3 Negatives of Sliding Patio Doors

If you are about to replace your old living room door or pick the doorway type for your brand new living space, heading onto the patio, there are several options at your disposal, the sliding door being one among them. While sliding doors (glass material) let in more natural light during the day and are easy on maintenance, there are a few issues that prospective buyers must be aware of before zeroing in on the variety.

Operational Worries

The gliding operation of a sliding door sounds and feels sweet until the rollers wear out. The recessed rails are also likely to accumulate debris, which makes the functioning less friction-free and are also arduous to clean. If you don't have a vacuum cleaner, you'll have a hard time digging into those crevices and getting rid of the dirt and dust.

Contrary to popular notion, sliding the door to and fro isn't buttery smooth even with a brand new setup. It takes some force to set the door in action, which can be difficult when holding soused meat for the grill in one hand. With regular doors, just a gentle push is plenty enough.

Restricted Path

Sliding doors don't open wider; there's always a portion of the pathway that's half-blocked or obstructed marginally. This can be a hurdle when wanting to gaze at the beautiful surroundings on a warm summer day. The door's transparency is certainly no match to unfiltered view.

The lack of a double or complete opening means the pathway could pose an issue when trying to get large pieces of furniture inside the space, or when you're hosting a house party with a large number of people constantly moving in and out of the space. Also, the pronounced and larger threshold that renders the sliding process can be a potential tripping menace.

Transparency

Sliding doors are generally etched out of glass. Wood, metal, or other opaque substances don't bode well for sliding doors since glass seems to be a practical choice for the door's skating mechanism.

However, with glass arises the issue of transparency; which though can be wonderful during the day but could turn the other way around during evenings and low-light conditions.

The much appreciated unobstructed view will now lead to security issues. While heavy curtains and drapes can come to the rescue, those fabrics will obviously not match the levels of guardedness and safety hard wooden or metal doors offer. In fact with a predominantly glass frame, burglars won't have a hard time breaking through into the private space, especially if the door is not equipped with sophisticated locking tools.        

Glass tends to be a major component of all patio doors, but traditional doors offer room to add in some wood so that the segment doesn't look completely transparent when closed.

Every type of door has its positives and drawbacks. This article is in no way trying to discourage people from buying a sliding door. But if your patio doorway is the main entrance of your house, you better stick to traditional, more encompassing pathway setups. Talk to professionals like Perfect Patios for a second opinion.