replacing patio door ?

[pixxi]

Has anyone replaced their sliding glass patio door. We need to place out door, it appears the wood has started to rot and the door has expanded and won't shut all the way.

My DH isn't handy so we are looking at hiring someone. Anyone have experience on how much this should cost?

The local Home depot said $39 to measure the door, $84 to deliever and install starting at $459. Plus it would take 2 weeks to get the door in store.

Anyone replace on on their own? Was it difficult? My husband is a "it's good enough", it's close enough to being level". So, I don't want half *** work!

Anyone order a door for a direct ship from a store (online)? We are looking for a cheaper door, since we are not going to live there for the long haul.

THANKS!

 

[Judique]

Has anyone replaced their sliding glass patio door. We need to place out door, it appears the wood has started to rot and the door has expanded and won't shut all the way.

My DH isn't handy so we are looking at hiring someone. Anyone have experience on how much this should cost?

The local Home depot said $39 to measure the door, $84 to deliever and install starting at $459. Plus it would take 2 weeks to get the door in store.

Anyone replace on on their own? Was it difficult? My husband is a "it's good enough", it's close enough to being level". So, I don't want half *** work!

Anyone order a door for a direct ship from a store (online)? We are looking for a cheaper door, since we are not going to live there for the long haul.

THANKS!

Us, 3 years ago. But I'm probably not much help as we hired an installer.

I know it's VERY important that everything is level in the frame,etc and it had to be shimmed and adjusted quite a lot before it was completely installed. We also upgraded our door with screens and other options and spent about $1600 total. (I know you can spend a lot less and a lot more.)

I would hire someone, unless your husband can get some assistance from someone knowledgeable. It didn't seem to be a one person job, with the size of the door. Three guys worked on ours, especially when it came to placing it in the opening, my son was a fourth.

 

[sk!mom]

We replaced ours with French doors. Love, love, love them! We bought them ourselves at Lowes or Home Depot (don't remember which) and had them installed. We were in the middle of a major home remodel at the time. The on site supervisor did the install.

 

[lakelandgal70]

We replaced our sliding glass doors and all the windows in the house. We didn't do it ourselves had Window World come out. Neither one of us is handy and stuff like this should be done by a professional in my opinion. They did a great job!

 

[pumpkinmomma]

We replaced our French patio doors. We hired an installer and the install was $350. It took 2 guys to do it.

I would not do it yourself. Its very important to have it properly installed.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

May I recommend getting french doors instead of sliders? Everyone I know who has sliders ends up hating them because they always end up getting dust and dirt in the track and even a little bit can affect the way they close. We have french doors in our kitchen that lead out to our deck and we love them. My only other recommendation is to get vinyl or fiberglass ones--NOT WOOD! LOL. Wood is high maintenence and eventually rots. =( Good luck!!

 

[rock_doctor]

I built my house so i can't tell you how hard it would be for him but i would find the door your like, buy it and then wait until winter time hits to get labor estimates. Builders and handymen are typically desperate for work over the winter months so they do give better prices... If the building is sound (no rotten wood) then replacing an exterior door is not bad but you do typically find rotten sills and so on. So i would say it is moderate for somebody who regularly works on their house. If you have money then get it done by a professional, if you are strapped for cash then give it a try. He should try to watch every utube video he can find. It is a two person job, i have done it by myself and it was tough... Those doors are heavy. Also a good time to change the sliding door to a french door or what ever. Good luck.

 

[stitchlovestink]

May I recommend getting french doors instead of sliders? Everyone I know who has sliders ends up hating them because they always end up getting dust and dirt in the track and even a little bit can affect the way they close. We have french doors in our kitchen that lead out to our deck and we love them. My only other recommendation is to get vinyl or fiberglass ones--NOT WOOD! LOL. Wood is high maintenence and eventually rots. =( Good luck!!

