Three Days, One Sliding Door: A West Seattle Patio Door Replacement

Chris bought a house in West Seattle with three bathrooms that needed work and one tired sliding door off the lower level. A baby is on the way, which gives every project a real deadline.

Chris had originally asked about a French door. We measured, and the opening was not a standard size for one. Converting would have meant reframing and a new header, for a result the space did not really want.

“We’ll go with a sliding door unit for the back door. It’s a bit simpler, easier to leave open (with a screen) and doesn’t impede too much on the available space.”
Chris, by email

Wednesday: in, flashed, sealed, clean

Wednesday morning we pulled the old unit, checked the opening for rot, prepped the sill and set the new door. Flashing tape at the threshold, jambs and head. Trim up on the exterior. Debris hauled, floor swept, site left clean.

By the end of the day the door was in and rolling. That evening, Chris sent us a message.

“Thanks to Stan and Angelo for the work today, the slider went in fast and the space already feels different.”
Chris

The unit was the wrong configuration

“The right-hand configuration is what the room is set up for: the light switches are on that wall, and the way the door relates to the backyard makes opening from the right the natural path out.”
Chris

To be precise about what went wrong, because it matters: the door was not installed badly. It was set square, flashed and sealed properly, and it rolled the way it should. The problem was the unit itself. We supplied a left-hand configuration where the original was right-hand, so the panel that moves ended up on the opposite side of the opening.

He was right, and it mattered more than it might sound. Handing is not a detail you notice in a photo. You notice it the first morning you carry something out to the yard and reach for a handle that is not there. Then every day after that.

“I didn’t realize specs like handing or rough opening size were mine to verify, and I wouldn’t have known to check them.”
Chris

He is exactly right. They were not his to verify. They were ours. Our own written scope described the job as a like for like replacement in the same configuration. The door we hung did not match it.

“I know the exterior trim is already up, but since it still needs finessing, caulk, paint, and silicone, I’d like to pause that finish work until we’ve agreed on a plan.”
Chris

Unsealed trim comes off cleanly. Caulked and painted trim does not. He protected the job before he had any commitment from us about how we would fix it.

Thursday: back out, returned, re-installed

There was no negotiation to have. Thursday morning we took the door apart, repacked it, drove it back, and picked up the same door in a right-hand configuration. It went in that same day.

DuetRight paid for the second door and the day of labour. Chris’s price did not change by a dollar. That is not generosity, it is just what it costs to be wrong.

Handing goes on every quote now

An apology that does not change a process is just a nice sentence. Handing, swing direction and rough opening dimensions now get written out explicitly on every door and window line item we quote, in plain language, where the homeowner reads it and where our own crew reads it before ordering.

Chris should never have needed to know the word “handing.” Now nobody has to.

Planning a door or bathroom renovation?

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