Patio door replacement cost

Replacing a sliding patio door costs $1,200 to $4,000 installed, typically around $2,200. French doors run $2,000 to $6,000. A multi-panel folding or stacking door starts around $8,000 and rises quickly from there.

Patio doors are the largest single glazed opening in most houses, which is why they cost more than a window and why they are the first thing to feel cold in January.

Cost by type

Replacing within the existing opening is what these figures assume. Enlarging the opening is structural work: a new header, possibly an engineer, a permit, and $2,000 to $8,000 on top before the door goes in.

Sliding against French

Sliding takes no floor space to operate, which is the main argument and often a decisive one in a small room. Modern rollers and tracks are far better than the sticking doors people remember. It gives a smaller clear opening, because one panel is always in the way.

French doors open fully, seal better because they compress against the frame rather than sliding past a brush seal, and look more substantial. They need somewhere for the leaves to swing, which is usually the constraint.

For weather sealing, hinged doors are meaningfully better. For a windy exposed elevation, that matters.

Why the old one sticks

Nearly every complaint about a sliding door is one of four things, and three are repairs rather than replacements:

Worn rollers. $150 to $400 to replace, and it fixes most sticking doors. Worth trying before buying a new door.

A bent or dirty track. Cleaning is free. A track cap over a damaged track is $100 to $300.

A failed seal in the glass, showing as fog between the panes. On some doors the glass unit alone can be replaced for $300 to $800.

A frame that has dropped or racked, usually because the header above has settled or the sill was never supported. This one is a replacement, and if the cause is structural, fixing the door without fixing the cause repeats the problem.

What belongs in the quote

• Removal and disposal of the old unit
• The sill pan or pan flashing under the new door, named
• Flashing at the head and jambs, tied into the existing weather barrier
• Low-expansion foam and interior trim
• Interior and exterior finish work, and who paints it
• Whether the screen is included, which it often is not
• Tempered safety glazing, which is a code requirement for any door

The sill pan is the line to check. A patio door sits at the bottom of a wall where water collects, and a door installed without a pan will eventually rot the floor framing under it. Many installers skip it. Ask.

Making it warmer

A patio door is a large piece of glass and it will always be the coldest surface in the room. What helps:

• Low-emissivity coating and argon fill, which is standard on decent units
• A warm-edge spacer between the panes, which reduces the cold strip at the base
• A thermally broken frame, if aluminum
• Heavy curtains or cellular blinds, which do more per dollar than most upgrades

Triple glazing exists for patio doors and adds $600 to $1,800. In a genuinely cold climate it changes how the room feels near the door. Elsewhere it is hard to justify.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take?

Half a day to a full day for a like-for-like sliding door replacement. Longer for French doors, for anything that changes the opening size, and for multi-panel systems, which are often a two-day install with a specialist crew.

Do I need a permit?

For a like-for-like replacement in the same opening, usually not. For any change to the opening size, yes, because it involves the header.

Can a sliding door be replaced with French doors?

Yes, if the opening width suits. A standard six foot sliding opening takes a two-leaf French door directly. The complication is swing space and the floor finish, since the old track leaves a gap in the flooring.

Is a screen included?

Often not, and it is a common surprise. A sliding screen is $100 to $400. Ask explicitly.

Should I repair or replace?

Repair if the frame is square and sound and the problem is rollers, track or hardware, which covers most complaints and costs a fraction. Replace if the frame has dropped, the sill is rotten, or the glass seals have failed on a unit where the glass cannot be replaced separately.