Choosing a patio door comes down to four decisions: how it opens, what the frame is made of, how the glass handles St. Louis weather, and what size fits. Make them in that order, because each one narrows the next.
The short answer: with about 3 feet of clear floor you can pick any type, and with less you should pick a slider. Then match the frame to the door, check the glass against the ENERGY STAR limits, and measure your opening before you settle on a size.
We are a Platinum ProVia dealer and certified installer in Earth City. You can pick any of three types from us: sliding glass patio doors, hinged patio doors or French doors.
A patio door is an exterior door with a large glass area that opens onto a deck, patio or yard. It is not for a window opening, a garage opening or a commercial storefront, where it is the wrong product. We install new patio doors in homes only.
A chart can narrow the choice, but it will not confirm a size. Only a measure of your own opening does.
How to Choose Patio Doors: Start With How They Open
The way a door opens decides how much floor it needs, how wide the walk-through is and how the opening gets framed. A sliding door glides on a track and takes no floor space. A hinged door swings on hinges like a front door. A French pair swings two leaves.
Three answers sort most homes, so pick yours to see where to start.
Which Patio Door Fits Your Opening?
Answer three questions. The answer shows a starting point and where to read more.
Sliding Doors: The Least Floor Space
A sliding patio door opens by moving one glass panel behind another along a track. Nothing swings, so you can keep furniture, a deck rail or a planter close to the door.
The trade-off is the opening. A two-panel slider opens about half its width, because one panel always sits behind the other. A three or four panel slider can open from the center, which leaves a much wider gap and a clearer walk-through.
ProVia makes its sliding doors in four lines: Endure, Aeris, Aspect and EcoLite. Endure, Aeris and Aspect come in two, three or four panels. EcoLite is a two-panel door. All four use BetterVue fiberglass mesh screens for insect protection and airflow.
The one chore is the bottom track, which collects grit and needs a wipe now and then, as Family Handyman notes. ProVia builds a water drainage channel into the sill, so the track sheds rain. Our post on the benefits of sliding patio doors goes deeper on why homeowners pick them.
Hinged and French Doors: The Widest Walk-Through
A hinged patio door swings on hinges, like a front door. It needs clear floor for the leaf to swing, about 3 feet. Family Handyman calls swinging doors a poor fit for spaces that cannot spare that swing.
People use two names. A hinged patio door, which some companies call an atrium door, is one working door beside a fixed glass panel. A French pair has two working leaves with no post between them, so both open and the whole width clears.
ProVia builds both from fiberglass or steel, like its entry doors. ProVia hinged doors come in custom sizes up to 8 feet wide and tall. Each comes with a keyed handle set and a deadbolt that turns by hand inside. The French door page covers the pair.
Bifold and multi-slide wall systems are a third family. We do not install them. If a wall of glass is the goal, a three or four panel slider is the closest door we sell.
Frame Material: What Each One Is and Where We Fit It
ENERGY STAR describes each frame material in its guide to windows and doors. The right column shows which doors use each one.
| Frame | What ENERGY STAR says | Which doors use it |
|---|---|---|
| Vinyl | Low maintenance, with good thermal insulation. Sections may be hollow or filled with foam. | Every ProVia sliding door. Aeris adds a real wood interior in Oak, Cherry or Maple over a vinyl frame. |
| Fiberglass | Strong, durable and low maintenance, with good insulation. Hollow or foam-filled. | ProVia Signet and Ascent hinged and French doors. |
| Steel | Not on its frame list. | ProVia Legacy hinged and French doors. |
| Wood | Strong, with good insulation. Often covered outside with aluminum or vinyl. | Not as a whole frame. Only the Aeris interior is wood. |
| Aluminum | Durable and low maintenance. Usually has thermal breaks to cut heat loss. | None. We do not install aluminum patio doors. |
That makes two simple rules. If you want a slider, you are choosing between four vinyl lines, not between materials. If you want a swinging door, you are choosing a fiberglass or a steel skin, and the guide to fiberglass and steel doors covers that choice.
Glass and Ratings for a St. Louis Home
A patio door is mostly glass, so its glass ratings decide most of its energy performance. Two numbers matter. The U-factor tells you how fast heat leaves through the door, and lower is better. The solar heat gain coefficient, or SHGC, tells you how much sun heat comes in, and a lower number lets in less.
