What Makes a Patio Door Custom, and When a Standard Size Is Fine
A patio door is custom when the opening, the configuration or the details are not one of the sizes a manufacturer builds to stock. Most patio doors are 5, 6 or 8 feet wide and 6 feet 8 inches tall, and those come from the factory as standard units. Anything wider, taller, three-panel, multi-slide, or built to an opening that measures somewhere in between is a custom order, and it costs and takes a little more.
The good news for older homes is that custom is normal here. We measure to the sixteenth of an inch and order the door to fit the opening you have, rather than framing your opening down to fit a stock door and losing glass in the process.
What counts as a standard patio door
If your opening takes a 5, 6 or 8 foot wide door at the common height, and you want a two-panel slider with one fixed and one operating panel, you are in standard territory. That covers most patio doors installed in Snohomish and King County homes from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Standard means the manufacturer builds it in volume, the price per door is lower, and the lead time is at the short end of the usual 4 to 6 weeks. Nothing about it is lower quality. It is the same frame, the same glass options and the same hardware as a custom unit.
What makes a patio door custom
The opening is not a standard size
Older homes and remodels are full of openings that are none of the standard widths. Additions, converted porches, homes built by a local builder in the 1960s, and any wall that has been moved since. If the opening measures 74 inches, you have three choices: frame it down and lose glass, live with filler panels around a smaller door, or order a door built to 74 inches. We order the door.
The height is not standard
Taller openings, common in remodels and in homes with 9 or 10 foot ceilings, mean a taller door. That is a custom build every time.
The configuration
- Two panel: one fixed, one sliding. The standard.
- Three panel: one or two sliding panels past fixed panels, for wider openings.
- Four panel and multi-slide: panels that stack to open most of a wall.
- Bi-fold: panels hinged together that fold back on themselves.
- French: a hinged pair that swings in or out, covered on our French door page.
Anything past a two-panel slider is a custom order, and a multi-slide or bi-fold is a remodel-scale door that needs a header sized for the span. Cory checks the framing before that conversation goes any further.
The details
Glass packages beyond the standard tempered double-pane low-e unit, such as triple pane or sound-control glass. Grid patterns to match your windows. Interior and exterior frame colors. Foot bolts, multi-point locks and hardware finishes. A pet door in the panel. Each of those turns a stock door into a built-to-order one.
Handing and swing
Which panel slides, and which way a French door swings. On a slider this is a simple choice. On a French door it matters more, because an in-swing door needs floor space inside and the threshold detail changes with the swing.
When a standard size is exactly right
We are not going to talk you into a custom door for the sake of it. A standard door is the right call when:
- Your existing door is a common 5, 6 or 8 foot slider and the opening is square and sound.
- You are replacing like with like and matching what the rest of the house has.
- You want the shortest lead time.
- The budget is the binding constraint and the money is better spent on the glass package than on the configuration.
The glass is worth spending on. A better glass package lowers the U-factor, which you feel in January and which is what the utility reads on a rebate application.
What Cory looks for
Cory measures every patio door job himself, and the measurement is the job. He measures the opening at multiple points, because a 30 year old opening is rarely the same width at the top as at the bottom. He checks the threshold and the sill for rot, since a leaking patio door has usually been wetting the floor structure for years. He looks at how the door sheds water, whether there is a covered overhang above it, and what the deck or patio height does to the threshold detail. Then he checks the header if you are talking about going wider.
He also tells you when you do not need a new door. A slider that drags needs rollers. Fog inside the glass needs a new glass unit, not a new door. Water on the floor after a storm can be a clogged weep hole or a sill pan detail rather than a failed door. Those repairs are covered on our sliding glass door page, and we do them.
When a new door is the answer, here is how it runs: measure, written quote within 24 to 48 hours, 50 percent deposit to place the order, 4 to 6 weeks for the door to be built, then installation in a day. Our 2-year workmanship warranty covers the installation, and most patio door lines we install carry a lifetime manufacturer warranty.
Rebates on a patio door
Patio doors are one of the few door products a utility will pay you for. PSE pays $50 per patio door at a U-factor of 0.31 to 0.35 and $100 per door at 0.30 or lower, within the program caps, for installs completed by December 31, 2026, in homes heated primarily by PSE electricity or PSE natural gas. Snohomish PUD’s window rebate does not cover doors.
Amounts and eligibility can change, so confirm with the utility before you order. We confirm the current rules with you on the visit and list the U-factor for the door on the quote. The full picture is on our PSE rebate page.
Questions homeowners ask
What is the standard patio door size?
Most patio doors are 5, 6 or 8 feet wide and 6 feet 8 inches tall. If yours measures one of those and the opening is square, a standard door fits. Older homes frequently measure in between, and then the door is built to the opening.
How long does a custom patio door take?
Plan on 4 to 6 weeks from the deposit for the door to be built, then a day to install a slider or a French door. Multi-slide doors and openings that need framing work take longer, and we tell you the timeline in writing with the quote.
Can I make my patio door opening wider?
If the header can carry the wider span, yes. Going from a 6 foot slider to an 8 foot door or to a multi-slide means checking the framing, which Cory does on the visit. It is a remodel-scale job and we quote it as one so there are no surprises.
Get a door quoted to your opening
Cory measures the opening, checks the threshold and the header, and sends a written quote within 48 hours that lists the configuration, glass and U-factor. If you are still deciding between styles, start with sliding vs French patio doors, then ask for a free estimate.
