ABOUT PATIO DOORS

Patio Doors are usually made of wood, but may also be made of fiberglass, aluminium, or steel. Patio doors may consist of simple fixed and hinged panels, they may have bypass sliding operation, or they may slide and fold. Slide and fold patio doors have the benefit that they can open the whole side of the room to the outside space. The leading patio door manufacturers, described below, have comprehensive websites, including online patio door catalogs, specifications, colours and materials for patio doors, and care and maintenance of patio doors.

LEADING USA PATIO DOOR MANUFACTURERS

Thermal Industries: Patio Doors. Thermal Industries, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was in the 1960s the first company to introduce replacement vinyl windows to the US market. In addition to vinyl window and vinyl railing products, Thermal Industries supplies a range of energy-efficient vinyl patio doors. The patio doors have fully welded construction, with aluminum reinforcement. Low emissivity glass is used to reduce heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter. Optional insulating gases such as Argon and Krypton may be incorporated in the patio door double glazed units.

Patio doors from Thermal Industries are made from rigid, low maintenance, poly vinyl chloride components. Specially formulated virgin vinyl compounds from Georgia Gulf are custom blended and extruded for each patio door framing component. Two specialist options for vinyl patio doors are Vycap, involving two colors of vinyl co-extruded into a single piece, and DreamWood, which is a wood capping process with vinyl outside and true wood inside the home.

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Jeld Wen: Patio Doors. Jeld Wen started in 1960 as an Oregon millwork plant with 15 staff. It is now a large door and window manufacturer, with more than 20,000 employees worldwide. Its range of doors includes wood and molded wood fiber interior doors, and wood, vinyl, steel and aluminium exterior doors, including patio doors.

Jeld Wen wood patio doors are available in mahogany, walnut, oak, hemlock, poplar, hickory, maple, pine, alder, cherry and fir. Fiberglass patio doors have the look of real wood, but do not warp or crack. Jeld Wen vinyl patio doors have color that will not chip or peel, and never needs painting. Optional low-E glass increases the energy efficiency of the patio doors. Grilles may be provided between the layers of glass to add visual interest to the patio door without incurring any maintenance. Jeld Wen vinyl patio doors have a lifetime warranty.

Masonite: Patio Doors. Masonite has been making exterior and interior doors, including patio doors, for more than 80 years. It has its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, and has more than thirteen thousand employees worldwide. The section of its website dealing with external doors is organized into the following parts: Fiberglass Entry Doors, Steel Entry Doors, Patio Door Systems, Finishing Instruction, Adjustable Steel Door Frames, Royal Mahogany Entry Systems, Specialty Glass, and Technical Specifications. Masonite Patio Doors are available in both fiberglass and steel.

Masonite patio doors feature composite-backed sills. This avoids rot, and enables the bottom of the sill to the sealed firmly to the foundation, preventing water intrusion. The patio door vinyl jambs are pre-finished white, never rot, and do not require maintenance. Wood frames are available if preferred. Thermal astragals with locking flush bolts and rubber boots seal off the elements.

Simpson: Patio Doors. Founded in 1890, Simpson is one of the oldest forest product companies in the Pacific Northwest. Its converting facilities are in Tacoma and Southwest Washington. It subsidiary Simpson Door Company manufactures a wide range of exterior and interior wooden doors, including patio doors. Its exterior and patio doors include: Mastermark Collection, American Red Oak, Mahogany Collection, Performance Series, and Craftsman Collection. Simpson also supplies wrought iron doors and impact-resistant doors. Glazed leaded inserts are tripled glazed to reduce heat loss.

Simpson offers the following wood options for patio doors: Douglas Fir, Mahogany, Western Hemlock, Eastern White Knotty Pine, Poplar, Maple, Red Oak, Cherry, and Knotty Alder. It presents a wide range of glass options for patio doors, with privacy ratings shown from 1 to 10. These include Sable, Screen Dot, and Cross Reed.

Note: We are grateful to those websites that are placed above the line for promoting Abacus Construction Index on their front page.

OTHER PRODUCTS RELATED TO PATIO DOORS

You may also like to visit our USA product guides on: Door Hardware, Folding Doors, French Doors, Glass Doors, Security Doors, and Sliding Doors.

CONSTRUCTION PRODUCT DIRECTORIES

We recommend the following professional construction directories, which include standard specifications, manufacturers' specs, and CAD details: 4Specs at www.4specs.com, Arcat at www.arcat.com, Arcom at www.arcomnet.com, Reed at www.reedfirstsource.com, Sweets at www.sweets.construction.com.

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Door Product Guides: Back Doors, Bifold Doors, Cabinet Doors, Closet Doors, Country Doors, Dog Doors, Door Bells, Door Chimes, Door Handles, Door Hardware, Door Hinges, Door Knobs, Door Knockers, Door Locks, Entry Doors, Exterior Doors, Fireplace Glass Doors, Folding Doors, Frameless Shower Doors, French Doors, Front Doors, Garage Doors, Garage Door Springs, Garage Door Openers, Glass Doors, Glass Shower Doors, Interior Doors, Overhead Doors, Patio Doors, Pet Doors, Pocket Doors, Screen Doors, Security Doors, Shower Doors, Sliding Doors, Sliding Glass Doors, Storm Doors, Wood Doors.

Other recommended portals: Archbone, Building Design, Homeone Australia, Lighting Directory, Sapling, Stone Network.

Publisher: Abacus Construction Index is a professionally edited directory of recommended construction websites, published by Extonet Ltd. It is financed only by Google advertising; no payment is received from included websites.