If you’re a homeowner thinking about patio options to open up back of the house, and looking to invest in something more expansive than French doors or sliders, there’s a growing trend that just might be the perfect solution: glass pivot doors.
You’ve probably seen the popular oversized sliding glass doors that create a glorious, seamless flow from the inside of a home to the patio. They’re stunning, especially when they go all the way up to the ceiling.
But the new trend takes the idea of moveable glass walls one step further, since pivot doors open more fully and allow more of an unobstructed view (when the doors are open) than any other product available. Because the large glass panels swing around pins mounted at the top and bottom of the panel, much like a turnstile, pivot doors only obstruct view with the slim width of a door turned sideways. It’s just a couple of inches.
Big glass doors that create a moveable wall system are nothing new. They’re typically made up of custom sized sliding panels that move along a track in the flooring, or bifold doors that hang from a track along the ceiling.
“I wasn’t happy with how thick the frames were on residential doors readily available to the Phoenix market. By working with the manufacturer’s engineers, we’ve designed a pivot door product that can be completely customized in size and configuration at a modest price compared to residential products that don’t reach the same level of elegance and durability,” says DunRite Windows & Doors Owner Sal Sucato.
Working with a local manufacturing company, Sucato reimagined a commercial pivoting door design long used for office and building entry doors and conference rooms into a slimmer residential application. It has a slim frame that’s just 2.75 inches wide, unlike residential products that are typically 5-6 inches thick on each side.
The thin, elegant frame allows the glass to dominate, instead of the door.
“It’s the ultimate wow factor,” says Sucato.
It offers the strength of a commercial product intended for continual use, in a modified, less bulky form that works for residential settings. “It’s slim and sleek, and flexible enough in design requirements that we can manufacture almost anything a homeowner can dream up, even recreating something seen on Pinterest or Houzz,” Sucato adds. “We’ve built them in a wide variety of sizes, including one design of three pivot doors that spanned the entire back of a home.”
It worked so well, in fact, that the commercial manufacturer now offers it to their own residential clients.
It’s not just for patio installations, since the modern pivot style can be designed into a custom door that accentuate a home’s entryway, used to mimic expensive $20,000-$30,000 wrought iron doors. “Not only is a custom pivoting front door less expensive than a custom welded door, it also saves homeowner’s the cost of hiring a contractor to fortify the home so that it can support the weight of the iron doors. This aluminum product is extremely strong, but lightweight.”
It’s also available in custom colors, limited only by the imagination. “I’ve seen it done in a bright blue color that was spectacular.”
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Published: July 5, 2021
(As Seen on Rosie on the House; DunRite is a Rosie Certified Partner.)
