PGT WinGuard Impact Sliding Glass Doors in a North Port New Build

This new home in North Port is concrete block with a wood truss roof. When we came in, the interior was framed, the walls were insulated and drywall was stacked in the great room. Our job was the sliding glass doors: black-frame PGT WinGuard impact sliders opening from the living area to a covered lanai. The five photos walk through the install from bare opening to finished panels.

The first photo is the most important one. The frame head and jamb are already in the block opening, and the sill track is sitting on the slab with a long digital level across it. A slider lives or dies by its sill. If the track is out of level, the panels drift, the rollers wear, the locks stop lining up and water collects at the low end. So the track is shimmed and checked along its full length before anything is fastened. Then it is bedded in sealant so water that reaches the track drains out to the lanai, not under the frame into the slab.

The next two photos are from inside, at the edge of one door. You can see the pressure-treated wood buck along the jamb, the block behind it, and the black aluminum frame tight to the buck. The blue label on the glass reads PGT WinGuard Aluminum. The white label lower on the glass is the product label. It lists the unit's design pressure, positive and negative, plus its energy numbers. Next to the door, the framed wall is faced with R-Max Thermasheath foam board over furring strips, and the roof deck above has spray foam. The slider is one piece of an envelope the builder is clearly taking seriously.

The last two photos show a finished three-panel slider from inside and from the lanai. Look at the sill from outside: the aluminum track runs the full width of the opening on top of the concrete, and the head track runs the same length above it. The labels are still on the glass, which is how it should be until the final inspection.

A few things matter on any impact slider in Southwest Florida. Design pressure first. A wide slider takes a lot of wind load, and the rating on the label has to meet or beat the value on the plans for that wall. The negative number, suction, is often the one that governs. Then anchoring. The frame is fastened into the buck or block at the spacing in the Florida Product Approval. Fewer screws or the wrong fastener and the approval no longer applies. Last, water. Sliders are tested for water resistance, but that rating assumes a level, sealed, properly drained sill. Under a covered lanai the door is protected from direct rain, but wind-driven water still finds the track.

If you are building or replacing sliders in North Port, ask your installer: What is the design pressure on this door versus what the plans call for? Which product approval covers it, and will you follow its anchor schedule? How do you set and seal the sill track? A pro will answer each one in a sentence.

We install impact sliding glass doors in new construction and existing homes across North Port, Port Charlotte and Sarasota County. Call for a free in-home estimate.