Your Toronto home may already have patio doors that are ready to be replaced, or you may have just installed a patio or built a deck, and now you want to replace that simple but functional back door. It’s also possible that you are having a new home built for you, and want to select patio doors that will fit the design of your home but be practical as well. With today’s exterior door and window technology, it is possible to have a full-sized patio door that is nearly as good a barrier against the elements as a well-insulated, solid wall. But there are a lot of options on the market, and choosing the right patio doors can seem like a daunting task.
To narrow down your list of choices, start with a little thought about what you want to accomplish as well as how you want your patio doors to look and function.
Patio doors are a Smart Choice for Your Toronto Home
There will obviously be more to choosing your new patio doors than simply finding a picture in a catalog and saying “Those will do.” To find the best patio doors for your Toronto home, consider the following.
- Space – Do you have room for something other than standard patio doors or will you have to go with “sliders?”
- Design – If you do have the space, will you be better suited with French doors or accordion doors?
- Durability – Will your doors have to withstand a lot of abuse from kids, weather, or a stray baseball?
- Energy efficiency – Big chunks of glass let in a lot of sunlight, and heat right along with it. How well will your patio doors insulate against it?
Depending on the design of your home, French doors may be cheaper and easier to maintain than a traditional sliding glass patio door. They can be configured to open either inward or outward, and generally insulate against the elements better than glass patio doors as well. If you have enough space for French doors, you could even configure them to open inward and include sliding screens or storm doors. Your preferences will play a big part here, but that will be only one small factor.
French doors are beautiful, stylish additions to any patio, but you may want to consider the added luxury of accordion-style sliding doors that can be opened much wider than the standard width of either French doors or traditional sliding patio doors. They can, in essence, let you transform an exterior wall into a large opening to the outside for entertaining, or just enjoying a warm summer night from the comfort of your couch.
Modern glass patio doors are pretty tough. They can easily withstand the abuse most kids are capable of, but might have a harder time with tree limbs thrown around by hurricane-force winds, or even a pebble launched from the lawnmower. At some point, your patio doors may have to shrug off a stray baseball, and will probably be fine, but if you know your patio doors are going to see some abuse, make this one of your main deciding factors when choosing the right doors for your home.
Deciding Factors for Choosing Patio Doors
As mentioned before, big glass patio doors let in a lot of sunlight, which is great for a home design that is complimented by natural light. But how much of that solar energy is passing through to become heat? This may be totally okay during the late autumn and winter, but is it going to turn your home into an oven when it starts to get hot outside? Fortunately, there are several styles of energy-efficient patio doors available for your consideration. These multi-pane doors have two or more layers of glass, enclosing a pocket of inert gas, such as krypton, that helps prevent the conduction of heat from one side of the door to the other. Proper installation of your patio doors will also help reduce your heating and cooling bill, by making sure no air leakage occurs.
Energy-efficient windows and doors, according to Energy Star, can reduce your heating and cooling costs by as much as 15 percent. The efficiency of your patio doors will have the most bearing on this if they have a southern exposure, which will allow them to catch sunlight nearly all day. North-facing doors will never be as big an issue in this department, nor will east or west-facing doors that only get direct sunlight during a limited period each day.
Your home’s overall design is a mark of pride for you and your family. The patio doors you choose should not only reflect that style but also serve you well in whatever capacity you decide. It would make no sense for you to install wide-swinging French doors on a tiny patio, where the radius of the doors has to sweep across the whole area. And if your back doors face the south, your energy bills may take a hit from the change in your home’s climate. Durability may or may not be a factor, depending on whether or not you have children or large pets.
Another factor you may need to bear in mind is ease of use. Big sliding glass patio doors can be heavy, maybe too heavy for a small child or senior citizen to operate safely. If you entertain a lot, and expect to be coming and going from the kitchen to the patio with your hands full of food, French doors with lever-style doorknobs might be a blessing. Accordion-style doors take some getting used to as well, for their reasons.
Someone in Your Corner in Toronto.
With the myriad styles, colors, materials, and configurations available for patio doors, your decision may not be an easy one to make, but chances are, you’ll find the perfect one for you and your Toronto home. When you are ready to select new patio doors, call the pros at Toronto Doors and Windows right away.
Get the right patio doors with Toronto doors & Windows!
