Need advise on French doors

[Rat Rod Mac]

We need to replace the French door leading out onto our deck. Went to the door/ garage door place and they had both steel and fiberglass doors. Never had a fiberglass door before. Any of you had both and which one do you prefer? Steel will rust if not maintained. What are the draw backs with fiberglass.
Also, anyone ever hear of a door called Pro-Via? Any good? The doors can be bought with Krypton gas filled or Argon gas filled with high performance glass. $2,000 to $2,600 depending on which one you get. Any thoughts on this subject? Remember it's a French door, so you are in essence getting two doors, but only one opens. Thanks in advance. RRM

 

[WM75Guy]

I have a 3 piece set leading from the dining room to the back porch. They are wood. They have the built in blinds so you never have to dust them. We made the door open out to the porch. Here is during construction and before moving in.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

I have a fiberglass front door with two side lights and love it. No problems, better r factor than steel, no rust and doesn't swell or rot like wood.

 

[Snobdds]

I haven't seen how a fiberglass door holds up long term, I just know stay away from a vinal door. The sun on a southern exposure warped horribly on one of mine.

 

[Buppies]

Real fan of Anderson doors pricey but good. Have put them in two houses nothing but satisfied customer here

 

[RNeumann]

Fiberglass seven days a week for that application. We use steel for exterior applications that don't see a lot of weather and are not "seen." Like a man door out of a garage or shop. Or an exterior door to a utility room.

The difference in cost between the two gas types isn't worth it. You will never see a $600 savings in utility cost by "upgrading" gas.

Anderson is a top of the line product. We installed those in a condo project that was on the ocean. It was a construction defect case with the first doors failing. I've never used them since and didn't put them in any of my own homes. They are awesome but I've found other places to spend that extra money.

If your situation demands a high level of protection/seal- weather side of house, high winds, no overhang etc- consider a three latch type mechanism. Otherwise go with the fiberglass recommended by the local shop. I'm sure they are up on the products that are good (cost availability, quality) for your region.

 

[dragoneggs]

Good advice by Neumann! Good quality fiberglass with proper finish is nice. I do kinda like the weight/feel of steel at times though. Buy a name brand door.

Mac, not sure what you mean by "two doors, but only one opens". I have a two sets of french doors and on both, both panels open. One side is pinned but can be swung open giving you a 6ft opening vs. typically 3ft for a slider.

 

[polo1665]

Real fan of Anderson doors pricey but good. Have put them in two houses nothing but satisfied customer here

+1....We have three sets of Anderson French doors in our home, never had a problem, beautiful doors. Nice for moving big pieces of furniture in or out.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have steel double doors going out to my back patio. The patio is deep enough so that sun and rain never hits it. It has been good for the 7 years we have been in the new house. I had a steel front door on my previous house that after about 30 years I had to strip off the paint, sand down the rust and repaint. It also was cover so no sun or rain hit it other than the occasional pressure washing that I did on the front porch concrete to remove moss and other green slime that grew around wife's pot plants.

 

[Rustyiron]

I favor Fiberglass doors, the bigger issue is spend the $$ for the plastic frame (instead of finger jointed wood) for the jamb and finish trim. The lower portion of all doors really get heavy water from splashing off the surrounding surface. Paint, caulking and butyl tapes can't keep it all out forever and it stays damp (no wind or sun) and it may take years but it will fail. In an ideal world, all buildings would have a huge overhang (soffit) & gutters, the roof is designed for this task.