French Porte Doors

[bedn0009]

Hello,

I'm starting a build soon (32x28x9) and we found a product that looks like it could be really cool -- if it works as advertised.

Has anyone had any experience with French Porte garage doors? They're essentially aluminum overhead doors designed to look like french doors on a house.

Take a look: http://frenchporte.com/products/

 

[Kevin54]

Never saw that before, but man I sure do like them. And make sure you post up your build.

 

[bedn0009]

I thought so as well... check out this video...

 

[Kevin54]

Have you checked on the cost of them yet? I like them all for the fact that they make a garage disappear practically. If a person would put the honeycomb pavers down where you plant the grass in them like Don Long just did to his place, no one would even know a garage existed really.

 

[bedn0009]

The cost seems to be about 30% higher than a traditional high end door,but build quality seems rock solid.

Any other alternative garage door styles? I'd like to do something unique.

 

[bedn0009]

Bump

 

[bedn0009]

Anyone?

 

[mabel65r]

I would like to share my own experience after buying Frenchport Garage doors. please do not buy anything from this online company. Kenneth Maher and his wife Jennifer Maher are the founder and President for his home based company "Frenchporte". The doors are built and Shipped from Walkthruprimus.ca in Canada. The Kendra style doors cost me $4,747,plus an additional $800 for installation, in which the installers have no clue how to put them together, needless to say, nothing but problems. I am the only person in the east coast with these doors , I live in NY. This is a online company that operates from a residential home. Frenchporte has a calling center that screens all calls. filters all complaints and rest assure you will never receive a resolution when you have a problem. I would hate anyone to invest so much money on garage doors that do not operate correctly.

 

[mabel65r]

I would like to share my own experience after buying Frenchport Garage doors. please do not buy anything from this online company. Kenneth Maher and his wife Jennifer Maher are the founder and President for his home based company "Frenchporte". The doors are built and Shipped from Walkthruprimus.ca in Canada. The Kendra style doors cost me $4,747,plus an additional $800 for installation, in which the installers have no clue how to put them together, needless to say, nothing but problems. I am the only person in the east coast with these doors , I live in NY. This is a online company that operates from a residential home. Frenchporte has a calling center that screens all calls. filters all complaints and rest assure you will never receive a resolution when you have a problem. I would hate anyone to invest so much money on garage doors that do not operate correctly

 

[rcktsled]

Yeah, if you're the first buyer on the east coast you won't find an experienced installer! Have you contacted Walkthruprimus for advice?

 

[GS-Louie]

From their About Us page:
"Our founder, Jennifer Maher, sees a clear link between her old career as a makeup artist and her new one as a garage door inventor. Her founding idea is summed up in one simple quote; “first I did people makeovers, now I’m doing home makeovers.”

That's enough to make me think long and hard. The have an office in Chevy Chase MD. They also have a store in Baltimore and you can send an email to For technical issues, install related questions or hardware inquiries please email us at [email protected].

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I'm with Kevin, I really like the look but I expect they're very pricey.

I'd love to see them going in if you do end up going with them. Congrats on getting to build your dream garage?

 

[Worsedog]

I would like to share my own experience after buying Frenchport Garage doors. please do not buy anything from this online company. Kenneth Maher and his wife Jennifer Maher are the founder and President for his home based company "Frenchporte". The doors are built and Shipped from Walkthruprimus.ca in Canada. The Kendra style doors cost me $4,747,plus an additional $800 for installation, in which the installers have no clue how to put them together, needless to say, nothing but problems. I am the only person in the east coast with these doors , I live in NY. This is a online company that operates from a residential home. Frenchporte has a calling center that screens all calls. filters all complaints and rest assure you will never receive a resolution when you have a problem. I would hate anyone to invest so much money on garage doors that do not operate correctly

Think that might be the root of the problem?

 

[bedn0009]

Thanks for the responses. My build is now complete, and I didn't go with Frenchporte. Honestly, something just never seemed quite right in the follow up and communication.

I bought some clopay r19 steel/woodgrain doors. We're extremely pleased with the quality and appearance.

 

[shakham]

I would like to share my own experience after buying Frenchport Garage doors. please do not buy anything from this online company. Kenneth Maher and his wife Jennifer Maher are the founder and President for his home based company "Frenchporte". The doors are built and Shipped from Walkthruprimus.ca in Canada. The Kendra style doors cost me $4,747,plus an additional $800 for installation, in which the installers have no clue how to put them together, needless to say, nothing but problems. I am the only person in the east coast with these doors , I live in NY. This is a online company that operates from a residential home. Frenchporte has a calling center that screens all calls. filters all complaints and rest assure you will never receive a resolution when you have a problem. I would hate anyone to invest so much money on garage doors that do not operate correctly

Dusting this off after 7 years .

Did anything get resolved? How have the doors been holding up?

I wrote a note to the manufacturer to see what they have to offer (they have changed their URL since it seems):

WalkThru Garage Doors

Specialists in providing pedestrian access through high quality commercial and residential sectional overhead doors of all sizes.

walkthrugaragedoors.com

 

[Abraham]

Do not buy from this company. I bought french doors from Ken Maher 3 months ago. When he said that you need to buy everything other than the doors and my contractor would have to make holes in Aluminum doors, I should have got the hint. Once the doors arrived, I got my general contractor to install them. My contractor showed me that the aluminum casing is hollow. You can not screw into hollow casing and put a hinge to hold. The thin aluminum would bend. He looked at the construction and told me it is a french window that can be installed as a permanent fixture but not as a door on a hinge.

 

[jstroede]

From what I see, these aren't built really any differently than almost every other aluminum full view door out there. It's just a different look. Now the hole in the end is a little cheesy, but the construction looks pretty typical to me.

I had some information on those doors a long time ago. I honestly didn't know they were still around.

In those type of products, there are almost never predrilled hinged holes. You install the hinges with self drilling screws.

John