Des Moines Window Pros provides professional french and hinged patio doors in Des Moines, IA for residential and commercial properties across Greater Des Moines. A hinged patio door seals better than a slider and costs considerably more to get right. Both halves of that sentence matter, and which half dominates depends entirely on how much swing space the room has and how the existing opening was framed.
The sealing advantage comes from compression again. Each leaf closes into a gasket around all four sides, and the pair meets at an astragal down the middle, so a well-adjusted French door has no sliding weatherstrip anywhere in the assembly. On paper and in practice that is a better performing opening than a slider of the same nominal width.
The cost comes from everything else. Two leaves need a stable head, because any sag in the header shows up immediately as a gap at the top of the astragal. They need multipoint hardware to pull both leaves in at head, sill and mid-height, and they need a threshold detail that drains, since two door bottoms now share one sill.
So we survey the header before we price the door. If the opening was framed for a slider, the header may well be sized for a lighter unit, and adding weight and concentrated hinge load to it is a structural question rather than a glazing one. That is a carpenter conversation, and we would much rather have it before you order than after.
We also ask which way the room actually works. An in-swing leaf eats about four square feet of usable floor at each panel, an out-swing wants a covered exterior and a threshold that will shed drifted snow, and neither one is right in every house. One hinged leaf with a fixed sidelite next to it is often the honest answer for a narrower opening.
For a house that already has French doors, the repair list is short and cheap. Hinge screws that have pulled out of the jamb and let a leaf drop, a worn astragal gasket, a mullion strike drifted out of alignment, and a threshold insert flattened by years of traffic. Fixing that entire list is a service call rather than a project, and we price it as one.
Glass specification matters more here than most people expect. Both leaves are safety glazing locations and must be tempered or laminated. Simulated divided lites with internal spacer bars cost far less than true divided lites and read correctly from six feet away, and a laminated inboard lite is worth having on any door with glass beside the handle.
Where would we send the same money if the door is sound? Into the wall around it. The framed jambs and header beside a patio door are a classic empty cavity, and packing and sealing them will do more for the draft you feel at the couch than a new door would have done at four times the price.
Our licensed and insured team brings the right materials and equipment to every job — dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, polyamide thermal struts in commercial aluminum framing, EPA Lead-Safe Certified containment on pre-1978 openings — and backs the work with a written workmanship warranty. We serve Des Moines and nearby communities including West Des Moines, Ankeny, Ames, Urbandale.
What We Handle
Everything our french and hinged patio doors in Des Moines covers
One crew, one point of contact, and the full range of french and hinged patio doors work in Des Moines, IA. If it is on this list we do it in house rather than handing it to a subcontractor:
- french doors
- hinged patio doors
- astragal weatherstrip
- multipoint door hardware
- in swing french doors
- out swing patio doors
- simulated divided lite doors
- french door threshold
- sagging french door repair
- door hinge shim repair
- french door glass replacement
- single hinged patio door
- sidelite patio door
- french doors Des Moines
- patio door header
Not sure which one describes your situation? Describe it in plain words and we will sort it out — or browse the rest of our Des Moines services.
Materials, equipment and how we do french and hinged patio doors
The difference between french and hinged patio doors that lasts and french and hinged patio doors that gets redone in three years is almost always preparation and materials, not the finish you see on day one. We work with dense-pack cellulose and attic top-plate air sealing done ahead of glass, AERC-rated low-e interior and exterior storm panels, warm-edge spacers in replacement insulated glass units, pultruded fiberglass lineals with a glass-matched expansion rate, spec them to the job instead of to the invoice, and write the material grades into the free estimate so you know exactly what you are buying.
Every Des Moines job runs the same way: site walk and measurements, written scope and fixed price, protection of the surrounding area, then the work itself with a daily clean-up. Years of window work in Greater Des Moines means we have already met whatever your property is going to throw at us — awkward access, older construction, an HOA with opinions.
Where we do french and hinged patio doors outside Des Moines
Des Moines Window Pros covers Des Moines and the surrounding communities of Greater Des Moines. Crews run out to the same nearby cities every week, so an out-of-town job does not mean an out-of-town price.
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in West Des Moines, IA — Polk County, population 68,723 at the 2020 census
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in Ankeny, IA — Polk County, population 67,887 at the 2020 census
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in Ames, IA — Story County, population 66,427 at the 2020 census
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in Urbandale, IA — Polk County, population 45,580 at the 2020 census
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in Johnston, IA — Polk County, population 24,064 at the 2020 census
- French and Hinged Patio Doors in Waukee, IA — Dallas County, population 23,940 at the 2020 census
Start on the Des Moines Window Pros homepage for a free estimate, or call (844) 511-2320 and describe the job.
Why Des Moines Chooses Des Moines Window Pros
- ✓We price the repair before the replacement, and we will take the smaller job
- ✓Whole-unit NFRC ratings on every quote, never center-of-glass numbers
- ✓Sloped sill pans with back dam and end dams on every opening we set
- ✓Insulated glass unit replacement offered on any sash that is still sound
The standards behind french and hinged patio doors
Quality here is not a matter of opinion — it is written down. The french and hinged patio doors work we do in Des Moines follows published industry standards: NFRC sets the U-factor and SHGC ratings on every window label, and ENERGY STAR defines the efficiency thresholds by climate zone. If a contractor cannot tell you which standard a detail comes from, that is worth asking about before you sign.
Every french and hinged patio doors project in Des Moines gets the same attention, whether it is a single room or a full commercial job. We show up on schedule, keep the site clean, and stand behind the work — the estimate is free and there is no pressure.
Ready to get started? Call (844) 511-2320 for a free french and hinged patio doors free estimate in Des Moines, or request a quote and we'll get right back to you.