Patio door/ installer recommendation

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Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
I need to replace the patio door in my basement. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good French door model? The only caveat is that the size is somewhat nonstandard; the height is 80", but the width (jamb to jamb) is 65". They do seem to come in 64" widths which would be close enough.

Equally important, any recommendations on a good installer? Obviously if I had the time, expertise, tools, and upper body strength, I'd do it myself, but this looks like a good job to supervise instead :)
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Has you probably need to talk to Phil, and or a good building supply who does custom mill work. I don't know enough about the market in your area.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Bas, I had Reilly's Handyman Services do some work for me recently. They were efficient and did what I wanted in a timely fashion. You could check with them to see if this type work is in their repertoire. They got good ratings on Angie's List.

Roy G
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I've put 4 double patio door and two singles from home depot. All are steel and were the cheapest, I think they are Masonite. I forgot, one was a similar door from Lowes. I think the doubles were about 400. I needed help with even the singles. My wife and I did two of the doubles but it was a struggle. I had two guys helping on the last double and it was much easier. If you know how you might consider two teenage helpers. Getting the door in the opening takes muscle. Once a corner is fastened, it takes skill, not much muscle. I had to fill in around the last one. That wasn,g a big deal
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
We had our patio sliding glass door replaced last year with a type of french door where only one door opened. The glass was double pane with blinds inside the panes.

The most difficult issue to deal with was a fair amount of sill damage (dry rot) under the old aluminum door.

We had all of the work, as well as purchasing the door by Baker Roofing. We ended up with a better quality door than available in the big box stores. The best part was I didn't have to lift even a finger. Frankly, after watching the whole process, including sill and joist replacements and repairs I'm was happy to pay someone to do it all.

Baker is not the least expensive option out there, but they've done our roof, that door, and replaced all our windows in the past 4 years. We've been happy with everything they have done, the materials, the works. Even more importantly they've been easy to work with and can provide a number of options for each job. They are not not a one size fits all kind of company.

Whoever you choose I hope it goes smoothly.
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
BMC Building supply off the beltline does custom doors. I had Pella quote me a replacement for my door, was $12000 but wait, if you buy now, I can give you 25% off, oh, and we had a show in Charlotte last weekend, so I can give you the show discount of 20%, blah blah blah, if you sign today it'll be $7500. I was like "Nope" so called BMC and the door was $1000 plus whatever my installer charges. When I went into Lowes for a quote, it was about $3000 for the door plus installation. It pays to shop around and see what best price you can get. Not sure if BMC sells to general public or not, but worth a call.
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
Based on house window shopping experience, use a supply house like others have mentioned. At least for windows the price variance from box store to lumber yard was half.

The installation requires skill and is the less expensive of the two, so save on the door unit!
 

patlaw

Mike
Corporate Member
BMC Building supply off the beltline does custom doors.
Do you have a commercial account with them, or will they sell to everyone? Someone recommended that I get a quote for replacement windows from them. They were outrageous, presumably since I'm a retail customer.
 

tri4sale

Daniel
Corporate Member
Do you have a commercial account with them, or will they sell to everyone? Someone recommended that I get a quote for replacement windows from them. They were outrageous, presumably since I'm a retail customer.

I bought from them when I was not a GC but building an addition, so it was a major purchase, and prices were best of all between them, Lowes and Guy C Lee. I don't think I've ever formally set up a commercial account with them, don't buy that often as most of what I do is smaller jobs and easier to get stuff from the BORGS.
 

Bas

Recovering tool addict
Bas
Corporate Member
BMC Building supply off the beltline does custom doors. I had Pella quote me a replacement for my door, was $12000 but wait, if you buy now, I can give you 25% off, oh, and we had a show in Charlotte last weekend, so I can give you the show discount of 20%, blah blah blah, if you sign today it'll be $7500. I was like "Nope" so called BMC and the door was $1000 plus whatever my installer charges. When I went into Lowes for a quote, it was about $3000 for the door plus installation. It pays to shop around and see what best price you can get. Not sure if BMC sells to general public or not, but worth a call.

That's good to know. Obviously I looked at what Lowe's and Home Depot sell, but the selection was pretty small. Always best to go with a supplier who caters to professionals. If they don't sell to consumers I'd have the installer order it - all the more reason to get a good installer.

Just remember the iron triangle; fast, good, cheap. Pick 2. Cannot have all three as a rule.
So true. This is definitely not something to cut corners and save a hundred bucks. If you have to redo it because of poor materials or shoddy installation....

Thanks everyone for the input!
 
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