Slide the Doors into Place

Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for: All the windows are in and flashed, so now it's time to bring the LaCantina multi slide doors out from the barn where they’d been stored for about 6 weeks, and get them in to finish the exterior envelope. They installed very cleanly and quickly; Owens Construction's Bill Owens specified one three-part and one four-part slide unit leading out onto the east deck, each being 7 feet tall.

But for the front (the side with the gorgeous view of Humphreys Peak), he specified a three-part slider that is a whopping 10 feet tall. “It’s a good thing their sturdy rollers have a 10-year warranty," says Owens. “The team is going to get a workout.”

Owens chose the aluminum frame with thermal break and Cardinal glass for durability. Amazingly, a four-unit slide is no big deal for LaCantina—they even offer up to a six-part slide (although I suspect this calls for a very thick wall).