Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

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427HISS
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#1 Post by 427HISS »

Hello, I'm wanting to replacing my sliding patio door, but I'm not seeing much in the way of quality ratings. For now, I'm not concerned about "Overall".... customer Satisfaction, on how well you phone call was with the salesman, did they return your call or email promptly, etc....

Just the quality of the door. I'm a member of "Consumer Reports" and I could not find any information about patio doors, so I emailed them and their replay said they don't test doors, just windows. WHAT ??? !

Anyway, if you know of a website that actually rates and reviews patio door's of various brands/company's, please let me know.

Regards,
Kevin
Last edited by 427HISS on Tue Apr 07, 2015 11:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Kevin,

What material options are you open to?

DP rating and U-Factor are probably the top 2 most important ratings with air infiltration being a close 3.

427HISS
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#3 Post by 427HISS »

Wood is nicer looking, but we have 4 dogs that scratch on the door, so we're looking at vinyl on both sides. We also want the grid panel to match our windows.

I agree with the DP, U and air infiltration, especially with a slider. I wish we had room for a French door, as they are heavier duty and seal much better, but we just don't have the room.

427HISS
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#4 Post by 427HISS »

I have looked at JD Power below, but it's yet again, total customer satisfaction, not just build quality rankings. One year they rank Simonton as the highest, then the next year their down to 6th or so, but I assume it's from total satisfaction and not that in one year, that their quality went down. The same happens to all of the top 10 manufactures, so that's where I wish that Consumer Reports evaluated patio doors !

Other problem's with the satisfaction ratings, is if homeowner's buy the lowest priced lock-set that is of poor quality, rather than a quality set, they review the door as junk, so now the company's ratings go down.

You add that to a DIY'er or a cheap contractor does not install the door properly and the door does not shut tight, slide hard etc,....that company again, does not do well in the rankings.

jdpower.com/press-releases/2014-windows-and-patio-doors-satisfaction-study

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HomeSealed
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Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#5 Post by HomeSealed »

427, I'd recommend tossing out the magazine and award outfits that you mentioned. One of them is bought and paid for, and the other has a very narrow scope of products reviewed, essentially only what can be purchased at box stores.
I'd concur with WoW's recommendation is looking at performance ratings like u factor, dp, and air infiltration, as they generally go hand in hand with quality in design and assembly. The top vinyl doors are getting u factors in the range of .26-.28 and air infiltration sub .1 cfm.

427HISS
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#6 Post by 427HISS »

I'll ask several common manufactures for that information and study which has better ratings.

If you're interested, here a list of "The Top 100 Manufacturers of 2014"
Good luck deciphering huh,.....lol :wink:

windowanddoor.com/article/marchapril-2014/top-100-manufacturers-2014

427HISS
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#7 Post by 427HISS »

Oh, better yet, Top 100 Manufacturers "2015"......

windowanddoor.com/article/marchapril-2015/top-100-manufacturers-2015

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#8 Post by Windows on Washington »

If you are looking at vinyl, stick to the often recommended brands on here. Soft-Lite, Sunrise, Okna, Polaris, Kensington Quantum II, etc.

427HISS
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#9 Post by 427HISS »

I haven't heard the other brands you mentioned, but the Sunrise looks very interesting. It does have 3 point locking system, that not only is better security, but to me it makes sense that it will seal better.

Can you post a link from here that has the recommend patio door brands ?

masterext
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Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#10 Post by masterext »

427HISS wrote:I haven't heard the other brands you mentioned, but the Sunrise looks very interesting. It does have 3 point locking system, that not only is better security, but to me it makes sense that it will seal better.

Can you post a link from here that has the recommend patio door brands ?

Okna has a 4 point lock. A solid 2 point lock is fine.

427HISS
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Patio Door Quality Ratings ?

#11 Post by 427HISS »

Do you have the Okna door ?

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