ENERGY STAR sets limits by climate zone. Its zone finder places St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin and Lincoln county ZIP codes in the North-Central zone. There the rules cap both numbers, so a certified door has to hold in winter heat and limit summer sun.
| Door type | U-factor at or below | SHGC at or below | Air leakage at or below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sliding patio door | 0.25 | 0.40 | 0.3 cfm per sq ft |
| Swinging door, more than half glass | 0.26 | 0.40 | 0.5 cfm per sq ft |
| Swinging door, half glass or less | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.5 cfm per sq ft |
| Solid swinging door | 0.17 | No limit | 0.5 cfm per sq ft |
These are the North-Central limits in ENERGY STAR’s Version 7 specification, in effect since October 23, 2023. A patio door has far more glass than half its area, so the swinging row you will use is usually the second one.
ProVia offers ENERGY STAR certified options on all four sliding lines and on most hinged styles, depending on the glass package. Glass choices include double or triple pane, low-E coatings, tint, privacy glass, grids and internal blinds. You cannot tell a door’s ratings by looking at the glass. Certified for which zone matters, so ask for the label on the exact door and check it against the table.
One more question belongs on your list: which way does the door face? West-facing glass takes the hot afternoon sun, so the SHGC number matters most there.
Size and Fit: What the Opening Allows
Most patio doors come in a few common sizes. These are national figures from Angi’s sliding door guide and its French door guide, not a ProVia catalog.
| Door | Common widths | Common heights |
|---|---|---|
| Two-panel slider | 60, 72 or 96 inches | 80 inches (6 feet 8 inches) is typical. 82 and 96 are made. |
| Three-panel slider | 108 or 144 inches | 80 inches is typical. |
| Exterior French pair | 48 to 72 inches | 80 inches. Single exterior doors run 36 to 96 inches wide. |
| ProVia hinged door | Custom, up to 8 feet | Custom, up to 8 feet. |
A new door that matches the old size is the simplest swap. A wider or taller opening means cutting and framing the wall, which changes the job and the price. Ask any installer whether that work is in the quote.
To check a size before you call, measure the whole outer frame, not just the glass, and note the smallest numbers. That is a rough check, not a final measure.
Our process runs in this order:
- At the estimate visit, we measure the opening and show samples.
- You sign.
- One of our installation techs measures the opening again.
- The order is placed.
Options That Earn Their Place
Most options are style. A few change how the door lives day to day.
Internal blinds
Blinds sit between the panes, so there is nothing to dust or snag. ProVia offers them in white, and in colors on Aeris and Endure.
Grids
Internal grids sit between two panes of glass, so the glass wipes clean and the pattern stays put.
Locks
Endure has a multi-point mortise lock. ProVia hinged doors come with a keyed handle set and a deadbolt that turns by hand inside.
Screens
ProVia sliding doors use BetterVue fiberglass mesh screens. Its hinged doors offer a sliding screen.
Hardware
Endure hardware comes in eight finishes, including black, so the handle can match the other hardware on your house.
Color
ProVia paints hinged doors in 33 factory colors, and Endure comes in 33 factory paint colors as well.
Questions to Ask Any Installer Before You Sign
The door is half the job. The other half is who measures, who installs and what the quote covers. These six questions work with any company.
Who measures, and when?
Ask whether the person who sells the door also measures the opening, and whether a second measure happens before the order is placed. In our process, an installation tech does it.
Pocket or full frame?
A pocket install fits the new door into the old frame with less disruption. A full-frame install removes the whole frame to fix structural problems. Ask which one the quote assumes.
What is on the label?
Ask for the U-factor, SHGC and air leakage of the exact door, then compare them with the ENERGY STAR numbers above.
What does the quote include?
Ask about trim, the sill, paint or stain, and what happens to the old door.
What does the installer back?
Ask what the installer guarantees apart from the maker. Ours is a 10-year workmanship warranty on the installation.
Who is on the crew?
Ask whether employees or subcontractors do the install. In our company, trained employees install, and subcontractors do only licensed trades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need Help Deciding?
Not sure which door fits your opening? Book a free on-site estimate, no obligation. You get the opening measured, samples to hold and each option explained at your own door.
See finished jobs in the door photo gallery, or browse patio door design ideas for looks and finishes. Replacing windows in the same project? Read the signs it is time to replace windows.
Questions first? Call (314) 277-5952.
