Hello - I have a closed in porch with windows on all 3 sides. As I am building a deck this summer, I would like to put a sliding glass door (60 inches wide) on one of the sides so I have access to the deck. Do do this, my plan is to replace 3 of the six windows on one side of the porch with the door. Each of the 6 windows is 2 foot wide. I pulled off the interior paneling to gain access to the framing and see that above all windows is a header (2 2X10s) running the full length of the 6 windows. In addition, in between each 2 windows, there are two studs (2X6s) "supporting" the header. I have "supporting" in quotes because I am not sure if they are bearing a load or not. At any rate, my question is, is the header made of 2 2X10s enough to allow me to move one of the sets of 2X6 studs over to allow the opening for the sliding glass door? In other words, I am trying to do the following:


=====================================
=====================================
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
___4' opening___2' open_______60" opening

The two lines of equal signs represent the header (2 2X10s)
The || lines represent the two 2X6 studs

The 4' opening has 2 windows side by side (no studs in between)
The 2' opening represents one windows (studs on both sides as shown)
The 60" opening is for the sliding glass door.

Prior to these modifications, the framing looks like this:
====================================
====================================
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
||... ||... ||... ||
___4' opening____4' opening______4' opening
With each 4' opening containing 2 windows.

So basically I want to move the middle right set of studs to the left about a foot. Will this work, or will my wall collapse because 60" is too large of a span for the header.

One last question - anyone have any recommendations on what type of sliding glass door to buy (or stay away from). I am considering Pella, Anderson, Crestline, Park-vue, and perhaps Marvin (which I believe is the most expensive).

Thanks,
Rob

Excellent Job Describing What Your Doing, As Long As The 2 X 10 Header Is Continuous And There Are No Breaks Where There's Not A Jack Stub Your Ok,
Ideally Id Like To See 2 X 12 With A 2 X 4 On Top And Bottom, But As Far As It Coming Down No, It May Sag In Time But Unless You Have A lot Of Weight You'll Abe Fine, And If Your Door Is 60, I Usually Frame Sliding Doors An 1" Bigger And Width And Height

Your Question About Are The 2x4s Being Load Berring, They Are But Your Only Spanning 5ft. In The Code Book This Most Likely Wouldn't Pass, They Probably Want I Microbeam Up There, Lol. But Like I Said Before Taking Those Out Want Cause A Collapse , But You May Notice When You Install Your Sliding Door Some Front To Back Movement, This Is Due To The Header Not Being Supported Like Before,

If It Make You Feel Any Better If It Was My Job Id Try And Add Another 2x4 To The Bottom Of The Header If You Have Room, And Just Add A Double 2x4 Studs To Each Side Of The Sliding Door Frame. That Will Do Just Fine
When You Install The Door Make Sure And Flash The Underside Of The Door And Sicone It Well. Hope This Helped, Any More Questions Just Ask Ill Be Here For A While.

Thanks glavine. I did not mention it, but there is a 2X4 along the bottom of the header, and I suspect there may be one above as well, but I can not see that without removcing the paneling from there ceiling (which I don't want to do). Thanks for the top on the flashing and silicone. I assume you are suggesting that I put flashing on the sub floor in the rough opening and bend it over the exterior wall, then put down a bead of silicone along the flashing (probably closer to the outside than inside) and then put the frame on top of that, correct? And I planned on using 2 2X4s on each side of the door.

Thanks again!

Rob

That's It, Good Luck To Ya