Exterior French Doors

The addition of an exterior French patio door to any home is a great investment. Almost as hard as the actual installation of the French doors is choosing the style of door you will install and what product line will choose to buy from. As a homeowner, what are some of the exterior French patio doors that you should familiarize yourself with?

One style are the classic exterior French doors that come in a variety of shapes and styles that have a historic authenticity. Classic Wood French doors generally have a rustic look where typically walnut and mahogany woods are most often used in their construction, however woods such as the American white oak and Demesne Cherry are also used. Take the wood that you choose one step further, and select from one of the countless amounts of stain colors you can shoose from to give your door a unique look from any other. With wood doors, no two doors are alike.  Along with the variety of styles, shapes and colors to choose from, there are many glass options you can choose from as well such as no windows, stained glass, decorative glass to bevel glass and everything in between. It is important to keep in mind that when using a real wood exterior French door set, that the outside elements will take their toll on the wood itself. It is important that the wood is maintained and conditioned routinely to ensure that you get the full life out of your doors, whether this means paint, stain or clearcoat make sure to stay on top of it.

Another style of door is that of the steel and fiberglass exterior french doors. Fiberglass and steel French doors are similar in the fact that they are both low maintenance, they give a quality appearance, they come in a large variety of panels styles including two, four and six panel French doors. Both of these French door styles can come with or without glass and allow for decorative glass options as well. The main difference between these two styles of doors is that a steel French door can rust with time, while a fiberglass or will not rust. Both steel and fiberglass doors can be painted, but a fiberglass exterior French patio door can be stained to give it a real wooden look and feel.

Another popular style of French doors are that of old world European. Old world European French doors, come in a beautiful selection of many different woods including hardwoods such as walnut and mahogany once again. Old world European French doors are known for their varied styles and shapes, but what really sets them off and apart from any other door is the use of decorative iron accents and hardware. Typically, but not always dark iron accents are usually oversized to give it the old world European look.

The final exterior French patio door that we are going to touch on is that of the traditional French door. Traditional doors are usually set apart from others with richly detailed woodwork, and a nice display of sparkling windows or different styles of decorative glass. Traditional doors are not always wooden, but can be steel or fiberglass as well. Traditional doors are not only trendy but timeless as well and custom traditional doors can be made to fit any lifestyle of any home. Traditional wood French doors offer transoms and sidelights as well.

These are just a few of the more common exterior French patio doors that are installed in the typical home today. As you can see there is a lot to think about when trying to decide on what shape, style, color and material to choose from when trying to select the perfect French patio door for your home. There are still more options to decide from when installing new doors, such as your exterior French door hardware along with the option of adding side-by-side windows to accent your new doors.