From the publishers of Environmental Building News and Fine Homebuilding Home » Community » Green products and materials I've been looking at a configuration for a 12' wide opening that we'd like to make into a glass wall. Nana is the brand everyone is familiar with but preliminary pricing is running $1300 a linear foor PLUS a substantial installation charge (they will actually discount the doors by 10% to 'help' with installation cost (!) Marvin has their new Scenic Door system There are other suppliers such as Panoramicdoors DOT com that offer products at a significantly lower price (50%) but I can only find limited feedback and some (Yelp) reviews are not positive All of these systems will require substantial structural changes (require L/720)What creative options have you come up with to allow a folding wall system that does not involve selling a kidney.Any feedback on the aforementioned products? Tags: Green products and materials Other Questions in Green products and materials

HVAC considerations for Cathedral ceilings in Climate zone 3? Air conditioning for a radiant heated home? HTP Phoenix Light Duty paired with Lifebreath Clean Air Furnace (downdraft) Minisplit duct in unconditioned space Johns Manville Attic Pro and Insulweb?During the house planning process, more and more households decide on practical lift-and-slide doors. Not without reason – they fit perfectly into any room and provide excellent thermal insulation. The cost of a door can vary greatly, depending on different components. For example, the material and glazing costs can make the difference between simple low-cost models and premium class systems. provides lift-and-slide doors for every living room. Material Selection determines the Cost of Lift-and-Slide Systems The cost of lift-and-slide doorways depends a lot on the material that is used. The following materials are considered standard nowadays:AluminiumWoodWood-Aluminium compositeuPVCWooden lift-and-slide doors differ in cost compared to uPVC doors.

As wood is natural and provides a warm atmosphere, it belongs to the more expensive materials; uPVC on the other hand is particularly favourable because the cost of the manufacturing and processing is considerably lower. When choosing the right materials, one should not only consider the cost. The application area and the materials characteristics should also be taken into account. rav4 3 door for sale ukThe combined weight of the glass and frame can be heavily strained with large doors. garage door paint menardsIf the construction element is poorly protected from wind and weather then weather resistance should also be a focus.roll up doors pittsburgh pa Lift-and-slide doors are mechanically highly strained, which is why the use of robust materials will definitely be worth the price. hollow metal doors san francisco

The final decision for a type of material (robust aluminium or the favourable uPVC) – will depend on the intended purpose. Is the doorway in a weather-protected area? Or will it be a side entrance that is not easily visible? If the latter is the case, then the focus should be on security and burglary protection. windshield chip repair cost edmontonThe differences of material and accessories used can be seen in the final purchasing cost.sliding exterior doors toronto Keep the Cold Outsidesolid oak doors lancashire Lift-and-slide doors can be easily opened and closed with the mounted handle. When closing the door it must be ensured that the casement is perfectly engaged to provide the best possible thermal insulation.

Heat will remain in the house while the cold will be locked out. A lift-and-slide door is therefore also the perfect choice for modern, energy efficient doorways in passive houses. recommends considering high quality glazing in order to achieve low energy consumption. This slightly higher initial cost will lower heating costs in the long term. Multi-pane insulation glazing can be the perfect choice to sustain energy, because it already has particularly good insulation properties. This multiple layered glass improves the sound protection at the same time. Fig.: Sliding door white with transom light – lower cost version Premium Design and Perfect Fit Lift-and-slide systems can be integrated in houses in various forms.Balcony entrancesFront entrancesSwing-out variantsSide entrancesThe open design allows natural light to freely enter rooms through the door. However, especially with balcony doors, the panoramic view provides much more than light, it also visually opens space in rooms.

Therefore, deciding on the correct height and width is especially important.Meanwhile, white continues to be one of the most popular colours for lift-and-slide doors. offers a large variety of RAL colours. Aluminium and uPVC frames are especially ideal if you want to add colourful accents or even a wooden look to your chosen design. Tilt and Slide DoorsExterior Sliding Glass Doors MarvinUltimate Lift and Slide Door Marvin Ultimate Lift and Slide Doors will add acres to your floor plan. Available in stunningly large sizes and numerous panel configurations, it allows for a seamless transition from the exterior to the interior of your home. Marvin’s industry-exclusive hardware virtually disappears to give you an incredibly clean and unobstructed view with simple, effortless operation. View All Scenic DoorsThe doors on display in Scott Thurber's California showroom are huge: 25-by-9-foot slabs of glass, low-silled and minimally detailed. "People walk in and they're just blown away," reports Thurber, general manager of Associated Building Supply in Oxnard, Calif. "They say: 'That's what I've been looking for."'

