I have several 12' sliding patio doors, using 4' panels. Inside trim is
standard but on the outside, the flanges are imbedded in the stucco
surrounding the doors. The doors are single pane glass and I would like to
replace them with dual pane glass, for obvious reasons.

The Window Replacement Companies that I consulted want to put a plastic
frame inside the existing aluminum frame and replace the aluminum sliding
doors with plastic frame doors. They are not interested in replacing the
aluminum windows with new aluminum windows because they do not like to work
with stucco. They say that's a big mess and effort.

The problem is that the existing black anodized aluminum frames are very
narrow and thus do not diminish the view through the doors. If I replace
them with plastic frames, I will lose about 15 to 20% of my view, which
would be a shame.

Rather than use plastic replacement windows, how big a job is it to remove
the stucco from around the frames and just put in new aluminum frames? Is
this a DIY project?

Thanks for any input. Any other solutions to this dilemma?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
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