Patio doors have several important purposes. Perhaps the most obvious one is to provide a view into your backyard, your garden, or your oasis. These sliding glass doors are also meant to keep the draft and the moisture out of your house where they both belong. We want these panels of glass to keep the warmth or the coolness consistent inside, no matter what the temperature may be outside. As it turns out, your patio doors are an essential feature of your home. How are yours holding up? Just for fun, we’ll throw a little math into this discussion so you can rate your own doors.
That View – 25%
Take a minute to look out at your backyard through your patio doors. Is there a clear view of your patio and the yard beyond? Or is the glass itself scratched and showing age? Are there hard water or mineral deposits clouding your view? Worse yet, are there any cracks in the glass? Also, look around the room near the sliding doors. Is the glass in place allowing adequate light in this area? Assess the view inside and out by giving it a score from 1 to 25.
That Draft – 25%
We appreciate a nice, cool breeze when we’re sitting outside on the patio. That same breeze inside the house is not a welcome visitor. When you walk by your patio doors, can you detect any air seeping in from the outside? Is there a gap between the glass doors and the door jamb? How does the seal around the glass look? Any sort of gap will allow a draft and perhaps some pests to enter your home. If there is any draft at all, your patio doors should earn a low score.
That Moisture – 25%
Just like shower doors, condensation can often display moisture on glass. We don’t have much humidity here in southern Arizona, but if you see any moisture on the inside of your patio doors, the seal is not doing its job. If you have double-paned glass, is there moisture trapped between the two layers? Any moisture at all should make this score closer to 1 than to 25.
That Temperature – 25%
How efficient are your patio doors? If they’ve been in place for ten years or more, they probably are not as effective as those that now meet the current standards and ratings. Check your monthly energy bills. What you are currently paying will give you an idea about the score your doors earn in this category.
Is It Time?
So, total the score. Out of 100, how did your sliding glass doors do? If your score is 85 or above, perhaps you don’t need new doors at this point, unless you’d like to modernize the look of the doors themselves. Less than a score of 85, you might want to give us a call.
What would be the next steps? We’d schedule an appointment so that one of our glass professionals would visit your home and discuss the options you have. We’d take some measurements and provide a quote for you, giving you an estimate of the cost involved. The doors would be installed, and we’d clean up the surrounding area. After our work is done, we’ll provide some tips for you about how to take the best care of your new patio doors.
So do the math and see if it’s time to replace your doors. If it is, give Glassworks of Tucson a call at (520) 721-7893, and we’ll take care of the rest.