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Planning to spruce up your home’s exterior? Design experts recommend starting with your doors. Now, some might be thinking isn’t your door the smallest – and, therefore, the least visible – part of your exterior? Well, they do take up just a small portion of your home’s exterior, but they are also the first thing people see on your property. Besides, installing new replacement doors has other benefits depending on the type you get.
If you want to add a touch of elegance to your facade, installing French patio doors would be a great idea. Read on to find out more about their advantages as well as how to make the most of them.
French patio doors have multiple glass panes, usually – but not always – come in pairs and are hinged. However, a lot of homeowners scratch their heads wondering why these doors are called French doors. Well, as their name suggests, they originated in France, tracing their origins back to the country’s Renaissance.
The French placed a lot of importance on home symmetry, proportion and geometry in housing structures, which is why they needed ample natural lighting inside. French patio doors, with their multiple glass panes, provided ample natural light, which helped make the interior feel more spacious.
Eventually, French doors found their way to Great Britain and, finally, the U.S., becoming a common fixture in the bourgeois houses of New York. People called these doors French doors because the term held a certain amount of prestige, and the name has stuck ever since.
You can improve the amount of light inside your home with these doors. Besides, not only can natural light make a room seem bigger, but it also can brighten the mood, not to mention reduce your power consumption. If you want to further optimize the amount of lighting inside your home, you can install double casement windows like the French did.
French doors can also do wonders for your home’s visual appeal as well as your interior design. The multiple glass panes help add a touch of sophistication to the facade while also helping make the interior layout look more fluid, connecting your indoor and outdoor spaces.
Since glass is a poor insulator, more heat can leak out of your French doors’ multiple glass panes. To prevent heat loss, make sure to install energy-efficient replacement doors. Listed below are some door-shopping tips to help you get started:
Look for the ENERGY STAR® label. Only doors that have met the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stringent performance standards can receive the ENERGY STAR certification. You should look at top of the label for which climate zones the doors are designed.
Next, look for the National Fenestration Rating Council’s (NFRC) performance ratings, which should be right under the ENERGY STAR label. We recommend looking for patio doors with low U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) ratings. The lower the door’s U-factor, the better it can prevent heat transfer. And, the lower the SHGC rating, the less heat that can pass through the door glass.
Another problem with French patio doors is security. Unwanted guests will have an easier time prying patio doors open, which is why Renewal by Andersen® introduced additional security features to its patio and sliding doors. All our Frenchwood® patio door systems have a 5-point locking system, which when closed, is impossible to jimmy open.
Keep in mind that premanufactured doors are made according to a set of dimensions, which vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so they might not always be a great fit for your home. The only way to make sure your new French patio doors will work well for your home is to customize them.
As part of our Signature Service, we customize all our windows and doors according to our customers’ needs and specifications. From the drafting of the design right down to its installation in your home, we have complete oversight to ensure the quality of each door and window we manufacture.
Want to learn more about our custom doors and windows?
Renewal by Andersen® of Nashville offers a wide variety of premium doors and windows complemented by professional door and window replacement services. To schedule a free in-home consultation, call us at (866) 609-5033, or fill out our form here. We serve homeowners in Clarksville and Nashville as well as the surrounding communities.