We have an atrium door versus a french door. Atrium only one opens versus french both open...
I have to say I disagree. It depends on your set up. We have the atrium door from the eating area of the kitchen to our patio and with the way the patio is the door must swing open into the house which means you have to make sure and leave tons of clearance. We need to replace our door because the seal between the two panes of glass is broken so there is moisture between the glass. We are replacing the french door with a nice vinyl slider. Sliders now adays are so much nice than years ago!!! I am looking forward to not having to worry about a kitchen chair being in the way of the door opening. Our eating area is very substantial but we have rollers on those chairs and it will just be nice to not have to worry about the door clearing or bumping anything.

OP, I wouldn't rule out a nice slider if that's what 'YOU' like! There are lots of choices out there! Do a bit of research though and be sure to get something that won't rust or rot like vinyl. And as far as installation... DH and a friend of his will be putting ours in. His friend is a licensed contractor and does this for a living. DH helped him with some work last year so this is our return favor. We just have to buy the door. The labor will be free. I love it when DH barters his services for stuff we need!!! woo hoo!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would have an installer do the work. One they do this for a living and will take them a lot less time than someone who has never done it. Plus if something goes wrong their works is has a warrentee.
Lowes is running a special till the end of May depending on how much you spend. They will give you money back in the form of a gift card.

We had our front door replaced at our other house and the installer had the project done in 2 hours.

Dont forget that $35 measurement fee is then refunded once you purchase the door. Both HD and Lowes charge the measurement fee and then refund it to you.

 

[MissLiz]

We just replaced four sets of french doors with sliding doors. We had wood french doors and we had some rotting on a couple of them.

We searched forever (it seems) to find the best deal because we had so many.

We ended up going with Window World and for four sets with the highest level of low-E glass that they offer, installed was just around $4000. We could have gotten the plain glass for right around $3000, but we decided that we'd rather go with what we really wanted instead of what was cheapest.

It took about 4 weeks to order them, but only took one day to install and they were great! Very clean and friendly.

We would never have thought about installing them ourselves. It just seemed like too big a job for us. We've only ever done small jobs around the house.

 

[arthuruscg]

May I recommend getting french doors instead of sliders? Everyone I know who has sliders ends up hating them because they always end up getting dust and dirt in the track and even a little bit can affect the way they close. We have french doors in our kitchen that lead out to our deck and we love them. My only other recommendation is to get vinyl or fiberglass ones--NOT WOOD! LOL. Wood is high maintenence and eventually rots. =( Good luck!!

It must not have been an Anderson Door. If the outside of the wood door was properly sealed and engineered then it would not be exposed to moisture that rots the wood.

My Anderson slider is used daily and it takes 1 hand to open and close the door. The wheels are independently adjustable and even with being 20 years old I can still order parts for it. If you can adjust the door enough to account for the house settling, you ether had crappy design door or your house has structural issues or you had sill plate rot.

There is a reason why Anderson Windows and Door last as long as they do. Also look into the warrenty for the replacement W/D. Andersons are 10 years on the glass and 20 on everything else, transfer owner 2 owner and are NOT prorated. So after 9 years, the seal between the glass pains breaks, you get new glass or 19 years and 11 months the lock breaks, you get a new lock.

Make sure you get a experienced person to put in your door. The best way is to ask for personal referrals. If you are flexible with your dates, it helps with getting a better quality install. Noticed I said quality install and not cost. When the installer is not rushed, they take their time and do it right instead of rushing thru your job to get to the other jobs.

As with most things in a house, pay a little bit more now or a lot more later.

 

[Anthony1971]

It must not have been an Anderson Door. If the outside of the wood door was properly sealed and engineered then it would not be exposed to moisture that rots the wood.

My Anderson slider is used daily and it takes 1 hand to open and close the door. The wheels are independently adjustable and even with being 20 years old I can still order parts for it. If you can adjust the door enough to account for the house settling, you ether had crappy design door or your house has structural issues or you had sill plate rot.

There is a reason why Anderson Windows and Door last as long as they do. Also look into the warrenty for the replacement W/D. Andersons are 10 years on the glass and 20 on everything else, transfer owner 2 owner and are NOT prorated. So after 9 years, the seal between the glass pains breaks, you get new glass or 19 years and 11 months the lock breaks, you get a new lock.

