The two new sliding patio doors belong to the same two product lines, one for replacement doors and the other one for new constructions. Like all Milgard products, these sliding doors come with lifetime warranty. Additionally, the Tuscany series also comes with glass breakage warranty. With Tuscany, it is possible to benefit from blinds between the glass panes, which are an excellent idea for increasing the durability of sliding glass doors window treatments that are so exposed to frequent manipulation.

For those of you who might be interested to know more about this type of exterior doors, here’s what we found:

Pella Sliding Patio Doors – Designer Series

Pella came with a cool innovation for doors with built-in blinds: the inside glass panes open, so you can change the blinds inside in case you decide for a re-decoration and you need another color or a different style of blinds. Additionally, these doors have an excellent energy efficiency, because they are available with triple-pane Low-E glass with argon, so they really help improving the r-value of your thermal insulation.

Here are a few parameters of Pella sliding patio doors from the Designer Series:

Jeld-Wen Patio Doors

Jeld-Wen patio doors feature double Low-E glass panes with excellent insulating qualities, both thermal and auditive. Optionally, the air between the glass panes can be replaced with argon, an inert gas with superior insulating properties. These doors have special locking systems which make them easy to manipulate and extremely secure when locked. Weather-tight and resistant to condensation and mildew, these patio doors are a good value for money.

Many windows and doors companies are picking up on patio doors with built-in blinds, as this is a practical invention which brings palpable benefits for homeowners.

Security features storm doors should have

Secure storm door lock guard: buying the strongest steel door available is nothing, if the lock can be easily forced. This is why it’s very important not to go cheap and get yourself a good lock, which has a strong lock guard. The lock guard is that movable part which comes over the real lock, preventing thieves from using a drilling machine to break your lock. It also hides the mounting screws, so your lock cannot be destroyed. Make sure your lock guard is made of stainless steel, as you don’t want to deal with rust whatsoever.
Hinges: the more durable they are, the better. The easier they can be manipulated, the better. For example, I’m considering to get more details about those stainless steel bearing hinges from Security Doors Online, because they are very resistant and in the same time very elegant, thanks to the metal cover which hides the screws.
Insulation: not so much a security measure, a good insulation is desirable though, because it helps you save money with electricity. Therefore, when buying storm doors, it would be advisable to seek for fully sealed frames ones.
Automatic door closer: many storm doors manufacturers equip their doors with this handy automation device which makes the door close by itself after you open it.

There are many storm doors manufacturers who take into consideration the security aspect. Larson, EMCO, Andersen, Pella, Shield Iron Works, or Weather King are only a few examples. For instance, the Weather King security doors are all made of heavy-duty 16-gauge steel frame with lock guard, they have an adjustable speed closer for smooth action, and they feature tempered safety glass with weatherstripped aluminum frame, for keeping wind and rain outside your home. The 7″ forged hinges complete with vault pins that interlock with the door frame, so burglars will have a hard time breaking your door.

Last but not least, when buying a security storm door, you could check that it accepts most standard double cylinder deadbolt and keyed knob or lever sets. That’s because you may want to choose your hardwatre by yourself and you want most of the models available to fit.

Andersen Doors Series

Andersen doors are grouped in three product lines, as it follows:

Andersen Contemporary Deluxe: these doors have an aluminum frame of 1-1/2″ and they offer several choices of handset finish, from brass to nickel and oil rubbed bronze. The patented handle release mechanism makes it very easy to switch between the glass and the screen. This line includes three products: two interchangeable and one fixed door

Andersen Contemporary: this includes four door models, two of them interchangeable (Fullview Clear and Fullview Etched) and two Single Vent Full-Lite (Clear and Decorative)

Andersen Contemporary Trim: these doors have an aluminum frame of 1-1/4″ and two of them are interchangeable, while the third one is a Single Vent Full-Lite clear model.

All Andersen doors have a height of 80″, unless specified otherwise. The window / insect screen benefits from a patented retainer system, so it can’t pull out of frame.

