Sliding doors can form a useful as well as stylish addition to your home, which is what makes them such a popular addition to American homes. Choosing the type of material for your sliding doors, however, can be a challenge, with most people stuck between picking aluminum or vinyl. In this post, we’ll explore the features, qualities, advantages, and disadvantages of both options to help you arrive at a final decision that will achieve the vision and hopes you have for your home.

Let’s dive right in.

Aluminum Sliding Doors

This molded aluminum metal can serve as an excellent material for sliding door frames, thanks to various factors. Their most attractive feature is their durability, as aluminum is more resistant to rust, dents, cracks, mold, and scratches than vinyl. Aluminum sliding door frames extruded by an aluminum press will be heavier than vinyl types, but this added weight makes them stronger and better able to resist high winds.

Both aluminum will pose a challenge to contractors trying to carry out post-order corrections or adjustments; aluminum presents less of a challenge when it comes to maintenance and repair due to its higher durability.

Depending on the quality and gauge of the aluminum sliding door frames you order; you can expect to pay slightly more than you would for vinyl, mainly because you will likely enjoy the use of these doors for significantly longer than you would with non-metal solutions.

Vinyl Sliding Doors

Vinyl is a semi-flexible solid plastic resin that has a wide variety of uses in and around our homes. It is not as durable as aluminum and other metals in the face of harsh weather conditions, so it might be better used indoors rather than as a patio sliding door installation.

Because it is less conductive than metal, it is more energy efficient, meaning that it will save you money in terms of energy costs while helping preserve the environment. If fire is a major concern for you, then aluminum will be the better option for you.

Which is Better: Vinyl or Aluminum?

At the end of the day, the final choice between aluminum and vinyl sliding doors will depend on the client’s personal preferences, desires, and needs. If durability is at the top of your list of priorities, then aluminum will be your first choice. If ecological friendliness is what you’re looking for, then vinyl might be better suited for you.

These two materials vary to lesser or greater extents on a variety of factors such as cost, versatility, aesthetic appeal, and so on, but aluminum is generally considered to be a superior overall choice.

Final Thoughts

Aside from allowing copious amounts of natural light into your living spaces, sliding doors come with an increased degree of openness and space. Even so, we need to pick the material they’re made out of carefully since different materials react differently under the effect of time, climate, mechanical damage, moisture, and other factors.

Should you choose aluminum for your sliding doors, make sure you get the highest quality possible. JMA Aluminum has decades of experience supplying aluminum products of the highest quality to clients worldwide. For all your aluminum needs, contact us today and place your order. You won’t regret it!