Aluminum doors: slim frames, big glass, no seasonal movement
Aluminum is the material for the openings the other two cannot do — a pivot entrance with a full glass panel, a shopfront that gets used four hundred times a day, a nine-foot wall of sliding glass. It only works in this climate with a proper thermal break, and that is the first thing we check on any unit we quote.
- Thermally broken frames
- Powder-coated finish
- We cover the HST — 13% off
Strength where the frame has to disappear
Aluminum carries a heavy glass panel on a frame two to three times slimmer than vinyl, so the same opening lets in noticeably more daylight. It does not warp, rust or sag on its hinges, and a powder-coated finish outlasts paint by decades. The catch is that bare metal conducts cold — untreated aluminum belongs on a garden shed, not a front wall.
- Polyamide thermal break splits the frame so the inside face never reaches outdoor temperature
- Slim sightlines: more glass in the same rough opening than any other material
- Carries oversized and multi-slide panels that would sag in vinyl or timber
- Powder-coated finish in any RAL colour, dual-colour inside and out if you want it
- The standard for commercial entrances: hinge and closer hardware rated for daily traffic
- 3× slimmer frame than vinyl
- 30+ yrs finish life
- 0 seasonal movement
Four openings that call for aluminum
If the opening is wide, heavy, glassy or commercial, this is usually the answer.
Modern entry door
A single flush panel with a hidden hinge and a long pull. Thermally broken frame, triple-glazed panel, and a finish that will not chalk on the sunny side.
Multi-slide and lift-and-slide
Three, four or six panels stacking to one side. The rollers and the sill drainage decide how it behaves in year five — we spec both for our winters.
Entrance with sidelights
Door, sidelights and transom in one thermally broken frame. Slim mullions keep the assembly reading as glass rather than as posts.
Folding wall
Bi-fold panels that open a room to the deck. Heavy hardware, precise install: the track has to stay dead level for the life of the door.
Every aluminum unit we install
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Thermally broken frame
Polyamide strips separate the inside and outside profiles. Without them an aluminum frame frosts up in January — with them the unit performs like a good vinyl one, with a fraction of the sightline.
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Glazing package
Double or triple sealed units, argon-filled, soft-coat Low-E, warm-edge spacer. Specified per elevation rather than one package for the whole house.
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Hardware
Multi-point locking on hinged units, stainless rollers and anti-lift blocks on sliders, and commercial-grade closers where the door is used all day.
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Sill and drainage
Drained and vented sill with a thermal break, set on a pan. On a wide slider this is what keeps meltwater outside where it belongs.
Aluminum doors for homes and storefronts
We install aluminum entrances, sliders and storefronts across Barrie, Bradford, Newmarket, Aurora and Caledon. Residential or commercial, the quote is written the same way: one price, the 13% HST discount already applied.
Honest limits of the material
We will talk you out of aluminum on a standard 36-inch front door with no glass: steel or fibreglass will insulate better for less money. Where it earns its keep is size, sightline and traffic.
- Costs more per opening than steel or fibreglass — the frame technology is the reason
- Without a thermal break it will frost and condense; we do not quote frames that lack one
- Unbeatable for wide sliders, folding walls and commercial entries
- For a plain heated entrance on a budget, steel is still the sensible answer
When an aluminum unit needs replacing
Older aluminum from the seventies and eighties has no thermal break at all. These are the symptoms.
- Frost or beads of water along the inside frame on a cold morning
- A slider that needs both hands, or that has dropped and drags on the sill
- Fogged glass between the panes — the sealed unit has lost its seal
- Draughts through the interlock even with the lock engaged
- Chalky, faded paint that rubs off on your hand
- A commercial door that no longer closes and latches on its own
Survey, build, install
Wide and heavy units get an extra site visit before the order goes in — the opening has to be confirmed square and structurally ready.
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Site survey
We measure the opening, check the header and the floor for level, and confirm what the wall can carry. No charge, and no order goes in until this is done.
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Written quote
Frame, glazing package, hardware, finish colour, capping and disposal in one number, with the 13% HST discount applied.
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Fabrication
Units are built to the survey dimensions and powder-coated to your colour. Four to eight weeks for large or multi-panel assemblies.
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Installation
Frame set plumb and level on a drained sill pan, panels hung and adjusted, hardware set. A multi-slide takes a day or two with a two-person crew.
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Handover
We walk you through roller adjustment and drainage, hand over the warranty, and prepare the rebate paperwork where the project qualifies.
Aluminum work around the county
Entrances, sliders and folding walls — the openings where the frame had to get out of the way.
Four-panel multi-slide to the deck
Black aluminum entry with arched head
Folding glass wall, six panels
«The old aluminum slider iced up every winter. The new one has the same slim look and the frame stays dry — that was the whole point.»
Aluminum doors — the questions we get
Condensation, cost, commercial work and glass sizes.
Untreated ones do — that is why old aluminum frames grow frost. A polyamide thermal break separates the inside profile from the outside one and stops the bridge. We do not quote residential aluminum without it.
Usually not, and we will say so. On a standard 36-inch opening with little glass, a steel door or a fibreglass door insulates better for less. Aluminum earns its price on wide, heavy or heavily glazed openings.
Yes — thermally broken storefront frames, commercial closers, panic hardware and traffic-rated hinges. Tell us the daily door count and we will spec the hardware to it.
Multi-slide assemblies run well past twenty feet with three to six panels; the limits are the header above the opening and the floor beneath it. That is what the site survey is for. Related options are on our patio doors page.
Any RAL colour in powder coat, matt or satin, and dual-colour if you want black outside and white inside. Powder coat does not peel the way paint on metal does, so the finish outlives the mortgage.
Yes — steel and fibreglass make up most of the entry doors we fit, and both cost less than aluminum on a standard opening. Our entry doors page puts the three side by side, along with secured doors, sidelights and transoms.