Sliding Doors Offer a New View of Home Improvement

It’s hard to resist the ease of operation and simple elegance of sliding doors. With just a light touch, you can open up your home to the great outdoors and let in fresh air and sunlight. A smooth running sliding door can add a touch of modern style to almost any home.

Many people may be surprised to find out that the sliding door is not a fairly recent idea but one that dates back to the ancient Romans. Archeologists have found elements of sliding doors in the ruins of Pompeii dating back to the 1st century. Meanwhile, over in Japan, the Fusuma and Shoji sliding doors were a staple of houses in that part of the world. The style really took hold in the United States in the post World War II era as sprawling ranch homes used them to emphasize the wide open spaces that often surrounded them.

Today, sliding doors are used in many locations and situations, from houses to apartments to hotels to offices. Their ease of use and versatility make them a popular choice for many design and redesign efforts.

We carry the following manufacturers of sliding doors, click below to read more:

Construction

An average sliding door consists of two glass panels inside metal frames, one in a fixed position and the other movable. The moveable door rests in a fixed track and rollers at the top and bottom of the door glide in the tracks and allow the door to move. The moveable door is positioned on a track running parallel to the fixed door, allowing it to move to a position adjacent to the fixed door. Another sliding door option involves doors that slide completely out of view into openings built into the wall.

Use

The doors can be used as both an entrance into a home or inside the home itself as an entrance to another room or closet. They can be found as the entrance to a patio, balcony, sunroom, indoor pool area or garden. In offices, sliding doors can separate conference rooms from the rest of areas in a business.

Materials

As mentioned, sliding doors are often glass plates in frame made of aluminum or steel (although wood and PVC are sometimes used as well.) The glass itself may be double glazed to aid in noise reduction and help keep heat and air conditioning in, thus making the doors money savers as well. Additionally, the large panes of glass are treated with a special coating that reduces the amount of UV rays that come through.

Security

Security on sliding doors can include locks that clip inside the frame, bars that can be positioned to prevent the door from being forced open and “anti-lift blocks” that block the door from being lifted from the tracks and moved aside.

Sliding doors offer ease and convenience as well as a chance to brighten your home and add a sense of space. If you need a new look for your home, open your horizons to sliding glass doors.