French Doors in Conroe and the Greater Houston Area

Two doors that swing toward each other are far less forgiving than one. If the opening is even slightly out of level or plumb, the doors will not meet evenly, the gap down the middle will taper, and the pair will not latch without a fight. We set the frame dead level, square, and plumb, because everything about how a French door looks and works depends on that frame being true. This is the single biggest reason a French door either feels effortless or feels off. Everything else about the door depends on that frame being right.

Once the frame is true, the two doors have to be hung and adjusted so they meet cleanly at the center and latch smoothly. The astragal, the piece the active door closes against, and the hardware have to line up so the doors close with a satisfying, even fit rather than binding or leaving a gap. We hang and tune the pair so they swing freely, meet in the middle, and lock securely, which is the craft that separates a good French door install from a frustrating one. The hardware and the astragal only do their job when the pair is tuned to work as it should.

On an exterior pair, the weakest points are the center where the doors meet, the threshold, and the weatherstripping, and all three have to be right, or air and water get through. We flash the sill, set a proper threshold, and make sure the weatherstripping and astragal seal the center, so an exterior French door is as weathertight as it is beautiful. A swinging pair sealed correctly keeps our heat and storms out; sealed carelessly, it becomes a drafty, leaky spot in the wall. A handsome pair that whistles at the center or leaks at the sill is a daily irritation, so we seal both before we call it done.

Exterior doors to the patio

A Tomball couple wanted to replace a plain back door with one that opened onto their patio. We installed an exterior French pair with Low-E glass, flashed the sill, and hung the doors so they meet and latch with an even, satisfying fit. The room gained light and a gracious opening to the backyard, sealed tight against our weather.

An office that keeps the light

On a Porter home, the owners needed a quiet home office but did not want to wall off the light. We installed interior French doors to close the room off acoustically while keeping it bright and open-feeling, hung true so they close cleanly and quietly. It gave them privacy without a dark, boxed-in room.

A wide opening with sidelights

A family near Huntsville wanted a grander entrance from their living space to a covered patio. We opened the wall, set the header for the wider span, and hung an exterior French pair with sidelights, taking extra care with the sill flashing given the exposure. The result is a wide, light-filled opening that reads as an intentional architectural feature.