Customers and contractors alike are loving big glass doors for a big reason: They help create the illusion of space in today's smaller homes by providing a seamless transition to outdoor living areas–areas that can be created at far lower costs per square foot than what's inside the home. While the cost of the giant panels of glass keeps most systems in the higher-end markets, interest has spread nationwide and is drifting down to the design details in average patio doors, which will see double-digit growth through 2012 and 2013, reports Window & Door magazine. This early in the game, the competition is tame relative to windows, Thurber says, so for him, big doors mean big margins. "I spoke with a couple of architects this morning down in the South where their outdoor living spaces are as big as the house," says Mark Fanelli, vice president and general manager of Royal Window and Door Profiles. And at 20% the cost of conditioned space, moving outdoors is a good move in a bad economy, climate permitting.

In May, the company launched the Opus Patio Door Series with a Super Quiet roller to make the transition easier, creating a 16-foot expanse of glass in the four-panel sliding door configuration. Multiplying the panels of a traditional patio door is only one way door designers bridge the demand for larger spans. There are several systems engineered to hold, move, and store massive panes of glass. Lift-and-slide doors have a large handle that lifts heavy panels like a jack so they push open with a finger, such as the Ultra Series TerraSpan Lift & Slide Doors by Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co.; Marvin's Clad Ultimate Lift and Slide Door; and the Premium Series 1000 Sliding Patio Door by Ply Gem Windows, which requires just 8 pounds of force to roll open a 550-pound panel, the maker claims. Backed by substantial weight, these types of doors seal weather-tight when shut. Other systems hang from a track. Jeld-Wen's Custom Fiberglass folding door system and the Bi-Folding doors by Panda Windows & Doors can be nearly limitless in length, while NanaWall Systems' Single-Track sliding doors are good for multi-angled walls because they track around obstructions.

Solar Innovations' new SI30000 Monster Wall System accommodates doors that fold, stack, or slide, and its dual-wheel trolleys can hold 4-by-12-foot or larger panels. "You can have your traditional slider, but that's 60-year-old technology," says Matt Thomas, director of marketing for NanaWall Systems. "In a typical two-panel slider, you only use half the opening. It creates a whole different emotional component when the entire wall opens up, because then you have connectedness." Doors with the latest technology fold accordion-style or hide inside the wall like a pocket door so the outdoor room integrates with the indoor space seamlessly. Typically, these configurations include an access panel that swings open independently so users don't have to push back the entire wall to let the cat out. "Gone are the McMansions," says builder Stephanie Denton of Denton Homes in Waukee, Iowa. "We're seeing people want more flexible space; if you make a multi-purpose room and add a folding glass door you can make that room larger if you need it."

Custom builder Mike McDonald of Oakland, Calif., calculates that shaving 1,800 square feet from a 4,500-square-foot floorplan and then adding it back outside could make the home feel as large but cost much less. Still, for the average house, large transitions don't come cheap. "When you create a big open void, you're going to have challenges and cost associated with it," McDonald says. The opening itself is a cost, as is the door, the installation, the engineering involved and, when required, the steel supports. "But that said, from a design perspective it's no more costly to put in a big opening system than it is to put in six panels," he maintains. For homeowners who can't afford Weiland Sliding Doors & Windows' 16-foot-tall liftslide, there are other ways to open up the view for less: sidelites and transoms, low sills, thinner stiles, and details down to how the drywall meets the door. The 5-1/2-inch stiles and rails are getting narrower and more contemporary on French doors as well as sliding patio doors, Thurber observes.

He also sees more drywall returns, where the wallboard butts the window in place of trim. "People are probably tired of the old ogee-lug look where you've got a lot of different steps and millwork, heavy casings, shadow lines, and detail on the inside," a change he attributes to a growing desire for an uncluttered view. Narrow stiles in Therma-Tru's vented sidelites, new to its Smooth-Star and Fiber-Classic Oak Collection patio doors, let in more light. The new vinyl Tuscany Series swinging doors by Milgard Windows & Doors are traditionally hinged but feature more than 30 single- and multi-panel configurations with fixed or operable sidelites. Simonton recently added a 10-foot-wide, two-lite vinyl patio door to its Impressions line for the western U.S. market and plans to go bigger. "We are seeing a continuing trend of homeowners in all regions of the country wanting to bring more of the outdoors into the home through large window-wall configurations, featuring combinations of patio doors," says Christopher Burk, product manager for Simonton Windows.