all good choices.
R Davis thanked oberon476

Large 2-panel patio door/french door options for a wide 130" span?

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

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Large 2-panel patio door/french door options for a wide 130" span?

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

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