Question 1

French doors vs. a sliding patio door — what’s the difference?

Accepted Answer

French doors are hinged and swing open; sliders glide on a track. Frenches give a wider clear opening when both panels are open and look more traditional. Sliders save floor space — they don’t protrude into the room or onto the deck. The right answer is usually about furniture: if a swing arc would hit a couch or a grill, slider; if not, French.

Question 2

In-swing or out-swing — how do I choose?

Accepted Answer

In-swing is the default for interior pairs and any exterior pair where there’s no covered porch railing in the way. Out-swing seals tighter against wind-driven rain and is what we recommend for west-facing exterior pairs in St. Louis. Out-swing also frees up interior floor space against a furniture wall.

Question 3

Are French doors energy-efficient enough for STL winters?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when they’re modern. We default to dual-pane Low-E glass with foam-filled spacers and a flashed sill — the same energy-package as a high-end window. The bottleneck is the seal between the two panels (the astragal), and we set it tight at install. A French pair from 1965 leaks; a properly-installed modern pair doesn’t.

Question 4

Real divided lites vs. grilles between the glass — which is real?

Accepted Answer

Real divided lites are individual panes of glass with actual mullions between them — the look most people want. Grilles between the glass (GBG) are a single pane with metal bars sandwiched in the middle — cheaper and easier to clean, but the bars look flat from outside. We install both; we’ll show you the difference at the measure.

Question 5

Are exterior French doors secure enough for a back-of-house entry?

Accepted Answer

Yes — multi-point locking systems (top of door, latch, bottom of door, all engaging when you turn the handle) are available on most exterior French systems and we install them when the manufacturer offers them for the door you pick. Combined with hardened strike plates and laminated security glass on the lower panes if you want it, an exterior French pair can be harder to defeat than a single steel door.

Question 6

Do French doors leak more than a single door?

Accepted Answer

Older ones do — there's an extra seam down the middle (the astragal) and old French pairs almost always sag and lose contact with it. Modern pairs with a dual-bumper astragal and properly-set weatherstrip don't leak any more than a single door. The fix isn't the brand — it's whether the install crew got the astragal seated tight. We do.

Question 7

Can I swap a sliding patio door for a French pair (or the other way)?

Accepted Answer

Almost always, yes — when both fit in your existing rough opening. We rebuild the jambs and threshold to match the new unit. If your existing slider is oversized (8–12 ft) and you want a different opening size, that's framing work outside our scope — we'll tell you at the measure and recommend a framer.

A French pair, hung true — in a single day.

What a French-pair install day looks like.

Certified by the brands you already trust.

Three configurations, picked at the measure.

When a French pair wins. When a slider wins.

What we install — and how we do it.

Pre-qualify in two minutes — without a credit hit.

What we do — and what we won't.

Clayton, Ladue, Webster Groves, Central West End, St. Charles, St. Peters, Wentzville, and the rest of metro STL.

French-door questions, answered straight.

French-door terms, in plain English.