Perhaps no single architectural feature is more emblematic of Western living than the glass sliding door. For more than 50 years, sliding glass doors have opened our homes to generous natural light and views, simultaneously giving us easy connections with decks, jeldwenfiberglassdoors patios, and gardens. Contemporary sliding, or gliding, doors have come a long way since yesteryear''s aluminum sliders, infamous for their stark appearance, sweating frames, and cold glazing. Today, a new generation of high-quality models offers energy efficiency, durability, safety, and contemporary style. Size and style Sliding doors come in a variety of sizes. In addition to the standard 6-foot, 8-inch height, they''re made 6 feet, 11 inches tall or even 8 feet tall. You can also buy three- or four-door-wide configurations that are as wide as 16 feet. And sliders are made with one fixed panel and one sliding panel, or with both panels sliding. Most manufacturers extend your design options by providing matching rectangular and roundhead transom windows. Some large manufacturers offer several sliding-door lines with a range of prices. You''ll find doors that have wide rails and stiles (horizontal and vertical framing elements) like French doors, and doors with thinner rails and stiles that maximize glazing.

People think finishing a door is difficult to do on their own. They worry that they could ruin the door. It''s clear that the new Classic Craft model was created to assuage that concern. The door comes with a red oak-styled grain pattern, detailed panels with shadow lines, solid oak square edges and an adjustable oak sill. The pre-finish is available in the two most popular wood stain colors today, according to Niderberg: natural oak and cherry. Maintenance is simplified, because fiberglass doesn''t have to be restained. All that''s required, he said, is a new polyurethane top-coat every three to five years. The pre-finished Classic Craft costs an additional at retail versus the unfinished model. Both models cost less than a comparable wood door and jeldwenfiberglassdoors come with a lifetime warranty. This was intended for those accustomed to buying wood," Niderberg said. "But we wanted to add some extra features and benefits. Chosen for the entrance to the NAHB Show Village 2001 D.R. Horton home is an elegant Classic-Craft fiberglass Raised-Panel door from Theram-Tru. Available in nearly 150 raised or deeply embossed panel designs that produce dramatic shadow lines, Classic-Craft doors give you all the premium touches you''d expect to find in the finest wood doors, plus more.

Rate for front entry doors has dropped from 18% to 2% since his company began specifying Therma-Tru product. Previously, almost 30% of the steel doors we installed had to be replaced due to construction accidents denting The doors. Such concerns are a relic of the past jeldwenfiberglassdoors as they Company also recently switched to Therma-Tru ''because it saves me both time and money, and I know I will never have to worry about callbacks. It''s a big savings jeldwenfiberglassdoors not having to replace or repair doors on a project. In a recent survey of custom home builders nationwide, nearly 37% of respondents cited Therma-Tru as the brand they use most often. That figure was more than four times the percentage of the nearest competitor. Quality plays a large role in the product-selection decisions of our custom builders and is often driven by our builders clients design firm in. Classic-Craft, Fiber-Classic and fiberglass Smooth-Star doors are light-years ahead - they offer a level of quality unmatched by any competitor.

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