With home renovation and construction season upon us, architects, builders and remodelers can direct customers looking to remodel their homes or build a new residence toward the latest design trend that helps create a luxury dream home: large sliding-door installations.
Large sliding glass doors have five main benefits:
They eliminate the need to build up or out.
Homeowners are always requesting renovations to help open up their homes. Rather than building up or out, which usually results in the loss of land and extensive remodeling timelines, builders can suggest adding floor space to any home with large window and door openings.
Large openings — both lift-and-slide or multi-slide — create an impression of spaciousness in a room without eliminating any outside area or adding unnecessary height to a home. Offering installation of a large sliding glass door to a home, versus adding on, also reduces the likelihood of having to deal with zoning laws that may disrupt renovation plans.
They create a connection to nature.
Whether a customer is looking for a simple way to step out to a patio or wants to fill their home with more daylight, the expansive openings of sliding doors offer a solution to both with an enhanced view of the outdoors from a kitchen or living room.
For the homes already built around nature, these sliding doors are a natural addition, as they expose the outdoors and create a seamless transition from the inside of a home to the outside area. However, they can also solve the problem for homeowners in urban areas looking to create that indoor and outdoor experience, simply by opening up a wall.
They are energy efficient.
Whether the home is in a warmer climate or colder one, a large sliding door installation can help decrease energy and heat costs. Large windows bring in natural light, which decreases the amount of time that lights need to be on inside a home, thus lowering electricity bills.
For homes in colder temperatures, large window openings can bring in natural heat if they are positioned in the right direction and are thermally protected, cutting down on a homeowner’s heat costs.
Especially with extensive remodeling and construction projects, the idea that these large window and door openings can help lower utility bills make them an extremely appealing investment for homeowners.
They’re easy to use and maintain.
The easy-to-open functions of lift-and-slides and multi-slide doors make them appealing for low-maintenance homeowners. The levers and wheels lift a sill with little effort, so anyone can open the 800- to 1,000-pound doors with ease.
These doors also require little to no upkeep, and it can be years before a repair is needed — making them an ideal buy for the busy homeowner.
Combining the best of time-tested design and production quality-control practices with state-of-the-art robotics and automation for precision and repeatability ensures high-quality doors, windows and skylights.
They work with either traditional or contemporary home designs.
Whether a customer is looking for that futuristic feel, or wants to spruce up a more traditional home, both can find their ideal look with different sliding door material options.
Wood lift-and-slides offer that old-fashioned look, and make the doors feel like they are furniture completing a room.
Aluminum lift-and-slides give a home a contemporary finish, perfect for the customer looking for an innovative way to make their space feel luxurious. Homeowners can also use a combination of both materials to add additional character to their homes through durable, long-lasting large sliding doors.
By: Michael O’Brien
President and CEO of the Window & Door Manufacturers Association.
Webinar: Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification
Understand the benefits of window, door and skylight certification and how certified products can enhance your projects.
Webinar: Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification
The Understanding Window, Door & Skylight Certification webinar is designed to help architects and remodelers understand the benefits of window, door and skylight certification and how certified products can enhance their projects.
