WinDor vs La Cantina Bi Fold Doors
Bi Fold (Bi-Fold) patio doors are amazing and WinDor vs La Cantina is a good place to start. These manufacturers (three if you add Western Doors, see bottom of article) are building great products. Jeld-Wen recently acquired La Cantina and Shea Homes started installing WinDor. Here is why I decided to buy and install WinDor.
Cost. WinDor gets the nod here. WinDor (comparing like for like) is between 10% to 35% cheaper. This is considerable when you’re talking $15K per door! Additionally I prefer the way WinDor does their pricing. Its simpler and allows you to make changes to number of panels, openings, etc. without it changing the cost.
Integrated Screens. WinDor vs La Cantina? Half point for La Cantina. La Cantina gives you the option to integrate a screen system right into the frame of the door. The screens can be left to right, right to left or meet in the middle. Windor has no integrated solution and uses an after market company called Genius Screens and their ZigZag product. See pictures below. Something to consider when choosing between these manufacturers and also you need to decide at the time you order. Note: With La Cantina, once you order (with or without screens), there is no going back …. so choose wisely. However you could always add screens with a product like the one mentioned above from ZigZag.
Engineering. Its a TIE! CFR Title 24 has forced both companies to address their aluminum framed doors, not as much the vinyl doors. La Cantina got out of the gates just a tad sooner with the bi-fold doors but WinDor makes one heck of a product. So, with the exception of the integrated screens as noted above, its a dead heat as called by this average Joe.
Function. Another boring TIE. Both doors are top hung, unlike more traditional multi-slide or OXXO doors. Both doors glide easily and I would say so easily that even my four year old could do it. Locking mechanisms, hinges and tracks are all very comparable.
My Final Thoughts
The players when considering Bi-Fold Patio Doors.
- WinDor. Clearly! We bought them, loved the company, North County San Diego, and even close to Stone Brewery if you’re making a trip. 🙂
- La Cantina. Very nice doors but they don’t have a showroom (at time this was written) likely due to the acquisition by Jeld-wen.
- Western. Another great player, more expensive but worth a look if you’re in the market.
Go with WinDor or Panoramic doors…my La Cantina leaks in light rain and the company refuses to help
The best bifold doors are from Glass Depot in Raligh North Carolina.
All precision parts from Germany and the frame stays square even with all the doors at one end. They slide like they are on rollers but just has a single roller in the middle of the 3 door system. I live in. Myrtle Beach SC and luckily the house faces the right direction so we get winter sun all day long and helps heat the house and the summer sun is on top of the house and allows the area to remain cool. We are putting Zigzag2 screens on each bifold and that will complete the project. The accuracy of all components allowed measurements in the thousands= of a inch.
La Cantina is absolutely garbage! We bought the 3-panel sliding doors and it’s been almost 3 years that we have been trying to get defective doors fixed (well over 20 orders places. I stopped counting at 20). Unfortunately, it’s just poor manufacturing of these doors and the company isn’t willing to fix the issues.
If you can imagine getting your new Maserati or Rolls Royce with dinged up doors, scratched glass, wavy stitching on your plush leather seats that also have pressure dings/dents, then you can imagine what’s it like getting La Cantina doors. Pure junk!
Thanks David!
Interesting you mention that the customer service at La Cantina is not that great. I have heard that and it was one of the decision points in making the WinDor decision on our last project. WE LOVE our WinDor doors!!
I am not familiar with Panoramic doors but I’ll check them out for sure.
Thanks again and good luck with your leaky doors!
Chris
I’m looking at the windor bifold (model 3750) for a new construction build based on your review. How are they holding up so far? Any issues and would you still recommend them?
Thanks,
I am THRILLED with them. Generally they are absolutely meeting or exceeding my expectations. My only concern is that there are some very small gaps forming around the operating door that we use a lot. The weather seal is not making contact with the door all the way down. I think it is just an adjustment issue. NET NET, very happy with the purchase.
Good day Brother!
Did Win-Dor install your doors or did you have a sub contractor install?
Great question. I used three vendors to complete the whole project.
#1 – Structural Engineer to do the calcs for the laminate beam above the Win-Dor door.
#2 – My general contractor who prepared the opening, pulled back the stucco, installed the lam and all the other supporting material.
#3 – Win-Dor did the door install (took 2-3 hours is all).
#4 – Back to my general who buttoned it up inside and out.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for sharing this. We’re trying to decide between WinDoor and La Cantina for a sliding door system. WinDoor doesn’t have an aluminum option so I was wondering how you like the look of their Vinyl or if that was a consideration before you bought them.
Hey there Aimee,
Great question. Honestly, we didn’t have a strong preference between materials, aluminum, vinyl or wood. And, conveniently for us, our other windows (mostly) are vinyl. So, it was a very easy decision and we very much love the look. While I’m on the subject, I will also say that the vinyl has held up VERY well. We get the normal wear and tear from use and there is a very interesting dirt pattern from the kids coming in and out (where they put their hands) but in general we’re thrilled with them.
Hope this is helpful and let me know if you have any more questions,
Chris
I have two La Cantina doors, a 3 panel sliding door system and a 3 panel folding door. One day the sliding doors were open, one slid back behind the second one, I heard a pop…the glass in the door behind the second door had shattered. It was new, I hadn’t even moved into the house yet. When I called them they said “glass does not spontaneously shatter”. YES IT DOES!!! and IT DID! There was no other explanation, it was behind and protected by the second door. If anything would have happened it would have been to the second door. They blame the glass company for being difficult, so I paid $1,600+ for a new panel and waited for 6 months for it to arrive, it came unsealed and unfinished so could not be installed until that had been done. Now the lock in the same panel isn’t working. I either can’t open it or can’t lock it. Lately in the heat of the summer it’s been jammed in the lock position. Finally after waiting for weeks, calling and emailing, I received a quote. They will come out and fix it, at a charge $85.00 per hour with a minimum of 3 hours.
Yikes! First off I am so sorry to hear that, second, thats good information for others when making a purchase decision between the two doors. I tell ya, customer services means SOOO much. Hope you got it resolved.
Chris
We have the win door system. It leaks when we wash the windows!
Pretty sure this is not supposed to happen.
Water has nowhere to drain to.
Anyone with any thoughts?
This is a really helpful review! Exactly what I was looking for, as I’ve been considered Windor bi-folds. Thank you!