Patio doors · Kingston
Choosing a new sliding or hinged patio door
Rollers, handles and a fogged thermal unit can all be repaired while the door stays. It's the frame and sill that decide when a patio door is finished. If yours is there, this page covers what homeowners in Kingston, Ontario weigh: style, glass, permits and rebates. We match you with an independent local installer who replaces patio doors; they measure the opening and quote a door that fits it.
- Replace when the frame or sill is done
- Sliding or hinged garden doors
- Permit and rebate questions answered
Time for a new door?
Signs the door, not just its rollers, is finished
The sill or frame is soft or split
Rot in a wood sill or a cracked frame lets water into the floor below. New rollers can't fix what they ride on.
It leaks air with new weatherstrip
If fresh weatherstrip still leaves a draft, the frame has probably warped out of square.
Frost that never lets up
Older aluminum frames carry cold straight through. Frost along the bottom rail every winter is a frame problem, not a glass one.
Styles
Sliding, hinged and garden-style doors compared
For the front of the house, the choices are different; see entry doors.
Sliding patio door
One panel slides past a fixed one. It needs no floor space to open, so it suits a deck with furniture near the door.
Hinged garden door
A single glazed door on hinges, often beside a fixed panel. It closes against a compression seal, but needs room to swing.
Garden doors in pairs
Two hinged doors meeting in the middle give the widest clear opening. They need careful adjustment to seal well.
Glass
Glass choices: safety glass, Low-E coatings and extra panes
Ontario's Building Code calls for safety glass, tempered or laminated, in sliding doors, so it comes standard on any new slider. Full-glass hinged doors get it too.
Beyond that, it's about comfort. A Low-E coating reflects heat back into the room and takes the chill off a large pane. A third pane adds warmth but also weight on a slider's rollers, so ask how the door handles it.
Permits
Same-size swap vs a wider opening: when a City permit applies
The City of Kingston's building permit page says replacing existing doors and windows of the same size doesn't need a building permit, provided property-line rules are followed. Creating or altering an opening does, so widening a slider or turning a window into a garden door means a permit. On a designated house, or in Barriefield, Market Square or Old Sydenham, call Heritage Planning before choosing a door. Confirm with the City before you sign.
Older and stone openings are rarely standard sizes. A door in a stone or double-brick wall often matches no stock door, so the installer measures the rough opening, orders a custom size or adjusts the framing, and finishes the deep sill and trim to match.
Rebates
Rebates and ENERGY STAR for doors
Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program offers a rebate for each rough opening fitted with an ENERGY STAR certified window or door, and sliding doors count. Doors generally need a home energy assessment and a second upgrade, and new glass in an old frame doesn't qualify. Check the current terms before booking.
ENERGY STAR in Canada uses one national standard with no climate zones, so a quote that talks about zones is out of date. The City's Better Homes Kingston program isn't taking applications at the moment; watch for a relaunch.
If several windows are due as well, doing them together can make the assessment worthwhile; see replacement windows.
What affects the quote
What moves the price of a new patio door
A patio door is priced from the opening outward. The quote reflects:
- Door width and type: slider, single garden door or a pair
- The glass package: coatings, a third pane, internal blinds
- Frame material and colour, inside and out
- Sill and threshold condition, and any rot in the subfloor
- Interior trim, including finishing a deep stone or brick opening
Photos of the whole door from inside and the sill outside help the installer quote.
Next steps
Booking an installer quote
Send a photo of the door and say whether you'd like a slider or a hinged door. We pass it to an installer who replaces patio doors in your part of Kingston; they measure, since the door is made to size, and give you a written quote. Not sure it's the door? The doors and screens overview sorts symptoms by cause.
Take your time comparing quotes. If you sign a contract at home, Ontario gives you a cooling-off period to cancel; the province's page on door-to-door and home service contracts explains how it works.
Questions
Patio door questions
Explore your options
Related door and window pages
Local installers replace patio doors across Kingston and nearby, including Westbrook, Bayridge, Amherstview and Kingscourt.
Send a photo of the door from inside
Show the whole door and its trim. We pass it to a local installer who replaces patio doors, and they arrange a visit to measure.