Case study · Webster Groves · 2025
A French-door pair turns a kitchen into a garden room.
The Mendelssohns wanted to replace a single back door with a French-door pair so their kitchen would feel like part of the yard. We widened the opening, headered new framing, and hung a Therma-Tru Smooth-Star pair with real divided lites — start to finish in three weeks.
HERO / FRENCH DOOR PAIR + DIVIDED LITES
Door
Therma-Tru Smooth-Star pair
Glass
15-lite real divided
Hardware
Emtek classic brass
Investment
$6,180
Timeline
3 weeks · 1-day install
BEFORE / SINGLE STEEL BACK DOOR
The challenge
Open a wall, keep the structure honest.
The old back door was a 32” single — fine for taking the trash out, useless for entertaining. We widened the rough opening to 60”, sized a new LVL header to carry the load, and installed an out-swing French pair with magnetic weatherstripping rated for STL winters.
“The kitchen used to feel like a hallway. Now it feels like a sunroom. Best renovation we've done in this house, full stop.”
— Rachel Mendelssohn, Webster Groves
Open up your back wall.
French-door quote in under an hour.