Make sure you get a experienced person to put in your door. The best way is to ask for personal referrals. If you are flexible with your dates, it helps with getting a better quality install. Noticed I said quality install and not cost. When the installer is not rushed, they take their time and do it right instead of rushing thru your job to get to the other jobs.

As with most things in a house, pay a little bit more now or a lot more later.

I do not want to debate Anderson as it is a good builder quality product however by far not the best when compared to high end products. Wood expands and contracts and over time will warp, crack and no longer seal correctly causing rot. A product such as JELD-WEN makes doors that look exactly like wood out of fiberglass that will last a very very long time... however they cost easily 4 times more then Anderson... however you if you go with a plain fiberglass door you will have the same benefits with a much lower price just not the look of wood. I had Anderson windows on my house and trust me after 20-25 years they no longer seal... but again that is expected from real wood anything...

 

[seasheller]

We are in the midst of replacing our patio doors due to the first ones rotting out. Our house was built in 2001. Turns out two of our neighbors are also replacing theirs due to rotting. We had three different builders and installed three different company's doors. The problem seems to be how the siding was installed originally. Of course, our insurance says this is not covered.

We bought a door and my husband and his brother installed and took it out three different times (three solid days work). They have both built houses. Turns out the door seems to be defective, the company said they would "file a claim" but have not sent anyone out to look at it. We had the store pick it up today and hopefully we will get our money back.

Home Depot came out yesterday to measure and quote a price. Anderson double patio doors (no screen), installed, and with the repairs of the siding above it so we don't have the problem again will cost just over $5,000. After all the hassle - these doors weigh a ton - we will probably go with that even though the front of our house is now boarded up and will stay that way until they are able to bring the new one - 4-6 weeks.

This is not a "do-it-yourself" job because of the weight of the doors and everything has to be level. READ the reviews on the company that will be doing the work. Turns out the first door we bought has terrible reviews and the company pretty much doesn't warranty anything because they blame it on the "install". Good luck!

 

[lisaross]

We just replaced our sliding door. So eone on this board recommended Sunrise - never heard of them but did a lot of research. So happy I went with them - I got vinyl with the blinds in the glass - love the doors they are beautiful.. I think the total cost was 3500-4000

 

[monorailsilver]

Not a patio door but we just replaced our front door.

It was 40 years old and way past it's time but $$$$ caused our delay. We had someone do the door. My dh is handy but we knew there would be rot and if my dh did the door it would not of been done in 10 hours (minus the hour to the store to get some wood/supplies).

So I would say hire someone. Even though it costs more it will be done quicker!

 

[Pooh2]

My husband did it himself, replaced a sliding door with french doors (swing in door on one side). We purchased it at Home Depot.

About a year later, the seal broke and the windows had fog between them. HD sent someone out and replaced the glass under warrantee. We did not have to pay anything for the glass to be replaced.

 

[msmama]

I had mine replaced while the rest of the house was being resided so I don't remember how much it cost (my guess is about $2000 ish as I went with a more high end door and paid for installation).

It was a 2 handed, use your muscles job to open the old door, the new one slides open with a few fingers!!

I do know that they had to take off the molding INSIDE the house to install the new door and even the professionals didn't get it put back perfectly, so if that is important to you, you may want to discourage your husband, lol.

 

[tvguy]

I wouldn't do it myself. We did both ours last year, contractor's bid was $2,000 per door, with a $1,500 allowance for each door, a nice door would boost the price by what ever amount it was over $1,500, or reduce it if the door was less.

They really had to do a lot of work to get them plumb and level. So I guess I paid $500 a door for deliver and installation. Installation included removing and replacing and painting the inside and outside frame moldings

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We had both our sliding glass patio doors and our front door and storm door replaced by Champion a few years ago. They did a great job and we've had zero problems. We got patio doors with blinds between the glass and they are great. They have a lifetime warranty.

 

[Dizlvr]

Anyone replace on on their own? Was it difficult? My husband is a "it's good enough", it's close enough to being level". So, I don't want half *** work!

This type of person should not be putting in any kind of door