Sliding patio doors are a very sought-after addition to a property, making a positive impact on any home. Sliding doors allow more light to flood into a home compared to a window, and they help to connect the inside of a home to the outside world with more freedom of movement between the two.
If you want to install patio doors in your home, then you are probably wondering what the standard sliding patio door size is.
Standard sizing is helpful because it makes things much easier when the time comes to replace the doors or if the glass panel sustains any damage and needs to be swapped out for a new one; this will be easier, less expensive, and more convenient if the patio doors are a standard size.
The standard height of a patio door is 80 inches. You can find some common width measurements of two-panel sliding patio doors at 60 inches, 72 inches, and 96 inches. For three-panel sliding patio doors, common widths are 108 inches and 144 inches.
Here we will look at the various standard sliding patio door sizes for a range of two, three, and four-panel types.
Standard Sliding Patio Door Height
The standard height of any patio door is 80 inches, or 6 feet and 8 inches. This is the standard height of most exterior doors on residential properties because it is big enough for the vast majority of adults to easily fit through without banging their heads on the upper door frame.
There are other standard height sizes available for sliding doors, though these are less commonly used. These are 82 inches, which is the equivalent of 6 feet and 10 inches, and 96 inches, which is the equivalent of 8 feet.
You can also get sliding patio doors in a customized height if you have a specific idea in mind of exactly how big you want your patio doors to be, but this will be considered non-standard and will need to be specially measured and custom-made for you.
When it comes to the width of sliding patio doors, there is much more variation, and the standard sizes have a greater range.
Two Panel Sliding Patio Doors
Sliding patio doors that are made up of two panels of glass are the most common type of patio doors. These will be what you might consider ‘standard’ or ‘basic’ sliding patio doors. In this configuration, one patio door will remain in the closed position while the other door slides in front or behind it to reveal an opening that is used as a doorway.
In a two-panel sliding patio door system, the maximum opening space in the door frame will be just less than half of the full-width measurement of the entire unit. There are three standard sizes of two-panel sliding patio doors, which are listed below.
The measurements are the total width size of the unit, including the frame, so each individual panel or door will be just less than half of the listed measurement.
60 inches, or 5 feet
This is the smallest standard size of two-panel sliding patio door commonly available. It is most widely seen in the standard 80-inch height and will provide an opening space under 2 and a half feet for access out into the backyard and back into the house.
72 inches, or 6 feet
This is among the more commonly chosen standard sizes of sliding patio doors. At 6 feet in width, it feels like an expansive amount of light being let into the space, and it affords a wide view out of the home.
However, it isn’t so large that it takes up a huge amount of space on an exterior wall and therefore is often the most suitable choice for average-sized residential properties. The opening width in this size of sliding patio door will be just under 3 feet.
96 inches, or 8 feet
At 8 feet in width, this is the largest size of two-panel sliding patio doors you will find as standard. Each panel of glass will be just under 4 feet wide, allowing for impressive, uninterrupted views of the outside of your property.
The grand size of this set of sliding patio doors gives it a luxury feel, but since it still only contains two panels of glass, it will generally be more affordable than three and four-panel options.
Three Panel Sliding Patio Doors
Sliding patio doors that have three panels of glass give you more options in terms of the opening configurations, and it will also give you a wider opening gap. A two-panel sliding patio door will allow you to slide the left door over the right door or the right door over the left door. This means that your opening width can only ever be around 50 percent of the total width of the frame.
However, with three panels, you can slide two panels over the one stationary panel, meaning your opening width will be around two-thirds, or approximately 66 percent. Three-panel sliding patio doors work best for wider total openings because, in a small opening, the panel frames will create more interruptions in the view.
108 inches, or 9 feet
This size of three-panel sliding patio door makes for an impressive feature and will allow you to create a doorway opening of just under 6 feet, with each individual glass panel having a width of slightly under 3 feet. This standard size of patio doors will usually come in heights of 80 inches, 82 inches, and 96 inches.
144 inches, or 12 feet
This is the largest standard size of three-panel sliding patio doors. Each panel will be just under four feet in width, allowing for a maximum doorway opening of around 8 feet.
If you want to create a patio door opening that is wider than 12 feet in total, you would need to look at four-panel sliding patio door options. One of the benefits of a three-panel sliding patio door set is that you will get uninterrupted views in the middle of the space, as opposed to a two or four-panel door where the panel frame obstructs the center of the view.
