Impact sliding glass doors
The biggest opening in most Florida homes, and the one that decides how the room feels.
X and O: how sliding doors are ordered
X is a panel that moves, O is a fixed one, read left to right from outside. Which panel moves is your decision, and it is worth making deliberately: it decides which way you walk out.
Viewed from outside
XO
Two panels, left one slides
The most economical configuration. Half the opening clears.
OX
Two panels, right one slides
The mirror of XO. Pick it based on where the furniture and the path are.
OXO
Three panels, centre slides
One active panel between two fixed ones, in the middle of the opening.
XOX
Three panels, two active
Two moving panels that meet at the centre, over a fixed panel.
OXXO
Four panels, two active
Common in large living rooms. The two centre panels slide behind the outer fixed ones, clearing about half the opening.
- X — the panel that moves
- O — the fixed panel
Specifications
How it works
- Panels and configuration
- Two, three or four panels; XO, OX, OXO, XOX, OXXO
- More panels means a wider opening, not a wider clear opening. A four-panel slider still only clears about half of itself.
- Rollers
- Tandem, stainless steel
- The single most common failure point in salt air. Ask what the rollers are made of on any door you are quoted, ours included.
- Sill track
- Stainless steel, or with a stainless insert
- Bare aluminium pits where salt collects, and a pitted track ruins the way the door runs. This is a specification worth checking line by line.
- Threshold
- Raised, or low and flush
- Flush looks better and is easier to walk over. It is also harder to seal, and usually carries a lower water penetration rating. It is a genuine trade-off and you should be shown both.
What to ask for
- Impact rating
- Large Missile — TAS 201, 202 and 203
- The Miami-Dade test protocol.
- Design pressure (DP)
- On the NOA, per model and per size
- The pressure the unit is approved to take.
- Product approval
- Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance
- The document that makes the unit legal here.
The exact figures come from the Notice of Acceptance of your model at your size. We give you yours with the quote.
Product approvals
8 product approvals on file for this type: the number, the revision and the expiry of each, with the document, filed by manufacturer.
Why the slider is the Florida default
Opens a whole wall of a room without anything swinging into it
The lowest cost per square foot of any large glazed opening
Direct replacement for the door that is already there in most homes
Large panels available, and getting larger as the market moves
Configurable so the moving panel is on the side you actually use
Same X and O language as the windows, so the whole order stays consistent
About sliding glass doors
Does a four-panel door open twice as wide as a two-panel?
No. A two-panel door clears about half its width and so does a typical four-panel. What four panels buy you is a wider opening overall, not a higher proportion of it. If you want nearly all of it clear, you are looking at bi-fold or pocket.
Why do you keep asking about rollers?
Because in this climate they are what fails. Tandem stainless rollers on a stainless track will still be running smoothly when a cheaper set has pitted and seized. It is a small line on a quote and a large part of how the door feels in year five.
Should I choose the flush threshold?
If step-free access matters, yes, and go in knowing that it is harder to seal against driving rain and normally rates lower for water penetration. We will quote both so you can decide with the numbers in front of you rather than after the fact.
Can the door be replaced without touching the walls?
Almost always, for a like-for-like slider. Widening the opening or switching to a pocket system is a different job that involves the structure, and we will say so at the quote rather than let it surface once the work starts.
Other types in the same line
If this is not the one you were after, these are the ones next to it.
Get a price for your openings
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