French Door Styles and Options
A French door is a hinged glass door, and the choices come down to which way it swings, how wide the opening is and what surrounds it.
In-Swing French Patio Doors
In-swing doors open into the room, which keeps the hinges inside where nobody can reach the pins and leaves room on the patio for a storm or screen door. You need clear floor space for both panels to swing, so check furniture and rug edges before you order. The sill is the weak point: an in-swing threshold has to hold back water that runs off the glass, so ask about the sill's height and drainage.
Out-Swing French Doors
Out-swing doors open onto the deck or porch. HomeGuide suggests them where the room is small, and they suit kitchens and breakfast nooks where an in-swing pair would hit a table. Because the door closes against the stop from outside, wind and rain press it tighter into its seals. The hinges are on the outside, so ask for security hinges with non-removable pins.
Sliding French-Style Doors
A sliding French-style door has the wide stiles and grille pattern of a hinged pair, but one panel slides past a fixed one, so no floor space is lost to a swing. HomeGuide lists a single sliding French-style door at $800 to $2,000 for the door alone. Rollers, tracks and slider glass are covered on our sliding glass doors page.
French Doors With Sidelites and Transoms
Sidelites and a transom widen and heighten the glass without making the doors themselves bigger and heavier. HomeGuide's door guide puts sidelites at $400 to $2,000 or more and a transom at $300 to $900 on an entry door. Both usually need a wider or taller rough opening, so check the header. Shapes and venting options for the glass above are on our transom windows page.
Multipoint Locks, Astragals and Retractable Screens
A multipoint lock throws bolts at the top, middle and bottom of the active door, pulling the pair evenly into the seals. The astragal is the strip on the passive door that covers the gap where the two meet; it carries flush bolts into the head and sill. Hinged doors can't take a slider's screen panel, so the usual answer is a retractable screen that rolls into a housing at the side of the frame. Ask whether the screen is built into the door unit or added later.
Why Richmond homeowners call Richmond Expert Windows
- A single independent window contractor gets your request, never a lead auction
- Every opening is measured on site before a number is put on paper
- Ask for the quote in writing: unit series, glass package, install method
- Homeowners pay nothing for the referral or the visit
French Door Cost: National Ranges
No public source gives a Richmond price. HomeGuide puts exterior French doors at $1,300 to $5,500 installed, and its patio door guide lists a French patio door at $600 to $5,500. Installers charge $200 to $1,000 for labor on a patio door, and $100 to $500 more to remove and dispose of the old one.
What moves a French door quote, using HomeGuide's door-only figures:
Configuration
A single in-swing door runs $300 to $1,000; double in-swing or out-swing pairs run $400 to $4,000.Material
Clad wood, a wood frame wrapped in vinyl or aluminum, costs $2,500 to $5,000 for the doors alone.Glass
Door prices by glass type run $400 to $1,700 for tempered, $500 to $1,200 for laminated, $700 to $3,000 for double-pane and $800 to $5,000 for triple-pane.Opening work
Turning a window into a door opening, or widening one for sidelites, is structural framing and needs a permit; see the homepage on when permits apply.
French Door Replacement: How the Job Goes
- 1
Measure the rough opening and check the floor
A good installer will probe the subfloor and rim joist under the old threshold, where water damage usually hides. - 2
Pick the swing and hand
In-swing or out-swing, and which panel is active, decided before ordering. - 3
Glass check
Door glass falls under the safety glazing rules on our sliding glass doors page; ask for the glass spec in writing. - 4
Remove and prepare
The old door comes out, rotted framing is repaired, and a sloped sill pan goes down before the new unit. - 5
Set, shim and fasten
Hinge-side shims and long screws into the framing keep a heavy glass panel from sagging. - 6
Adjust and seal
The installer adjusts the strike, flush bolts and sweeps until the pair closes evenly, then insulates, trims and caulks.
French Doors in Richmond Homes
July's mean dew point at Richmond's airport is close to 68°F, and summer humidity is hard on wood French doors: unsealed edges swell, and a pair that closed fine in March binds in August. Clad wood, fiberglass or a wood door with all six edges painted holds up better. Weatherstripping is a wear part; InterNACHI says exterior door gaskets may need replacing every five to eight years, so ask whether the door's seals are a standard profile you can buy later. The slab itself lasts far longer: InterNACHI's chart gives exterior wood and fiberglass doors 100 years or more and exterior vinyl doors about 20. In practice the hinges, the lock and the sill wear out long before the panel does, which is why a French door that sags or won't latch is often a repair, not a replacement. Ask the installer to say which one you have before you price a new pair.
In a City Old and Historic District, replacement doors are among the projects the Commission of Architectural Review's staff can approve administratively, with an application, specifications and photographs. The rest of the district rules are on our wood window restoration page.
See Sliding Glass Doors in Richmond, VA if floor space rules out a swinging pair.