Anderson doors can be designed by the clients themselves: on their storm doors website, there is a facility to design your storm and screen door in three steps:

• First you choose the color of the frame. There are 8 colors: white, almond, sandtone, forest green, wineberry, black, terratone and bronze.
• Then you choose the glass: nine models are there for you
• Select the handle and matching sweep: six types of handles are available. The sweep can either match the handle, or it can match the door color, if so you wish.
• The next step is to select the mounting kit. Here Andersen offers you two options: the standard and the narrow mounting kit.

After you finish, you can see and print your storm door to go to the closest local Andersen dealer to order it. Within three weeks from your order, your door will be available. They don’t display a price estimate with your door, but this is probably because dealers have a certain flexibility for setting the prices, therefore you’ll have to ask at your Andersen doors dealer about it.

What Is Energy Conservation and How It Relates To Storm Doors

Energy is something that we use a lot. Some people already say we are using way too much of it, thus contributing to the green house effect and the global warming our planet is experiencing over the past decades. Energy conservation is a behavior which results in using less energy such as turning off the lights when we leave a room, or unplugging all devices when they are not in use.
Energy is something that we consume for heating our homes in winter and for keeping them cold in summer. Here, storm doors play an important role, as they help better insulating the house, therefore the exchange of heat between the interior and the exterior is reduced to a minimum. In this way, we won’t need so much energy consumption in order to be able to maintain a stable temperature inside the house.
Taking into consideration that about one third of the heat losses in an average household happens through windows and doors, you can easily see how important is to make them shut tightly and to seal them as well as we can. Additionally, we can install insulated drapes, blinds or shutters at the windows, and we can install storm doors over the existent ones.

Storm Doors Contribute to Better Insulate Your House

Storm doors are built in such a way that they are very well insulated. This is normal, if we think that they need to resists extremely bad weather conditions. This is their purpose in the first place. Depending on your budget, you can have them resists even to those hurricanes we fear so much. This does not mean that you have to stay inside, if the government decides to evacuate your city, but at least you have better chances to find your house intact when you come back. Taking into consideration all these facts, and thinking of how much money you can save by cutting down the energy costs, you can see that storm doors can be an option for every owner.

Storm Doors Buying and Installing Guides

Such guides for buying and installing a storm door can be found on almost every manufacturer’s website. They are glad to give you such information for free. It is good for their brand awareness. Additionally, many clients would find the installation process too com0plicated, or maybe they just miss the required tools, so they would buy the storm door with installation included, being willing to pay a bit more to get the job done by professionals. The most popular storm doors brands come with lifetime warranty, and they can be made of various materials such as aluminum, aluminum clad wood, fiberglass or vinyl. They can be insulated, and usually they are available in several thicknesses. Of course, storm door prices will be different, according to the choice of material. Some door manufacturers, like Larson Doors, offer custom design storm doors, so you can make it personal, in order to match the other architectural elements of your house. Their door series Life-Core, Value-Core and Vinyl-Clad cover three areas of price, in order to fit every budget. My favorite is the Larson Designer series, because it provides a freedom of choosing so many elements like colors, glass design or handles.

When to Think of Buying a Storm Door

If you are in the way of big hurricanes such as the one that devastated New Orleans a few years ago, you should consider doing something more for your protection, namely buying a storm-resistant door. There are many brands of storm doors and windows such as Larson, Pella, Andersen, Victoriana or EMCO Enterprises. Houses built in windy regions could also be better protected with storm doors and windows. As a conclusion, if you experience tempests at least twice a year, maybe you should consider buying such an exterior door for your house. It is better to be safe than sorry. Such security doors usually have retractable screens and resistant glass windows. Most of the times, the seller would provide you installation services, because this is very important to be done correctly, in order to secure your home against storms, water and cold. If you are renovating a house, either to flip it for profit, or to live in it, you could think of buying storm doors to replace the existent ones. This small thing can increase the value of a house on the market, so it is not to be neglected.

So, try to consider again all facts and make an informed decision if you really need storm doors.